DIY Music Festival feat. John Mayer, Phillip Phillips, Bruno Mars, & Ellie Goulding!

Summer is all about concerts and music festivals out in the sun! This past weekend a few of my best pals and I went to 2 shows back to back, and it turned into our own little DIY music festival!

On Saturday, July 20th, we trekked out to The Gorge in Quincy, WA for John Mayer's Born & Raised 2013 tour with special guest, Phillip Phillips! John's crooner style and ridiculous guitar shredding skills were to die for, and Phillip's performance definitely solidified his spot in the folk-pop singer/songwriter genre!

For those not familiar with The Gorge and will be heading out there for Watershed or Sasquatch in the near future, here are some tips!

The Gorge 101

• Bring food and water! (Stuff there is expensive and you are allowed to bring one sealed bottle of water, and food in clear containers)
• Blankets and lawn chairs are a must if you are on the lawn. (Or you'll be lying on the cold hard ground)
• Bug spray. (If you're a mosquito magnet like myself, you will not regret it)

The Gorge is GORGE! 

A clip from the show!

Going into Sunday, June 21st, we head to Seattle's beloved Key Arena! The go-to venue for any of your favorite major/mainstream artists and bands!

Key Arena 101

• Leave earlier than you think you should to find cheaper/free parking! (Ain't nobody got dimes to pay 20 bucks for event parking)
• Get to the venue early for first dibs on the best merch. (Lawd know that unisex smalls are the first to go!)
• Be discreet with phone recordings of the concert! (the employees there get mad when they see you recording, also, someone else is probs gonna post it on youtube later anyways, so just enjoy the show!

As you may know by now, I am a very frequent concert goer and I have seen many great AND horrible performers. This being my second time seeing Bruno and his band, I can safely say that they are some of the best live performers I have ever witnessed (only being challenged by the great, Muse). Their in sync energy, effortless and fun choreography, and musicianship paired with Bruno's ON POINT singing/guitar playing/piano playing/drumming/dancing, it really can't get any better. 

Bruno killin' it on the drums (and everything else he does)!

 

(Sorry for the horrible sound quality!)

So when I heard Ellie Goulding was opening for Bruno, I WAS PUMPED! Not to sound like a pretentious music hipster, but I loved her debut album that featured "Lights" WAY before it was even on the radio here in the US! Even though Ellie's genre and music style didn't really go with Bruno's, I had no care in the world because I love them both! Her sweet-airy tone, catchy synth lines, and extremely contagious melodies should make you an instant fan!

A clip from Ellie's set!

Peace, Love, & Rock n' Roll,
A-Tran.