Concert Review: Lindsey Stirling pt. 2

#musicmondays

Have you met Lindsey Stirling? Before continuing, you must YouTube her. Watch any music video or performance. Right now.

Isn't she amazing??? 

3 years ago I had the opportunity to attend one of her concerts in Houston, TX. It was amazing and made me want to pursue more styles of music. This was only the beginning.... 

(this computer doesn't have pictures from that concert, but I have one of me in the tour shirt, fangirl!!)

Since that first concert I have had a plethora of life changes; let's fast forward to October 2014. I got to see one of my favorite bands, Sabaton, and loved them even more! I got to see them again (with Nightwish and Delain) in May!!! I was quickly seeing that I am becoming a frequent flier at these rock concerts.

Last week? I finally got to see Lindsey Stirling a second time. And it was awesome.

My "I'm ready to rock" look; did I pull it off? 

This particular tour she wasn't coming to Alabama, so the fiance and I drove up to Nashville on a Tuesday night and arrived to a pretty packed outdoor amphitheater. It was my first time (in a long time, as in, since childhood) to go to an outdoor concert, so I was pretty excited but also a little nervous.

Well, I had good reason to be. It was raining for most of our drive up to Nashville, and due to thunderstorm warnings we actually had to evacuate the venue before the concert could even begin! So we all shuffled to our cars and waited for the all clear (they had heard thunder or seen lightning, so even though it wasn't raining we still had to wait for it to clear out), and then we headed back to our spots on the grass/gravel edge. 

After that little hiccup we had a fantastic time dancing and jumping to some of our favorite music! 

Disclaimer; not my picture, found on twitter

She did a Gamer Medley, including her Assassin's Creed song!! I fangirled SO hard! 

Once again, I've been inspired to work hard at my craft and chase my dreams. I am also truly impressed by Lindsey's musicianship and skills. She is not a trained dancer, and writes her own music, and you know DANCES WHILE PLAYING THE VIOLIN. Come on, that's cooler than anything really. :) 

I'm a dreamchaser, and a music maker. Thank you to the concerts that keep me going. 

I highly recommend attending a Lindsey Stirling concert when she's in your area!! And until then, just YouTube the heck out of her, sound good? 

--

What concerts have you gone to lately? Any summer festivals anyone?

xoxo, Alexandra Anne 

New Beginnings (Ooh, Is That Too Cheesy?)

Ciao, blog world! I've missed you! Now that summer break is approaching I seriously will be committing more time to writing here. I will especially be committed because of all the new things in my life I want to share with you! Phew, it's been a crazy year and it's only April!

I got engaged February 28th

I joined a FANTASTIC company in Jamberry the same day!

I was in an opera at my university (Mozart's The Magic Flute)

I've joined as a coach for Beachbody and will be starting my 21 Day Fix very soon!

I'm going to Europe for a week in June!

Sooooo many of my friends are getting married, and so am I :) so I guess I need to learn how to plan a wedding. I am sure I will be blogging about that journey.

I'm so excited for my fitness journey as a coach and as prep for my upcoming marriage (I want to be a healthy and fit wife!). My fiance is SO encouraging and does a lot of the healthy eating with me! (He also fences regularly, which is just plain hot; if we still dueled nowadays, he would kick butt). We have a phrase to get us through: #committedtothesexy ;)

Showing off my Jamberry nails, my drink of choice, and my gorgeous diamond!

And of course I'm excited for my journey to Europe for the 3rd time! Our university choir will be going to Vienna, Prague, and Budapest! Many many pictures to come ;)

I'm loving Jamberry, and feel wrong when I have naked nails haha. I never used to do my nails (I suck at polish, and it always smudges and chips the day after or DAY OF!) but now I'm hooked. And I love the friendships I've made through this journey of business! It's so much more than that, but it also helps me pay my bills. Crazy stuff.

Oh oh and in May I'm going to see Nightwish (right??) and one of my favorite bands EVER, Sabaton!!! Nashville, we're coming for you!!! (Who knew that this opera chick would love metal? Yeah, it's wonderful) Back in October the man and I saw Sabaton and absolutely loved their show (we already loved their music, turns out they're fantastic performers live too!) so we had to go find them again!

Total fangirl for their lead singer, Joakim <3 <3 <3

Hopefully in June I can go see Lindsey Stirling for the second time; she's truly amazing!! As a musician myself, going to live concerts is very important to me and keeps me going. I feel that we should support these artists who have given their everything for us to enjoy! Music is love. Seriously. Go see a concert. (or come to one of mine ;) )


Have I mentioned how much I love being engaged? It's the best. I have the best man in the world as my fiance and I have a gorgeous ring! So so happy!

So much excitement going on!
Time to study for finals, catch up on blogs, and get back to my journey of life!

xoxo,
Alexandra Anne

Some Lindsey Love

I study classical music. It's what I want to make a job out of someday. This means that most of my concert/show attendance includes operas, orchestras, jazz ensembles, and the occasional choral group. I basically go watch other classical performers.

Well, on February 27th, my concert attendance took a turn. I haven't been to a "rock" or "pop" or "non-classical" concert in...years! (I remember going to Jump5 and ZoeGirl and BarlowGirl as a kiddo....trying to think if I saw anything else "non-classical")

Who shook me out of my classical niche for a night? 

The one and only Lindsey Stirling.

Yeah, she's amazing. Seriously, this show was AMAZING. She reminded me why I want to be on a stage; I want to invoke "the feels" in an audience too! She's super talented, and if you don't already know who she is, well, thank goodness you're reading my blog today because you need to know!! ;) 

^^This was my first Lindsey video, thanks to my boyfriend who sent me the link about a week after it was posted :) :) :)

We followed her vids for about a year when we heard that she was coming on tour! Unfortunately, she wasn't coming to Texas at that point, but she would be where boyfriend is: Huntsville, Alabama. I was super jealous. Well, turned out that she couldn't make that show, which saddened both my boyfriend and myself.
She won him back over though.
Second tour, Spring 2013.
February 25th he went to Birmingham, AL, to see her, and had a fantastic time. I had to tell him to not tell me too much about the concert because I didn't want spoilers for when I saw it!That's right, she came to Houston two days later!

Oh oh oh my goodness the concert was fantastic...I couldn't process it for at least a week. SO wonderful.

If you didn't watch the above video yet, shame on you. That's pretty much what she does LIVE at a show. Yeah, she plays violin and dances and it's just amazing! Oh and she's also a decent singer too, which we didn't know because her music tends to not be lyric based.

She was #8 on YouTube's top 10 videos in the year 2012 for this one:





A lot of my favorite songs of hers don't have videos yet, but that doesn't stop me from rocking out to them ALL the time...yeah, she's awesome.

I had so so much fun at the concert!

My swag ;) Poster, keychain(not pictured), sticker, shirt. Can you say fangirl?

Drew, the drummer! (We got a pic with Gavi, keyboardist, too, but the camera didn't take apparently :( sad day! Gavi had even replied to my tweet on twitter! )

Oh yeah, I met Lindsey and got my poster signed. <3 <3 <3 this was the only pic I got though, as she was tired (we stayed out til midnight waiting for her to come out to the bus) and wasn't sticking around long. 

So yeah, I MET my favorite violinist. And had a great time at the show!

Fun fact: I've loved violinists for almost a decade now, AND I used to play the violin myself. :) (Formerly loved violinists: Hilary Hahn, and Lucia Micarelli, both are still favs!)

I want to be like Lindsey. I want to share what I love with an audience. And hey, she did say to follow our dreams :) :) :)

Here are some more music videos, because you obviously haven't seen enough yet :)

http://lindseystirlingviolin.com/

One Month Later...

Ciao amici! (Hello friends!)

I sincerely apologize for the complete lack of posts this past month; life is too crazy! But Christmas break is close, therefore, I can write more :)

Some quick updates:

*This girl is finishing up her first semester fulltime college living away from home! This means I have 15 credit hours under my belt! (Next semester it appears I will take 13 hours: Music Theory 2, Aural Skills 2, Vocal Diction [French], Piano 4, Voice Lessons, Choir, and American History; super excited!!)

*Next week I head back home to Alabama!!! WAHOO!
*This week I move into my newest place in Houston! WAHOO! (Gonna rent a room in a house! No more dorm life, super duper excited for this change).

*Lindsey Stirling is coming to Houston in February; definitely NEED to go to this concert. She's just amazing. Seriously.

*I love granny smith apples. This isn't new, so it shouldn't fall under my "update" list, but this is  my personal writing space where I make the rules and I can break them! ;)

*Thanksgiving was crazy, busy, but loads of fun! Michael (the boyfriend) came with my family to Edenton, North Carolina to visit the grandparents. My family is a crazy bunch, and I miss them terribly. Our roadtrips are always fun fun fun. :)

*I'm QUITE excited for Christmas; I'm singing at the Christmas eve service at my church (such an honor!) AND I am pretty darn excited to give my people's presents. Seriously. I am just giddy about this :) :) :) (you're gonna love your presents, ya'll, truth!).

*Being healthy is hard. I don't mean to sound whiny, but when you live in a dorm and eat cafeteria food all the time, it is difficult to be healthy. This chick definitely gained a wee bit between orientation to Thanksgiving. I'm trying, ya'll. Trying to get fit and healthy again! Gotta be strong opera gal ;)

*Lately I haven't been a great long-distance communicator, so I feel like a terrible friend. But hopefully ya'll understand, and I promise to write over the break!

*My break is only a little bit over 2 weeks honestly...but I'm okay with this fact. My break ends earlier BECAUSE I come back to Houston a week earlier for opera rehearsal week :) :) :) My first opera with Moores School of Music! (And my 8th opera overall, in a 3 1/2 year period......crazy!)

*God is amazing. Again, not an update, just a fact. :)

*I should probably do my laundry this weekend, I'm running out of socks and undies. (TMI? Apologies. It's all real-talk here).

*I'm a gamer girl. Not an update per se, but I am definitely spending my free time catching up on gamecube and pc games. Just found out that all the original Tomb Raider games are now available on Steam for only $10 each!! Also, I desire more gaming consoles....all I have is my boyfriend's gamecube, which is wonderful, but now I want more ;) Thanks to a music friend here, I also have my own tv! (This is good for study breaks, fyi). So yeah. Gamer girl. This chick. <3

*Music is the hugest blessing in my life lately. On Thursday I woke up very very sick, threw up four times, and had horrid violent dizzy spells. I eventually made it out of my room, and to the music building, because I absolutely had to meet with my pianist. (Friday was my voice lesson final, Thursday was my last chance to practice). Singing was actually what made me feel better! It was the best part of that day, and I am convinced that music is God's personal gift to me. Music is full of healing, and that is a wonderful fact.

So yeah! That's my crazy life in a quick (ish) glimpse :)

Picture time! I'll write more later, promise ;)

xoxo, alexandra anne

The aforementioned Gamecube (well, controllers haha) I'm in a phase. Gamer phase. mhmmm...

Josh's recital; music majors go to a lot of recitals. Since we're random friends, I went to his :)

the man and I on the drive to North Carolina for Thanksgiving <3 

yep, we were color coordinated for Thanksgiving dinner. I love this guy and his handsome face :)

hanging with my little sister (whom I miss a lot a lot!)

right before I visited Huntsville; was SO excited! 

that's my man. no, you can't have him. I'm too darn happy with him <3 

Serene Singer

I apologize for the lack of posts; midterms like to dominate a student's life for sure!

Last weekend, my anniversary with Michael, was wonderful and perfect.

This week, where my exams started, was tough. I cried every day four days in a row...

But you know what? I am still filled with joy.

There is pain, emotional and physical (I have a sore throat now), but God is wonderful and full of blessings. He has given me music, so that everyday I have a physical constant I can depend on. I think He gives everyone something tangible to enjoy and glorify Him with. For me, I find joy in music. Whether it is experimenting in a practice room, or mastering a new technique in a lesson, music makes everything better!

Just a quick glimpse of my past week:

Our first hug when I picked up M from the airport

Actually...he picked ME up ;) (I tackled him in front of the escalators, so we had to make a quick relocation haha!)

                                   

That hug was wonderful...being apart for a month and a half is no fun

So so happy!

Hehe, we look so cheesy

After my first college choir concert; he's so handsome, especially all dolled up :) 

Oh, and I wore pigtails one day this week. Because, I'm definitely a grown woman and stuff....

I promise to write more and soon, but now I must rest up so that I don't get more sick =P

Hope you all have a blessed weekend!
Go Coogs!
-Alexandra Anne <3