Concerts

You get what you pay for.

I had this itch to go see some up-and-coming bands, and check out the local venues for such things, while D was off visiting J2 at college, so.. I go out on the web and see that this week there's a couple of relatively cheap entry fees at two popular concert venues, First Ave and Myth. Cool! Maybe I can get the drift of what they're like without investing a pile of cash.

And besides.. hey.. how bad can they be?

Um..

yeah.

Well, First Ave was.. an experience. That much I'll say.

I mean, I played in two bands in high school, and.. oh never mind. :) It's like saying I walked to school 3 miles uphill both ways through snow and ice from October to April, blah, blah, blah. You would have had to have lived in both eras to get it.

One thing that was kind of interesting, though.. the pre-show music they were playing at First Ave over the sound system was a current band, and I heard an awful lot of Black Sabbath in it. And the kids around me were talking about Led Zeppelin's reunion concert and how this one friend of theirs listens to nothing but Miles Davis and Led Zeppelin. And they thought he was cool. Weird!

The main difference between the pre-show music I heard and the stuff I listened to in 1972 is.. the sound systems and recording equipment are way better now. The bass is incredible! If Zep had had access to sound reproduction like that.. woahh. You talk about heavy, man..

Anyway, quite the difference between the two venues. First Ave is showing its age and needs some upkeep. But a lot of history there - great bands have come through there over time. The "low-end" part of the place is small and really dumpy, but suits the mood of the rough, unpolished bands that play there, who are just getting their feet wet, looking for a break, etc.

On the other end of the spectrum is Myth. Sorry about the blurry image, but.. it's cold up here! My hands were shaking with the cold..

An enormous, glitzy dance club with jumbotrons and VIP boxes, and very good-looking drink servers of all stripes. :) I think I was lucky to go there on a Friday night when it was given over to a benefit concert for a local family whose lives were disrupted by domestic violence. Horrible story, but a terrific community response.

Anyway, a Canadian singer, unknown in the USA, gave the concert. She will show up in a future music review of mine. ;) Tremendous talent, though still a bit awkward on stage. But boy.. she will do very well for herself! Excellent CD, too - and cheap. :)

For a concert, there was waaaay too much talking and heartfelt videos, but for a benefit event it was a heck of a deal. :) Plus, I got to contribute to a really good cause. Maybe in this case I did get more than I paid for. :)