Chasing Arrows at The Point

Friday night, after seeing (500) Days of Summer at the Kimball with Zach, I met up with my friend Suz, who is currently living in Newport News, to go see a Chasing Arrows show. Suz is friends with these guys (they're from NN) and in fact she lived with Joe (the drummer) and Nate (lead guitarist) for a few months. I had met Joe on several occasions before, and Nate once, briefly. First we went to Taco Bell, then we got gas and headed over to Gloucester Point. It was really close by, in fact, only about 15 minutes via the Colonial Parkway. I had a little trouble finding the venue, The Point, because it was disguised as a different name (Olivia's) since it was a restaurant by day. We got there and sat at the merch table and I met the rest of the guys: Graham (lead singer), Walter (guitarist/keyboardist), and Tate (bassist).

above: L-R - Nate, Graham, Walter, a tiny bit of Joe, and Tate

I stole some of their fries and then they started playing. We were sitting right in front of the stage and I really should have accepted the offer to borrow earplugs from Joe. Oh well. You live and learn. They played 3 sets, so we were there for about 5 hours in total (woah). The bar was really smoky so my eyes got irritated.

above: Nate, Graham, a little of Joe, a little of Walter

Despite those complaints, it was totally worth it. They were great, and I ended up buying a CD (actually guys IOU $10 - soon, I promise). They had some great covers, like "Inside Out", "Hurt", a couple Foo Fighters songs, "Dani California", and other songs that I love.

Graham, Walter, and Tate

Also their original stuff was good, too. I like that they occasionally throw in some keyboard action. Overall they sound quite good. I like their album that I bought.

Nate, Graham, Joe, Walter

More about the overall experience of the concert: there was this skanky girl dancing up on a bunch of guys, and at one point she got in front of the stage, pulled up her shirt a little, and was pointing down her pants. Classy. There was also a guy really trashed, trying to dance seductively I suppose, but his beer gut was just not that attractive... ha ha. Suz and I were called cute or attractive or hot by a number of gentlemen (or some not so much), and at one point Graham actually pinched my cheek. I thought, is this for real? Like, really happening? It was. A girl walked in at one point with this atrociously furred white boots (Suz: how many animals had to die for those ugly boots?). I was told my dancing was too scandalous for this conservative bar, in what may or may not have been an epic fail attempt at flirting. Basically, it was a lot of fun and highly amusing but there were indeed a few really trashy people there. But every once in a while it's fun to watch people like that, no?