nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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Concert entry FINALLY

I'm doin' okay. My cousin has been hibernating up at my aunt's lake house all week so it's been relatively quiet on that front. She called today while I was working at the optometrist's office but hasn't called back since I've been home. And since this was an up-and-down day, I'm not calling her. I'm hunkering down in the dark, music therapy a-kicking. I'll call tomorrow.
It's been a chaotic day. I worked for close to seven hours at the dr's office, trying to make sense of the mess there. She's a darling woman, finally closing her practice at the ripe age of 70, in order to pursue the quieter side of life and her travels. She's also severely ADD and has a horrible time staying on task. Today was trying simply because I was trying to juggle about 9 different tasks, none of them for any length of time because all of them needed some sort of input from the good doc. It was entertaining and reminded me again why it is I enjoy detail-oriented professions. She's asked me to continue through next week and if I can manage to rustle up a sitter-type person, I may just. It's been nice to get out of the house, to talk to an adult, to feel productive. Being a housefrau, while rewarding in it's own way, can leave certain areas feeling not-so-rewarding.
After work, I managed to accomplish lots and was still home to make dinner at a reasonable time. Poor Gramps, though. He's all mixed up, having been used to my showing up in the morning hours. This week I was on an afternoon schedule and that threw him for a loop.
***
The concert was a blast. We got there about 45 minutes early and people were milling about, buying t-shirts and beer and other assorted fare. We made our way to our seats and discovered they were closer than last year's concert but off to the side a little more. Still, overall, they were outstanding pavilion seats. The first band up, No Address, was a small one, out of Tallahasee, Florida. They weren't bad. The lead singer was trying like mad to be personable but was entirely too close to the mic and ended up sounding slightly deranged. One of the guitarist was rail thin and seemed to be amped up on something synthetic. He was all over the stage. After a few songs, they broke down their portion of the stage and minor setup began for Breaking Benjamin. Now, being not overly familiar with this group, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. They were fairly polished and had a presence about them on stage. There were people there in the audience who were obviously fans and let it be known, loudly. About halfway into their performance, our seat-neighbors showed up and I was happily surprised. For once, I wasn't stuck next to the drunkest goob in the group. In fact, it was a slightly thick guy with curly black hair, dark even down to the black leather collar. He and his chickie made a cute twosome, complete opposites but very...canoodly.
Breaking Benjamin ended their set with the only song I'd ever heard by them and then it was break-down time again. People watching is one of my favorite parts of concert-going and there wasn't an exception this time. Again I was surprised to see as many kids as there were. I'm thinking that's pretty cool. I promised the boys when they turn 13 I'd take them to their first. Same age I was for my first concert and it worked just fine. There were lots of older women fighting the aging process in a big way. Too much skin, too much bleach, too much alcohol and plastic surgery and painted on faces. Personally, when you're going to be hiking up and downs rows of stairs, I wouldn't think you'd want to wear your mini-est mini-skirt. And what's the trend of wearing what amounts to a bandana tied around one's chesty area, just waiting for someone to untie it and have a Janet moment? Is that the point? Am I missing something here?
There was one man who was extremely drunk, from the get go. He was dressed like the Jolly Green Giant, all in green from head to toe and it seemed to be his personal goal to hug every person down every row within a fifteen row radius of his own seat. His gf got peeved pretty quick and just let him roam. Poor drunk soul.
After Breaking Benjamin came Staind and they rocked hardcore. I've loved Staind since the first time I heard them. The lead singer has a knack for expressing feelings every single person on the face of the Earth has felt at some point or another and there's such sweetness to his voice at times. Plaintive, even. Just an outstanding performance. He's not a talkative sort, gets up on stage and is very spare with his commentary but still...good stuff. The break between Staind and 3 Doors Down was fairly lengthy, and not intentionally. The stage crew had intended to pull a curtain over the stage and ended up pulling the curtain DOWN. After having reattached it to the floater mechanism, they went back to the task of setting up for the Kryptonite boys.
What an outstanding show they gave! 3 Doors Down was more polished than last year, with more of a light show and a few more effects. It rocked ass. Flames and sparks and some rather different screen shots. There were times, throughout all four bands, that I felt the music instead of just hearing it. It throbbed in my chest, made the tiny baby hairs on the back of my neck vibrate even. I could feel the melodies singing in my veins, could feel the heartbreak of the lyrics, sometimes the rage and the confusion. And there's some sort of cult-like group mentality to singing the songs back to the musicians, something cathartic about it, something that you trade in the mix.
I love concerts at Blossom. Something about open air venues that does it for me. It's my favorite place to see concerts. And I was highly satisfied with this one, too. Well worth the money I spent on the tickets.
Getting out was much quicker than last year. I was surprised at how MUCH quicker it was. The concert was over by 11pm and I was home by 12:30. Pretty cool.
Love, Love, LOVED my concert.
Happy Friday, all. I hope this weekend brings you peace and joy and some relative quiet.
N.

10:26 p.m. - 2005-07-29

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