Hubby and I ventured to the Iowa State Fair (which I will post about, it is something pretty great) on Saturday. We had tickets to the fair and we also had tickets to see the Def Leppard concert (note the concert tee I made myself - and some of you might be able to guess another time I can wear it???). And, this may sound crazy, but after this summer and just, really, this whole year of craziness, I am hard pressed to remember the last time we went anywhere just the two of us. I can't think of it. Even though I'm still not feeling 100%, it was fun to go and I'm glad we did it.
We got seated plenty early, as evidenced in the photo. It looked to be a nearly sold out show by the time performers took the stage.
First, Everclear (the warm up act) does NOT translate to a live performance. They were horrible. OMG. I can only assume they benefit from the studio environment because in person, it was not sounding good. Ew. And I think the lead singer was figuring out from the mediocre enthusiasm of the crowd that nobody cared about seeing them, everybody was just waiting to see Def Leppard, because he mentioned it several times.
On their last song, the drunk guy next to us yelled, "Just take your $150 and the f**k off the stage!". It was actually pretty funny.
Let's talk about the drunk guy next to us. At first, we were a little nervous. Because we were not drinking. It's a little different to be at a rock concert as a stone cold sober person when most of the rest are drinking. You just don't know what you're gonna get. Turns out, Drunk Dude, along with his friend who didn't talk to us, wasn't too bad. He was a chatty, friendly drunk.
Fine. I was just hoping as long as he wasn't an ass or vomiting, I could handle it and not be annoyed.
First thing, inbetween sets, he did have time to chat us up, one beer in each hand. From what I could figure out, he was fresh out of college, so there was kind of an age difference. He decided that for being "old", we were really cool and "don't let anyone tell you any different!" Thanks, drunk dude.
We also had a pretty lengthy discussion on how old a person is when the songs they enjoyed back in the day start playing as "classic" hits. I guess we determined that about 20 years later, those hits are officially "classics". It wasn't a very scientific conversation.
That's about when Drunk Dude got all smart. I think I told you once about my friend who says there is that time, when certain people are drinking, that they want to discuss probing and deep topics, figure out the meaning of life. She calls that "making other people smart".
Drunk Dude tried making us smart after the conversation about classic rock.
Let's see if we're smarter.
According to Drunk Dude (and he ended a lot of his points with, "are you hearing me?" or "don't get mad at me now" or "I'm just sayin"
- We have an obesity problem in America. Too many people have a bad diet. We looked really healthy to Drunk Dude so he thinks we'll be OK. But, seriously, a lot of people are dying from being fat.
- We need to have wars. It's all about survival of the fittest! Imagine, if there had never been any wars, on the whole planet, then we would have, like, a million more people in the population and then, if we had more people, there'd be more global warming and we'd all be getting killed. So, having wars is necessary to "thin the herd". Survival of the fittest! Don't get mad at me! (I have a feeling he did a college paper about population control)
And somewhere in the middle of his "we have to have wars to thin the herd" scenario, hubby turned to me and said, "You're blogging this, aren't you?".
You bet your ass I am.
Once Def Leppard came out, it was pretty hard to talk anymore. Too loud. My ears finally feel a little bit better today. But Drunk Dude was nice enough at one point to lean into hubby as he was leaving his seat and said "Don't worry, I'll be right back, I have to take a piss".
Anyway, the concert was really good. Where Everclear sucked, Def Leppard seems to have no problem translating their songs from the recording studio to the stage. They were really good. Joe Elliott even gave a shout out to his family there in the crowd.
Interesting factoid of the day: hubby went to high school with Joe Elliott's wife. Her niece used to babysit Sammie & Em when they were really little. I lost that babysitter when she decided to move to live with them in their castle and study abroad for a semester. No other babysitter has ever given me that exact reason behind me needing to find someone new. And made me want to say, "Take me with you!"
It was a great concert, especially since their biggest hits thru the 80s were part of our teen years, made it fun to sing along. (Elton John is still my favorite concert ever, though.)
So, two questions today for you readers, both the drunk and the not drunk ones:
What is the best concert you've ever been to?
What is the most ridiculous conversation you've ever had with a drunk person?
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25 comments:
Best concert?
I've seen Def Leppard and wouldn't rate them very high...
I'm a big fan of the Scorpions, so that was right up there.
But I've got to say the best was probably... BTO. It was at the Idaho State Fair, the tickets were $5, and we were about 4 rows from the stage. Best of all it was pretty fun to see a couple of 60+ year old guys rockin' the house.
As for being made smarter, I think just about any drunken conversation fits into the ridiculous category... (aka I've had way too many to remember the most ridiculous!)
LOL! I'm usually the drunk person starting the conversation. I don't get that preachy thoughm I don't think. I'm just happy and love to talk to people.
Best concert? Counting Crows who - insert audible sigh and eyeroll - opened - for John Mayer. we left after Counting Crows.
The best concert I ever when to was Meatloaf in 1994. It was during his resurgence and IT. WAS. AWESOME.
Usually when there is a drunk conversation to be had it stems around sex so I've never experienced the deep theological drunk conversation. Which is refreshing since I regularly have deep theological sober conversations.
Best concert I have ever been too has to be one of the 13 times I have seen Jimmy Buffett... And I have had too many conversations/arguments with drunks to recount.
Ah, a conversation with a drunk guy. Those are always good for some fodder down the road. And I can't believe that it's already Iowa State Fair time. Do they still brodcast an hour each night on the Iowa PBS stations?
Actually my favorite concert was a Neil Diamond concert just because I knew the words to every song. My favorite conversation with a drunk was with my brother. He was telling me how the neighborhood where he lives with my mother was going straight to He** now that the Mexicans and blacks were moving in. This coming from a 55 year old man that still lives with his mother, gets high and drunk daily and hasn't worked in 20 years.
I've not been to very many concerts considering my age, but the most memorable one for me was probably the one at Penn State about 10 years ago where we saw The Coasters, Drifters, The Platters. Not the originals, of course, but they were great all the same probably because I knew almost all the songs and I was with the guy I was seeing at that time -a relationship that I wish had never gone south too, but c'est la vie I guess.
Drunks and conversations though -phew! I've had way too many of those both as the drunk and as the person listening to the drunk. Been there on way too many occasions to be able to site chapter and verse ya know.
I bow to your amazing shirt prowess. You kick ass my dear. Honest to God, you do. I can't wait to see the shirt in its next venture out!
The best concert I have ever been to hands down was Dead Can Dance. This was sometime in the early 90's. I went with my friend Farhan and I remember exactly what we wore because we were both wearing khaki pants. I was wearing sandals and some kind of t-shirt and he was wearing a blue polo shirt. We looked very regular. The concert was at the Orpheum here in Mpls and when we arrived outside the theater we walked into a swarm, and (and I do mean a swarm)of GOTHS of all things. GOTHS! Everyone was all black nail polish, white makeup, piercings and dark lipstick, shredded panty hose and safety pins. And then there is us - the Pakistani and the white girl representing Lands End. But once we got over how much we stood out in this crowd, (and to realize that your favorite band is actually a GOTH BAND was really quite something) the concert was Fab-O.
Well..you know I'm old as hell...so I've been to TONS of concerts. The first one, I was 14 years old and saw Chicago. Awesome!
Probably the BEST concert was one I went to in '77....held at the University of Texas stadium (Austin).... it was an all day thing...so freakin' hot...blazing sun....so many groups I can't even remember who all played. I just remember it was hot and I was thirsty. ;-)
Best concert is too hard ... but I'll say I certainly enjoyed David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust days.
Drunk conversation? Unfortunately it was probably with myself.
Hmm, I've seen everclear. I thought they were alright, but that's been what, 15 years? Anyway, I have been to so many concerts I have so many best concerts. Beastie Boys in Houston (after driving 12 hours) with Rollins Band and Cypress Hill or the several other times I saw them. Serious memories there. Then the many times I've seen Clutch. I remember seeing them when I was about 8 month pregnant with my daughter. I was miserable and sat at the back. Then, the last time we saw them, we took our daughter who is 10. It was her first real concert. She had so much fun and we were front and center and the drummer gave her his sticks.
I'm never drunk, I don't drink. So, I don't care if I'm not drinking at a concert.
I've been to a pathetically low number of concerts - I spent my teen years going to Broadway shows. The last concert I went to was Richard Cheese at a nightclub in Waikiki in 2005. That was KICKASS.
Before that it was Matchbox Twenty and Sugar Ray in New Orleans...Maroon 5 was the opening act, this was right before they hit. Maybe not the best music but even DH (who despises pop music) had to admit that MB20 put on a good show.
The thing that sticks out in my mind most about that concert was that every woman there was wearing jeans and a white cami tank. Except me - I was wearing a blue cami tank. I'm such an individual.
Billy Joel and Paul McCartney have to be tied towards the top of my list, but all the times I saw the Beach Boys have to be my favorite!
I haven't spent a lot of time around drunken folks, unless the pirates on Pirates of the Carribean count. I have been accused of being drunk many times, and I don't even drink!!
Hard for me to choose from any one of six Bruce Springsteen concerts. The best non-Springsteen show I saw was the Pretenders at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, 1981.
I have to save the second question for a future blogpost. It involved a drunk old man, an ice storm, and The Beatles.
The last eight years have proven that it's not necessarily a good idea for a recovering alcolholic to decide policy, either...
I'm not a fan of concerts in huge venues. I like to hear music in smaller, more intimate settings. The most memorable of such times occurred at the Iron Horse in Norhthampton, MA. I was there to see Kelly Joe Phelps, a blues singer/songwriter/guitarist. A thunderstorm rolled through about an hour before the show and knocked the power out. The show went on... by candlelight and 100% acoustic.
As for ridiculous drunken conversations - I've had plenty, but don't remember the specifics of any of them!
I was a bar tender for many many many many years... do you really want to know about conversations with drunks?? I didn't think so..but I will tell you that "you know what I mean" and "now don't get mad at me" are just common words amongs drunks...and..those words will alway and I mean always.. proceed the most stupid remark you have ever heard...ya know what I mean...
The best concert I have been to recently was Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra. They are self proclaimed "Gypsy Punk" musicians from Serbia. Unbelievable. We got to see them in the amphitheater down the road. Being able to walk to a concert (and back after the beers) is wonderful. They completely rocked. What was most interesting is that almost all of us couldn't sit still and bopped through the whole thing. At some point some aggressively irate local (this is Israel after all) climbed onto the stage, grabbed the mike and complained that he could not see the show, because of all the dancing. Kusturica, stopped dead, immediately brought two chairs from back stage and set them down in front of the band and forced the fool and his (most embarrassed) wife to sit and watch from there.
One night, Blackwifeo came home rather late from a night out with the girls. I was fast asleep. When I awoke to go to work in the morning, she was lying in bed, dead to the world, wearing a single boot. Seems the zipper had broken and she was not able to get it off. She claims she explained it all to me when she got home, but I was way asleep.
I think you read my blog entry about 'blue dress girl' at Kenny Chesney...after she left her standing room only spot, came back 15 minutes later and said, "tell me you didn't take 'my' spot" That takes the cake for me. As for the best concert ever...had to be Elton John and Billy Joel at Brewer Stadium. The crowd was singing so loud to piano man that at one point, Elton and Billy got up from their pianos and just watched the crowd sing. Amazing
jruch01@aurora.edu
Def Leppard rules! And here's my Def Leppard connection. I used to have the same kickboxing coach as Phil Collin, the guitarist. I sparred with him in the ring on numerous occasions. He's not crazy skilled, but he had heart. Best concert I ever went to was Guns n Roses in 91 at the Centrum in Worcester, MA. Sound Garden opened for them. 4th row. Unforgettable. And drunk conversation? Well, um, I'm usually the drunk guy people talk about the next day... heh.
Exactly where does love bite, and does it leave a hickey?
darn, I'm so disappointed to hear that about Everclear - love their music. This may sound funny and no, it's not "dating me" because I'm only 37 (only hehe) but Neil Diamond puts on a kick butt concert. He's got some great music spanning 40 years and still looks good at his age. Def Leppard would have been cool tho!
Hmmm. It would have to be a tie for best concert: The Rolling Stones, at the Franfurt (W. Germany) Festhalle in 1982, or Ozzy Osbourne, on the Ultimate Sin tour at Merriweather-Post Pavillion (Columbia, Md.), in 1987.
Duuuude, DEF LEPPARD! AWESOME! I'm soooo jealous.
I've been to so many concerts, and so very many of them were great. Oingo Boingo, U2, X, Sting, and the WOMAD Festival (waaaaay back in the early 90's with Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, and PM Dawn amongst others) would make the top 5. Oh, uh, and Depeche Mode and the Go-Go's and Dead Can Dance. Crap.
Best concert? Wilco at the ValAir Ballroom in Des Moines last March. Paul Westerburg at the University of Iowa Union was pretty good, too. Paul Simon, Rythm of the Saints tour in 1990 up at the Target Center in Minneapolis- awesome show.
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