The other night Lisa and I drove up to Denver for a Decemberists concert. We were excited until we saw the venue. Like the Showbox in Seattle, there were no seats. Standing room only. Bleh. Well, it's ok, we said to ourselves, we're young, we're at a hip concert! Let the indy, now gone mainstream, baroque music rock! And then the opening band, who was not anywhere advertised, showed up and played for a long time. We stood, in a crowd of hot, people who kept trying to get closer and stepping around you or pushing you aside to get around you like you weren't there.
The opening band finally got off the stage and they played through a good 3/4th of some CD (about 30 minutes or more we waited) and then the Decemberists showed up. They played through their newest CD (it's a bit of a rock opera) and took an intermission. We stuck around for the intermission and then about 2 or 3 songs afterwords, but at this point it was already 11pm and we were facing an hour's drive back to Colorado Springs, so we bailed.
Bailing early made us loose out on the songs we knew better, but I think it got us back home and out of Denver in a timely fashion. (Without everyone else trying to get out) We got into bed at 12:20.
The next morning we were sooooo tired. We both agreed that venues that require 3 or 4 hours of standing are out from now on. We're getting too old for this.
~B.
I just listened to "The Rake's Song" by the Decemberists tonight. It was part of this 10 free downloads from iTunes through DMB's fan page on FB. I hadn't heard of them before. I didn't particularly care for the song. So ironic that you went to one of their shows. Yeah, and 3 hrs. of standing is meh. blah. ick. I guess I am too old too. Face it. We're beoming old farts.
ReplyDeleteHey Amy,
ReplyDeleteThe Decemberists aren't for everyone. And in fact giving away 1 song from the new CD is kind of silly as it really is one continuous song. Their older stuff is more of an indication of their style. (You can go to Rhapsody for 25 free listens if you care)
They have a very strange lyrical choice. Imagine if the Brother's Grim were writing songs instead of writing stories you pretty much get the same thing I would imagine. Short little morality tales, that lean towards the strange.
~Ben
I agree completely. And even when you go to a concert with seats, everyone stands! If you're feeling old already, you might consider getting a shooting stick like my dad has - a cane with a (tastefully small and classy) leather handle that turns into a seat / gun rest. He uses it to prop himself up during situations of endless standing. I might get one myself soon... I just bought my first set of concert earplugs :-(
ReplyDeleteWe're aging, my friends.