Into a Raging Fire

As I mentioned previously, I've been a winning machine lately. All in the last two months, I've won contests that gave me the following prizes:

- Four tickets to the Cirque de la Symphonie performance by ISO
- Two tickets to the Soulshine Music & Yoga Festival
- Two tickets for dinner and a riverboat cruise with BB RiverBoats (tonight!)
- Two tickets to see Phillip Phillips at the Indiana State Fair!

So, I asked Daddles to come to Indianapolis for a night at the Indiana State Fair and some Phillip Phillips lovin'. The fair was as lovely and strange as can be expected. Since we had concert tickets, we didn't have to pay for admission. We also nabbed a free parking spot and it was $2 food night, so we filled up on ice cream, corn dogs, and the usual fair fare for super cheap.

We scoped out cheese sculptures, admired awesome figures made entirely out of cans, and waited for cows to cross before making our way to the newly renovated Coliseum for the show.

We found our seats, which were really far away (I'm not complaining - they were free!), and checked out the new arena. While waiting, we noticed Caleb Johnson, the newest winner of American Idol, hanging out downstairs. The American Idol tour played the Coliseum last night, so they must have been in town a little early.

There was no opening band, so Phillip Phillips went right on...and he was absolutely glorious. As a DMB fan, I can tell you that Phillip Phillips is basically a more mainstream, poppier version of my favorite band. His voice sounds excellent live (which I suppose I already knew from American Idol) and he's actually very funny between songs. The acoustics in the Coliseum were fantastic and I'll definitely be checking their concert schedule from now on. About halfway through the show, I snuck down into the pit to take some pictures.

I can tell you - his unreleased songs are truly better than his singles on the radio. If you haven't already, I highly suggest you check out his other music. Here was the excellent, cover-riddled setlist:

Lead On
Man on the Moon (with "Give It Away" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Raging Fire
Fly
Gone, Gone, Gone
Armless Crawler
Unpack Your Heart
Get Up Get Down
Thicket
Trigger
Where We Came From (with "Shake Ya Ass" by Mystikal)
Itsy Bitsy Spider/Hot in Herre/Let's Get It On (Nelly and Marvin Gaye covers) - My favorite!
Home

My Boy
Lollipop (Lil Wayne cover)
Lose Yourself/All I Do is Win (Eminem and DJ Khaled covers)

I wouldn't hesitate to see him again when he's in town and it's nice to know that, even after all these years, American Idol can still churn out something so right.