You Have My Attention

I, among others, went to the Copeland concert at the Door this past Friday. Knowing that most people like to pay at the door, I bought my tickets online so I could skip the line. The night before the show, I decided to check the website again. The website said there were still 700 tickets available for the show. “700 tickets? The Door doesn’t even hold 700 people.” Something was amiss.

Fast forward to the night of the show. As expected, the line was wicked long. Usually, they have two lines feeding into the entrance: one for online orders, the other for paying at the door. This time, however, they said all online tickets go the side of the building. “The side of the building? They’re going to let us in through Next Door?” (FYI, the Door is actually only half of the building. The other half is called, surprise surprise, Next Door. So clever.) Upon entering, I was greeted with the side of the merch booth, which was sitting on top of the stage for Next Door. That’s when it hit me. As soon as I got around the merch booth, I could see that they took the wall down between the two Doors. It was one big venue now, and they moved the main stage into the corner. Very nice.

The Door Crowd 2

The opening bands for Copeland were pretty good this time around. The Spill Canvas, Melee, and Daphne Loves Derby. Based on the live show alone, the Spill Canvas was probably my favorite, followed by Daphne Loves Derby, then Melee. It’s interesting to note, when DLD was setting up, we spotted an Asian on the stage. Yes, an Asian. Some of the ensuing conversations:

Me: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Is that an Asian on stage? Is he with the band?
Long: He might just be a groupie.
Me: I believe the politically correct term would be roadie.
Long: Ahh, roadie.
Linh: Yeah, I don’t think he wants to sleep with the band.

After tuning a few guitars:

Me: He has to be in the band. Look, he’s tuning his guitar.
Long: Man, he’s tuning a few guitars. His parents must be rich.
Me: Yeah, they probably own a dry cleaners.
Long: Or a Chinese restaurant.
Me: If he’s Korean, his parents might own a donut shop.

By this point, people around us were listening to our conversation and had a good laugh at our stereotyping. After mic check, it was clear, he was the leadman for the band.

Me: Whoa! He’s the lead singer! Hey Linh, I dare you to tell him to take off his helmet.
Mikey: So, if this band is any good, does that mean we have to buy their CD out of principle?
Me: We didn’t start going to Cowboy games because Dat Nguyen started playing for them.
Mikey: Yeah, but that’s different.
Me: Very true.

Good times. Their live set was a little too “even” in my opinion. Nothing really jumped out at me. But, since this was the first time I’ve ever heard of these guys, I figured I’d give their CD a shot. So far, not too bad.

Of course, Copeland was excellent. Their merch this time around looked better, so I was inclined to buy more t-shirts. They even played with a piano for a few songs, which made the fans very happy. “Coffee” is one of the best songs ever written.

Pictures can be found in the gallery. Enjoy.