|
seeing live music In my effort to get an entry about yesterday out as soon as possible, I left out a few details that I think are important. First of all I want to talk some more about my feelings in general when it comes to concerts and then the theater itself where I saw the concert last night. I mean there is a good reason that that was the first concert that I had seen in eight years. Crowds. I have never been overly fond of large groups of people and mixing alcohol with said groups makes them even less tolerable for me. From my experience concerts usually have both of those elements going for them. Yes, I did have a beer at the concert last night, but I didn't see anyone drunk out of their mind or smell any vomit either. Casually drinking is fine, but partying until a person needs to puke is way beneath me now. I outgrew people that needed to be that way years ago and was never someone with that mindset anyway. Okay, I seem to be getting away from my point here. All that I am saying is that maybe it was the bands that I saw years ago or maybe it was the venues, something seemed to draw those kinds of people out to those concerts and I grew tired of it. I want to hear good live music without having some moron, be it male or female, invading my personal space with their drunken behavior. I just don't need that anymore and I can't really remember a time when I did. Nor can I ever remember having sex with someone that I met at a concert either. Then again I was never a Deadhead, nor did I ever sell drugs at a concert. Doing either of those would probably have increased my odds. My second pet peeve about concerts is the cost. Way too expensive is all that I have to say. For the cost of most of the major acts I want them to personally greet me at the door and give me a hug before they do anything else. These are people after all and their shit still smells. I like people who are human. The venue last night I was told had a seating capacity of a thousand which was fine with me. It was bigger than a club where people elbow one another for room and stand in a haze of smoke, yet small enough that the people on stage were still life size and not some vaguely human shape jumping around hundreds of feet away from me. What I saw last night was an ideal concert for me and I'll give a few examples of why. Glen was able to unplug his guitar for a few songs and still be heard. He answered questions shouted out to him from the crowd. Sara, Chris, Sean and Derek were so human and they seemed genuinely pleased that the audience was there. Sometimes I get the impression that performers forget why the people are there in front of them. That didn't apply to any of the people that I saw on stage last night and I hope that they stay that way for a long time. ... As I said that was only the second time that I was ever in La Crosse and I impressed myself by finding the theater not only in the rain, but also in the dark. I had wanted to get there before the sun set but it just didn't happen that way. Even better was the fact that I found free parking once I was there. Yes, I know that these are minor things, but they are still important to me. Now that I reread what I just wrote, I am starting to sound incredibly old. I mean if this were the sixties then I would be the man since I am over the age of thirty. On the other hand the average person doesn't drive seven hours within a twelve hour period just to see a band play. Maybe I am still young, impulsive and foolish. Maybe I just needed a break. ... It was raining when I drove last night and into the early morning hours of today, but I didn't care. For a few hours I had escaped. I had been happy. The three day weekend had been a success. I envy those people that don't have a regular nine to five job. Oh, I appreciate the one that I have, but at the same time I am not nearly as passionate about what I do as the people that I saw on stage last night are about what they do. The difference between them and me is amazing. Once again this brings up the question of regret. ... While it continued to rain throughout the day, I packed some more boxes and wondered some more how I could possibly have collected so much stuff over the past five years of my life. When I wasn't packing something, I trying to decide what to throw away. Then in the moments left I listened to the rain. I wanted to listen all day rather than doing anything else and not in a depressed way either. I have to be productive though, because in two weeks everything is going to change. What I'll call home will be miles from where I am now.
|