I walked into the gym for the 6pm class today, and Dan pressed two tickets to tonight’s Evanescence show (which started at 7:30) into my hand. “You want these. Get out of here.” Apparently one of the other students has a spouse who works with the local rock and roll radio station. These tickets had been set aside for someone or other, but had gone unclaimed. Because I’ll occasionally get all excited when an Evanescence song comes on the radio, she spoke up and claimed them for me. Row ‘B’ at about 9:00 in the arena. Fabulous seats.
So I called redmed, who was entering hour 48 (or so) at work, and told her that she had a date tonight.
The opening acts were loud. “Finger 11” was kinda fun, and Amy Lee even joined them on stage and sang harmony for their big radio hit. “Chevelle” were a three man group, even louder, and they seemed kinda pissed off about having to, like, play music for money and stuff.
Evanescence put on a great show. Amy Lee is energetic, charismatic, and was clearly having a great time. Her voice was totally shot (end of an arena tour), so even with my limited pitch memory I could tell that they were taking stuff a step or two lower than it is on the albums.
At one point she emptied her water bottle and cocked it at the crowd: “Is this gonna cause a riot if I throw it out there?” Hearing no clear response, she tossed the bottle and watched people struggle for it. “You know, it’s just water. It’s not really all that cool,” she added.
One thing struck me about the attitudes of the three groups toward their “hit” songs. The openers were clearly a little irritated to have to play “that” song again. Evanescence, on the other hand, seemed happy to play the songs that people know and like. Seems that they were more into making sure that people had a good time, than the purity of their art. Or, like, something.
The crowd was fun. We weren’t the oldest people there by a long shot. There were a lot of goth-ed up teenagers and 20-somethings … some frat and sorority types … stoners, freaks, yuppies, hippies, and us. It was a good time. That Guy was even there. You know, the guy who wears the t-shirt of the band to the show? He stands through the whole concert, totally rocking out in his own little world? Yeah, he was in front of us.
Unexpected good fortune and adventure.
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