April was the month of concerts and shows for me. Pretty much one a week for the month. April 4 was MAE and The Honorary Title at The Avalon in Salt Lake. The Market has played there twice now so it was especially exciting for me to see touring bands play on the same stage.

We showed up in the middle of Between the Trees. I had never heard of them but was very impressed; so much so that I bought their CD. Very good music. They remind me of Gratitude (now with new singer called Attention). After them was The Honorary Title of whom I’d seen before with Straylight Run a few years ago at Club Sound. Their set was incredible. They totally put off the mellow low-key vibe that makes you want to sit and enjoy rather than rock out vilolently. I bought their new CD as well.

Last was MAE. This was my 5th time seeing them live and it was nothing short of amazing. They played for over an hour non-stop of mainly their old stuff. A few months ago when I saw them with Motion City Soundtrack they played mostly their new stuff so it was a good change up for their set. Spencer and I moshed our way to the front and center of the floor once they started playing. The crowd was primarily high school kids so it wasn’t hard for us to push them aside and regulate.

At the end of MAE’s set Spencer jumped to the ground when a pick went flying down. He single handedly beat 5 kids away as he rolled on the concrete floor grabbing it. I noticed one sitting in a crack, so I bent over and picked (no pun intended) it up. As I stood up this guy was like, “Hey, I’ll give you $15 for that… that’s Zach’s pick. Come on dude…” I ignored him because I wanted to show Spencer that I got one too.

April 14 was Jimmy Eat World and Paramore at the McKay Events Center. I went with Brandon and met my friend Mashila there. I had VIP tickets thanks to Austin, so Shila and I were able to sit in the balcony and have free Costa Vida for dinner. We went back and forth from the balcony to the floor throughout the show.

Paramore played 2nd and it was my 2nd time seeing them; the last time was at Warped Tour ’07. They were so awesome. They had so much energy and worked the crowd really well. It was a shorter set than I expected but still very enjoyable. Jimmy was so good; my 3rd time seeing them. The last time I saw them was at X96′s Big Ass Show in October at the Salt Palace. Jimmy’s set overlapped with The Market’s set so I only saw them for a few mintues until I had to play on the Live and Local Stage. For this show Jimmy played for over an hour and a half. My favorite songs were Hear You Me and Futures. They played songs from all of their CD’s which was even more enjoyable; it gave everyone the full Jimmy experience.

Excellent shows last month. Next show: Secondhand Serenade at Thanksgiving Point‘s Electric Park on June 11.