It's March in my 9AM lecture, and the notorious Ticketmaster queue granted my sister and I’s pit seats for Found Heaven. Seven months alter, we're watching phone flashlights frantically wave at one another, impossible to determine whether to find someone or share brimming anticipation for opener Maisie Peters. They cut off Taylor Swift's "Style" for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in its entirety, and Lindsay was pissed that we didn't even get the chorus. She's more of a Swiftie than me.
She surprised us with reservations at the best spot in town: my beloved Tokyo Cafe on Pershing Ave. I even got a new pin of a black cat tuna roll they had in the front, and it felt like a party favor before a celebratory feast. It now penetrates my tote. My spread varies by visit, but tonight's' appetizers included the fried gyoza and Tok fries with mayo and furikake, followed by a main course of rainbow and shrimp tempura sushi rolls. I can safely say that this establishment's dishes would be my death row meal. Why I'm there remains an enigma, but my imaginary socio/psychopathic tendencies could never blind me from satiating my need for sushi.
We stopped through Dutch Bros on Locke Ave, the order-ahead feature blessing us as customers and cursing myself as a former Broista. We caught them at a good time for an OG Gummy Bear Rebel and chocolate shake and scored a primo parking spot. We walked across the lot where a woman in Dickies security garb separated those in stadium seating versus pit. We braved the merch line, scoring my first "-and all I got was this T-shirt," and made it to our seats.
A boy broke my heart for the first time when I was a freshman in high school. For a while, I deemed him a "who shall not be named," the ultimate tell of the worst people we have had to endure while living. Imagine my roaring fury when I saw him in Dickies Arena on October 26th. Just as I can't forget what he had done to me, I won't ever forget the day this day. My sister fanned my face as I avoided his eyes. The black waves of his hair had grown past his artist-sculpted shoulders. Playing "Under Pressure" couldn't have been a better choice, another Queen classic featuring David Bowie. He always wanted to be like Bowie, and if he had asked anyone around him, they would've definitely said there were similarities. He walked in, and I decided to forgive him. I can't help it; I'm proud of him.
Conan Lee Gray, I forgive you for writing Sunset Season. I know that isn't you anymore, and look at us now. I'm still the hope/helpless romantic girl who fell for your honey-drenched voice when I was fourteen. You don't have to worry about me coming for you anymore. I was only tempted after you made Superache. Exhibit A would be "Family Line," though.
I congratulate and apologize to those who have finally made it to this part where I say that I saw Conan Gray and this will be my first concert review. He stopped by his home state on his last stop of the North American leg of Found Heaven on Tour circuit, and my sister and I found heaven ourselves in nothing short of a divine night.
Being born in California yet raised in Georgetown, TX, Gray reveres his small-town upbringing and holds a special place in his heart for the Lone Star State. Maisie Peters opened, and her angelic-songbird-fawn-like aura hypnotized Lindsay and I. To counter the sardonic sadness of not getting to hear any songs from Sunset Season, Maisie performed a kickass cover of "Holding Out for a Hero." If you know, YOU KNOW!
The following is the baby Cone's Found Heaven setlist, attached with personal notes and legendary™ pictures. All of the tracks are hyperlinked to their Genius pages. If there are artist-certified annotations, I encourage you to read those over those inputted by anonymous users. Let an artist speak for their art when they can.
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From the new album Found Heaven. I can now be honest to the fact that I didn't nosedive into this album. Mostly due to the fact that it came out the same time as Teezo Touchdown's How Do You Sleep at Night? These are still some killer tracks.
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Kid Krow came out March 20th, 2020. I would wake up at 5am to enjoy my morning time, listened to it all the way through. As the lyrics of "Wish You Were Sober," "The Cut That Always Bleeds," "Heather" and "Maniac" hurt me BAD back then, my wounds were ripped wide open in the arena.
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He looked like Conan Gray, but he was also David Bowie. This fit speaks for itself.
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Superache...the summer of 2021. Other than its initial impact, not a lot of the album's tracks stuck, but after seeing this one live, it holds greater power than before. I saw this used as a graduation song as well, so now it's even more sentimental.
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I'd like to thank Maddie Hinckley for telling me for the first time that she would live vicariously through me. It was VERY confusing, but she actually cared to explain it before our freshman English class started. That's what "People Watching" embodies, painfully so. I also had my first failure of dry-swallowing a Tylenol in that class. You don't forget that burn, y'all. You just don't.
gulp
This was a single that released before Superache. It hurt BAD then, and he released the album with it as track 7, and it just kept hurting. If you've ever felt like you've changed yourself for someone in any capacity, it hurts. Cried a lot.
gulp
The Story (Acoustic)
Similar to a worship experience, I needed to sit down. I closed by eyes, sobbed through every word, and thought of every person I've ever known and loved. Each verse in that song is associated with 1-3 people I could display by first and last name, but I love them more than you, reader, and won't disclose that. I only gatekeep my friends unless prompted.
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Having experienced the smooth strum of "The Story" and "Astronomy," Gray segued into another dance party. His control of the overall tone of the show was insane.
NOW DANCE!
DANCE!
DANCE!
He wrapped with his triple threat, guaranteeing a melancholic ride home:
Phone flashlights were on full display, but each one was covered with a different colored piece of paper. Tints of orange, blue, red, and yellow painted the arena, and Gray spread his arms in his own embrace. A fan's sign referenced an earlier album's feature "Comfort Crowd," and my 16-year-old self was defrosted. That's exactly who these people were.
"your sweater."
Last year, my family's Apple Music had this one in our top five songs.
He wouldn't let his masses go without an encore:
I had a blast. I posted the best video that I got, an "Eye of the Night" clip with impressive symmetry, on my media account @momoneymomedia on Instagram. As I prep for a recap of my pieces of this year, I also wanted to plug the socials where I'm always more active.
Next year will be next year. Thank God.
Cheers,
Mo!
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