Switchedfeet and Orange Peels

First, I must give many kudos to the staff at The Orange Peel. Most assuredly the best venue staff I have ever had the pleasure of being served by. The venue was clean, the staff were efficient, friendly, and helpful. It was good enough for me to seek out the manager after the show to lavish compliments on them. Thumbs up, Orange Peelers!

The night started out later for me than at my previous Switch experiences. My friend and I decided that we would arrive right around the time doors were to open. We didn't want to stand out in the cold wind too long. As we walked down the street to the venue, who should walk towards us, but the incredible Jerome Fontamillas. "Oh, and there's Jerome!" I said out loud. He looked up at us with surprise, and I felt badly since I think he was trying to be the Secret Asian Man, and I had just blown his cover. "Hi" from him. "Hi" from us, and then everyone went about their business like nothing had happened.

The Will Call line was very short, so we got our tickets quickly. I had an extra one for a friend that couldn't make it because of car trouble. I had tried to give it away all day, but for this concert all fans had been responsible and gotten tickets beforehand. So, I got the ticket and ran up and down the line trying to get rid of it. Finally one of the stellar venue staff showed me to a couple who was hoping for tickets. They had purchased one, but needed another. I gave them mine. They were so happy, and it made me feel good that it hadn't gone to waste.

An interesting crowd in attendance at this (my 3rd) Switchfoot show. Clean cut youths with just a very few of the rest of us added in. There were a large number of what I like to call "Concert Drop-offs"; meaning, those kids who are old enough to go, but too young to drive, so the have to get dropped off by mom and dad. I almost felt as though I should find a place to quickly dye my hair black and get 16 body piercings just to add interest, but....there just wasn't time. Besides, I got enough stares and comments at my large baby belly to compensate. I guess pregnant women don't go to concerts much - who knew?

In spite of their mild appearance, the crowd proved to be an active and vocal one. Heads banged, bodies surfed, hands clapped, and voices gave their best attempts at getting lost. Craziness prevailed.

Copeland came out at 8pm on the dot. You can only expect amazing things from bands who are on time, and I was pleased. They were stellar! There was of course the 3% jerk factor present who would scream out things like, "Play FreeBird" or "We want VeggieTales". But other than that, the crowd really dug them. I had never heard them before and was impressed with their tight sound. The lead's voice was perfect, and they seemed to have a professionalism that many openers don't have. They were a great band, and they hung out with fans at their merch table after their set. I think I may have seen several memebers of the band in the crowd for the Switchfoot portion of the night, but I'm not sure.

Switchfoot came out with an opener of "Dirty Second Hands". Not my favorite song on the CD, but I loved this song live. They had added stuff and switched stuff around on a lot of the songs, so even though I have heard them perform most of them live, they still sounded different. Jon's voice was in great condition, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Jerome enjoyed the lively kids that were right in front of him, and Drew came to the front of the stage a lot.

My view of the stage included a great view of Jerome and his space equipment (aka. keyboards and samplers). Drew was nicely visible at times, and even Chad could be spotted often. Jon was hidden most of the time by a giant human to my right, and Tim.....only his vibrations could be felt through the wooden floor, but I assume that he was there. It was a nice view, though 3/5 is not bad!

At one point during the show, Jon walked out into the crowd followed by a string of lights that was passed back and forth over our heads. I watched the guys on stage most of the time during that song, and it was fun to see them taking it in from a bird's eye view. I love to watch the band when they think the audience is focused somewhere else - you tend to see them come out of their "we're on stage" shells.

As always, the guys did their thing with excellence. They can take a crowd and create a "community" as they call it. I believe that this is a divine gift. It is amazing how they can approach a group of rag-tag, smelly, sweaty, and broken people, play them a few songs, and suddenly we all feel like a million bucks. It's the main reason that I keep going back.

After the concert was over, my friend and I went to the merch table to get our other friend a CD. She had been really down, and we thought that would help to boost her spirits again. After we got it, we decided to see if we could get it signed for her, so we went out to wait. Chad came out first and was immediately flocked, but then Jon came down the stairs and I was able to get him to sign it and write her name on it. He got very excited when I asked him to write "For Emily" on it. "Emily is my favorite name!!" he said brightly. His wife's name is Emily. As a wife, I love to see husbands get excited about the women that they have married. Besides all that, my friend was very touched that we did that for her.

We thanked him for coming and then left him to all the other fans that were there to see him. Then we walked down the street to get something to drink. While we were sitting there, Jon and Jerome came in and started the acoustic after show for a small crowd. It was nice to see them interacting in a more intimate setting. I know that they must have been tired, but they interacted with everyone without acting rushed or inconvenienced. Very gracious people.

A great show, and I was even home before 2 am!! Perfect.