Huge thanks to Jenie for sharing her account of the 100 Monkeys shows she attended in Texas!
Its a long review but VERY AWESOME!
Holy cow! what an amazing trip!!! 5 days, 5 cities, 6 shows all with my monkeys!!
The trip started on Tuesday 1/5 in Dallas at The Loft. Deja and I got there early and got great spots for the show! amazing rocking out happened. Jackson personally took the LPS monkey I brought for him (offered by my 8yr old daughter from her personal collection)!!
The crowd was smaller than I expected, but good. They were awesome, we were all happy. Hung out for a bit after the show, but got kicked out with everyone else after talking to Marty for a bit (Marty is the banana…he will be talked about again. Marty rocks, love the banana, respect the banana!!!)
we got out to the parking lot and were so pumped! we had to see them…meet them, get a picture. then, like a beam of light from heaven, there is was: their tour van (cue angles singing)
we moved the car closer to it and not 2 min later, out comes Jared and Marty to load up. we waited for a bit (not wanting to inturpt their work) then finally got out and went over. We talked to each of the guys and both got a great pic with Jackson. We were chatting, hanging out and my LPS monkey came up. I told Jackson how it was my daughters idea, but that they’d get one for the next 4 shows, as I was following them around the great state of Texas. They all thought that was awesome and thanked me for being such a dedicated fan. (LOL stalker!!)
Then Jackson asked if i had gotten a keychain and when I said no he said “would you like this one” and held one out to me. I said “i’d LOVE that one” and so he gave it to me. we left for home on a high!!
A quick stop at the store to make sure I had enought LPS monkeys and then home to sweet dreams…
I got up and got headed to Houston at 11:30am on Wednesday. I arrived at my girls Ginnys and we hung out and finished getting ready, then onto Cactus Records for a quickie (lol) acoustic show and signing. They guys played like 4 songs and talked with the crowd, then lines up for an sutograph signing.
Ginny, Larissa, Crystal and I left and headed to meet Yara and kathryn at Warehouse Live for the real show. we got there early and the line was not that long yet. We got in and got great spots. this is where I met a whole slew of TMs that i had not yet met as well as some awesome 100Monkeys fans just as crazy as me! Jennifer S and her hubby Gene and Jen Jones became road buddies later on in San Antonio!
The show started with 2 opening bands, the second of which had a similar sound to 100M. it was a great show once the guys took the stage. They played for nearly 2 hours and then after all the under ages got kicked out of the club, they came back and jammed with the 2nd opening act for another hour totes improptu style!! I met Martys BFF from back in the DC area, Chris. what a nice guy! we hung out and chatted about DC (where i grew up) until the guys came out to break down and load up) we sat around talking to them forever!! Got some great pix and talked about my LPS monkeys LOL. No naming names, but for some of us it was past time to go, so we pulled away and left on a high!
Thursday morning, I got up and got ready to head to Candice’s for the Austin Waterloo show. the cold front had hit big time and it was freezing!! I got to Candices just before 3 and by 345 we were headed sowntown. we had planned to get there an hour or so before doors, but b/c of the cold, that didnt matter as they were already letting people in.
We ran into the guys just getting there and I offered help with unloading. I was told (J.Rad) he’d get in trouble for making us work !. I talked breifly to Uncle Larry then headed inside to the warmth. Being a record store sho, it was small,but we could still see enough. I was not close enough to personally hand any of them the LPS Monkey #3, but they were doing a signing after.
they played 6-7 songs (plugged in) and talked with the crowd a bit before starting the line for the “meet and greet”. Candice, Nancy, Amy, Maranda and I were at the front of the line. I have a ton of sigs from them, but needed to give them the monkey, plus Deja asked if there was anyway I could get her a CD signed, so thru the line I went. As these things go, you dont get just a whole lot of time to chat, but I took up a lot of time by comparison LOL.
Ben J snagged the LPS monkey (with the scarf) and said “this ones mine!” . They thought it was so awesome I kept bringing them! I tld them 5 guys…5 cities, 5 monkeys…they would all get one in the end
I asked Ben G if they planned to play “LDF” at any of he shows, then told him to answer yes…so he did! He asked when and where so I said the next day in McAllen. He asked Jackson “hey man, is that cool?” and J looked at me and said “anythig for you, darlin” OMJ!! i could die. After we got thru the line, Candice bought the guys a Leslie magnetic set and asked me to give it to them…but i made her do it LOL. I told her I would tell them (after) to put it on the trailer LOL at the SA show, I saw a Leslie on the side of the van…
The show was early so over early,so rather than stay the night, I went ahead and headed on to Harlingen to the old house for the McAllen show friday night…
So i just kinda puttered around for the morning, freezing my butt off. I left for McAllen early to get there early to get in line. its The Valley and i didnt expect many to be there (thinking they would not know who 100Monkeys was) but boy was I wrong!!!
Got there an hour and a half before doors and there was already a long line! It was so cold, the shuttled us into the alcove of the joint to wait. First they let in all the ppl with tix, then the ppl with will call and finally the ppl who needed to buy tix…that was me
In true JJ fashion, I made some crowd friends and still got a spot I was happy with . I got plugged by the ppl around me on how to meet them, what were they like, how were the other shoes, etc…I was happy to share my knowledge.
There were two opening bands (again) and the crowd was rareing to go…mostly “Jasper” or Twilight fans, the pushing, shoving and surgeing started durning the first band…by far this was the largest crowd and the largest venue. Holding prolly 600+ it was packed wall to wall! when the guys finally came on…OMJ you can not imagine the chaos!! Poor guys were half blind from all the flashes! The show was great. I felt like I was 1 of 10 singing along, but hey, whatever gets the guys out there to listening ears…im all for it! bc if you have ever seen them live, you know how infectious they are!! I was able to squeeze up enough to hand off the LPS Monkey to Jared and it took its usualy spot on the keyboard then my moment came (lol).
Jackson announces that they had had a request for an “older song” in austin the day before…”this song is called LDF and its for JJ, our biggest Texas fan” *swoon* looked right at me saying it…I could have died happy right then and there!
The song was fantastic live (first time to get to see it live) and i was in heaven!! They played several more song, including an “improv” song of Happy birthday to a gal named Monica who was right behind me. As they were heading off stage, Jared reached over and handed me the set list with LDF on it
They came back for an encore and played another 3 or 4 songs including “KeepAwake” (a personal fav). After the show, a rush of the crowd tried to get backstage, so the guys said they’d come out to do a signing for a bit. I hung around talking to some ppl and (lol) helping out a bouncer. Then Ben J, Uncle Larry and Jackson came out to start taking down and packing up. Ben J came over to me and started talking…he said he felt bad that until Jackson said my name he didnt know what it was and that was so bad of him since I was such a dedicated fan. So he extended his hand and said “hello, I’m Ben. Its so nice to officially meet you, JJ” and held onto my hand forever! we talked about how they chose the opening bands and how many would be opening the next night at the SA show. We talked about their travles and how Jared was starting to not feel well
We just chatted about a lot of stuff. Then i sadi i needed to go so they could work and get on the road and get some rest. Got a quick shot with the 3 of them in which Jackson put his chinon my head and after the pic, ne nuzzled his nose in my hair and said it smelled so good. So i picked up a lock of his and put it to my face/nose and said so did his LOL
off to Harlingen to sleep and dream….
Took off for San Antonio at about 10:30am the next day. We got there 45min from doors and the line was long and it was cold! They opened doors late and we had to be broken up b.c jenn d and I had will call but Ginny and Monique needed to buy tix still. I found Jennifer, Gene, and Jenn J at the front of the line (of course!) and made sure they knew to save 4 spots
Openeing guy was great (SHAWN!!!) and the 2nd band was rockin! the vibe in the place was electric and the place was packed (minus all the pushing, thank god!) it was my fav show! (ok, its a tie with Houston…ill be honest) they really worked the crowd, Ben J took my LPS monkey (per his request when we talked in McAllen…he said he felt left out i hadnt personally given him one LOL) and Jackson ‘personally” thanked me during the Thank You song lol
we hung out for a bit after the show, but they werent coming out would have been nice to say my so-longs as this was my last show, but i was so lucky in all the times i got to hang out and chat with them all so I wasnt gonna be greedy!
Finally home on Sunday and going through withdrawls. I really did have the time of my life! I was so fortunate to be able to go to so many shows and do and see all I was able to. I love all the friends I went with, all the new friends I made and all the experiences along the way!!
Thanks go to Iris for sharing her review of the 100 Monkeys show at The Launch Pad in Albuquerque!
The opening band, Asper Kourt, was absolutely amazing. They played amazingly well, and I would go as far as saying that they sound better live than they do on their CD. After they finished performing their song, “Don’t Forget,” the drummer quickly sung, “Don’t forget about my Jasper.” The lead singer went on to add that the drummer had “seen the movie 14 times.”
The boys put on an amazing show! They did all their usual songs. A group of girls asked them to play “Ugly Girl” and Graupner went on to ask them what the song was about. When they couldn’t answer, he laughed it off and they went on to play it. Jackson and Graupner told jokes all throughout the show. One joke prompted an audience member to inform them of the difference between red and green chile. The improv song was “Spandex Banana Hammocks.” It originally started out as just “spandex,” but one of the audience members also threw out “banana hammocks” and Jerad really seemed to like the idea. Jackson did want those who posted YouTube videos of the song to include a warning and apology to his mother for the subject matter he’s singing about. The audience chanted for an encore and they obliged with two more songs. Afterward, Jackson invited the audience to join them in Dallas for the concert the following night.
Personally, I have NEVER had so much fun at a concert before. The guys were great about interacting with the audience, they played their hearts out, and seemed to be having a blast while doing so. As they were leaving, I handed a pair of cute/kiddie monkey glasses to Uncle Larry and a pair to Jackson as a belated birthday present. LOL
“It’s not new and it’s not Mexico, but gaw dang it, I like it here!” – Jackson
Check out Iris Twitter and you tube pages for all her photos and videos from the show:
Holly has done it again! She has given us another account of her time at the 100 Monkeys show at The Roxy! Thanks Holly!
So, arriving at The Roxy was quite a treat, you have to pay for parking, unfortunately… but unlike The Viper Room, parking is cheaper. If you ever get the chance to visit this venue, you can valet park in their lot for $5-$7 depending on the time you arrive. Unlike other venues I’ve been to, they advertise with posters outside along the walls on Sunset Blvd. so any passerby may give a look-see.
Upon entering the bar, you pass a tiny “lounge-esque” area near the rest rooms and two open doors. One door leads straight to the bar, the other leads into the stage area. The venue itself is rather large, one of the larger venues I’ve seen them play at. Along the back of the venue, there’s an upstairs lounge area, seemed to be used as a “VIP” section, it was being blocked off by big, burly, body guard types lol This is where the friends and family of the bands were able to relax and have fun. I’m not sure if it was exclusively for such, but I didn’t bother to ask… felt it was none of my business.
The stage is perfect for the boys, it gives them enough room to move around, dance, and be silly… unlike The Viper Room stage, where they don’t have enough room to even fart (but we love The Viper Room ). Within the venue, it seemed to me they had a food and drink window, along with a large bar. I arrived broke, so I wasn’t able to buy anything, but they did have some pretty nice looking specials going on that night. The Absolute came on and rocked the stage, kicked ass, blew the roof off the joint… however you put it… I was happy.
The second band to come up was Lemon Sun Band and they kicked some hardcore booty, too. They have a similar sound to the boys and they added a nice touch to their show. A friend of theirs tap danced on a wooden box rigged with a microphone, she was the instrument. I was amazed at her mad tap dancing skills and give them props for rocking.
Finally, the boys came on stage. They were all rather well dressed, and G wasn’t wearing sneakers for once! They had family in town because of the holidays and I can imagine they wanted to look nice Jackson danced, Jerad rocked, G jumped, Ben pounded on the drums and Uncle was grinning ear to ear the whole night. They sang most of the songs off the album, Grape, and it was a breath of fresh air to actually hear some of the crowd finally singing along.
During the IMPROV segment, Jerad looked around the room, and unfortunately the room seemed somewhat out of it at the time he looked… but an adoring fan next to me shouted, “JERAD!” and he jumped on the chance for that. The look on Ben Johnson’s face was priceless. None the less, they sang a song about our dear Jerad Anderson and it was hilarious. They ended the show with Keep Awake and Ben G threw a few picks out into the audience.
The boys never came back out for an encore, but Jerad came out and signed a few autographs and took a few pictures. All in all, it was an amazing show, the boys were full of energy and enthusiasm. They were surrounded by friends, fans, and family.
Big Thanks to the wonderful Holly for sharing her account of the 100 Monkeys show at The Detroit Bar.
Unfortunately, I cannot give you an accurate review of the entire night, seeing as I arrived very late, around 11pm.
When I arrived, the band before the boys had just finished. I stood to the left of the stage, just in front of the main microphone and Uncle’s bongos.
The bar was a nice, roomy setting, with booth like seats along the back walls with candles lit all around. The “lounge” was near the back of the bar, almost a separate room. The stage was quite low, about knee high, very small and lined with red curtains along the wall. The boys came on stage and the girls swarmed. What was once a roomy, comfortable place to stand, ended up being a sardine can as girls shoved forward to get a closer look at the band. I can’t remember exactly, you’ll want to ask Katie or Aileen the set list, Jerad gave them both a copy. I believe they started the night with Orson Brawl.
The boys played with full enthusiasim and dedication. The show was as energetic as ever, as the boys sang… a few girls surrounding the stage sang along and it became a crowd wide sing along. The first Improv they sang was titled “Tator Tots”… it was hard to decipher, but from what I heard of the lyrics, Jackson worked his magic, yet again. Ben G told his jokes, Jerad made fun of him, Jackson made girls swoon and Ben Johnson kicked ass on his drums!
The guys ended their set and ran back to their hide out backstage and most of the crowd disbursed.
Sad to say for the people who left, the boys returned to jam out a jazz session. During this set, they played their slower, more bluesy songs and it was much more laid back. At one time during the show, Jerad exclaimed, “I’ve got an ailen in my pocket!” and pulled out a tiny plastic Toy Story alien that he placed on the keyboard. It was a cute addition to the band!
While they tuned their instruments, we asked Jerad to make up a song, we suggested “Fruitcake”, given the season… and he agreed.
Sad to say, he had a lot of trouble with it… but Ben G helped him out. It was a priceless moment, seeing Jerad laughing so hard he couldn’t come up with lyrics. At one point, Uncle came up and sang, it was quite a sight. If I’m not mistaken, I believe he sang Champagne and Reefer… but I could be wrong. It was hard to understand him over the bass. No matter, I love watching him get lost in the music.
We all started screaming out for a Spencer Bell song and Ben Johnson came through for us Ben Johnson ended the night with Spencer Bell’s “Violin”. Unfortunately, I can’t report much on the song, I kind of got lost in the music
What a way to end the night! The boys didn’t come back out after the show, although girls waited around.
The show was a fairly good turn out, nothing as crazy as the Grape Viper Room release party, but I’d say a good 40 people showed up for the show. There was arm room, but still crazy screaming… my kind of monkey show
Overall, I felt it was a good beginning to a crazy tour. I wish them the best of luck and can’t wait to see them home in L.A. again!
Do you want to get your hands on some 100 Monkeys Merchandise?
We are running a great competition for European 100 Monkeys Fans!
All you need to do is write your very own improv song. Simple right? Wait, there is a small catch! You need to include the words 100 Monkeys, Europe, The Jungle and Chimps!
Think you can do it? Well if you want to enter, send your song to competition@100monkeys.eu.
The Competition closes on 15th December so that gives you plenty of time to work on a song! After the closing date, we will select the best three songs and post them here on the site for everyone to vote for their favorite. The winner will be the song with the most votes!
The winner will receive the following:
A 100 Monkeys T-shirt (Black with red hat and monkeys falling out)
The Creative Control CD
100 Monkeys Button
The competition is only open to European residents and only one entry per person is allowed.
Traveling 3000+ miles across the Atlantic, lots of money spent and
lack of sleep. It was all worth it because Seeing 100 monkeys live in
Nashville was PRICELESS!
I arrived Friday night just in time to meet everyone at the Newcon
welcome party. There was karaoke, food and lots of alcohol! Meeting
all my fellow monkey junkies was awesome! Moving swiftly on to
Saturday……
Saturday was such a busy day. It kicked off at 9am with a webmaster Q and A session. It was great to get some advice from Heidi who runs theTwilight Facebook page and also Lori and Jenn from the Twilight Lexicon page.
Next we had the actors Q and A session. Kimbra Hickey, Jose Zuniga and Jackson Rathbone were on the panel. They were asked a lot of great and interesting questions and were very honest with their answers.
The music Q and A session followed. We had Uncle Larry , Ben Johnson, The Tin Tin Can, Tom Owens from the Pet Lions and Shaun Fernando who were happy to answer all questions about their music. Forgive my lack of details for what questions were asked. The weekend was long!
During the day there was art work on display from people who had entered The Spencer Bell art contest and there was also a 100 monkeys design a t-shirt contest in which people attending the convention could vote for. ( more about that later). Also Kelly Garrett Rathbone was on hand to show us her art work which was beautiful!
There were photo ops to meet Ned Bellamy, Jose Zuniga and Jackson Rathbone. As you would expect, there was a full room of people waiting to meet Jackson! He was very nice an took time to sign something for everyone, take a photo with everyone and even had a brief chat with each and everyone of us waiting !
Then it was time for the jam session! What I had been waiting for!To
see the band play live for the first time!
All the band were there! It was a very intimate gig and most of the
music played was just made up on the spot! The guys did some
switcharoos and we were even treated to Uncle Larry on the bass!
The jam session was about an hour long and it ended with so many
audience members joining in playing instruments that the guys handed out and a few people even brought their own!
The guys hung around for a while after and took time to say hi to
everyone. It was a special and unique show.
With the jam session over, it was time to head over to the Wildhorse
Saloon to line up for the show!
Whilst in line, I was given the amazing news that my design had won
the 100 monkeys t-shirt design comp! Keep an eye on the bands website for details of how you can get your hands on the t shirt with my design!
A few hours later we were let into the venue and took our places to wait for the show to start.
The Wildhorse is a great venue with a balcony upstairs for those that
did not want to be squished in the crowd downstairs! The show was
packed. It was amazing to see such a huge turn out to see the band!
We were treated to a great performance by the Tin Tin Can. If you have not had a chance to listen to their music or see them perform, check out their latest album on their myspace page!
Then came 100 monkeys! They opened with Ugly girl and were on fire. The order of the other songs they sang, I could not tell you but I know they sang all of these: Orson Brawl, Reaper, Her Sister Becky, Smoke, The Monkey Song, Arizona,The Thank You song, Prayer, Looker,Wings on Fire, The Grocery Store song and a new song that they wrote in Nashville.
After the show we staggered back to the hotel, just in time to wave
goodbye to the guys who were heading back to L.a
Newcon was a small and personal convention and if there is another
one, I urge you all to go!
Thanks to Tim and Vi and everyone else involved for working so hard to make it a big success!
100 Monkeys 100 City tour is on the cards and Jackson himself said in a recent radio interview that the dates would be announced in about a month. So, keep your eyes peeled to 100 Monkeys Official Web Site for updates on the tour! Rumors are abound that some of the dates may include Europe but at the moment, its just speculation. We can only hope right?!
Vancouver Radio Interviews
Whilst in Vancouver, the band did several radio show appearances. You can listen to them by following these links:
What has Nashville got to do with European Monkey fans I hear you say?! Well, I myself am jumping on a plane and crossing the pond over to Nashville for the Weekend of 6th-8th November! Its a dream come true to finally see the band live rather than on you tube! I hope to have a great review to share with you and photos too upon my return!
I will be tweeting updates whilst away so make sure you follow the Monkey junkies on Twitter for the latest news!
The traveling Monkey Junkie a.k.a Theresahas done it again! Provided us with some great 100 Monkeys photos from the shows at Sambucca, The Mint and The Palladium! Check them out in the Gallery!
). Within the venue, it seemed to me they had a food and drink window, along with a large bar. I arrived broke, so I wasn’t able to buy anything, but they did have some pretty nice looking specials going on that night. The Absolute came on and rocked the stage, kicked ass, blew the roof off the joint… however you put it… I was happy.
Jackson danced, Jerad rocked, G jumped, Ben pounded on the drums and Uncle was grinning ear to ear the whole night. They sang most of the songs off the album, Grape, and it was a breath of fresh air to actually hear some of the crowd finally singing along.
