Dixie Chicks Concert Report
Aug. 5th, 2006 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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jearbear65oh, David, kent4str and I went to the Dixie Chick concert last night. It was --for lack of a better expression-- an experience. I'm glad I went just the once, but never again.
The Dixie Chicks themselves seemed to be in good form, as near as I can tell. I'm familiar with their more commonly played hits but I'm not a huge fan. Not having bought CD of anyone in a couple of years --music just isn't my thing-- I'm not familiar with the bulk of their work so I lack the background to say much about their performance.
Sound was problematic for me. OK, it's a sports arena: one can't expect fine sound quality as you might from a concert hall. Alas, despite having relatively good seats, I couldn't make out a single word spoken or sung from on stage. Die-hard fans wouldn't care: they already memorized all the lyrics but I'm not in that bunch so I was at a bit of a loss. Oh, well.
What I could hear was loud. Really, really loud. Incredibly loud. My ears hurt from the opening act onwards. I still feel slightly damaged this morning, a sensation in both ears of not being quite right. Hopefully, my regular range of hearing will come back over the next couple of days.
And the fans. OK, this isn't your symphony orchestra/opera upscale well-behaved audience. Far from it. Being an all-girl trio, the Dixie Chicks were a big draw for women and the arena was at least 65-70% female. And, wow, they can drink. And drink. And drink. I have never seen so many drunk women in my life, at least in my seating section. And once they've had a few, apparently the thing to do is to start shrieking and screaming at full volume all the time, which did further wonderful things for my already pained ears.
What's with the cell phones? Was I the only person the entire arena who thought it might be nice to respect the "no recording" rules printed on the ticket? Someone a few rows over had their phone up & pointed at the stage for the entire concert. I'd love to know what model of phone & battery they were using since it must hav ea really long battery life. The audience seemed to bask in a constant glow of its own cell phone illumination.
And then there was the crazy, drunk mother two rows in front of us. Her two daughters insisted on standing at their seats for the entire concert. The people behind them asked them to sit when the everyone else does so that the folks behind them can see the concert. Crazy Drunk Mother flew into a screaming rage, portions of which I could actually hear over the band and the other shrieking fans around me, declaring in effect that they had every right to stand if they wanted and no one could tell them otherwise. CDM then stormed off to bring back Security. Security found better alternate seating for the folks behind CDM & daughters, then told CDM & daughters to sit down so everyone behind them could enjoy the concert since they had also paid good money for their tickets. Yay for sanity.
I could have done without the extra drama.
Is this normal behavior at this sort of event? I've generally operated under the rule that one should never behave in public worse than one might in one's own home. It would seem I've been living under a rock all these decades.
On the good side,jearbear65oh & David who drove here from Columbus, OH, for the concert seemed pleased. We also had a great dinner (mongolian bbq) before so I was contented. And we had a really, really hot cowboy sitting beside us (with his girlfriend or whatever)... mid-thirties, 6'4", broad shoulders, shaved head, mustache & goatee, well behaved/domesticated. Mmmm...
Clearly, I'm not the target demographic for concerts of this style. I felt like a colour-blind man in a portrait gallery: I was looking at the same subject matter as everyone else, but I clearly wasn't getting as much out of it as the rest of the audience. Everyone else seemed to be having a good time so I'm guessing it's just me. Lesson learned.
jearbear65oh, David, kent4str and I went to the Dixie Chick concert last night. It was --for lack of a better expression-- an experience. I'm glad I went just the once, but never again.The Dixie Chicks themselves seemed to be in good form, as near as I can tell. I'm familiar with their more commonly played hits but I'm not a huge fan. Not having bought CD of anyone in a couple of years --music just isn't my thing-- I'm not familiar with the bulk of their work so I lack the background to say much about their performance.
Sound was problematic for me. OK, it's a sports arena: one can't expect fine sound quality as you might from a concert hall. Alas, despite having relatively good seats, I couldn't make out a single word spoken or sung from on stage. Die-hard fans wouldn't care: they already memorized all the lyrics but I'm not in that bunch so I was at a bit of a loss. Oh, well.
What I could hear was loud. Really, really loud. Incredibly loud. My ears hurt from the opening act onwards. I still feel slightly damaged this morning, a sensation in both ears of not being quite right. Hopefully, my regular range of hearing will come back over the next couple of days.
And the fans. OK, this isn't your symphony orchestra/opera upscale well-behaved audience. Far from it. Being an all-girl trio, the Dixie Chicks were a big draw for women and the arena was at least 65-70% female. And, wow, they can drink. And drink. And drink. I have never seen so many drunk women in my life, at least in my seating section. And once they've had a few, apparently the thing to do is to start shrieking and screaming at full volume all the time, which did further wonderful things for my already pained ears.
What's with the cell phones? Was I the only person the entire arena who thought it might be nice to respect the "no recording" rules printed on the ticket? Someone a few rows over had their phone up & pointed at the stage for the entire concert. I'd love to know what model of phone & battery they were using since it must hav ea really long battery life. The audience seemed to bask in a constant glow of its own cell phone illumination.
And then there was the crazy, drunk mother two rows in front of us. Her two daughters insisted on standing at their seats for the entire concert. The people behind them asked them to sit when the everyone else does so that the folks behind them can see the concert. Crazy Drunk Mother flew into a screaming rage, portions of which I could actually hear over the band and the other shrieking fans around me, declaring in effect that they had every right to stand if they wanted and no one could tell them otherwise. CDM then stormed off to bring back Security. Security found better alternate seating for the folks behind CDM & daughters, then told CDM & daughters to sit down so everyone behind them could enjoy the concert since they had also paid good money for their tickets. Yay for sanity.
I could have done without the extra drama.
Is this normal behavior at this sort of event? I've generally operated under the rule that one should never behave in public worse than one might in one's own home. It would seem I've been living under a rock all these decades.
On the good side,
jearbear65oh & David who drove here from Columbus, OH, for the concert seemed pleased. We also had a great dinner (mongolian bbq) before so I was contented. And we had a really, really hot cowboy sitting beside us (with his girlfriend or whatever)... mid-thirties, 6'4", broad shoulders, shaved head, mustache & goatee, well behaved/domesticated. Mmmm...Clearly, I'm not the target demographic for concerts of this style. I felt like a colour-blind man in a portrait gallery: I was looking at the same subject matter as everyone else, but I clearly wasn't getting as much out of it as the rest of the audience. Everyone else seemed to be having a good time so I'm guessing it's just me. Lesson learned.
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Concerts
Date: 2006-08-05 02:17 pm (UTC)The first concert ever was the Moody Blues concert at the Paramount Theater in the early 1990's, the tour right before the Red Rock Tour where they join up with local orchestras around the country and do their big hits with them. I saw a taping of parts of the concert at Red Rocks in Colorado. They were fantastic.
Then in the summer of 1993, I went to my first Summer Nights at the Pier here in Seattle and saw Little Feat before Craig Fuller left. I think he left a year ot two after that concert. Despite the lack of warm sunny weather, we had a blast out on this pier in an outdoor arena venue, on the waterfront listening to them jam to their hits and they were good. So good infact that they sounded live almost exactly like their albums, but instead, they'd jam long jams in the middle of many of the songs, so it had to have been live. The audience, including yours truly jiggled and danced in our seats despite security telling us to sit down, but in the end, gave up. :-)
Then in I think 2001, my best friend and I went to see Susan Vega play at the Moore Theater. She was fantastic and I soooo need to get more of her hits. I only have one CD from her, Nine Objects of Desire.
I'd like to see the Indigo Girls and they are coming, or have been here this summer for one of the myriad of concerts going on, but sadly, funds just aren't there for that.
However, despite all the issues you experienced and not a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks, you went and had a decent time anyway.