Shay: I can totally relate to how you feel man! I was born in Boston, and the music scene didn't catch me, i found myself.. uninspired. So i packed up and moved with the family to LA and everything just clicked. Really looking forward to your concert!

OOC: That was - yet again - incredible.

Ooc: this is a brilliant idea, very original. Excellently executed as well. It's a shame that it's being ignored.

The twenty thousand Ryan Ross Hernandez fans in attendance are all on their feet, waiting for his rangy six-three frame to emerge from the darkness of the stage. Which is in their mind the only thing that could be occurring at this point. It's fair to say that the fans at the Staples Center are rather antsy, especially the ones that have been waiting since the doors opened an hour prior to the start of the show. Ryan discussed with management that he didn't want any supporting acts for the show, not even an opener. He promoted this event as Ryan Ross Hernandez opening for Ryan Ross Hernandez. The extended time this gave him to performance, gave him the opportunity to channel all there incarnations of the musical persona he is known for. A solo acoustic set, a trio blues set, and a full-band pop set. It can be considered a ballsy move to open a concert with an acoustic set, but Hernandez being the usual confident being, he thinks that he could hold the crowd just by playing acoustically for the first thirty minutes or so.

At this moment, the lights are still out in the sold-out arena. A few seconds of keeping the crowd a buzz until a single spotlight shines at center stage. This gives the fans a glimpse at the stage, although the only thing they could see is a microphone stand placed in front of a stool, in a position that it matches the person whom will be sitting down perfectly. In addition, an acoustic guitar is seen on a stand, beside an empty guitar stand. Another spotlight is now seen at the far right of the stage. Hernandez quickly climbs up the steps and seen by that second spotlight which follows his figure. All twenty thousand fans are now applauding, cheering, and screaming for Ryan Ross Hernandez. As is always at a concert of his, you hear the odd ball woman, be it the sixteen year old teen or the forty year old housewife, yelling about how hot he is and that they love him. The spotlight follows him until he reaches the previous spotlight at centerstage. At that point the lights raise up on stage, giving the fans a full view of it. Nothing out of the ordinary, as is tradition at a Ryan Ross Hernandez, no fancy stage designs or decor is seen. Just a huge screen behind, that gives the entire audience a chance to see the stage, as well with the large screens standing high on either side. The stage doesn't even have the other instruments set-up for the other sets, right now all that is own the actual stage floor is what you saw in the first spotlight, only now with Hernandez's frame sitting on the stool, and a large customized rug under it all with a RRH logo on it.

Ryan looks up at the audience with a smile, the crowd still hasn't let up with the immense amount of love and praise they are showing him. He nods his head along as he mouths a couple of 'Thank You's' to them. The second the noise seems to be letting up, he leans forward to the microphone and says in a deep, raspy voice, “Good evening.” He backs from the mic stand again, as the audience raises their volume again. He looks out at the crowd in front of him, a few catching his eye directly. Or mostly the ones at the front who's faces he could actually see. He quickly notices the usual demographic of attendees at his concerts. The group of women who come out to his show as a ladies night or girls night out. The girlfriend or wife that drags their boyfriend or husband to the show, and the men have a face that they clearly aren't the biggest fans of his music. The young kid who this is their first concert, or the diehards who attend as many shows as they can and are proudly wearing his gear. He has come to learn his fanbase over the years, and who feels as though now he is at a point where he could just look at a fan and tell you exactly what type of fan they are. This adds more to Ryan's high levels of self-awareness yet he likes knowing how the moves the pawn is making before they actually make them.

“My name's Ryan. I'm opening up for myself this evening.” He gets a mix reaction from the crowd of laughter and cheering. “Yeah, I met up with myself backstage. I was very confident. I was very nice to myself. I gave myself a few minutes of conversation, I didn't give myself small talk, it was very nice. Ryan Ross Hernandez, he's a very nice guy. I thought he was gonna be a complete douchebag. He wasn't. He was actually really nice. Aside from the fact that he stole my girlfriend.” The diehard fans understand that this is probably just the beginning of a night that will be filled with Ryan's banters in between songs. His banters are a must at all of his concerts. Be it if he is telling a story, or giving the crowd advice, or just making funny and/or sarcastic comments about any topic or using himself as a form of self-deprecating humor. Over the years, that has never changed at a Ryan Ross Hernandez show. As is with Ryan Ross Hernandez much as a whole, you either love it or hate it. The audience quiets down as he adjusts his guitar, and repositions himself on the stool. A female is heard yelling, 'I love you Ryan!,' which always the cool and calm Ryan responds to with a grin and says, “I love you too.”

“I'm starting you guys off with this song, a hit song actually. It's a fan favorite. When I wrote this song two years ago, I knew two things. It was gonna be a single, it had all the components of one. And also knew that it was very Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty like.” The majority of the audience cheers, already having an idea of which song he is referring to. Ryan raises the sleeves of his shirt as he gets ready to start playing. “What I did not know is that two years later, I would hate this song. But I know you guys like it so I'll play it for you all.” He plays a few random harmonica notes, before starting to play the opening chords to The Halfhearted Lover. A few seconds of just playing guitar, he starts blowing into the harmonica, creating a very folky feel to the popular pop/rock, country pop song. He lowers the harmonica as he starts to sing in a deeper voice than he usually does for this song. In this version, he removes almost entirely the pop-ish sound and plays a version of The Halfhearted Lover that is more similar to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, than Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks. After the second chorus, he plays another harmonica line that leads into the bridge of the song, while still playing the constant guitar plucking behind his singing. “I forgot how to play the last verse of this damn song. So I'm just gonna improvise, yeah, yeah, yeah.” He sings with a chuckle, as the crowd laughs. Ryan wasn't actually kidding, he had really forgotten the chords. He continues playing the chords to the chorus of the song.



“Maybe Taylor Swift's in the room. She might hate when I do that too.” He's quick comment gets the audience to give a quick laugh before adding 'Ooh's' along to them. Hernandez starts swiftly moving his guitar pick along the chords.



He improvises along, getting a good response from the audience. Granted, most at hand think Ryan can ever do any wrong. He sings the chorus one last time with much of the crowd joining in. As the fans applaud him once he finishes playing, Ryan lowers his head leaning against the microphone. “Well that did not work out very well.” He says with a chuckle while some of the fans laughed along with him. “I can already tell that won't make the DVD.”



The lights lower again, now there is just a a row of circular spotlights around Ryan, and a more prominent one shining on him. “Moving on.” Just as soon as he says that he starts playing a rhythmically, paced guitar picking riff. It's soon caught on that he is continuing the opener with another folk song. Although the song isn't comparable to anything he has written or the fans know him for. When he starts singing, his tone is a smokey one, similar to his own speaking voice.



Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, is one of Ryan's favorite songs by the greatest songwriter of all-time Bob Dylan. In between the verses he bends a few harmonica notes, while continuing to play the steady guitar riff. He taps his foot along to the melody. He adds a string of 'oooh's' before singing the final verse.



He ends off the cover with a few more soft harmonica notes. While the song may not be widely known to his audience, they still cheer on the performance, it going much better executed than the opener. “Thank you.”



The stage lights dim slightly, giving a more intimate feel for the next song. Ryan is seen taking off the harmonica neck holder as a crew member quickly runs onto the stage and taking it from his hands. He adjusts the earpiece in his ears as he quickly preps for the next song. As soon as he plays the opening riff, the fans go a buzz knowing exactly what song it is. Off his second studio album, (I Know) The World Is Black & White is a favorite among fans and Hernandez himself, who has previously mentioned the song as being one of the best he has written. The song was written during a period of time he calls "solitary refinement;" He had just left PANIC! at the time he had written it, was going through a break-up, and living in a hotel while finding a new residence in New York City. As expected, he channeled off the folk feel of the two previous songs from his voice and is now in full-on sultry mode. The same voice that launched him a career and made him famous in the female community. With a pan of the camera on the fans, you could see many of them singing along with Ryan.

When he reaches the bridge, he progressively starts to sing in a higher pitch tone. He holds the final note for a few seconds as the fans applaud him. Ryan returns to his zone singing wise during the final chorus. He continues playing the melody as he leans in more into the microphone.



Ryan sings the chorus one last time, echoing on the last line until his voice becomes softer and softer and he finishes playing. This gets a huge positive response from the crowd. “Thank you.” He tells the crowd with a small smile as he reaches down to the floor and grabs a bottle of water.

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(OOC: The second part of the acoustic set will be posted tomorrow with three more songs, then the first part of the blues set should be posted on Monday.)

Edited by user 17 July 2011 12:22:58(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

He takes a drink of water before placing the water bottle back down near his feet. The lights rise up once Ryan starts to speak again. “This next song is a cover. It may just be the most difficult song I've ever covered, especially acoustically. This is a soul song, one of the best of all-time. So hopefully I'm able to do it some justice. Cheers.” The lights lower themselves once more as Ryan leans back on the stool playing a very bluesy sounding guitar riff, which could be seen as a difficult task but he makes it look easy. It's only appropriate that the cameras are set on the guitar as you see him plucking every single chord with his fingers. The extended guitar intro isn't recognizable by any means, yet as soon as Ryan opens his mouth to utter the first line of the song in a soulful, sultry voice; the fans are quick to cheer. “Me and Mrs. Jones, we got a thing going on,” he says with a small smirk as he looks up at the audience, who are right on pace as they join in to sing along.



Come chorus time, he suddenly stops playing the bluesy licks which had just picked up and sings the famous “Me and Mrs, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones,” line acapella along with the audience, causing the voices to echo through the entire arena. Obviously Ryan doesn't have the vocal skills as Billy Paul or Michael Bublé do, so he relies heavily on falling back on a loud falsetto. He quickly begins to play the laidback blues riff again, until the rising point of the song where he changes his playing to a fast paced riff where he swiftly passes his fingers along every string.



He echoes that final line “Mrs. Jones,” line until he fades away his own voice and guitar playing. The audience continue to give Ryan huge praise after every single song. “Was that good?” he asks shrugging his shoulders then smile after getting a positive response from his fans.

Don't Know Why

As that last performance sinks in with the twenty thousand at hand, a crew member is quick to rush on stage with another stool which is placed to the right hand of Ryan, just a few feet away. Soon after, longtime backing guitarist for Ryan Ross Hernandez as a touring member and for in studio recording, Robbie McIntosh walks out onto the stage, receiving a warm welcome from the diehards who quickly recognize the veteran guitarist. “Ladies and gentlemen, the slide guitar extraordinaire, Mister Rob McIntosh.” As Ryan stated, Robbie does have a slide guitar which he adjusts once sitting down. Robbie soon starts to play a beautiful riff as an intro to the next song. Ryan takes off one of his earpieces as he leans back and appreciates the feel Robbie is giving off with his guitar playing. Robbie continues playing solo for about thirty seconds, before Ryan places the earpiece back in his ear, and steps in with his acoustic playing, once McIntosh starts playing the slide intro to Don't Know Why, one of Hernandez's most recognizable songs. The second the acoustic and the slide meet, the fans know perfectly well what song they are about to dive into.

Once Ryan starts singing, the acoustic guitar becomes more prominent, although the slide guitar work by Robbie does come out and shine at certain parts of the performance. Ryan's vocals are mostly constant through this entire song, except for the bridge where he brings to light his falsetto tone that he holds for a few seconds, obviously causing the women present to swoon. After which Robbie performs a pitch-perfect sounding solo on the slide. Ryan just keeps the melody going with his acoustic guitar as his focus is drawn into enjoying the slide guitar solo Robbie is executing perfectly. Don't Know Why, is really an acoustic rock anthem for women. As such you are able to hear the majority of the women present singing along with Ryan. They both finish playing their respective guitars in near perfect sync, with holding on tightly that final chord of the song. “Thank you,” he adds with a nod.



Ryan takes off the guitar he had strapped, handing it over to his guitar tech, who hands him another acoustic guitar. This one being a Martin 000-ECHF Belezza Nera with a beautiful mantel black finish. Ryan stands up from his stool, thanking Robbie and giving him a quick pat on the back as he heads off backstage. The previous crew member who had initially brought the stool on to the stage is the one who takes both stools off the stage. The lights raise more than they have all night so far, still only giving the audience a clear view as to where the area Ryan is standing on now. He takes off one of his earpieces again as he leans into the microphone while running a hand through his hair. “I've seen and heard most of you singing tonight. Is it safe to say that an LA crowd likes to sing along?” The twenty thousand people standing in front of him cheer to answer his question. “Let's do something then... Let's send a sound, all across this city.” Ryan raises the acoustic guitar and starts to play a simple, rhythmic melody. “Ladadadadalala.” It doesn't take long before the audience joins in and echos the sound right behind him. “Keep it going, keep it going.” He quickly rolls off his mouth, as he backs off from the microphone stand, still playing the melody. After twenty or so seconds of the crowd compiled to Ryan's request, he changes the melody and dives right into the soft and gentle opening chords of That Girl's a Beautiful Mess, a song off of his latest album Let a Man Be Lost, that he has yet to play live. Of course, until now. Just by playing that opening chord, the fans cheer and scream with excitement. “You all know who this song is about,” he says with a sly grin. That might be his way of confirming the rumor that this song is about Nadia Berry, the first time they dated in 2010. To match with the chords, Ryan starts to sing in a gentle voice that matches; His voice almost entirely taken over by how loud the fans are singing now.

You got the world hanging by a string
You remind of that girl who has broken a few hearts
Yet can heal one if she pleased
You are strong but in need of pleasing
Humble though you love attention
If I had to guess from her body language
Those curves that have him thinking worse
Your fashion sense is quite appealing
Something tells me you're kind of crazy
I'll make a guess and say
"This is just the kind of girl a guy needs"

During this song, although Ryan's voice is a near whisper never forcing a note out, he still sounds as the classiest of pleasures. When it's time for the chorus, Ryan opens his mouth wide almost shouting those last three words of it along with the crowd.



After the second verse, he lets the audience sing the final chorus back to him, giving the sense that not a single person in that arena wasn't singing.



For the final verse of the song, he sings with so much passion behind every word he lets out of his mouth, without a care if they sound technically perfect or not. He sings the final line in a whisper, just how he started the song. After the conclusion of that song, he might have just received the best reception from the audience that he has gotten yet. While the crowd is still applauding him, he says, “that was then, this is now.” Without wasting another second he starts to play a very liquidly melody by picking on the chords he is playing. This settles the crowd down but they have no recognition of what song he may be playing next. “If you can play this next song or two well to a lady friend, you are guaranteed to get laid.” Most of the crowd laughs and a few 'Oooh's' are shouted out by the audience. Ryan looks over at the side of the stage as he begins to sing with a smile on his face.

Could you be the most beautiful girl in the world?
It's plain to see you're the reason that God made a girl
Oh, yes you are

He sings that short Prince cover in falsetto before transitioning with the same guitar picking melody to another cover. He turns his back to the audience when he does adding quickly in between the two, “Even I'm wet.”



Nearly as soon as he stops singing the snippet Sam Cooke cover, the guitar playing finishes with it. “Thank you very much. We'll see you in a few minutes.” And just like that, with the fans still a buzz over him, he nods his head and flashes them a quick smile before quickly disappearing off the stage. He has just finished the first set of the show, which was greatly received by the fans. Now he thinks; two more to go.