Gaslight Anthem @ Fillmore

I honestly have no idea why The Gaslight Anthem haven't been together for a long time, and I'd kind of given up hope seeing them again.  So to have a tour announced, and Charlotte included, was a plus.  This is the first time I've seen the Gaslight Anthem in 9 years, and I'm pretty excited.  The Gaslight Anthem were the first band I saw when we moved back to Charlotte, they are now the headliner for my 10th show in this city.

I called up work to find out what time they came on, as I'm too old to bother with the openers today, and I walked in and got my spot near the front (to the left) as the band came on stage.

From the start the band looked and sounded good.  45 kicked off the night, and an upbeat tempo got the crowd started on the right foot.  Next was High Lonesome, of my favorite record, The 59 Sound, and I was to get a good amount of it tonight.  Miles Davis and The Cool was a great mid set song.  Then leading into Great Expectations and American Slang had the crowd on a high.  Singer Brian Fallon also had the crowd laughing the night with his take on the best Batman (Michael Keaton) and his good-natured slandering of Robert Pattinson.  Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts was another great song, but I was really impressed by their cover of Pink Floyd's Time (with opener Emily Wolfe).  The '59 Sound sits in my Fave 40 playlist, so to hear it lie again after 9 years, was awesome.  I was a little surpised to then hear The Backseat (I thing 59 would have been the ultimate ender).

As The Back Seat finished I raced up the back to get a vinyl copy of The 59 Sound and was super surprised that as I paid the lights come up.  No Encore.  Still I was just glad that I got to see The Gaslight Anthem again.  Hopefully it won't be another 9 years.

Gaslight Anthem setlist

The Crap Facts:

This is my 486th concert.
This is my 28th concert at Fillmore.
This is my 100th concert in Charlotte.
This is my 119th concert in North Carolina.
This is my 289th concert in the US.
This is my 6th Gaslight Anthem concert.

The Flaming Lips @ Fillmore

So this is the first time I am making the most of my new part job working the box office here at the Fillmore.  A free show, and the Flaming Lips.  Can't go wrong.  I take Mike, Sanders and Ben with me.  And Cam and her neighbors are there, as is Nicole.  Big show for her.  The Flaming Lips are apparently a favorite of Matt's, she has camped herself on the front barricade and surrounded herself with some good friends.

The Fillmore is packed, and made more crowded by the Flaming Lips inflatables in the crowd.  They are playing Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and 2 large inflatible pink robots make it nearly impossible to see the stage.  (and we are on the right side, near the front of the stage).  I don't know much of this album but the show is as great as a Flaming Lips show always is.  For me, obviously knowing only these 2 songs, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and Do You Realize?? are the standouts.

When they left the stage and the inflatibles were taken away, I assumed they'd come back on and do an encore.  But it was a whole other set.  Starting with my favorite song of theirs, She Don't Use Jelly.  A completely different cover of Madonna's Borderline was another highlight for this 8 song set.

Again they left the stage only to come back for a final 3 songs.  One of which, Feeling Yourself Disingergrate, Wayne performed in his bubble, but he stayed on stage and didn't venture out into the crowd, like he did last time I saw them here in 2017. Actually he seemed cautious with a lot of props.  Maybe they had problems last time here, on throughout this tour, and were holding back a bit.  Anywho, another great show from them and I sit and wait until the next time I get to see them.

Flaming Lips Setlist

The Crap Facts:

This is my 485th concert.
This is my 27th show at Fillmore.
This is my 99th show in Charlotte.
This is my 118th show in North Carolina.
This is my 288th concert in the US.
This is my 5th Flaming Lips Show.

Charlotte FC v NYCFC @ Bank of America Stadium

The Boys, A & I were lucky enough to be gifted our neighbor's tickets as they travelled out of town.  Hoping for a big win for Charlotte versus NYCFC.  We have great seats in the last row of the club section, pretty much mid field.  A disappointingly small crowd for a Saturday night (not half the bottom section was full - though as always the supporters section behind the goal was packed to the rafters and providing all the atmosphere).  But you have to expect this with the high price of tickets.

Charlotte FC got off to a good start, with Enzo Copetti finishing off a great move down the right with a simple tap in inside the 6 yard box.  The crowd thought Charlotte had a second, only for it to be ruled offside.  At the ground the crowd did not see the linesman's flag go up, so we were unaware as to why the keeper was taking a free kick afterwards.  No replay was show, nor was there any explanation from VAR, nor announcement at the ground (for Christ sake, they announce when the ball goes out for a corner!).  A weak tackle allowed NYCFC to equalize in the 37th minute, but Copetti got us back in front with a header off a Swiderski corner.  That took us into halftime with a 2-1 lead.

I was thinking the worst when NCYC converted a penalty in the 57th minute after a bad hack in the box.  Were we going to see Charlotte blow two leads?  Apparently not.  An own goal from a header from a Swiderski free kick restored Charlottes 1 goal lead in the 74th minute.  A tricky chance for New York was saved by Kahlina only moments later, and Charlotte survived the last 10 minutes to hold on to a 3-2 win.

I know it says attendance was in the 30,000 mark, but the upper deck wasn't open and the lower bowl was half full at most.  I wonder if that number was closer to 20,000.  The atmosphere tonight came totally from the supporters' section behind the goal.  This is a great group, who don't stop the whole game.  I hope in future games this enthusiasm infects the rest of the crowd.  More wins like this should do the trick.

Charlotte FC 3 (E. Copetti 8, 39, R. Ledezma OG 74) defeated NYCFC 2 (G. Pereira 37, S. Rodriguez Penalty 57)

Crowd:  30,454