Plz see icon
Yes, I just drove to Portland and back in one day/night for the pleasure of seeing Kane live in concert, and yes, I have to get up in about four hours, and yes, IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT. Ten things of note, since I seem to be totally failing at actually completing concert reviews:
1. zabira: EXCELLENT WHIRLWIND ROAD TRIP COMPANION.
2. sadiane and me_maneuver: EXCELLENT DINNER AND CONCERT COMPANIONS.
3. Steve Carlson: WAY hotter in person. (Srsly, I have seen pics of him several times before and been very head-tilty about his sexy popularity, but now? I totally get it. Whew.)
4. Christian Kane: also (unsurprisingly) very hot in person, especially when all sweaty and earnest/dirty by turns (and singing songs about riding things, ngggh, I need to track down that song YESTERDAY--something about "I'm not a white knight" or something? Can anyone hook me up?). Also liberally used the word "fuck," which I always approve of. Also is surprisingly REALLY REALLY ADORABLE, just having the time of his life up there, with his dorktastic dancing and air guitar and half-shy smiles, in a way that makes you want to squish him up and put him in your pocket. D'AWWWWWWWW. (He is also fairly tiny, height-wise, but there are really excellent things going on in the arm/shoulder/chest region that are not at all tiny. YUM.) I seriously think Christian Kane may actually rival Paul Gross for Most Awesome and Thoroughly Enjoyed Life. Like, he has a job he loves, working with people he loves, and who clearly love him (more on that in a minute, but watching Beth Riesgraf totally ROCKING OUT to the band, and both of them exchanging these little affectionate smiles, was one of the most delightful things I've ever seen), AND he gets to play his music and have people show up and cheer and sing along, AND he gets to watch hot go-go dancers while he's doing it (more on that in a second, too). PRETTY AWESOME LIFE. I think Paul gets the edge because of the beautiful wife and children, whereas Chris is single (and, from the sounds of it, definitely looking), but it's only a slight edge, because...
5. Christian and Steve: TOTALLY BOYFRIENDS. Steve: seems to be very much aware of this. Christian: not so much. But holy crap. They are so dialed in to each other, it's ADORABLE. They also had a total domestic spat onstage, revolving around Steve tuning Chris' guitar against Chris' will ("It was fine until you fucked with it!"); that was equally adorable. And it all wrapped up in a really ridiculously cute and heartfelt Steve-hanging-off-Chris'-neck gentle tacklehug/pseudo-headlock from behind that was just AWWWWWWW. AWWWWWWWWWWW. YOU GUYS ARE REALLY REALLY CUTE. <3
6. The lead guitarist (Jason, I think his name is?): REALLY SUPER AWESOME. Brought enough rock to the country to give me something to hang on to in every song, and took some killer solos. VERY pleasant surprise. (Also, Christian seemed convinced that the best way to elicit a truly great guitar solo is to apply frequent and energetic ass-slaps to the guitarist in question. Either that, or it was just punishment for the one time Jason totally cockblocked Christian when Chris was moving in for some little spate of dorktastic slashtasticness with Steve. Difficult to say, really.)
7. The House Rules: totally as awesome live as I would have hoped, EEEEEEE. And I really liked most of the other songs, too, and it turns out that Rattlesnake Smile benefits immensely from red lights and a smoke machine and go-go dancers. No, srsly.
8. Beth Riesgraf: TINY AND INSANELY ADORABLE. I mean, her smile lit up the whole freaking club, omg. And she and John Rogers ended up squishing behind us to get to the center of the crowd (the better to rock out adoringly), so they both totally touched me. It was excellent. Also, Chris called out that John Rogers was there, and Rogers kind of tried to laughingly duck away (because there was a lot of squee; the audience was clearly AT LEAST 70% fangirls) and Beth practically jumped on his back to keep him in place. IT WAS SO ADORABLE. Like, that pure unfettered GLEE that Parker summons sometimes? Beth just RADIATED that the ENTIRE TIME. And she was wearing basically no makeup and her hair in a ponytail and she was pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen. (Yeah, I sort of fell in love with her, some more. WHAT IS YOUR POINT.) Also in attendance: the swoonworthy "wall of man" (tm me_maneuver) that is Aldis Hodge, along with his exceedingly pretty girlfriend. We only saw them briefly, as they, too, squished right behind us to get through the crowd (seriously, we were apparently standing in the EXACT perfect squishing-by spot, it was AWESOME), but even a brief Aldis Hodge sighting is quite something to behold. And my Leverage OT3, all in the same place, being all cute and supportive! THANK YOU, UNIVERSE, I LOVE YOU, TOO. <3
9. Whatever the opposite of Sophie's Choice is: during the two encore numbers, we all had a hell of a time trying to figure out where to rest our eyes, because we've got Christian Kane (not to mention Steve, not to mention the three other attractive band members) onstage, Beth Riesgraf in the crowd, Aldis Hodge at a table in the back, and hot go-go dancers undulating above us on either side of the crowd. TOO MUCH PRETTY, CANNOT COMPUTE. (Also having trouble stretching his eyeballs to encompass the many delights of the scene was Chris, who was totally appreciating the go-go dancers in a way that was not at all skeevy yet was very, very obvious. It was really fucking adorable. Seriously, HIS LIFE IS AWESOME. And I'm so happy for him! <3)
10. $10 cover (which I did not have to pay, as it turns out, but still), a tank or so of gas, six hours of driving, and a night of very short sleep: SMALL PRICE TO PAY. YAY for exciting, accessible fannishness IN MY BACKYARD, and for delightful fangirls to enjoy it with! ♥ ♥ ♥
1. zabira: EXCELLENT WHIRLWIND ROAD TRIP COMPANION.
2. sadiane and me_maneuver: EXCELLENT DINNER AND CONCERT COMPANIONS.
3. Steve Carlson: WAY hotter in person. (Srsly, I have seen pics of him several times before and been very head-tilty about his sexy popularity, but now? I totally get it. Whew.)
4. Christian Kane: also (unsurprisingly) very hot in person, especially when all sweaty and earnest/dirty by turns (and singing songs about riding things, ngggh, I need to track down that song YESTERDAY--something about "I'm not a white knight" or something? Can anyone hook me up?). Also liberally used the word "fuck," which I always approve of. Also is surprisingly REALLY REALLY ADORABLE, just having the time of his life up there, with his dorktastic dancing and air guitar and half-shy smiles, in a way that makes you want to squish him up and put him in your pocket. D'AWWWWWWWW. (He is also fairly tiny, height-wise, but there are really excellent things going on in the arm/shoulder/chest region that are not at all tiny. YUM.) I seriously think Christian Kane may actually rival Paul Gross for Most Awesome and Thoroughly Enjoyed Life. Like, he has a job he loves, working with people he loves, and who clearly love him (more on that in a minute, but watching Beth Riesgraf totally ROCKING OUT to the band, and both of them exchanging these little affectionate smiles, was one of the most delightful things I've ever seen), AND he gets to play his music and have people show up and cheer and sing along, AND he gets to watch hot go-go dancers while he's doing it (more on that in a second, too). PRETTY AWESOME LIFE. I think Paul gets the edge because of the beautiful wife and children, whereas Chris is single (and, from the sounds of it, definitely looking), but it's only a slight edge, because...
5. Christian and Steve: TOTALLY BOYFRIENDS. Steve: seems to be very much aware of this. Christian: not so much. But holy crap. They are so dialed in to each other, it's ADORABLE. They also had a total domestic spat onstage, revolving around Steve tuning Chris' guitar against Chris' will ("It was fine until you fucked with it!"); that was equally adorable. And it all wrapped up in a really ridiculously cute and heartfelt Steve-hanging-off-Chris'-neck gentle tacklehug/pseudo-headlock from behind that was just AWWWWWWW. AWWWWWWWWWWW. YOU GUYS ARE REALLY REALLY CUTE. <3
6. The lead guitarist (Jason, I think his name is?): REALLY SUPER AWESOME. Brought enough rock to the country to give me something to hang on to in every song, and took some killer solos. VERY pleasant surprise. (Also, Christian seemed convinced that the best way to elicit a truly great guitar solo is to apply frequent and energetic ass-slaps to the guitarist in question. Either that, or it was just punishment for the one time Jason totally cockblocked Christian when Chris was moving in for some little spate of dorktastic slashtasticness with Steve. Difficult to say, really.)
7. The House Rules: totally as awesome live as I would have hoped, EEEEEEE. And I really liked most of the other songs, too, and it turns out that Rattlesnake Smile benefits immensely from red lights and a smoke machine and go-go dancers. No, srsly.
8. Beth Riesgraf: TINY AND INSANELY ADORABLE. I mean, her smile lit up the whole freaking club, omg. And she and John Rogers ended up squishing behind us to get to the center of the crowd (the better to rock out adoringly), so they both totally touched me. It was excellent. Also, Chris called out that John Rogers was there, and Rogers kind of tried to laughingly duck away (because there was a lot of squee; the audience was clearly AT LEAST 70% fangirls) and Beth practically jumped on his back to keep him in place. IT WAS SO ADORABLE. Like, that pure unfettered GLEE that Parker summons sometimes? Beth just RADIATED that the ENTIRE TIME. And she was wearing basically no makeup and her hair in a ponytail and she was pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen. (Yeah, I sort of fell in love with her, some more. WHAT IS YOUR POINT.) Also in attendance: the swoonworthy "wall of man" (tm me_maneuver) that is Aldis Hodge, along with his exceedingly pretty girlfriend. We only saw them briefly, as they, too, squished right behind us to get through the crowd (seriously, we were apparently standing in the EXACT perfect squishing-by spot, it was AWESOME), but even a brief Aldis Hodge sighting is quite something to behold. And my Leverage OT3, all in the same place, being all cute and supportive! THANK YOU, UNIVERSE, I LOVE YOU, TOO. <3
9. Whatever the opposite of Sophie's Choice is: during the two encore numbers, we all had a hell of a time trying to figure out where to rest our eyes, because we've got Christian Kane (not to mention Steve, not to mention the three other attractive band members) onstage, Beth Riesgraf in the crowd, Aldis Hodge at a table in the back, and hot go-go dancers undulating above us on either side of the crowd. TOO MUCH PRETTY, CANNOT COMPUTE. (Also having trouble stretching his eyeballs to encompass the many delights of the scene was Chris, who was totally appreciating the go-go dancers in a way that was not at all skeevy yet was very, very obvious. It was really fucking adorable. Seriously, HIS LIFE IS AWESOME. And I'm so happy for him! <3)
10. $10 cover (which I did not have to pay, as it turns out, but still), a tank or so of gas, six hours of driving, and a night of very short sleep: SMALL PRICE TO PAY. YAY for exciting, accessible fannishness IN MY BACKYARD, and for delightful fangirls to enjoy it with! ♥ ♥ ♥