Cartel & This Providence @ The Troubadour

I love The Troubadour. You always feel so darn close to the bands on stage. I suppose this time I really WAS close, thanks to the Buzznet LMU crew (simplekindoflovely, swingthefocus11 and emisforily) who waved me and tall boyfriend into the center of the crowd right after The Summer Set finished up.

It was a very female-populated show, but at least with tall boyfriend in the center, Kayla was no longer the tallest in the crowd. We basically talked about cupcakes and fan tumblrs until This Providence came on stage. I’ve never really gotten into that band, but they put on a GREAT show, and I would definitely go see them again. In fact, Ill probably do some i-tunes-ing after this little write up.

They told a funny story about an ex-friend of theirs who became a d-bag. They got a text from the dude last time they were in town asking, “Hey, are you in LA?” They responded yes… then he responded, “Enjoy.” […]

Best moment in the show was probably when during a lull between songs, Emily #1 shouted “DAVID I WANT TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU!” I pretty much laughed about that the rest of the night.

When the set was over, they threw out drumsticks and Emily #2, in an attempt to catch it, basically swatted at back at them.

I giggled.

We quoted Mean Girls until our beloved headliners we’re ready to roll.

And then Cartel! They opened with “Let’s Go,” but I feel like so many of there songs are so ideal for singing/yelling along. I can’t give you a precise setlist as I was trying to take pictures with my little handheld, but I do know they played the following: Lose It, Faster Ride, 27 Steps, The Minstrel’s Prayer (SO HAPPY THEY PLAYED THIS), Say Anything (Else), Honestly, Deep South, The Perfect Mistake, Runaway and It Still Remains.

Boyfriend, who is only vaguely familiar with thre band, pointed at Joseph Pepper and said, “that guitarist is a badass.” Then I said, “That’s Jospeh Pepper,” and he said that’s even a cool name. I agreed.

I really wanted to pull a Say Anything poster off the wall, but a security dude was right there. And I think he was the same one who made me spit out my gum IN HIS HAND last time I was at a show there.

We booked it because we wanted Subway, but the LMU crew stayed back a bit to meet some band peeps. I think David Blaise shattered their dreams, though. Bad encounters of the band member kind.

Yeah, s’bout it.