SHARING THE SHOWS
My first time seeing these guys and my first time at this venue that’s literally a five-minute drive from my domicile. And it was good timing too. While the summer concerts I attended were fun, they’re more rewarding during the school year, because I actually feel like I’ve earned a little break. And I worked hard today, grading student essays and putting together a portfolio for my potential promotion to Associate Professor at Hampton University. But that’s another piece; tonight is concert night.
I met up with Sherrie (aunt to my cat/son Chester), Drew/Brometheus, Crystal, Maggie, and Shawn at Hayashi, the sushi restaurant that takes a lot of effort for me to get to (i.e., a two-minute walk). I lost five pounds in three weeks thus far on my low-carb diet, but Saturday night is typically a cheat night, so I gorged out on some Philly rolls and Hurricane rolls, followed by some chicken teriyaki. So the Ferguson Center wins the award for Cleanest Venue in which I’ve EVER seen a Concert. The floors were so polished I could practically see my face in them (cough *cliché* cough). I waited about ten minutes on line to get bottles of water for Sherrie and myself. And it was quite an uphill climb to our seats, which essentially allowed us a birds eye view of the stage and the crowd, the latter of which was sparse. The opening was pretty trippy, some psychedelic lead guitar accompanied by some shadow effects. Then cane “In the Flesh” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” Sherrie and I commented on the effects a la the puppets on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The imagery on the screen was amazing (politics under “In the Flesh”, sultry female shadowy figures in “Young Lust,” and waves reminiscent of O’ahu’s Banzai Pipeline in “Great Gig in the Sky.” The cityscape in “Us and Them” had me nostalgic for New York, and during “Another Brick in the Wall,” Sherrie said, “I bet you can relate to this.” I can, being a teacher, but I try to avoid the dark sarcasm in the classroom. During setbreak, we all hung out outside the venue. I was the only non-smoker/non-vaper in the group, yay me for being the iconoclast. We ran into our friends Mark O’Kavanaugh (he specifically requested that I give him that moniker in my blog, due to certain, ummm, political doings), his girlfriend Sheila (not O’Kavanaugh), and their son Jared (I’m guessing he wouldn’t want the name O’Kavanaugh). Sadly, they couldn’t make sushi due to moving into their new house (note the posting from Phish on 8/12/18 where I congratulated Mark and Sheila for their momentous occasion). At shows, I also get CDs, but merch was also selling a DVD. I couldn’t decide whether to get one or the other, so I just got both. Yay me. The second set began with those Dark Side of the Moon classics, “Time” and “Breathe.” I was pumped to hear “Pigs,” a sweet track off my favorite album. “Pig Brother is Watching” came up on the screen. I’m guessing that’s a reference to certain, ummm, political doings, but I ain’t gonna say nothin’ more about that. Some cool images of Paul Hogan in his Crocodile Dundee outfit, Angus Young from AC/DC jumping on stage, and Men at Work singing “Down Under” filled the screen at some point. “Wish You Were Here” mellowed the crowd out, while “One of These Days” lit up the room. Literally. That inflatable pig, combined with the crazy laser show, officially put Australian Pink Floyd a notch above Brit Floyd. “Run Like Hell” and “Comfortably Numb” closed the show. Sadly, poor Sherrie didn’t get her “Money,” so I played it on the way home. On the way home, Crystal’s car pulled up next to mine. I tried to get her to roll down the window so I could ask her if she had any Grey Poupon, but I don’t think she saw my arm. Still, it was a fun night. The photo at the top was taken by AJ Anton, a kindly usher, and it was taken with Maggie’s phone.
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First concert of the fall. After some cat time at Aunt Sherrie’s house (we have a running joke where we refer to our cats as our children; I consider her cats my nieces and nephew, while my son/cat Chester is her nephew), we met up with Drew and Crystal at Crabtown, where we enjoyed some tuna bites, and I had my first po’ boy since my trip to New Orleans in 2016. Conversational topics included Alaska, moose, whales, archaeology, and those badass tennis players known as the Williams sisters.
After braving some hard rain, we arrived at the venue and were greeted by mud, which we referred to as quicksand (“I’m sinking!”). When we went in, we were able to get “stubbed down” to the pavilion from the lawn, which they had closed due to the rain. This is the third time that’s happened: first was Chris Rock in Richmond with Drew, Sherrie, and Maggie; second was U2 in Chicago with Alan. I dug it. Before the show started, “War Pigs” blasted over the loudspeakers. I’m wondering what motivated that artistic decision, but it was nice to scream “generals gathered in their masses!” I’m not very knowledgeable about Priest’s entire catalog, but their first few songs rocked. “Turbo Lover” and “Freewheel Burning” came on, as did “You Got Another Thing Coming,” which Drew actually spotted for me. “Hell Bent for Leather” is my favorite, and the next time I buy a leather jacket (my current one is torn up, so I’m thinking that may be soon), I’ll post on Facebook during my shopping trip that I’m “hell bent for leather.” Hahahhaha…eh? “Breaking the Law” is another favorite (side note: Beavis and Butthead got me into this genre, as this show was the first time I had ever heard anything by Priest; same deal with Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Metallica). The drummer, Steve Travis, got on the mic for a bit; I learned he’s a Norfolk native. They then encored with “Living After Midnight.” Setbreak. I was the only non-smoker in the group, but I still hung with Drew, Crystal, and Sherrie while they smoked. Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, and Ministry came up in a conversation, while I got several compliments from passersby on my Rush T-shirt. Yeah!!! Drew was craving a snow-cone, which we could not find in our travels to the bathroom. Part 2: Deep Purple. They opened with “Highway Star.” Another pop culture sidenote: the first time I ever heard this song was in “Dazed and Confused.” Same deal with Ted Nugent’s “Strangehold” and Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone.” After this came “Strange Kind of Woman,” after which some technical difficulties came about with Steve Morse’s guitar, during which Don Airey improvised beautifully with his keyboard. When the keyboard failed, Ian Paice stepped up with a neat drum solo. Hey, the show must go on, right? Once everything was back up, they stepped into their 80s material with “Knocking at Your Back Door.” I tried to get some water during “Space Truckin’” but sadly, all the concessions closed. I was bummed to have missed that one, but hey, there’s always CDs. “Smoke on the Water,” that song that serves as an introduction to the guitar for the majority of the guitar-playing population, closed the set. The best part: when the crowd sang, “Smoke on the water, fire in the sky” without them playing. Mmmmmm. We were about to believe before Drew gently reminded us of the upcoming encore. “Hush” is a song I was in love with for years, so I was glad to see it close the show. Drew was thinking they’d follow with “My Woman From Tokyo” as Encore #2, but no such luck. Still, it was a kickass show. And we got Drew a gas station slushie before we “headed out to the highway.” We had nothing to lose at all by stopping. Eh? |
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April 2024
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