6.12.08
8.00 amWe are leaving Cushing after an uneventful trip to meet up with my wife’s sister, Stefanie. She’ll be driving at least half the distance to Kansas City. Stacie will pick up the slack, driving the rest of the way (update: Stefanie wound up driving the whole way, of her own accord).
We’re in Stefanie’s car – I don’t even know what kind it is (update: it’s a Vibe), only that it’s fairly “roomy” (update: this opinion will change radically by the time we’re on the road home). The ride is much bumpier than I would expect from a car this size. The problem is the shitty roads. Maybe it will become smoother when we get on the Turnpike or a major highway off of these back city roads (update: we didn’t get on the Turnpike until we were on the way home).
It’s actually a beautiful morning. The temperature is agreeable; though you can already feel a slight mugginess that lets you know that a humid day is in store. That would be drag if we all planned to be outside for the majority of the vacation. As it is, I believe we’ll be lounging in cool, air-conditioned comfort most of the time.
8:15 am
We’re going through Drumright now. Drumright isn’t much of a town. It’s most memorable features are the steep; hills that form the main (only?) road through it. Lots of shops like the main street but it would appear that the vast majority of them have been vacant for a long time.
The plan for today is to arrive in Kansas City, maybe eat a large lunch (so I won’t want dinner), check into the hotel, change into my swimsuit, then relax in the pool and the sauna for an hour of two (update: there were no saunas at either of the hotels we stayed at, but there were spas at both, and that made up for it). My legs will probably be sore, maybe even cramping by the time the journey ends. It will do them a world of good to float in the water and sweat in the sauna.
Depending on how long I stay in the pool area, I may have a snack before 5:00, but I will be in the shower getting ready for the show no later than that.
Bryan and I plan to get in line at 6:00 pm to wait out the next two hours with the hope of getting a choice seat. It’s probably unrealistic to think that we’ll be at the very front of that line – I’m sure there are Sigur Ros fanatics who are even more hardcore than I am – but surely a 2 hour head start will ensure a nice spot in the center of the theater. Maybe about 10-15 yards from the stage (update: Though we did get the seats we wanted, even if they were a little farther from the stage than I hoped the would be, my theory about the 2 hour wait in line proved to be extremely off the mark, as I will speak of later).
I wouldn’t mind being on the floor, but I know the sound level will be awfully loud there. I’d just as soon not leave the theater with more hearing loss than I already have. Furthermore, it just doesn’t sound like a good idea to stand throughout the concert after standing for so long in line (update: I now wish we HAD stood up for the entire length of the show, what with many people not being able to decide between sitting down and standing up, and one particularly annoying fellow who blocked my view on at least two occasions). It will be much better, I’m sure, to be able to lounge back, just close enough to the band to see everything clearly, and far enough from the stage that we’ll be able to enjoy the light show to it’s fullest effect.
I have no doubts whatsoever that the concert will be awesome. They were incredible when I first saw them in 2002 and I wasn’t nearly as big a fan then as I am now. I wanted to see the “Takk” tour but that never happened. I’m hoping there will be plenty of songs from that album played tonight.
I guess I’m ready to hear them play songs from the new album. I’ve listened to it 4 or 5 time now. As is usually the case, it seems to get better each time I hear it. I’ll recognize them tonight and know them well enough to follow along.
I’m overjoyed that Bryan is coming with me. I feel certain that not only will he love it, it will be one of the best memories he’ll carry throughout his life (update: upon further consideration I realized that this might be a little bit “wishful thinking” – but then again, perhaps not). Not so much the concert itself (though that will be a big part of it) but for the way he’ll see me. Maybe that sounds odd – let me explain…
I don’t think he’s ever seen the exuberant side of me that will manifest itself tonight. Hell, not even I, myself, experience it very often at all. But tonight I’ll be cheering wildly, clapping my hands like a mad man, or sitting back in a theater seat enraptured by this music that moves me so. Maybe some of that will spill out and over to him. I think that would be a good thing. I know it’s not good, the way I usually am, so absurdly guarded , reserved, devoid of emotion – not that I’m actually emotionally dry, but I have become quite adept at keeping it all within. Not just the bad stuff – ALL OF IT. Maybe that will change one day. I’m very sure that it is a result of my bipolar disorder. The times when I’ve “let it all hang out”, so to speak, usually either precipitate a bad manic streak (and we know what that leads to) or another depression where Ill regret letting down my guard. I’ll become embarrassed of it. No one knows what to expect from me an I am consciously aware of how disappointed they are on both extremes of my illness (update: I’m not sure what I meant by this or who I was talking about as “they”. Probably Stacie and Bryan). No doubt it’s harder on them than it is on me.
8:55 am
We’re cruising through the middle of Tulsa on Hwy 44. As far as Oklahoma goes, Tulsa is probably my favorite city. It’s hard to find your way around it, though.
I think I’ll read for a little while. I bought a book called “Nothing But the Truth” – I couldn’t even tell you the author’s name without looking at the cover (and I’m not going to do that) (update: the guy’s name is John Lescroart, and it’s actually a good, entertaining book). As one might surmise from the title, it’s a courtroom drama of sorts. Very easy reading. I also brought the Robert Jordan book I’ve been reading for what seems like FOREVER. I’m positive that my slow progress with this one is the direct result of the fucked up eyeglasses I got from Dr. Radell last September. I’ve tried my damnedest to get used to them, but now I realize that there’s GOT to be some problem with the glasses themselves. Either the lens makers cut one (or both) of them wrong or Radell’s prescription was faulty. Either way, I finally called his office about it. I know I took WAY too long to contact him, but the last couple of times I went there to get them adjusted (thinking that was all that would be necessary to correct the problem) I got the distinct impression that he was “put out” with me, that he thought I was wasting his time, that he thought I was some kind of optical hypochondriac and he didn’t have time for it. Maybe – probably I’m wrong about all of that. Whatever. I only hope we get it taken care of when I take them back in on the 23rd. Until then I’ll have to wear the old pair…I wouldn’t mind wearing the old ones but they have some nasty scratches that are hard to ignore some of the time.
Anyhoo…I was under the impression, before we began this trek, that
The radio would be played at a volume so low that I would hardly notice it. Stacie said that was the way Stefanie always plays it - so low you can barely hear it. I had certainly hoped that would be the case, but, as comparatively low as it is, alas, I still can hear it. AAARRGGHHHH!!!! I don’t mean to denigrate anyone’s taste in music, but this radio station they listen to plays some of the most abysmal CRAP that’s ever been recorded. EXAMPLE: They just finished playing “Calling All Angels” by Train. Barf! Not so much that the song is terrible, but even if it were halfway decent musically there’s still the singer’s voice, which affects me much in the same way as fingernails on a chalkboard.
I don’t know the name of the one they played before that one – the song that inspired me to write about how horrible this station is – it could have been Jewel of Sheryl Crow or any of a dozen clones whose wares get on my nerves to such a painful degree.
At least it lets up when we’re on lengthy stretch of road, when the main noise is the sound of wheels on pavement. If I were driving, and had I a car stereo, this sound would be squelched by loud music of my own choosing. Alas, this was not possible. As it is, I much prefer the rubber hitting the road to the tripe coming from the speakers right now.
But hey, I thought I said I was going to read…
12:25 pm
Actually I didn’t get around to reading at all. Reading in the car, with all the movement, proved to be more trouble than I expected with all the movement in the car. I might take it up again later, but for now I’m enjoying the scenery. We arrived in Kansas not too long ago (I didn’t check for the time). The roads are awfully rough.
Decided to eat lunch in a city called Iola, at a Pizza Hut. It was probably the nicest Pizza Hut I’ve ever been to, as far as the restaurant itself. But the buffet was kind of small. Surely they must bring stuff out on a regular basis because the place was fairly crowded and there were, at most, 4 or 5 pizzas to choose from.
The sky is very slightly overcast, and it is a bit humid. I hope it doesn’t rain, or if it does, that it won’t begin until after the doors open at the Uptown.
From what I’ve seen on the internet, the venue appears to be relatively small. Smaller the better, I say.
There IS a chance of thunderstorms tonight, so says the Kansas City Star newspaper. Once again, that’s fine with me as long as I’m in the theater and the show goes on…
Back on the road, I think I’ll lay this down and gawk out the window some more.
TRIVIAL ASIDE: I had to go back to the new glasses for now. The old ones are better for reading, but they are quite scratched up = I don’t know how they got that way. With a little effort I can make the new ones work – hell, I’ve been doing it for the last 9 months. So what if I wind yup with a headache and tired eyes? Maybe it will be okay. I should probably stop worrying, eh?
2:05 pm
We’re about 30 miles from Kansas City and I am pretty much ready to abet out of this car. Bryan’s bored shitless. There’s nothing much to seed on this last stretch of highway until we reach our destination. I’m wanting to swing by the theater so I can see what it looks like. I’m thinking our hotel check in time is 3:00 pm, so we should have plenty of time to do it. It all depends on the driver.
4:30 pm
We arrived at the hotel right at 3:00 o’clock. Didn’t get to swing by the theater. Oh, well.
The motel seems nice. Our room is okay. Bryan and I went down to the swimming pool (our room is on the 4th floor). It was actually very small. 5 feet at it’s deepest (update: it was the same at the next hotel, so that may be the standard…I wouldn’t know because I have stayed in so few hotels). That was a little disappointing, but we made the best of it. Bryan had a good time and it was relaxing for me. Especially the spa. Quite invigorating to go from the heat of the spa to the cold water in the pool.
From the reports on the TV it would appear that there are a few tornadoes in the area. I don’t know how far away from us they are, but it doesn’t look too bad out the window.
Stacie is parked in front of the TV. She always watches the severe storm reports any time they are on. She knows more about meteorology than most people from watching all the severe weather bulletins.
The guy who is doing the report is very calm, compared to the ones in Oklahoma. Especially Mike Morgan.
11:15 pm
Boy, did I underestimate how soon that line would form. It stretched back for two blocks when we got there a little past 6:00 pm. I was discouraged, thinking we wouldn’t get good seats. But I guess the theater was much bigger than I thought it would be, because we were able to sit exactly where I had wanted.
Fact is, we could have gone on the floor and still been halfway into the crowd from the stage. I knew it would be excessively loud down there, so I’d planned on something in the center of the bottom floor about 4 rows back.
A little after 8:00 pm the trombone player from Sigur Ros horn section played a solo set of his own songs (not on trombone – guitar and organ…I’m sorry but I didn’t catch his name…one of those unpronounceable Icelandic monikers). He was quite good, but his set was too long. Then the intermission was much too long. The band finally took the stage at 9:00 o’clock.
They kicked off with a nice version of “Sven-G-Englar”, which I enjoyed even though it was the only one I didn’t care to hear (update: it’s a good song, it’s just been played out).
Next was “Vaka”. I suppose it will become repetitious here for me to say “it was great”, but it was.
I had hoped they would play “Glosoli”, but they didn’t. They did, however, do the other song I really wanted to hear – “Hoppipolla/Meo Blodnasir”. As expected, it was exuberant. It’s one of the few Sigur Ros songs Bryan knows well enough to call a favorite. He enjoyed it.
I don’t know the names of most of the new songs, so when they played one next I kind of lost track of the song order (update: In other words, I had hoped to remember each song in the list in order, but the new ones threw me off because I don’t know their names).
I WILL say this – ALL of the new ones were fantastic. I’m glad I familiarized myself with them, but I think I’d have enjoyed them even if I hadn’t. I doubt the band has performed these songs very many times. Maybe it was because they were fresh, but they were solid.
The other “standards” they did were “Olsen Olsen”, “Se Lest” and “Heysatan”. That last one was especially nice. A real funeral dirge. Jonsi screwed up a vocal entrance, but recovered nicely.
The biggest surprise of the night was the last song before the encore, the new single “Gobbledigook”. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how that one would translate into a live setting. It was SO good! They had the string quartet banging on bass drums and the horn section exhorting the crowd to clap along. Exhilarating (update: At the time I didn’t Amiina was the string section for this show, but the reviews I read said it was. I couldn’t tell from where I was sitting).
I’ll probably write more about the “non-musical” aspects of the evening , but right now everyone else is in bed and I still need to take a shower. It will have to wait until tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment