Sharon A. Tharp » tour

dear jack.

jerseyblonde — Sat, 22 May 2010 04:41:51 +0000

i’m really ashamed how long it took me to watch andrew mcmahon‘s documentary “dear jack.” something corporate has been my favorite band since i was 15 years old and i’ve seen the guy live well over ten times. every time playing better than the last. you’d think i’d be all over that dvd. but no, i was lazy and somehow i forgot about it. but luckily enough, i was able to sit down and watch the horrifyingly sad yet touching hour that documents his diagnosis with leukemia and the release of jack’s mannequin’s debut album, “everything in transit.”

i remember my first jack’s mannequin concert ever. it was at the knitting factory in nyc with my sister back in may of 2005 (shown here). in the picture i took you can see that andrew has a red welt on his forehead, which struck me as odd and which i later saw in the documentary. i pointed it out to kelly (my sister) but we didn’t really think anything of it at the time. i had seen him with SoCo the month before and he was great as well. he played amazingly as he always does in nyc and little did we know how lucky we were to have seen him in new york that night. that was the last show he played for a long time.

the next day he went to his doctor and was diagnosed with cancer. he never played starland ballroom in nj that week. tickets we were dying to get but weren’t able to nab no matter how hard we tried. my friends were disappointed and shocked he canceled the show. i was somewhat selfish as i bragged to them about how i got to see him play and they didn’t. no one knew what was happening yet and we were about to find out our favorite singer was very very sick. it’s kind of crazy to think that i saw his last performance as he knew himself to be at that moment in his life. before everything changed…

as i watch the film, i come to admire andrew mcmahon. even more than i already do and certainly in a different way. someone who has that kind of attitude, that kind of demeanor and spirit in a time of struggle (which i can’t even begin to imagine) is something very rare. i watched family members and close friends battle with cancer and everyone handles it differently. he doesn’t play the victim. and i don’t see him as the guy behind the piano. i see him as human. something most fans don’t get to see and something worth watching.

definitely check out “dear jack” and click here to find out how to donate to the dear jack foundation.

be jealous.

jerseyblonde — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:32:08 +0000

that’s right kiddies. my sister and i are going to a something corporate (yes you heard right) show as part of their reunion tour this august. i got an email from the band’s seemingly defunct mailing list at 9:07 am the other day stating that presale tix went on sale at 10 am. you can bet i was up right away trying like crazy to get tix to every show in the area. we ended up with tix to the philly show and i am so stoked. general ticket sales start friday and yes, i will be trying to grab more tix for the nyc and dc shows as well. what can i say? soco has always been my favorite band and let’s face it, most of us jack’s mannequin fans pray that andrew play even one soco song at his concerts (and sometimes he does), but a whole set? i am pumped! i’ve seen and met them before and they are amazingggg. so yes, be jealous

bruce.

jerseyblonde — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:25:10 +0000

ok, again i am late with my posts. send complaints here. anyway, been sick for the past few days and it suckkssss. but now that i’m awake and bored lying in bed all day, here comes some cool stuff that happened over the past week. enjoy this pic of me, my sister kelly and my brother chuck enjoying ourselves and tailgating outside the bruce concert at giants stadium. we went last friday and saturday and damn was bruce good! he played several last shows at the stadium as it will be torn down early next year.

oct14.

jerseyblonde — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:28:08 +0000

i’m stoked that i just got tix off ebay to see this guy–andrew mcmahon–october 14 in boston for his solo show. god knows that show sold out in .003 seconds. <3.

old but good news.

jerseyblonde — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:49:52 +0000

okay, so this isn’t exactly the timeliest post. in fact, it’s way UNtimely. nonetheless, it’s too good not to share. that’s right kiddies, andrew mcmahon of jack’s mannequin (and formerly something corporate) is going on a solo tour. gasp! solo. it’s like a dream. the best part is he could pull out any ole’ song he wants to play. if you’ve been to a jack’s show, you know that he tends to play some old something corporate songs sometimes, much to the satisfaction of concert-goers everywhere. but, there are several songs he won’t play. he refuses. why you may ask? well, it seems he keeps some of those amazingly perfect songs close to his heart. my hope is that he opens that up for this solo tour.

anyway, tickets evaporated from ticketmaster in about .02 seconds. nevertheless, it seems my sister and i will pay ridiculous amounts of money to see a man we’ve seen over 10 times already. don’t judge. well, if all goes according to plan, i’ll see you at the boston show.

on the road again.

jerseyblonde — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:57:01 +0000

the get up kids are goin on tour again after a long hiatus. well, its a reunion tour to celebrate 10 years since their most popular album (and one of my favs), something to write home about.

saw one of their “last shows” 4 years ago at starland and it was hands down the best show i’ve ever been to…and i’ve been to a lot.

anyway, i’m deciding whether to see them in ny or philly, but either way i’m there.

dylannnn.

jerseyblonde — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:10:42 +0000

according to rolling stone, there’s news of bob dylan and willie nelson possibly going on tour with john mellencamp. i’m sooo there. i saw mellencamp a few years ago. good show. but adding bobby?!? aw man. it’s gonna be a good summer for tours.

a sad day for jack’s fans.

jerseyblonde — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 05:53:27 +0000

andrew mcmahon, you broke my heart. i was all excited for jack’s mannequin’s upcoming tour. i haven’t been to a concert in forever (okay, that’s an exaggeration but whatever) and i was happy to hear they were going back on tour. i’ve seen him in concert at least 10 times (including his SoCo days) and every time is better than the last. no joke. but, he decided to cut the tour a little short (including northeast us dates) to go on tour with the fray. cue sad face.

don’t get me wrong, i like the fray. i do. but that means they will be playing at some large sold-out venue with a bunch of unappreciative fans just sitting through their set because they have to. not the ideal concert atmosphere. i’ve seen him at the stone pony. amazing. i’ve seen and met him at the knitting factory and rutgers. unbelievably amazing. these are all small intimate places that make the show so great. and then a few summers ago i saw him open for OAR at pnc bank arts center. ehhh. lawn seats are great for OAR, bruce and the counting crows. i don’t, however, recommend these bigger locales for bands like jack’s. it just doesn’t work as well.

nevertheless i’ll probably buy tix anyway. i really want to see them live with their newer material. the sophmore album the glass passenger is amazing. not that i’m surprised. he can’t put out a bad record. i have yet to see it. and i’ve been listening since i was like 14. not an easy feat amidst this genre where bands have a decent first cd with a few radio-worthy singles and then completely suck on the follow-up album.

so i guess i can understand his reasoning. it’s good exposure. anyway, he promises to hit up all those canceled dates in the fall. please keep your word, andrew!