You needn't love it to love it
How could I have tried so hard to be a hippie in the 60's and 70's and yet never gone to a Rolling Stones concert? I finally had my chance a few days ago when Mick and the boys returned to Seattle for the first time in a decade. I'm so glad I went. And, I don't ever need to go again.
Some impressions:
The people who buy $100 to $500 Stones tickets are not hippies or rockers. They're lawyers and dentists reliving their youths. (Like me.) They're also football season ticket holders who have "insider access" to the supposedly scarce tickets and hope they can double or triple their costs by selling the tix on eBay. Instead, the street corners around the Seattle Seahawks stadium were crowded with scalpers offering tickets at half price. Still, it was far from a sellout.
You go for the experience, not the music. The sound was muddy. I understood at most half of what Mick said to the audience, and very few of the lyrics. Good thing the ubiquitous Stones tunes are so familiar. Being part of the "happening" was like being on an Anthropology field trip.
The Rolling Stones and Dave Matthews, the opening act, must be hurting, financially. Why else would the stage have been dominated by two large banners, even larger than the video screens, displaying the Radio Shack logo?
If you're a 57 year old dad who believes your 16 year old daughter will think you're really cool when you phone her from the concert so she can hear the thundering background music, you're wrong.
I'm so glad I went. And, I don't ever need to go again.
You don't have to love an experience to love having had it.
Some impressions:
The people who buy $100 to $500 Stones tickets are not hippies or rockers. They're lawyers and dentists reliving their youths. (Like me.) They're also football season ticket holders who have "insider access" to the supposedly scarce tickets and hope they can double or triple their costs by selling the tix on eBay. Instead, the street corners around the Seattle Seahawks stadium were crowded with scalpers offering tickets at half price. Still, it was far from a sellout.
You go for the experience, not the music. The sound was muddy. I understood at most half of what Mick said to the audience, and very few of the lyrics. Good thing the ubiquitous Stones tunes are so familiar. Being part of the "happening" was like being on an Anthropology field trip.
The Rolling Stones and Dave Matthews, the opening act, must be hurting, financially. Why else would the stage have been dominated by two large banners, even larger than the video screens, displaying the Radio Shack logo?
If you're a 57 year old dad who believes your 16 year old daughter will think you're really cool when you phone her from the concert so she can hear the thundering background music, you're wrong.
I'm so glad I went. And, I don't ever need to go again.
You don't have to love an experience to love having had it.
posted by George Walther | 4:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home