I Mother Earth and Finger Eleven bring energy and nostalgia to Grand Theatre

Are you ever at a live music event and find yourself wondering how everyone there isn’t moved by the music?

I don’t mean teary-eyed at the lyrics, or frothed up into a rage over the message, but just physically wanting to move their body. I can’t be at a concert and not be at least tapping my feet or bobbing my head. The music ALWAYS gets inside me. If I know the lyrics, I HAVE to sing along, or at least mouth the words along with the singer. And if it’s heavy rock, I NEED to move!

I saw I Mother Earth with Finger Eleven at The Grand Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019. It was amazing. They came out together and sang some awesome sing-along covers, then Finger Eleven rocked the house, I Mother Earth had their turn, and then they finished out the show together.

You can tell they have been touring together for quite a while. There were mistakes, and lots of conversation with the audience, but it was like hanging out with your friends – incredibly talented, loud, rock and roll friends!

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen some rock bands from my ‘youth.’  I’ve loved Canadian rock for a long time, and IME is right up there for me. I was excited to see them with Edwin, as I had only seen them with former lead singer Brian Byrne three or four times. They only played Edwin’s songs (from the first 2 albums), but they did it well. Back to their roots, I guess you could say.

(I was feeling old afterward when we drove our neighbours home and they didn’t know who Edwin was. “That wasn’t the same singer we saw them with on the KRock cruise a few years ago,” one of them said. I had to give them a little IME history lesson. Then I felt like a dork…)

Related: Can you influence your kid’s music taste? This mom wants to know!

My husband preferred Finger Eleven’s set – and I have to say, I’m hard pressed to say who was better. I personally felt the sound mix was a little better for Finger Eleven – you could hear the vocals a little more clearly from Scott (Anderson) than you could from Edwin. Perhaps that’s band choice as well – I’m never sure.

We had second row balcony seats, and they were great!  My long-legged husband was suffering a bit by the end, but I enjoyed every second. I also bought my tickets back in October, or whenever it was they went on sale. I was not missing this concert, and I’m sure glad I didn’t!

Nothing makes me feel more like a 20-something again than rocking out to these bands that I loved back in the day.

My only gripe was that I wasn’t in the mosh pit, right up front. I spent those younger years perfecting my short-girl push to get right up to the front. If I can’t see the band members dripping sweat, I’m not close enough!  But the Grand isn’t that kind of venue. And the bars are so late with their concerts. (That makes me sound old, doesn’t it?)

Regardless, I had a great evening.  And I realized I DO indeed want to see the Tea Party in March – so who wants to tag along with me??

Jessica is a girl mom, music lover, avid reader and writes her own blog A Modern Mom’s Life. She is open to ideas and topics for future articles for Kingstonist. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.