My First Concert in Years
Okay, so I've been to a couple concerts in my life. I've seen Gaelic Storm play a few times and, when I was quite young, I seem to remember going to a Poison/Nelsons concert with my sister. For me, that's been about the extent of my concert-going experience. Growing up in a dinky town and then going to college in a dinky town and then moving to a slightly larger town that has a huge city an hour or so away has not led to many prime concert opportunities. As such, I just haven't gone.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I took a drive up to the cities to catch The Fratellis. We went up a little early and had dinner at a nearby noodle place and then walked over to the concert hall.
They were playing at this little place called Varsity Theater which I can find no better word to describe than swanky. We waited in line out front of what resembled most an old, run-down movie theater until they opened the doors. Going in, they were checking IDs and you got a fancy plastic semi-indesctructable wristband from a woman that appeared to be about 2.5 millimeters from having a wardrobe malfunction.
Once past the doors, we past not one, but two, bars on our way to the hall. Apparently, the doorway we walked through was no standard 6.5 foot door, but a time machine set for some time in the mid 70's. What we walked in to was a very dimly lit dance hall with a stage up front. There were no less than 8 disco balls hanging from the ceiling and, as best I could tell, the walls were covered in red velvet. Along the sides were raised platforms with gratuitously overstuffed sofas and chairs strewn about. Being as we were there early, we managed to snag one of these. As the place filled in, however, it became standing room only.
The show started with one of two openers: Dappled Cities. I believe they were from Australia and, while I didn't expect the openers to be as good as the headliners, I also didn't expect them to be as bad as they were. It was a painful 35 minutes until they left the stage. They honestly left the hall with this overwhelming feeling of uncertainty as to whether or not we could make it another hour until The Fratellis took the stage.
The next band up, Switches, was a very pleasant surprise. Not only were they not bad, they were actually very good. It took them a few songs to get folks going, again, but they actually put out a solid 40 minute set. They were so good that I actually ordered my first CD in multiple years. As they're a UK band, I'm not able to get them through my subscription service, so I broke down and ordered their album. What is this world coming to?
And, finally, after being in the sweltering heat of the hall for two and a half hours, the headliners took the stage. The Fratellis put on a great show and, despite the heat of the place, we had a great time.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I took a drive up to the cities to catch The Fratellis. We went up a little early and had dinner at a nearby noodle place and then walked over to the concert hall.
They were playing at this little place called Varsity Theater which I can find no better word to describe than swanky. We waited in line out front of what resembled most an old, run-down movie theater until they opened the doors. Going in, they were checking IDs and you got a fancy plastic semi-indesctructable wristband from a woman that appeared to be about 2.5 millimeters from having a wardrobe malfunction.
Once past the doors, we past not one, but two, bars on our way to the hall. Apparently, the doorway we walked through was no standard 6.5 foot door, but a time machine set for some time in the mid 70's. What we walked in to was a very dimly lit dance hall with a stage up front. There were no less than 8 disco balls hanging from the ceiling and, as best I could tell, the walls were covered in red velvet. Along the sides were raised platforms with gratuitously overstuffed sofas and chairs strewn about. Being as we were there early, we managed to snag one of these. As the place filled in, however, it became standing room only.
The show started with one of two openers: Dappled Cities. I believe they were from Australia and, while I didn't expect the openers to be as good as the headliners, I also didn't expect them to be as bad as they were. It was a painful 35 minutes until they left the stage. They honestly left the hall with this overwhelming feeling of uncertainty as to whether or not we could make it another hour until The Fratellis took the stage.
The next band up, Switches, was a very pleasant surprise. Not only were they not bad, they were actually very good. It took them a few songs to get folks going, again, but they actually put out a solid 40 minute set. They were so good that I actually ordered my first CD in multiple years. As they're a UK band, I'm not able to get them through my subscription service, so I broke down and ordered their album. What is this world coming to?
And, finally, after being in the sweltering heat of the hall for two and a half hours, the headliners took the stage. The Fratellis put on a great show and, despite the heat of the place, we had a great time.
Labels: Music
posted by MC at
Monday, August 13, 2007
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