Graham and I don’t get many date nights. The last time we spent an entire evening to ourselves was on Valentine’s Day. Last weekend’s date to the Need to Breathe concert, for which Johnnyswim was opening, was a much needed night out for us and one that we looked forward to since I bought the tickets in March. If you have read this blog for a while, you know that we LOVE Johnnyswim’s music. I discovered them in 2013 when the duo were one of VH1’s You Oughta Know artists. At the same I worked at a newspaper and had mornings off to watch music videos before getting ready for the day. We have seen them live four times now: At the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, at the Space in Evanston, at the Vic Theatre in Chicago and now at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island.
It might make some people shake their heads, but we only went to the show for Johnnyswim. Seriously. We also booked the meet and greet VIP package because we knew they wouldn’t be playing for as long as the other times we’ve seen them, and we wanted more time with them. We had previously met them in Phoenix (for free) but this was worth it to us because it’s not like we get date often!
The show was set to start at 7 p.m. with Forest Blakk, and the meet the greet was scheduled to begin at 4:50. We arrived at 4:55 after rushing through Chicago traffic; it took us an hour to get there! We made it, though, and after security we waited for about 10 minutes to be escorted to the general admission pit area, where we would be taking photos with them. Then we waited another 15 or so minutes, but I figured this would happen, and we weren’t mad at all.
We took our opportunity to talk to them about Adelina, seeing them live, giving birth at about the same time (Amanda had their baby girl in April, too.) and about Graham’s job. They were as lovely as ever. After a few minutes of conversation, we said goodbye. It was a short but awesome encounter.
At 7, Forest Blakk took the stage. I had never heard of him, but I enjoyed the songs he played for us. I suggest checking him out!
Johnnyswim’s set was also much shorter than when we have seen them in the past, but again, they weren’t the headliners, so we expected that. We were just grateful for our night out together and to hear them live again.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, they are amazing live. If you have a chance to see them in your area, do it! You can thank me later.