Keep Your Enemies Close......

and your lovers closer. That's a line from one of Ryan Cabrera's songs off of his new album. The concert was great....for those of us that attended. Not kidding here. There were, at the most, about 50 people in attendance. I was shocked that the place wasn't packed, but hey it made it more enjoyable for us! Without having to stand and save our spot the whole time, we were 3 or 4 people back from the stage.

There were 2 warm-ups before Ryan came out. The first group was "Cory Lamb". That's the name of the lead singer and the name of the group. They were pretty awesome. Jesse said, "We HAVE to buy their CD!" It was 5 buck for 5 songs. The same 5 songs they played for us (koinkydink!). Next up was Ferras. He didn't have his band along so he sat at the keyboard and belted out some tunes including, "Hollywood is not America". We bought his CD too because he was even better than the first guys. Apparently his CDs are on sale at Target and Walmart and according to Ferras, also from his trunk.

The Grog Shop in Cleveland feels like hanging out in someone's basement. When we first arrived Jessed commented that "it looks like crap!" I tried to explain to her that it was on purpose. That it is the look that they're going for. I was just thankful that, even though alcohol is served (re: "grog" in the Grog Shop), no one seemed to get out of control or anything. I guess that's just the protective mom part of me coming out. The closest that we came to having anyone "out of control" was the Paris Hilton Wannabe and her equally annoying bleach blonde friend. Not only did she have the same hair, body, face, and fake tan as Paris, but she and her friend acted in that I Am Entitled To Do as I Please No Matter How Many People I Hurt Or Annoy Along The Way. Seriously. I was waiting for one of the Ryan Groupies to sucker punch her while she and friend were pushing (literally) their way to the front of the stage. And almost spilling their drinks on everyone along the way. I don't even think they were there to listen to the music. Not like the rest of us who were singing every line of every song. :) If I ever figure out how to view the video off our camera AND THEN figure out how to post it online you can see these 2 a-holes for yourself. Because in their Full Entitled Fashion were able to walk right in front of Jesse as she was filming Ryan singing one of her favorite songs.

My only regret is that I didn't shell out the dough for the "Meet and Greet". It was $20 per person and that included a copy of his new CD (which we already own but I may have been able to sell or give them as gifts, oh well, too late now). We would have been able to go backstage to take pictures and meet Ryan and the band. Even though I would have loved to get those pictures and have a chance to meet him, I probably would have felt totally awkward. I mean where do you go beyond, "Hey, I love your music.....and,ummmm" Next time I plan on making him a funky knit hat (because he wears them) to break the ice. Is that too Grandmotherly? Or maybe I'll just throw the hat onto the stage instead of my granny underwear.

Before the concert

Check out the camera at the bottom of the frame. I bet their pic turned out better!

With all that long hair, he was constantly pushing it back behind his ears. But as least it helped me get a shot of one his newest Tats (as Jesse called them...how does she know that word anyhow?) 50 bonus points to the first person to figure out what it is.