Road Trip USA part 5 – Meeting the Great George Watsky!

Wednesday was the “George Watsky: Nothing like the First Time” concert in New York City!!!

Literally 30 seconds before I met Goerge Watsky!

I was extremely excited to go to this concert and I convinced my friend Mike Young to go with me when we were finishing up teaching in Madrid in June. And I’m glad that he agreed without even knowing who was playing, because we met some amazing friends that night due to his outgoingness! 

Me and Mike and our new friends Tom and Brittany waiting in line!!!

I had purchased my ticket a few days after they went on sale, because, being the first concert ticket I have ever purchased in my life, I was a bit excited. Maybe too excited!  Also, the tickets were insanely cheap and I would have paid SOOOO much more to see the One and Only George Watsky on his first tour. I rearranged my road trip visiting family and friends across the USA before heading back to teach again next year in Madrid- JUST to see this concert! And I have not regretted a single moment or penny of that decision.

This is Brittany's photo! Such a great photo!

To top it off, Mr. George Watsky himself was standing outside the theater when Mike and I were walking by to go to Shake Shack in Madison Square Park!!! So I got to meet him and say hello before the concert. I did feel horribly rude interrupting the probably extremely important conversation about the show he had in two hours, but I guess excitement got the better of me. (George Watsky, if you ever read this, I do apologize for interrupting your conversation, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.) 

I personally liked the accidental artiness of this photo of hers as well.

We shook hands, I introduced myself and my friend Mike, and we had a small conversation about how many shows he had done so far and he expressed his excitement and gratitude many times. I swear this man is one of the most grateful performing artists I have ever encountered and I worked in bringing artists like Bo Burnham, Daniel Tosh, Ben Folds and many more to Missouri State University as an undergrad, and I guarantee you, they did not personally thank me or the crowd or everyone individually like George Watsky. 

The venue was great too! Great sound, lights, all around awesome-sauce.

He said thank you just to us personally before the show three times, and during the show he said thank you to the crowd from the “bottom of his goddamn heart” at least ten times, not to mention individually thanking and meeting every single person who waited in line after the show. I hope that he continues to stay true to himself as he grows and becomes bigger and bigger in the future. Because I know that this amazing performer is just at the very beginning of something extraordinary!

Dylan Saunders singing Rich Girl with George Watsky!!

You could tell that him and his crew really cared about what they were doing and cared about one another. This group put in a lot of hard hours for us fans, for everyone and themselves, and I am so glad it paid off for them! They looked like they had the time of their lives, and we all know Watsky did because he said it during the concert. 

“I’ve been waiting my whole life to say this; Hello, New York City!!” – G.W.

“A lot of MC’s say it’s no big deal […] but it’s a big fuckin’ deal to be here!” –G.W.

And my personal favorite, after expressing how record labels think that our generation is stupid, and how we proved them wrong by a “sellout crowd in New York City and I ask if I can do some poetry?” and the crowd goes wild.

“You guys are gonna make me cry, and I can’t cry, because if I cry, I won’t be able to spit fire. And I have to spit fire- so I can’t cry.” – G.W.

Couldn't ask for a better up-close-and-personal feel for this concert!

The show opened up with a Dylan Owen who I actually really liked, and a second group who I never caught the name of whose last two songs caught my attention. The crowd was pumped; we were in the third or fourth “row”, cramped, sweaty, exhausted, dehydrated, but HAPPY AS HELL. And everyone around us was just as excited as we were. A cute blonde girl next to me screamed after Watsky did his first poem, “I CAME FOR YOUR POETRY!” We were immediate friends. 

Not only is his poetry amazing, but his stage presence is captivating!

The show was incredible and he said it himself, “it’s not a one-man show”. Everyone came together and it was a beautiful concert! Everyone loved it so much that they chanted his name until him and the guys came back on stage to do an encore, where he also decided to crowd surf over the top of us – Brittany being especially excited about us being up in the front and getting to move him over us! It was a scene out of a movie, and no one wanted it to end.

I took this from his facebook fan page, but damn it's an amazing photo.

And to top it off, after all of that work, being on stage for hours, sweat, smiles and maybe a twinkle of a tear, Watsky was outside greeting a line that wrapped around the building to meet each and every one of us that came that night; signing anything, taking pictures with everyone, personally thanking everyone again and again for making his dream come true. Not to mention he remembered Mike and I! How cool is that! I asked him if he would sign the first concert ticket I have ever purchased and his response “Absolutely.” 

My first purchased concert ticket of all time!!!

After posing for a blurry picture, I commented that he’d been working hard because he was sweaty as hell, and he said that “actually, this is the least sweaty I’ve been after any of my other shows.” He was really happy that the Gramercy Theater was air-conditioned and I think we were too, even if in the crowd you couldn’t tell. His smiles were genuine, he was floating on air, and it was amazing to be a part of something so important to him- to see his excitement, energy, and emotions before and after his first headlining show in New York City.

I don't care if it's blurry; the imperfection of this photo makes it perfect.

Seeing Watsky live was an incredible experience, and I admire him as an artist. Being on stage for five minutes at Triskel Tavern is nerve racking enough for me, I couldn’t even imagine doing an entire show in NYC with a sellout crowd- but Watsky did it with flying colors. He is an inspiration, as an artist, as a poet, as a rapper, as a musician and most of all - as a person. We could all use a little George Watsky in our lives.

Watsky and Brittany after the show. I can only imagine how many amazing photos like this were taken that night!!

Thank YOU George Watksy, for following your dreams, proving to us that it is possible, and not forgetting who you are in this crazy fucked up world.

~ Raelynne 

And to my great readers- I know part 4 of Road Trip USA is missing, but this could NOT wait any longer and Road Trip USA part 4 - Boston Freedom Trail  will come soon.

Loves!