needtobreathe

This weekend we took a trip to Richmond to see one of my all-time favorite bands. 

A couple weeks ago, Needtobreathe put on a contest through Tunespeak. And I won. 

I got 2 free tickets to the show of my choice on their Stomping Grounds Tour, as well as a signed CD and a meet & greet with the band.

I was kind of ecstatic. Lots of squeals, excitement, anticipation.

Saturday was the day. We had already been to 4 concerts, so we knew how great they were. They're unbelievable live, and their new record is due sometime at the end of this year/beginning of next year. 

The best part about this tour is that they decided to play really small venues in the south, sort of to pay homage to some of their favorite clubs that helped them get started, and also because the experience of live music in an intimate setting is hard to beat. 

Enter: the Canal Club in Richmond, VA.

It's tucked away in this really cool, industrial-type cove in downtown Richmond.
We got there really early to get in the VIP line, and the place was pretty much deserted, save for the handful of other souls on the other side of the building waiting to get in.
We took a few minutes to take these photos and to just kind of breathe in the coolness of it all.

Tee (shop!): Needtobreathe, Purse (shop!): Target, Boots (shop!): Urbanog

My outfit is a hodgepodge of gifts and hand me downs.
The dress is one I got from my best friend's closet years ago (with her permission), the leather jacket and the boots are amazing gifts from my mom, and the tank top is actually a Needtobreathe souvenir from the last concert we went to in Charlotte.
I wanted to wear something of the band, while still staying true to the spirit of Frocktober.
It's a pretty funky outfit, but I kind of loved it.

The concert itself was indescribable.
Definitely a high point of my year. Like I said, we've seen them before -- this was our fifth Needtobreathe concert. We have been able to see them every tour since I first fell in love with their music in college -- the first concert we went to was when they were on tour with Train, and Dusty surprised me with tickets for my birthday.
This time was so powerful though, so close (as in, we couldn't hear once we left), so amazing.

The opening band was called Ivan and Alyosha, and I highly recommend giving them a listen! Their albums are on Spotify. Their drummer was at another show that night, so they did the entire set acoustically, and it was pretty incredible. (Have a listen here, here and here!)
We got to talk to them after the show, and they're definitely some of our new favorites! Hopefully we'll get to see them in concert again soon.
And obviously, if you don't know of Needtobreathe...listen to them asap! Start with their new album and work your way backwards.

They wouldn't allow us to bring our camera in (even though everyone else just had smaller cameras hidden in their purse), so the only pictures I have are from my phone, except for the last one of us with Needtobreathe at the meet & greet before the show!
I will never forget it!