Okay, I'll try to make time for me live story right now.
First, they played at Rosfest in Gettysburg, PA, which is about 1 1/2 hours from my house. How cool was that?
We got there late, and a band called Tinyfish was playing. Really good stuff, ended up buying their cd and getting to meet them.
Moon Safari hit the stage at exactly 9 pm, and it should be said that it was Tobias' (the drummer) birthday. The announcer was trying to introduce them, and didn't even get to, because we all broke out singing Happy Birthday as loudly as we could. You should have seen his smile. This was their setlist (mostly in this order, but probably not exact):
Moonwalk
Lover's End Pt.1
A Kid Called Panic
Dance Across the Ocean
Yasgur's Farm
The World's Best Dreamers
New York City Summergirl, which started with a gorgeous cover of Springsteen's Jungle Land and blended in.
Heartland
Other Half of the Sky
encores:
Doorway
Constant Bloom
Guys, everything sounded exactly like the cd, and their voices were absolutely unbelievable, in their solos as well the harmonies. The sound was great, too, but I wished Simon's mic would have been a little higher in the mix.
I didn't know how much of the crowd knew who MS were, but regardless of that, they got an amazing reception; it was a sit-down show in a small theater, but every single song got a standing ovation. The entire crowd was blown away, and I knew they made a lot of new fans that night. I couldn't have been happier for them.
Afterward, there was a meet and greet, which was free. First at the table was Petter Sandstrom, who writes most of their stuff. I asked him a question, and in answering he just went on and on and on, like he either didn't notice the 30 people behind me or just didn't care. Great guy. Then came Simon Akesson, the main composer and the one who arranges all the harmonies. He was a bit quieter, but still very cool. When we got to Johan Westerlund, bass, I told him I had spoken with him on Facebook and through email. He asked me my name, and I said Brandon, and then he knew who I was and already knew my last name. I was pretty tickled about that. I got to talk to Pontus, the guitar player for a while, and he was pretty cool too. Actually, I was the one doing most of the talking with these guys due to being so excited to meet my favorite group, but they all seemed very understanding and they were all very gracious. The only part that wasn't great was that there was an afterparty, and I didn't understand that it was actually part of the show and everyone was welcome; I thought that was something private, so we didn't go. I later found out from Johan that I could have gone, and he said he wished we would have, because 'there was singing, swimming, and beer'. So I missed my chance to hang out and party with the greatest band in the world, but I got to see them, hear a phenomenal two hour set, and talk to them quite a bit.
Rosfest was a very cool thing to go to, and I hope they book Moon Safari as the headliner again next year.
Definitely the most memorable night of my year.