Hail, hail the gang's all here: Barcelona Absolutes Reunion Show

Last November, I was so excited to hear one of my favorite bands Barcelona was putting on a reunion tour. It had been about three years since both guitarist Chris Bristol and bass player Brian Eichelberger left the group for personal reasons.  Now, they were joining Barcelona for a limited tour to perform their first album Absolutes in its entirety. 

That's Chris on the left and Brian E. on the right, with Rhett Stonelake, front man Brian Fennell and Branden Cate in between them on the poster above.  Since I already had guest list privileges, I didn't have to worry about buying tickets.  On the other hand, when news of a VIP meet and greet option appeared a couple months later, I certainly couldn't miss it!  I promptly bought my ticket for that.

Since I couldn't find anyone to accompany me, I ended up going solo.  I left Bellingham early last Friday (the 26th) to beat the Seattle rush hour traffic and got to The Crocodile around 4:00 pm. That gave me lots of time to enjoy a leisurely dinner at the club's Back Bar.  Happy hour pizza!

At 6:00 pm, the Barcelona manager doled out VIP badges to the 20 of us super fans waiting to see them.  As we entered the club's music room, Barcelona was on stage getting ready for their soundcheck.  I walked toward the stage and when Brian F. spotted me, he waved and said, "Hi, Wynne!"  Branden saw me and also waved.  It was wonderful to see the gang back together again!  And, it was thrilling to hear them play together again, too.  They did a few songs for their soundchecks, including one of my favorite songs off the Absolutes album, Colors.  

After the soundchecks, we filed upstairs to hang out with Brian F. for awhile. Brian started things off by asking everyone to introduce themselves.  I found it funny when Brian introduced me to the group.  They were probably wondering who I was to get the special mention.  Brian chatted with us, did a little a little Q & A, and performed a couple of songs with his acoustic guitar. 

When we were done with that, it was back downstairs to pick up an Absolutes T-shirt and tour poster, and get a Polaroid pic with Brian F., Rhett and Branden.  I didn't know they still have Polaroid cameras.  Anyway, the photo came out nice...boy, I'm short!

Everyone also got their posters and anything else they wanted autographed.  But, the fun wasn't over yet.  There was still the concert itself.  I met up with a couple of friends I knew from previous concerts and got a spot near the front of the stage.  The opening act was the San Diego band, The Young Wild.  

I had never heard of them, but they were OK.  It was nearly 10:00 pm when Barcelona hit the stage.  I had asked Brian F. during the upstairs Q & A if they planned to play Absolutes in the same order as on the album, and he said Yes.  So, the set list is as follows, with a few add-ons.

Falling Out Of Trees

It's About Time

Lesser Things

Colors

Come Back When You Can

Get Up

The Takers

First Floor People

Response

Faded

Stars

Numb

Hey Jude (Beatles cover)

Please Don't Go

Time To Mend (iTunes exclusive)

Encore:

Rich Girl (Hall & Oates cover)

For an hour and a half, I enjoyed every minute of Barcelona's awesome music.  I had heard some of the songs played live in past shows, but there were a few that I hadn't.  It was quite amazing to hear much of the crowd singing along to the songs.  Barcelona has quite the following, especially in Seattle...the concert was sold out.  When the show ended, I hung around to meet with the guys.  Chris and Brian E. remembered me, even though it had been three years...yeah, I can be a bit hard to forget at times.  They signed my poster and gave me a hug.  I also got my goodbye hugs from Rhett, Branden and Brian F.  I didn't want the magical night to end, but all good things eventually do.  Plus, it was midnight, and I had a long drive home.  The trip was made easier by the sweet sounds of Barcelona playing on my car stereo.  And, yes, I was singing along.