Road trip rendezvous with Barcelona

Well, as promised, here are the details of my activities after yesterday's NCIS: Los Angeles set visit.  By the time I left Paramount Studios, it was 6:00 pm and rush hour was still in full swing.  I immediately got caught in heavy traffic to the freeway and beyond.  My GPS was working hard to speed up my trip, directing me off and on different roads.  It was about 7:30 when I finally reached The Observatory in Santa Ana.  After getting my guest list pass, courtesy of my Barcelona friends, I entered the club to the sounds of the first opening act, Erland Wanberg.  The music was pretty good, but I was really waiting to hear the band I drove 42 miles for.  At around 8:30, Barcelona took the stage.  Brian Fennell was playing electric guitar, Branden Cate was on the keyboards, and of course, Rhett Stonelake was on drums. 

They played a bunch of new songs, a couple of old ones, and a cover tune.  Here is the set list, courtesy of Branden.

Fall In Love (new)
On And Off (new)
Background (new)
Fast Car (Tracy Chapman cover)
Slowly
Last Night (new)
Paper Lion (new)
Less Than Two

After their set, I retreated to a smaller room where they had the merchandise table set up.  I waited for the boys to show up so I could chat with them.  When they did, I had a nice long conversation with Branden, who is the newest permanent member of Barcelona.  I also talked to Brian and Rhett, as the featured performer Andrew McMahon took the stage in the main room.  I wasn't much interested in actually seeing him...I could hear the music quite well from my vantage point.  I much preferred to socialize the the Barcelona guys. 

At one point, I told Brian that I noticed they had a new Barcelona T-shirt.  We walked over to the merch table, which was staffed by Bellingham musical artist, Jesse Morrow. Brian produced Jesse's debut album, and he was helping out his Barcelona buddies on their tour.  Jesse also designed the new Barcelona shirt...pretty talented guy!  After getting the size of shirt I wanted, I was prepared to pay for it when Brian gifted it to me.  How sweet of him!  I guess such strong loyalty has its perks?  I got a photo with the guys to top off my perfect evening.