What happens in Canada, stays in Canada...
Went to Vancouver, BC on August 20th to attend two concerts by The Dead Weather, Jack White's newest band.
It's been difficult to assimilate that something as simple as a rock concert (or two) could end up seeming life transforming. That sounds like hyperbole and I suppose in the big picture of life it is. But to wait until fifty to experience something like this was pivotal on the leaning-down end of the seesaw of my life. I have a fucking AARP card. The concerts cancelled out the implications far as I'm concerned. I mean, I'm still fifty, but it is less of a burden because the things that ended up annoying me (rude peeps who cut in front of me on the dance floor while the band was playing and the Major Asshole who was literally screaming as loud as he could directly into my right ear) were the same things what would have annoyed the shit outta me twenty years ago, too. I guess I was fearing some sort of disconnect with a majority youthful event (although my friend and I were def not the oldest folks there) that would make it seem like I was an old fogey playing with the kids and it wasn't like that in the least. I know. I know. It was just a couple of rock concerts, but I was dubious about how it was going to be, aside from the music, just being in a club setting--being 'olde' and never having had done anything like this before. It fucking rocked!
I had 'early entry' so we didn't have to queue up in line before the concert(s) and got in five minutes before everyone else. It was great to go in the dark club with a small group of folks (ten) and scope the place out a bit before the masses poured in. First night, we chose a table right next to the wooden dance floor that is right in front of the stage. You could tell even when the place was empty we'd have to squeeze into the dance floor crowd when the DW started...and we did. After a couple of failed attempts to get a good view my friend and I separated and didn't see each other again till it was over. I ended up compressed between bods, up pretty close but still with too many tall heads and raised-hand-cameras to have an excellent view. No matter. Soon as the lights went down the pot lit up and the floor was sort of bouncing as if you were on a boat and there were strobe lights here and there and the whole thing was like being in an alternate reality. Part of that shift was the sheer loudness of the band; you could feel it in your bones. The band was amazing. The highlight being when Jack comes out from behind the drums to play guitar and duet with Allison on, "Will there be enough water." It's a bluesy-sexy piece that improves exponentially Live vs. the album version. Every song was a huge improvement from the studio version, which doesn't suck or anything, but this stuff needs to be heard live...from a rolling dance floor with pot wafting freely and your bones echoing back the beats. Good times.
My ears rang loudly for nearly two days afterwards. The next day, I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the second concert I was so dizzy from my ears being a mess and stayed in bed most the day (something that 'might' have been an age related phenom...or not).
The second night, again early entry, I grabbed a table on the one balcony, near the middle and had a fantastic view of everything this time. Had my earplugs and a lovely glass of merlot that I was warned beforehand came from a Can. It was actually okay. This time, I was more a spectator than participant and knew I was in for another fantastic concert experience. And it was.
So, I'm hooked. I came back to Juneau and the next morning looked for another concert I might be able to attend. Turned out that New Orleans fit my work schedule just swell. Then, that same morning a Dallas concert was announced, so I'm going there too.
A month after that, I have a front row ticket to see Leonard Cohen in Nashville. I love travelling for music. In the past, it's always been for classical/opera. It's unusual that I am travelling so much these last few months of the year...But it's all for a good cause...no make that Great Cause.
I'm thinking maybe it's time for a new tattoo.......
It's been difficult to assimilate that something as simple as a rock concert (or two) could end up seeming life transforming. That sounds like hyperbole and I suppose in the big picture of life it is. But to wait until fifty to experience something like this was pivotal on the leaning-down end of the seesaw of my life. I have a fucking AARP card. The concerts cancelled out the implications far as I'm concerned. I mean, I'm still fifty, but it is less of a burden because the things that ended up annoying me (rude peeps who cut in front of me on the dance floor while the band was playing and the Major Asshole who was literally screaming as loud as he could directly into my right ear) were the same things what would have annoyed the shit outta me twenty years ago, too. I guess I was fearing some sort of disconnect with a majority youthful event (although my friend and I were def not the oldest folks there) that would make it seem like I was an old fogey playing with the kids and it wasn't like that in the least. I know. I know. It was just a couple of rock concerts, but I was dubious about how it was going to be, aside from the music, just being in a club setting--being 'olde' and never having had done anything like this before. It fucking rocked!
I had 'early entry' so we didn't have to queue up in line before the concert(s) and got in five minutes before everyone else. It was great to go in the dark club with a small group of folks (ten) and scope the place out a bit before the masses poured in. First night, we chose a table right next to the wooden dance floor that is right in front of the stage. You could tell even when the place was empty we'd have to squeeze into the dance floor crowd when the DW started...and we did. After a couple of failed attempts to get a good view my friend and I separated and didn't see each other again till it was over. I ended up compressed between bods, up pretty close but still with too many tall heads and raised-hand-cameras to have an excellent view. No matter. Soon as the lights went down the pot lit up and the floor was sort of bouncing as if you were on a boat and there were strobe lights here and there and the whole thing was like being in an alternate reality. Part of that shift was the sheer loudness of the band; you could feel it in your bones. The band was amazing. The highlight being when Jack comes out from behind the drums to play guitar and duet with Allison on, "Will there be enough water." It's a bluesy-sexy piece that improves exponentially Live vs. the album version. Every song was a huge improvement from the studio version, which doesn't suck or anything, but this stuff needs to be heard live...from a rolling dance floor with pot wafting freely and your bones echoing back the beats. Good times.
My ears rang loudly for nearly two days afterwards. The next day, I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the second concert I was so dizzy from my ears being a mess and stayed in bed most the day (something that 'might' have been an age related phenom...or not).
The second night, again early entry, I grabbed a table on the one balcony, near the middle and had a fantastic view of everything this time. Had my earplugs and a lovely glass of merlot that I was warned beforehand came from a Can. It was actually okay. This time, I was more a spectator than participant and knew I was in for another fantastic concert experience. And it was.
So, I'm hooked. I came back to Juneau and the next morning looked for another concert I might be able to attend. Turned out that New Orleans fit my work schedule just swell. Then, that same morning a Dallas concert was announced, so I'm going there too.
A month after that, I have a front row ticket to see Leonard Cohen in Nashville. I love travelling for music. In the past, it's always been for classical/opera. It's unusual that I am travelling so much these last few months of the year...But it's all for a good cause...no make that Great Cause.
I'm thinking maybe it's time for a new tattoo.......
posted by Laurie at
1:07 PM
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