An Evening with Andrew McMahon “of Jack’s Mannequin”

“An Evening with Andrew McMahon” at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC…… and indeed it was!

Andrew McMahon for those of you who do not know is the lead singer of Jacks’ Mannequin and founder of The Dear Jack Foundation

Wow…I truly don’t remember having a night of music like this since back when we saw John Mayer at The House of Blues. It will forever be one of our best musical moments ever. So intimate, so cozy, well taken care of as photographers, and just a truly truly brilliant artist.

Corey introduced me to Andrew’s music after he fell in love after one listen. Then of course reading his inspirational story of his battle with cancer, we were even that much more touched. Since Corey has also had an ordeal in his life..thank God not cancer…but still a battle of his own to learn to live and walk again.

There is not a day that goes by when we don’t listen to his cds. Needless to say when we saw he was doing a “special tour” of acoustic “evening with Andrew” nights we were beyond excited! As photographers, our first thought is to capture this amazing night within the still moments of our minds and eyes through our artistic abilities as photographers.

We were provided with the needed photo passes “a HUGE thank you to Aaron” As you can see we captured the night of emotion, music, laughter, and fun throughout our eyes.

Andrew preformed songs from his bands “Something Corporate” , “Jacks Mannequin” and even a few rare songs like “Katie” written for his sister…wow…such a touching song. He also threw in a little fun throughout the night like when he took the stage holding up signs introducing himself and when he threw out fortune cookies….of course “I” caught one. To help you get a feel for the night…he threw out three cookies…and then asked if any of us had one good enough to share. I of course decided to share my fortune “You will be Successful in Business” I thought oh what an awesome fortune! Andrew instead decided to turn it into a joke..saying…you told me that was a good fortune…blah blah blah. haha..it really made for a fun intimate night. What amazed me most was, this was a sold out show…bottom level and balcony were packed full, but the moment Andrew spoke, the moment myself and the other fortune cookie readers spoke..the entire place went to SILENCE. Such respect for this brilliant person. It was such an awesome thing to be a part of. If the world could have that type of respect daily for others…we’d all be so much happier and at peace.

This night will live in our hearts, minds, souls, and vision always.  A friend/client of ours once asked…who do you dream of shooting…..Virgil, our dream has been fulfilled…as his music hits our soul so very much…so to capture this through our eyes truly was a dream.

For those of you have never listened to this brilliant artist…please take the time to listen and to read some of his music.

Just a few of the brilliant lyrics that captivate me:

SWIM:
“I swim to brighter days
Despite the absence of sun
Choking on salt water
I’m not giving in
I swim”

HAMMERS and STRINGS:
“Give me something to believe in,
A breath from the breathing
So write it down,
I don’t think that I’ll close my eyes
‘Cause lately I’m not dreaming
So what’s the point in sleeping?
It’s just that at night,
I’ve got nowhere to hide
So I write you a lullaby
A lullaby”