I Saw Lindsey Kraft and Ben Folds at The Factory Yesterday

Last night I went with Samii to see a delightful concert. It was Ben Folds with Lindsey Kraft as his opener. The show started right at 8PM with Ms. Kraft doing an assortment of really cool songs (I especially like the Mom-centric one) and discussing how she had a musical coming out this August in SoHo--which Ben Folds was a producer on! After her performance, she met with fans and was really pleasant to speak with. I'd highly recommend checking her website out and following her work!

Following a brief intermission, Mr Folds took the stage and played a variety of tunes from his older hits to recent great songs such as, "Exhausting Lover," which was on a recent LP. The story of how that song came about over a period of years was quite hilarious.

Watching Mr. Folds play the piano was incredible. His hands moved with lightning speed, and he was straight-up jamming! With his relaxed demeanor, it was fun to listen as he spoke between tunes about the history behind his songs. Whether singing with his piano playing or sharing a humorous aside, Mr. Folds was engaging the entire time he performed. When the show seemed done, the audience roared and he was kind enough to come back out and do a couple more tunes.

The show wrapped at approximately 10:45 PM, and everyone made their way out of the stadium with impressive speed. At some concerts, the crowd seems to dilly-dally, but I guess many of those in attendance were fellow Millennials (and Gen-Xers) who had kiddos to return home to. I had a fantastic time listening to Lindsey Kraft and Ben Folds. Look and see if their tour will be anywhere nearby so you can go and see a great show!

I Saw Usher in Concert Yesterday!

Usher is currently on tour and stopped in Saint Louis to do two shows. I was able to catch his performance yesterday, the 26th, here in Saint Louis. It was a lot of fun and extremely entertaining! The first half of the show had a lot of dancing, roller skating, and huge screens showcasing interesting imagery about Usher's life due to the theme being that an artificial intelligence of sorts is looking at his past, present and potential future--which makes sense as this is the, "Past, Present, Future," tour. The second half of the show slowed things down and featured more of Usher standing and doing the best special effect he has--singing with his incredible voice.

The crowd was pumped, with the many ladies in the audience getting especially loud the first time Usher ripped his shirt off and poured a bottle of water over himself. The women also enjoyed a segment in the latter half where Usher went down into the crowd and fed the women cherries from a big bowl he got at a nearby bar area. It was humorous but dragged on a bit long compared to how quick and exciting the rest of the show was with the numerous costume changes, dancers, and crazy lights going on and off.

I had a lot of fun at Usher's concert and everyone else in the audience seemed to be having a gas as well. A ton of effort had clearly been put into creating an exciting and engaging show with Usher making sure to sing a bunch of his hits newer and older in addition to some less-known but still quite catchy tunes--the man has an extensive catalog. One fun thing was that at points Usher threw out stunt money and one crew member was kind enough to give me an extra bill when I asked. Take a look:

If you are able to see Usher while he's on tour I would encourage you to do so. I had a great deal of fun and appreciated the mix of showy stuff and chill moments where Usher focused on singing. It was a superb show!