Not So Acoustic Xmas

This past fall, my college roomie and BFF Chelsea, invited me to a show for a band called 'The Neighbourhood'. Their hit song, "Sweater Weather" hadn't quite been played on the radio as much so I wasn't as familiar with them but I decided to tag along anyways. They put on a great show at Amos' Southend with 'The 1975' opening among the sea of hipster crowd that went crazy over both bands. I walked away that night with new music to put on my playlist and happy to have spent an evening with Chelsea, something we don't do often enough.

A few months later, I got a text from Chelsea saying that 'MSMR', 'The 1975' and her favorite band of the moment, 'The Neighbourhood', were coming back to Charlotte to be featured in 106.5 The End's "Not So Acoustic Xmas". They impressed me the first go round, so why not go again? We bought our tickets early and were glad with our decision as only a few weeks later, we found out the show was sold out. Weeks went by as we waited for Friday the 13th, the day of the big show. Chelsea found out that not only were all 3 bands doing a show, but hours before hand, a pre-show NODA bar crawl was happening where each stop featured something from each band. I've never been a part of a bar crawl before...so again, why not?! I was allllll in.

First stop was at Heist Brewery. We picked up our Block Party passport as it was essential to win the grand prize of a trip to anywhere in the U.S. to see a favorite band PLUS a meet & greet with 'The Neighbourhood'. A new beer was being revealed that afternoon but both Chelsea and I aren't really beer drinkers and settled for a cocktail instead. Best decision ever. That drink was heavenly, I tell ya, tasting just like a jolly rancher. We sipped on our cocktails and enjoyed 'The 1975' as they played an acousitc set fresh off their flight from England. Once they finished, we scurried on over to stop #2.

Cheers!

Cheers!

The 1975 playing an acoustic set

Stop number 2 featured a meet & greet with 'MSMR' at Growlers. We got our passports stamped and ordered my favorite drink, a Shirley Temple Vodka which I'm pretty sure is now Chelsea's favorite :) We passed up on meeting 'MSMR' but ran into Melissa, an old friend and running buddy of mine from high school. After catching up, our last stop was in sight.

Cheers! (again)

My fave, Shirley Temple Vodka

Ran into my an old friend! Miss you, Melissa!

Next on the list was the Blind Pig where we registered to win a Meet & Greet with the grand finale show of the night, 'The Neighbourhood'. We crossed our fingers hoping to find a text saying we won in the next hour or so. We kept our phones nearby as we played a few games at the bar and grabbed some food. As we were finishing dinner, we both received texts saying that we had won a meet & greet! Chelsea was excited to say the least. We stood in line with the other winners as we waited for the band to arrive. Our turn finally came as we linked arms with the band members, said hello and took a picture. Our night was made and the show hadn't even begun!

Excited to have won a meet & greet! 

with The Neighbourhood

We walked on over to the Neighborhood Theatre and were happy to catch the middle of MSMR's set. This was a new band to me but I seriously enjoyed every song they performed. They had so much spunk and were really grateful to play in Charlotte. Plus the lead singer was wearing a polka dot top. You can never go wrong with a polka dot top.

MSMR

Shortly after 'MSMR' left the stage, 'the 1975' appeared and all the tweens in the front went crazy. I have to admit, I swooned over their English accent too as I snapped a few pictures that were later featured on a screen showcasing popular tweets and photos from the show. 

The 1975

The grand finale featured 'The Neighbourhood' as the crowd grew louder when they took the stage. Their hit song "Sweater Weather" was of course played as I enjoyed the show a little more this time having heard more of their album before the show.

The Neighbourhood

It turns out Friday the 13th had nothing on us. We'll take a meet & greet win over bad luck any day :)