I started writing a review of this show this morning. Now, at 10:30 PM, I have finally made myself stop writing. I have no idea why I felt the need to write such a lengthy treatise on the subject (why couldn't I have been this inspired when writing papers in college?!?) but for some reason that's what came out. Since it's too long to post here, I have posted it on my blog and hope it's okay to put a link to it (if not, powers that be, please take appropriate action).

Short version: Wow!

Thanks for the great experience,

Amy

Review: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&friendID=13143791

I had seen a YouTube video of the guys entering onstage to the Rocky music, so I knew what to expect for the entrance, but I still lost my cool when Dougie walked right past my friend and I. Walking into Liberty Hall, my friend asked, "Who's birthday is it?" I, being the Travis fan that I claim to to be, was shocked when I learned that it was Fran's birthday. When they launched into 'Selfish Jean,' all of my energy just came surging out and I couldn't stop it. Dougie spotted me in the audience and gave me a cheeky smile that melted my heart. At one point, Fran asked if the balloons had a special attraction to Andy, because they were all drifting over to his side. Fran added, "Dougie, it must be all the thrusting you're doing!" What touched me the most was that Fran connected with every audience member. Before the band launched into the busker rendition of, "Flowers in the Window," the rest of the band came out with a cake and led the audience in happy birthday. I was secretly hoping that it would turn into a food fight like in the music video for 'Sing,' but, to no avail. They threw candy out to us as well and Dougie hit me with a Tootsie Roll. During the last chorus of WDIAROM? The band proceeded to spray each other and the audience with silly string while we did the Pogo. After the show, my friend and I waited outside the tour bus for about 15 minutes for autographs. Fran and Dougie emerged and said, "Everyone, follow us!" They led us to the basement of the venue where Fran cut his birthday cake and passed out pieces to everyone. They asked us if we wanted beer or any other refreshments. I first got my picture taken with Dougie and we talked a little bit. I spotted Fran, and quickly had my picture taken with him before headed home for curfew, but not before I thanked him for an amazing show.
Honestly, the best night of my life.
Fran, Dougie, Andy & Neil, thank you so much, that is a night I will never forget. And Fran, I'd pay to go to your birthday party anyday.

OUR NIGHT WITH TRAVIS!!!

On July 23rd, 2007, my brother James, my girlfriend Kelly, my Mom Meludy, my Dad Jim and I (John) drove to Lawrence, KS to see our favorite band of all time: TRAVIS!!!

Going up there, we didn't know what to expect. We knew it was going to be a great show, but we had no idea how great it was actually going to be!!

After we arrived in Lawrence, our family went to Border's Books Store to hang out for awhile. Kelly and I scouted the venue (Liberty Hall) to see if there was a line for the show. We did not see a line, so we decided to go into the venue to see when the doors opened. The guy who was running the ticket booth told us that the venue could hold 1,000 people, but that only 300 tickets were sold. We had expected to sit in the balcony, but since there were only a certain number of tickets sold, Travis requested that everyone be on the floor. We couldn't believe it! We were excited about the small number of people, because the show would be more intimate and we wanted to get close to our heroes! As we stood inside the venue, we could hear Travis sound checking "My Eyes." We were excited!

After walking around Lawrence for awhile, our family finally decided to stand in line. We were the second group in line, behind a very nice couple from Des Moines, IA. It was very hot standing in line, but we had a lot of fun talking with everyone who was there. We soon found out that the show was going to be special, because it was Fran's 34th birthday!

Once the doors opened, we walked into the small venue and got right up to the stage. Perfect standing seats and view!! Kelly and Mom bought some Travis memorabilia while we waited for the show to start.

When the show started, the fun began!

John Paul White from Alabama opened the show. He was a brilliant singer and had a great guitar player with him! They played for about 25 minutes and then it was time for TRAVIS!!!

When the lights dimmed, we heard the THX theme song, followed by the Rocky theme song, then from out of nowhere Travis came walking through the crowd from the back of the room. It was amazing!!! Everyone was going crazy! They were all wearing silk boxing robes. I was trying to catch a glimpse of the band, when Dougie came right up behind James and grabbed his shoulders, while making his way to the stage. He looked directly at me. I am pretty sure he wanted my help getting up on stage, but I was freaking out too much, so my Dad helped him up on stage. When they got settled, Travis started their show with "Selfish Jean."

Their performance was totally amazing. Even though they play venues overseas in front of thousands of people, Travis put everything they had into their performance for the 300 people who came to see them in Lawrence, KS. They were so much fun to watch and they played many of our favorite songs.

Set List:

Selfish Jean
Eyes Wide Open
Writing To Reach You
Love Will Come Through
As You Are
My Eyes
Big Chair
The Line Is Fine
Side
Driftwood
Good Feeling
Closer
Sing
Battleships
All I Want To Do Is Rock
Turn

Encore:

20
Flowers In The Window
The Humpty Dumpty Love Song
Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

I took a lot of great videos and pictures during their set. Some highlights were seeing Andy play banjo on “Sing”, watching Dougie smile and thrust with his bass, hearing Neil’s excellent drum work and seeing Fran be so energetic and talkative to the crowd. In addition to the normal band line-up, Travis added a keyboardist named Claus to play with them on tour. He was excellent as well. On “Good Feeling,” Fran made us chant "CLAUS, CLAUS, CLAUS" and point at him while he played a piano solo (Fran said if he made one mistake he would not be paid for that night’s performance). After Travis finished "Turn," they took a short break and then Fran came on stage by himself and sang "20," which is James's favorite song. During the encore, Dougie and the rest of the band brought out a birthday cake for Fran and led us in singing “Happy Birthday” to him. After Fran blew out the candles, Dougie threw candy into the crowd for everyone. I was hit in the head by a few pieces! The band ended with "Why does it always rain on me?" (our favorite song) and had the whole house jumping up and down by the end of the song. We have never witnessed such a powerful performance in all of our lives. We got to shake Fran’s hand as he left the stage.

When the show was over, the venue emptied. We had heard earlier that Travis usually signs autographs after their shows by their tour bus. When we went outside, there was already a small group waiting for Travis to come out. About 30 minutes after the show, Fran came up from the downstairs of the venue and approached us. He told us to follow him downstairs to join the band in celebrating his birthday. We could not believe it!

When we were going down in the basement, Fran asked a pair of travelers on the street to join us. We were so amazed by their generosity and kindness to these people and the rest of the fans who were there. When we reached the basement, we met Nigel, Travis's producer, who also produced Paul McCartney's last album. The band offered us beer and refreshments and we got to watch Fran cut his birthday cake. We met and talked with all the members of Travis including Fran, Dougie, Andy, Neil, and Claus. We were star struck, but were able to hold good conversations with all of them. Hearing Fran tell the story of the first time he met Paul McCartney and seeing my Dad talk with Dougie about the first time he heard Travis were some of the highlights of the night. Travis LOVED my Dad! My Dad was front row throughout the whole concert and was wearing his cowboy hat. Many times during the show, I could see the band glance over at him and smile. At one point, Fran asked him if he was alright. All the members of Travis were so gracious in taking time to talk with us, take pictures, sign our memorabilia and give hugs. My Dad got all of the guys to sign his cowboy hat. Fran mentioned that he had wanted to wear the hat all night. Mom, who had gotten a set list and a couple of guitar pics that Dougie threw down on the stage from the show, got all the guys to sign her set list. Kelly also got all of the guys to sign the t-shirt she bought. As I sat back and watched everything that was going on, it felt like a dream. Some of my other favorite memories were when Fran drew angel wings on Kelly’s shirt on her back, when Dougie told Kelly she had a nice name, because that was his wife's name, and when Andy was so nice to find a pen to sign his autograph on Kelly’s t-shirt. Outside, James and I talked with Andy about how the tour was going. So many great moments with our favorite band!

Before we left to go home, we said goodbye to Travis. Fran told my Dad to check out their MySpace and to keep in touch. When I went to say goodbye to Fran, I told him Happy Birthday and he pulled me in for a strong hug. Outside, we told Dougie bye and he called my Dad by name and gave us all handshakes and hugs! For anyone reading this, Travis was so genuine and kind to us and ALL of the fans there! They are great guys and excellent musicians!

In conclusion, the Travis show at Liberty Hall was spectacular! We really appreciated the invite to Fran’s birthday party after the show and the time the band spent with everyone there.

We hope Travis comes back to Kansas soon! It was a once in a lifetime experience that we will always remember!

Cheers,
John, Kelly, James, Meludy and Jim
The Beasley’s

To view pictures from the show and a video of Fran playing "20", check out our blog here:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=37836610&blogID=293897071