Thursday, May 04, 2006

Thursday Thirteen - Concert edition


Thirteen concerts Jessica has seen, wants to see or would never be caught dead at

Writing yesterday's post made me think about all the other concerts I've been to, and some I wish I could see and some that wild horses couldn't drag me to. So here goes:

1. I saw the Rolling Stones at Rosemont Horizon. We had kick ass seats on the main floor (it helps to have a father with connections). At one point, Mick Jagger ran down the center aisle. My girlfriend, G (famous for locking her keys in the car at the Springsteen concert) ran to aisle. As Mick made his way back to the stage, G came running back, breathless. "I touched him! I have Mick Jagger's sweat on my hand! I am NEVER washing this hand again!"

2. I saw Journey (also at Rosemont). I went with my girlfriend, L, and her stoner aunt and uncle. We smoked joints in their van before the concert. I'm sure my parents had NO idea that they put their 15 year-old's safety in the hands of two stoners with a van. It was fun, though. Not that I would let my own kids do that but I'm (hopefully) not nearly as clueless as my parents were.

3. Also at Rosemont, I saw Styx with L. For some reason I can't remember much about that concert. Maybe we went with her aunt and uncle . . .

4. I saw a bunch of concerts at Alpine Valley. It's not called that anymore (like Rosemont, I think it has a corporate name now). It's an outdoor concert venue. One of the concerts I saw there was George Benson. That was an awesome summer concert. It was a beautiful night, we drank sangrias and smoked clove cigarettes (I know, they're disgusting but it was the thing to do at the time).

5. Another Alpine Valley concert was Kool and the Gang with Wang Chung as their opener. Who doesn't love the song Celebration?

6. The funniest concert I ever saw was in Las Vegas. As part of our hotel package, my husband and I got free tickets to see The Righteous Brothers. This was just a few years ago (obviously before Bobby Hatfield died). I love Unchained Melody and You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' as much as anyone and you gotta give props to two guys who lasted in the music business as long as they did. Not to diss the older crowd - I am (or soon will be) one of them. But seriously, those guys were gettin' too old for the concert gig. First of all, they told "jokes" between songs. And they weren't the funny kind of jokes but they were so corny you had to laugh. Second of all, they kept flashing REALLY bright lights into the audience. I think the point was to blind us so we couldn't tell just how old the guys were. Also, Bobby Hatfield just couldn't hit that high note in Unchained Melody, try as he might. It was sort of sad. But Bill Medley sounded pretty good, all things considered.

7. This might surprise you, but one Vegas concert I'm dying to see is - Tom Jones. Yes, Tom Jones. I know. I'm totally out of the Kool Kids Blogger Club for this one. But seriously. What's New Pussycat? It's Not Unusual? Those are some fun songs. And I think it's hilarious that women are STILL throwing Tom their panties during his concerts. Hil.ar.i.ous. I have a strange sense of humor.

8. No offense to metal lovers out there but you couldn't pay me enough to go to a Metallica concert. To me (and this is just my opinion, I know others strongly disagree) it just sounds like noise. Really unappealing noise. I'd rather listen to jackhammers all day.

9. Along the same vein, I can't stand techno or Goth music. A few weeks ago, we were at a restaurant called Big Bowl. It's sort of Americanized Asian food. Generally we really like it but this particular night, I found myself feeling more and more agitated and unhappy as the meal progressed. I couldn't figure it out until I took the girls to the bathroom where you can hear the music they were playing. I swear to God - it was like evil Devil worshipping music. It was so dark and discordant and awful. Although I couldn't hear it very well at the table, just having it on really bothered me. On top of that, the service was awful that night. I wonder if it had anything to do with the poor choice of dinner music. Luckily for them, they comped our appetizers and we've since returned. And the music was much better last time.

10. Did I mention that I saw Bruce Springsteen? (Ok, I know that's cheating).

11. I saw Billy Joel at United Center. He was awesome. It was soon after Christy Brinkley dropped him like a stone. So he managed to make a bunch of snide comments about her and the crowd went nuts.

12. I know this doesn't really count as a concert but I saw the musical Mama Mia which is sort of an ABBA concert with a lame story built around the songs. If you love ABBA (and who doesn't) it's fab.

13. Since I love Billy Joel (sorry, Dutch but I think his older stuff is awesome), I can't figure out why I haven't seen Movin' Out yet. Apparently plot means nothing to me when it comes to my musical theater entertainment as long as the music and dancing is good, I'm there.

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6 comments:

Natsthename said...

So, you've seen Springsteen? ;)

I have, too!

What a fun read! And I'm with you on the Billy Joel, especially the older stuff. He always gets slammed by snobby critics, but he was really something for awhile!

Anonymous said...

Tom Jones?! LOL

Susan said...

You have seen some GREAT concerts!!! My TT is up.

Anonymous said...

I saw the Rolling Stones for their first last of concerts.

I am so MEtal, guess you wouldn't go with me to IronMaiden, AC/DC or Whitesnake. LOL!

I should do a T13 about this.

Anonymous said...

I've been to only 2 concerts: Journey, in 1983, and Sting in 1993. They were fun, but too much stimulus for an introvert like me.

cmhl said...

I saw stevie wonder once, and he was WONDERFUL...