San Antonio & Steel Train

07/16/11

Jack's Mannequin with Steel Train, Lady Danville, & River James

Backstage Live- San Antonio, TX


Steel Train doing their thing during Road Song (Photo courtesy of Erin)


Me and Erin took a little drive to San Antonio one hot weekend in July. We stopped at this awesome restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives called The Cove, best fish tacos of my life.

We make it to Backstage Live in time to score a front row spot, (albeit off center.) We chatted up some nice older fellows, one who was bringing his daughter and her friends, the other who was already a little drunk and really into Jack's Mannequin. The latter ended up buying us each a beer, and in hind sight we probably shouldn't have drank them? But we were fine and roofie-free! Yes!

River James were first; they had good energy but I don't plan on pursuing them any further. Lady Danville were next, and they were such a joy to watch! I had never heard of them before, but they all had such cute charisma and all had some pretty great singing skills. They also did a well executed cover of MGMT's "Kids." I ended up buying a couple of the CD's they had available at the merch table, but in my humble opinion they sounded a lot better live than they did recorded.

(My) main attraction was up next... Steel Train!! Their intro music included another Tegan and Sara song, so I already knew it was going to be a great show! And it was! They played:
1. Firecracker
2. Bullet
3. Touch Me Bad
4. You are Dangerous
5. Alone on the Sea
6. Road Song
7. American Girl (Tom Petty Cover)
8. S.O.G. Burning in Hell

My favorites of the night were (to no surprise) Touch Me Bad and S.O.G. You haven't lived until you can sing the "fast part" along with Jack during Touch Me Bad at the top of your lungs. Fun set, and I look forward to seeing them again (and again, and again...).  Some fangirl pictures are below.  (We also got to meet Jack's awesome sister, Rachel Antonoff.)

Daniel & Me

Jack & Me

Me & Jon

Me & Erin :)

Jack's Mannequin took the stage next. They played a long set (and deservedly so!). I'm a HUGE fan of Andrew McMahon's former band "Something Corporate" but I was (am) only slightly familiar with Jack's Mannequin. That band was jamming, let me tell you! Andrew gave it his all that night, so much energy. He was just breaking it down dancing while his band was jamming away. What an inspiration! You should do yourself a solid and check them (and Something Corporate and Andrew's story) out. I was happy to hear the two songs I knew: Dark Blue and The Mixed Tape. Another song I really enjoyed was Swim. Jack's fans were so enthusiastic and loving; it really enhanced the show and put forth a great atmosphere for a concert!