Ok, We Need To Talk About A Guy Named Eric

We don’t often write about music and bands (although we will always bring up Poets of the Fall if anyone asks how we met or what our favorite bands are), but yesterday something so great happened that we simply have to share it with you guys. What happened… was Eric Paslay live on stage.

Eric Paslay. Take that name in and repeat it in your mind, so you’ll remember it the next time you’re looking for something new to listen to.

Ok, so in 2014 we were on our first massive roadtrip in Canada and the US. We were driving down from Vancouver, just about to start our 7,500 mile roadtrip across the continent, when we spotted a new song on the radio that instantly caught our attention.

“What is this?!”, we asked. I dug out my SoundHound app and in seconds, we got a name and a song title: Eric Paslay – Song About A Girl.

Next, we looked up his debut album and started listening to it. Fell in love. Had it playing pretty much every day for the full duration of our 6 week roadtrip. It became the official soundtrack of our roadtrip and we couldn’t wait to hear more.

Even after the roadtrip we kept listening to his stuff and checking up on any news of a new album. But of course, being in the UK and Finland at the time, couldn’t really plan on seeing him live anytime soon.

Central Wisconsin County Fair… and Eric Paslay live on stage!

When we started planning our 2016 roadtrip earlier in the year we were checking out all our favorite artists’ tour dates to see if we could mix a little rock’n’roll with our film tourism stuff and what do you know… Eric Paslay’s gig worked out. It was a 3 hours drive there and 3 hours back, but it turned out to be completely and utterly worth the drive.

We got the meet and greet wristbands, talked to him for a few minutes and got photos taken, posed with the wings he’s taking around on his tour and of course, partied during his gig like there was no tomorrow.

Hah, that is a bunch of good memories and two super happy fangirls!

Truth be told: we were expecting the gig to be a relaxed one. You know, just a country guy playing his guitar, performing his songs for us and we’d sing along and it’d all be very nice and pleasant.

Boy, were we wrong. What followed was a total rock show that blew our minds completely. The band was so good and Eric was rocking the stage with his voice and (what we now call) his pelvic sorcery. The moves this guy’s got… wow.

Eric Paslay live at the Central Wisconsin County Fair.

The setlist was a perfect mix of slows and fasts, hits and covers, old and new. The lights were good and even the audience that seemed a bit subdued in the beginning pretty soon got up on their feet to party.

Pelvic sorcery! Calm your hips, Paslay. No, just kidding. Never stop.

The happiness was overwhelming. This is what music is about! This is what live gigs should be like! We were both smiling so hard that our cheeks were literally hurting.

Gosh, this guy’s GOOD.

Our original plan was to stay in Milwaukee and Chicago until Sunday morning, but since we’ve now been struck by the Paslay lightning, we’re actually planning to leave on Saturday.

To go see him again at another event.

Because that is what fangirling is all about.

UPDATE (September 4th):

Happy times. We managed to see another gig! This one was a city festival in Madison and managed to snatch spots in the front row. A lot of dancing, singing, Paslay high fives and even a shout out happened, so it’s safe to say it wasn’t a waste of time driving all those hours and staying in a super shady motel. You can see our happy faces in this photo Paslay posted on his Instagram… super hilarious :)

Here, have a bunch of photos and do say hi if you there with us!

Check out Eric’s official website, Facebook page and YouTube channel for more goodness!