It was the beginning of Travis Week.

And it wasn't supposed to be. I didn't buy tickets for this gig because I hadn't planned on making the trek up to San Francisco from Los Angeles. I'd already decided to do Vegas, both Wiltern dates, and San Diego, but at the last minute, my friend called me and said she found me a floor ticket.

I got out of bed, got the oil in my car changed, and began the 400 mile plus journey to San Francisco on January 24th. This drive is not easy by yourself, but I knew that in the end I'd be happier if I went. I was off of work, had a wee bit of extra money, and I was ready to see Travis 2 days earlier than expected.

We got to the Warfield and got in line just before the doors opened. I was totally able to get an excellent second row spot in front of Andy, my guitar hero, but my friend was not up for a close to the stage viewing. So I ended up on the second level, in a nice spot, but also further away from the stage than I wished to be.

Jason Falkner came on and straight away I was in love. His Mick Jagger swagger and good looks hooked me immediately, but his songs were even more amazing. Suddenly, Neil, Andy, and Dougie joined him on stage much to my delight and surprise. It was just so amazing to see them, unexpectedly soon.

The change up time between sets was relatively quick, and Travis came to the stage and began with Happy To Hang Around. The night kicked off from there. I had been definately missing these guys since seeing them last in Oct 2001. Again, they were in top form. The new songs took on a life of their own when heard live, and I began a new appreciation for them immediately.

Was delighted that As You Are was still in the set, because this is my favorite song of all time. It is just the most wonderful and beautiful piece of music I've ever heard. All I Wanna Do Is Rock was also a surprise, and it was so amazing this first night of my vacation. Hearing the old stuff is so wonderful.

But this was all about the new tunes. Travis have the unique ability to make their songs come alive in a different fashion when played live. They become more visceral, more animated. While the melodies are sweet and the songs are beautiful on record as well, they are just new and different live, and getting to know them was really wonderful. Highlights as far as the new stuff goes were Re-Offender, Love Will Come Through, The Beautiful Occupation, and Somewhere Else.

I particularly LOVED the placement of TURN as the last song of the main set. That was very smart, and didn't make me miss Blue Flashing Light as much as I thought I would.

The encore consisted of an acoustic, un-amped un-mic'd Franny doing Flowers In The Window, followed by a rip roaring Peace The Fuck Out (where Fran acknowledged the fella who inspired the title) and finally, to the pogo enthusiasts delight, Why Does It Always Rain On Me.

After the show, we didn't stick around waiting for the band. However, I might as well have, becasue I was so pumped I couldn't sleep. I left at 7AM to head back to Los Angeles, to pick up some friends who were going to the Vegas show with me. Running on about 2 hours sleep, I finally decided to pull off the road when I hit the rumble strips. 5 hours of napping at the motel 6 in Santa Nella and I was on my way back to Los Angeles to begin the second part of this crazy journey!

To be continued in the January 27th review...

slime and I flew from NYC to see this show. We were crazy. But we missed Travis. Seeing them 5 times in 2003 wasn't enough.

While we were waiting at JFK for our VERY DELAYED flight to San Fran, we called up B105 and bugged the DJs about the live Metreon session. They were so impressed with the fact that we were flying across the country to see the band that they offered to put us on the guestlist.

So we went to see the band at the acoustic session before we went to see the show. I wish we had that on tape. It was one of the funniest Travis moments I'd ever witnessed. Dougie nearly having a heart attack because the DJ snuck up behind him. Travis and their favorite curse words.

The show itself was so love-filled, I felt like love and peace and happiness was coming out of every pore during the set. It was also the night when slime+I saw Bombus again after several years. Too bad we didn't have a chance to chat. It was nice of Fran to acknowledge him in the audience before PTFO.

One of my favorite moments in this show was Fran alluding to bus chastity during tours. Apparently, Jason Faulkner was exempt. I can see why.

Well, I just have to say that this was my first TRAVIS concert and hopefully not the last!!! It was the best ever!!!! I really mean it...best concert in my life!!!!

It was also the best concert of my life. The opening music of Happy to Hang around still gives me the chills and puts me back at the Warfield. :)