So much joy!

I met the one of my obsessions and loves of my life on Thursday night. I had seen him once before in February, but this was a millions times better because it was intimate, and I was less than a metre away from him for an hour, and got into gaze into his eyes for the same amount of time as he serenaded me.

I am talking about James Keogh aka Vance Joy, one of the most talented and gorgeous music talents in Australia. This guy has it all. He is charismatic, funny, tells a good anecdote, has mad guitar skills, writes sentimental lyrics, and a voice that makes me never want to listen to any other artist ever again.



Doors opened at 7:30, so my friends and I arrived at 7 and were one of the first in line. This meant that we got prime front row viewing. Really awkward, but from where I was standing and with the height of the stage being less than a metre, when I raised my head only slightly, my eyes were at crotch level. I NEVER MEANT IT TO BE THAT WAY AND EVERY TIME I LOOKED UP MY EYES WERE IN THE GENERAL CROTCH AREA AND I NEVER MEANT TO I'M SO SORRY!!!!

James played classic favourites, such as "Play With Fire" and the Triple J Hottest 100 #1 song of 2013 "Riptide", some new songs, and a few covers. There was a really funny anecdote he told us about his uncle Grant, how and he always says these very inspiration and heart-felt speeches at family dos. After one such speech, James got inspired to write a song based on the speech, and then called his dad all excited about his song and said "that Grant is a gold-mine for songs", to which his dad replied "you mean that Lynard Skynard song?". He then dedicated the song "My Kind of Man" to his uncle Grant.

Another hilarious moment was when they were playing a cover of the song "Because I Love You", and half-way through, James forgot the next chord and had to stop. He then continued playing, but then forgot the lyrics. He had to stop completely, laughing, drink some water, and continue playing and singing while still chuckling!

At the end of the show, James announced that he would be at the merch table signing stuff and taking photos. WOOOOO!!! There was a huuuuuge line up, so we decided to go talk to his drummer, who looked like Luigi. Best decision ever. He's hilarious. We got a bald stage hand to take a few photos of us.

Us with Luigi aka Edwin

When we went to line up, I had all these things I had in my head that I wanted to talk to him about. However, there was a bouncer who stood in front of us, and said there would be no more photos after the girl he was standing behind. I was about to cry. There were only 6 of us in the line behind him. We argued that surely there could be at most 6 more photos. He kept refusing, but as soon as he saw me getting a bit teary, and quickly let us slip by him and into the line. PHEW!

When I finally got to meet him, I almost forgot all my conversation starters! But then I looked down at the set list I scored and wanted him to sign, and I remembered that he didn't sing "Dancing in the Dark". During the set, I was SO upset when I saw "Dancing" on the set list but he didn't play it. So I told him so, because it's one of my favourite songs, made even better because Ben Howard did a beautiful cover, which I also told him about. We then went back and forth and said how amazing Ben is, and how James opened for him at one of his shows. I like to think we fangirled over Ben Howard. As he was signing my copy of his EP "Gold Loves You When You're Dancing", he asked what my name was, and I spelt it out for him. HIS VOICE SAID MY NAME!!!! HIS HANDS WROTE MY NAME!!! GAHHHHH!! He asked if it was Japanese, and of course I said no, because it's Chinese BUT DAMN ME I SHOULD HAVE SAID YES!!! He mentioned (I think) that he did Japanese at school (maybe I imagined it *shrug*)??

My name...MY NAME...HIS HAND!!!! *fangirl gasping for air*

We're such a cute couple! 

My face was so not ready for the photo, and it seems like neither was his...BUT THIS WILL BE OUR WEDDING INVITE PHOTO!!!!!

I'm so excited for James to release his new music, especially "Wasted Time" and "Red Eye". Yes James, we can talk in the morning. And the song "Georgia"...plz, it is so about me, he just couldn't be obvious about it...

The show was opened by Teeth & Tongue, and Gossling. Both beautiful women with unique voices, and some fantastic songs. Definitely worth checking out.

Vance Joy setlist:
(with band)
From Afar
Play With Fire
Red Eye
Georgia
Snaggletooth
(solo)
We All Die / Dancing (didn't play)
My Kind of Man
All I Ever Wanted
(with band)
Emmylou
It's Because I Love You
Wasted Time
Riptide