Haley w/ The Band Perry in Oregon - Feb 20, 2016

[InItToWinIt]

InItToMeetHaley

It was so good to finally meet Haley Saturday in Portland. This was my fourth time seeing her perform. The first time I saw her was also in Portland, an outdoor concert at the Rose festival in June 2012, when she was w/Keith Phillips and Courtney Leonard (on drums). The other two gigs I saw were in Las Vegas, w/Keith and Courtney (back on bass) in December 2012, and with PMJ in January 2015.

The Portland M&G had been moved from 3:30 to 3 pm. Not wanting to miss it, I arrived in Portland just past noon and headed to southeast Portland to scope out Revolution Hall and the surrounding neighborhood. A little vanquished I pulled over when I spotted a pod of food carts, for which Portland is well known. Luckily in the group was “Fried Egg, I Love You”, a well-known cart I had tried to go to a few years ago but at that time the 1 hr. wait was too long. This time the wait was 15-20 minutes so I finally got my long-denied breakfast sandwich.

Revolution Hall, formerly the auditorium for Washington High School, reopened as a state-of-the-art music venue just a year ago. As a former high school, the Hall sits on the edge of a largely residential area so driving to the venue is discouraged. My scouting trip showed there was some nonresidential area street parking to be had but an early arrival would be needed.

I headed downtown to the Hotel Rose downtown where I had placed my Hotwire reservation but my king room wasn’t ready and wouldn’t be until about M&G time. I did a test run (walk) to the Hotel Vintage Park, site of the M&G, and then back to Hotel Rose. I was anxious to get check in done and knowing Tusk was planning to drive back to Seattle after the show, I asked the hotel if perhaps a double room was available. It was and I gained a Willamette River side view.

I arrived at the Hotel Vintage Park at 2:45 and met Tusk. The M&G of 25-30 folks, about 1/3 of which was preteen to teen girls, gathered near the lobby before we headed down to the Wine Cellar. There we were greeted with a nice little buffet of Italian meats, satay and other finger foods, marinated vegetables, and fruits, and a cash bar. Soon, Quinton came in then Sheryl(?) from Buzz 105.1 introduced Haley. She looked beautiful, of course, and very vivacious. We were sitting in the front row about 7 ft. away so she didn’t look as tiny (short) as I expected (us sitting down and her heels affected that). But she is tiny and the old camera and pounds adage certainly applies.

She sang My Cake, Better, and CHFIL. Wow, she has gotten so good. It was such a pleasure hearing her in person without it being outdoors or in the middle of a casino. Her stage presence has grown so much over the past year and that would become even more evident in the evening, . It’s almost become as smooth and natural as her singing. It was then M&G time. Haley really gives her full attention to each individual, most notable with the young girls (I don’t remember any boys being at the M&G). I was glad I didn’t freeze up when it was my turn but no doubt I probably said something dumb. As everyone says, she’s a sweetheart.

After the M&G, Tusk and I headed over to Revolution Hall. We parked a block away and then walked down to Hawthorn Street to grab a bite. We ended up at Thai Spoon, a casual neighborhood joint. Our dinner conversation lasted a bit too long as by the time we got back to Revolution Hall 2 long lines had formed. We chose one line and, of course, the other line poured into the performance hall as we stood still. By the time we got in, the front of the hall was largely filled. After selecting non-adjoining seats a few rows back, we moved to the last 2 seats at the right end in the first row. As Tusk’s videos show, it turned out to be an excellent location. Next to us sat a father and daughter who Tusk noticed had been at Haley’s M&G. They were Band Perry fans that went to both M&Gs. As Tusk went into Haley promoter mode I went off to the bar to grab a Revolution Whiskey for the show. Haley sang My Cake, Love is Worth Fight For, Good or Bad, Can't Find My Way Home, Better, and CHFIL. It was amazing, expectations exceeded. Any notion that Haley’s music might not fit well with a crowd supporting the country Band Perry was dispelled immediately. The entire crowd seemed to enthusiastically cheer on every song.

Tusk and I headed back to Hotel Rose so he could process and hopefully upload a video. After processing CHFIL, Tusk sent the video off to his sounding review board, and we headed downstairs for some happy hour bar grub. Back upstarts, the sound board recommended holding off the upload until it could be processed on better quality speakers. Tusk and I said our farewells and he headed off for Seattle.

Sunday morning, just as I drove out of Portland and was about to enter the radio abyss of the Columbia River Gorge, the DJ on Buzz 105.1 announced “Haley Reinhart, I Can’t Help Falling in Love”. It was the only time while listening to the station, for about 3.5 hours over the 2 day period, that I heard CHFIL or that I recall any artist or song being called out. What a great way to end my trip to meet Haley.