Whew. I’ve been all up in the video making lately that the text post quality on this blog has really gone down. Part of me regrets that, part of me is proud of posting videos so regularly so…eh. But TEXT! Let’s WRITE!

So…I spent the week in New Mexico for my cousin’s wedding. It was beautiful…all of it. My cousin, the wedding, and New Mexico. We had some rain but desert rain is different in that it doesn’t ever last long and it SMELLS SO GOOD after it deluges in New Mexico that you feel cleaner just for sniffing it. As I drove back East toward Texas I was kind of bumming out. It’s been raining here to the point of some flooding in Houston and as I crossed over West Texas into the middle part it got cloudy and grey. My mood fit the clouds, I was tired of driving, and I wasn’t really relieved to be back at all.

To top it off I bought a ticket to see Ellie Goulding about 5 months ago, not knowing I’d be in New Mexico that weekend for a wedding. So I drive from San Angelo to San Marcos on Tuesday, and Ellie was performing that night waaaay up in North Austin. It might as well have been Oklahoma according to my mood. I toyed with the idea of staying home because I was sick of being in a car, but I like Ellie and I love pop music and SUCK IT UP, JANA.

I’m glad I did. Ellie Goulding was amazing.

As I sat in my seat I was REALLY glad I didn’t bail because I didn’t realize what a good seat I had. I was directly off the stage area up in the first row of real seats (all the young kids and their general admission standing…that’s not for short people). So no one was in front of me, and I was about 15 feet from the stage. I could see facial expressions without looking at the giant video screen. SCORE.

Bebe Rexha opened, who I have heard of but wasn’t totally educated on. 3 songs in she drops this little “I’m going to do some songs I wrote but didn’t record because I’m a songwriter first,” truth bomb, and proceeds to sing:

The Monster – she wrote the part Rihanna sings on Eminem’s track
Hey Mama – she wrote it and David Guetta and Nicki Minaj topped the charts with it
Me, Myself, and I – G-Eazy and Bebe are currently number 1 with it
No Broken Hearts – Bebe’s own single with Nicki Minaj

So that was some pop star power right there for a 30 minute opening act. Bebe is going to be big, I think. And her songwriting cred is already huge.

Years & Years from the UK was the 2nd opening act, and they entertained though I wasn’t familiar with their stuff previously. I am a fan.

And then…ELLIE. As she progressed through her 1 hour 40 minute set, I kept thinking, “I LOVE THIS SONG!” over and over again. The amount of earworm hits she has is impressive. I’m also an album buyer, so I knew many of the “deep cuts” she sang…because they’re just as catchy. Ellie could release anything off her last 3 records and it’d probably be a hit.

I took a lot of photos and some videos, because I like to document. Hilariously, before she launched into my favorite Ellie song (“Burn”), she lectured us all about seeing phones instead of faces the whole show, and asked us all to put them down for godssakes and just be in the moment. So I did. It was lovely. I also kept my phone in my pocket for “Love Me Like You Do” which was another mega-hit and the encore. Until I snuck one last photo of the glitter, because…ALL THE GLITTER.

Lesson learned: whilst I live in the “Live Music Capital of the World” – sometimes I gotta prod myself to go see it. And often times it’s the big arena shows that light me up, and NO SHAME. Bring all the international pop hits to me, please.