You really got a hold on me.

A followup! Did Liz and Jessica have a great Independence Day weekend? Did She & Him satiate their need for swoon-worthy guitar playing and hip-shaking live music? Did their Liz & Jessica In the Sun Tour 2010 live up to all the hype?

YES. YES. YES.

I took a quick Amtrak train to Philadelphia on Friday afternoon in time to meet Liz, grab some dinner and then head to River Stage. I loved coming upon the venue - it's a smallish amphitheater with the Delaware River as it's background. Liz, two of her friends, and I had a great view at the top ridge of the stone steps and had enough room to bop around to the music.

The show! The show was fantastic - with a long setlist that I'm pretty sure covered nearly their entire two albums, along with three or four other covers in the mix. I squealed when they started playing "Home" - my favourite track on Volume Two, and Liz got excited to hear the duet "Ridin' in My Car." Both, like all the songs, incredible. We danced, we sang, we did that thing where we clutched our chest when we heard M. Ward sing his first notes.

For some reason, many people I've encountered believe Zooey Deschanel's voice is nothing to get excited over. I've never understood this; I enjoy her singing on the albums. However, live? She'll blow you away. She hits every note and she knows how to belt it out. Of course, she looks ridiculously adorable while doing it!

Also, I just found and bought this signed & numbered poster for Friday's show:

After the show, we went out in Philadelphia for a bit of dancing, avoiding the weirdos, and then Liz and I winded up at her apartment playing songs on her friend's iPod and discussing certain musicians and songs one-on-one. That's the thing with Liz - I'm pretty sure we could discuss music for hours. I think I knew that when I first discovered her blog a couple of years ago, though.

Friends, River Stage, Massive French Toast, Liz - On Our Way to NY!

On Saturday, Liz and I made it to New York and decided it was the right night for a Williamsburg DANCE PARTY. So we gathered up the usual suspects (aka my amazing friends), gussied ourselves up, and headed to The Woods! Unfortunately, the DJ couldn't decide between good music and horrible music, so every other song was abysmal. No worries, though, as we danced it up anyway in good fun!

Erica, Kells, Liz, Amber!

On Sunday morning, Amber, Liz, and I got up early, grabbed some bagels, and headed to Governor's Island for the 4th of July free She & Him show! The line for the ferry was perhaps the longest line I'd ever seen - and we showed up three hours before the show was supposed to start. Also? It was 95 degrees, blinding sun. At any rate, we made it to the quaint little island (which I hope to explore more of in the future!) and settled into the heat to await She & Him.

That's Matt Ward and band soundchecking!

Me. SPF 70. The only beer I had that day because I spent my money on water.

Amber & Liz.

Our view of Manhattan and the BK Bridge.

On to the show, right? (All these pics are from Gothamist or Brooklyn Vegan!)

M. Ward's crooning, Zooey's 4th of July outfit.

She always coordinates with her backup singers! Love it.

Their shows have a great deal of energy, too.

Please check out this pic I found and photoshopped! And laugh.

The show, again, did not disappoint! Zooey and her backup singers sang a little patriotic diddy in the encore, the duets were beautiful, and even the heat couldn't hold back everyone from dancing to their last song, a cover of "Roll Over Beethoven." However, after the show was over, we were covered in dirt, dust and sand that stuck to our sunscreen and sweat: we were ready to go home. We got back on the quick ferry, and said bye to Liz who had to head back to Philadelphia.

And so: the weekend was a BLAST!!! Great friends and live music - how could you go wrong?

How did you spend the holiday?!

PS Um, just in case this post didn't inform you about how in love I am with this band - tonight...I'm going to see them perform at Terminal 5. Yes. Commence questioning my sanity.