Switchfoot show at the House of Blues, Anaheim, CA recap

Note: I had the opportunity to go see Switchfoot during one of their dates on the Hello Hurricane tour. Turns out that would be the single best show I've ever seen them play. Here is a rough recap, written last night right after the show... words can't do it justice, but here's my attempt...

-----

Red Eyes. That sums up the evening for me in more ways than a thousand words can review. It paints a feeling, a mood, a sketch of a moment in time, that will forever be etched in my memory – or at least for a long time. I've found that when I listen to music, I intentionally search for movement: I want to be moved to tears. Switchfoot did just that on a Black Friday night at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA.

I can launch into a long-winded, song-by-song review of how things went down tonight in Downtown Disney, but that would be a little redundant. There were highlights of course, like the instrumental outburst at the end of "Free" or the fist-pumping madness that was, "The Sound," or maybe Switchfoot medleying "Shadow" during "Stars" or Jon Foreman singing "Love Is the Movement" before "Meant to Live." But the highlight of the day lay in the more personal realm of things… to me anyways.

The day began at 12 p.m., when my brother, friend Bryant, his brother, and I arrived at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. We met some pretty sweet people, including Mark, who had been waiting there since 5 a.m. in an attempt to get some front row spots for his family. Amazing guy. The dedication he showed was moving and inspiring… As the day wore on, the circumstances seemed to dictate that he would probably not get anywhere near the front, but amazingly enough, things worked out for him and his family. So glad for them.

We also met Jake and Lully, who were really great sports along with us as we waited the 9 hours until Switchfoot took the stage. We shared laughs and jokes about being the "TRUE" friends of the foot for waiting out there for hours and hours (no disrespect though, friends. I understand you paid good money for meet and greets, just saying. haha. All jokes…). But those were the great new friends we made, and that's what it's all about… building community…

Which, awesomely enough, included finally meeting a TON of the official boardie folk in person! Once our group finally got into the venue, we ran into a good friend of ours again, Josh, who brought us to join the rest of the boardies at the front of the crowd. Jana, Amy, those were funny, random times. haha. Gabs, thanks for the cookie. :) Amylynne, we did it! We got them to play "Faust!" Josh, you rock so much… I already told you that, but for real… you are amazing. Bryant, Alex, you guys are so fun to hang out with. To my little bro, thanks for coming; you chose the perfect show to come to for your first time. :)

So anyways, the show began, and there was much rejoicing as Switchfoot took the stage and any weariness from our long wait melted away. Playing through a record takes a lot of discipline, and the guys definitely appear now to have mastered the art. From "Needle and Haystack Life" 'til the very end of "Awakening," this was probably one of the tightest shows I have ever seen the band play –– every note and harmony was absolutely NAILED.

Throughout the evening, I was looking for a moment of transcendence… and found it, rather appropriately I suppose, at the end of the set when "Sing It Out" segued seamlessly into "Red Eyes." Something about that moment tore my soul apart, and I burst into shameless tears… caught me by surprise, but that's ok. "Holding on… holding on… with red eyes, what are you looking for?" Singing out those words to that song… unbelievable.

And any words I attempt to use to describe this show would be quite useless… just know that Switchfoot is at the HEIGHT of its game right now. This show was perfect… if you haven't gotten tickets, then what are you waiting for? (song reference whole-heartedly intended). Peace and love,

Job


Setlist

Set 1:

Needle and Haystack Life
Mess of Me
Your Love Is a Song
The Sound
Enough to Let Me Go
Free (Happy Is a Yuppie Word Intro)
Hello Hurricane
Always
Bullet Soul
Yet
Sing It Out
Red Eyes

Set 2:

Faust (by crowd request)
Stars (Shadow Proves the Sunshine medley)
Oh! Gravity.
Dirty Second Hands
Twenty Four
Dare You to Move
Meant to Live (Love Is the Movement intro)

Encore:

This Is Your Live
Awakening

-----

Here are some videos from the show last night.

Free



Yet



And... Red Eyes...



Dirty Second Hands



^Those two courtesy of Gabby. Thanks!

Stars



Awakening