Kim Says

The day finally arrived when off we all went to Atlanta to see Butch Walker! 6 Twenty-Somethings showed up at my door for our great adventure together! Hubby and I took two roommates and Boy drove with Gal Pal and Newly Engaged.  We checked into the DoubleTree Hotel in Buckhead and found our rooms to be quite superb, especially for the great price afforded by Hotels.com.  We started out with a drink at the hotel bar:  

After a quick outfit change we headed out to scope out our surroundings. Two of the kiddie-boos were Butch concert virgins and a few had never set foot on the MARTA.   

Two stops on the red line and we are in The Arts Center District of Midtown. We stop into a place called the Madison Grill for dinner and a beer. The service was slow and awkward, but good thing we had two hours to kill so no stress involved.   

Our venue, Center Stage, was just a block away from the restaurant. What an excellent venue! If you ever get the opportunity to see a concert in this theatre setting, you will be quite satisfied with the seats, the floor, the sound and lighting. There are several bars all around the lobby area to grab a drink or sit in a quiet spot and the bathrooms have attendants, so it’s acceptably clean. I wish I could share photos of Butch Walker but the venue does not allow flash photography. The opening act was Jesse Malin.

BUTCH DID NOT DISAPPOINT! He started off his set in a one-man band fashion. He invited audience members onto the stage, he brought band mates from The Lets Go Out Tonights onto the stage and he even brought out the members of the Marvelous 3 (a rare and jaw dropping experience). It was a great concert that lasted over 2 ½ hours. There were sing-alongs and corny jokes and one ass in the audience who would not stop screaming, “I love you Butch!” (it was a guy mind you) until finally Butch said “I love you too now shut the fuck up so I can sing”.  Cheers abounded! There were new songs, cover songs, old songs and classics! The evening finally ended sometime just before 1 a.m. with an everlasting gobstopper version of Canyons. The audience was put to work singing harmony and even though he walked off stage we kept on singing. He did come back, twice, but finally waived Goodbye and the house lights came up.

The following day we went swimming at a relative’s house who resides just outside of ATL and enjoyed a great cookout as well. Ridiculous pool games and much sun bathing enjoyed by all.