SHARING THE SHOWS
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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