6.13.08
7:45 amGod, I am worn out this morning. Between the swimming and the standing (more on that later) my legs feel like they’ve run a marathon.
But first, before the promised “non-musical aspects”, here are a couple more from the “musical” ones.
The band were persuaded to come back onstage for an encore. They performed the last track from the new album, the “all-English” “All Alright”. It is a lovely song that will no doubt become one of my favorites (slowly, though, as was the case with “Heysatan”). Jonsi stood in the middle of the stage looking vulnerable. It was weird to see him without a guitar strapped over his shoulder or behind a keyboard. The song itself is so intimate – watching him sing it in front of several hundred people was a treat.
As I said (and a EVERYONE in the Sigur Ros fan base knows, “All Alright” is the first song they’ve ever written with all the lyrics in English. No matter, I still don’t understand 90% of them. I’ll look them up on the internet when we get home.
The Uptown theater is NOT a small venue. Therefore the acoustics left much to be desired, even with a packed house to absorb the sound. As with all rock concerts it was too loud for my seasoned/sensitive ears. The bass guitar was muddy (which seems to happen at EVERY hall larger than a club, and even then…). The keyboards and glockenspiels weren’t crisp enough and were also mixed a little too loud. The strings and horns fared much better, though the quartet got buried a couple of times. The drums were well mixed. Most importantly, Jonsi’s voice floated over the relative din perfectly. His bowed guitar was not agonizingly loud like you’d think it would be.
I know that sounds very critical, but all in all there was nothing to complain about with the over-all sound quality. It was a lot better than most shows I’ve been to in the past.
Okay – now for the “non-musical aspects” of the show…
First, the lights. Having seen Sugur Ros’ light show during the “()” tour in 2002 I was expecting a lot more than what they had last night. Very basic lighting with the standard color changes, dimming and brightening, spotlights on Jonsi wherever he went. A nice big flash during the short, heavy section of “Sven-G-Englar” and that was really about all there was to it.
Still, it was nice visually with the band dressed in sleek black suits and the horn section all decked out in white tuxedos. When the horns marched onto the stage at the end of “Se Lest” it was cool as hell. They were on stage for the rest of the show, so the black/white combo looked nice and sleek beneath the bright colored lights.
The audience was exactly as I thought they would be. EXTREMELY diverse. Very supportive of the band. They (we)were rowdy as hell between songs, but when the music was playing you could hear a pin drop. Everyone knew the material well, too, as was evidenced when no one began applauding at the wrong time in “Heysatan”.
There was a little problem with people standing up in front of us. I suppose it was to be expected, as we were not too far behind the light & sound boards. The engineers stood for much of the time so I shouldn’t have thought it odd or rude when a guy stood up…I wasn’t even thinking, at the time, that he probably couldn’t see a damn thing with them in front of him (update: I would have, and really SHOULD have done the same thing). But he was met with a chorus of “sit down!” from behind. I don’t know why I felt like I had to join in – he wasn’t even directly in front of me – but I did.
The calls for him to sit down continued until he turned around and said he couldn’t see for the engineers being in his way. I said, “Yeah, but now we can’t see because you’re in the way!” I said it a little too “angrily”, I know I did. And I’m sure I looked like a fool, siding with the people who actually were behind him.
I’d like to forget about that.
It didn’t matter in the long run, because people stood up for one reason or another anyway. One dolt, though, with long, frizzy hair tied back into a pony tail, stood up inexplicably when the band was playing “Olsen Olsen”. I couldn’t see a goddamn thing. It was making me mad again. It might not have been so bad if he had sat down after the song was over, but no – eventually everyone was on their feet and it didn’t matter. Truth is that everyone SHOULD have stood up from the very beginning of the show. Then there would have been no problems. Did I mention that there was not a bad seat to be found in that place? (update: Now that I think about, the frizzy haired dude might have stood up out of spite, because he got a good round of “sit down” himself earlier from those behind him…I don’t blame him, now that it’s all over).
The crowd consisted mainly of younger people. In their mid-20s for the most part. I did spot a few who appeared to be my age and a couple even looked OLDER than me (*gasp!*). I thought it was cool that there were some older folks in the lot. They obviously have better taste in music than the vast majority of their demographic. Of course, that’s only my opinion, and since I belong to that particular demographic myself it probably looks like I’m tooting my own horn.
Maybe I AM! ANYBODY who digs Sigur Ros has excellent taste. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
As for Bryan – I thought he might well be the youngest person there, but we did spot a couple of kids, tagging along with their mother, who couldn’t have been much older than him.
As for what Bryan thought of the concert – it’s really hard to tell with him. He is so reserved and timid – painfully so. It was kije he was in another, unfamiliar world (update: Which, now that I think about it, he was). When the audience cheered loudly he quietly clapped his hands (update: Which is cool, if that’s his way…I don’t mean to criticize). He even sat down during a couple of songs during the beginning when everyone else was standing. But he did get up when they kicked into “Hoppipolla”, which is one that he likes a lot. As I said, he politely applauded after each song, but you would have thought he was at a concert of the Royal Philharmonic (update: See last update). He DID seem to really get into the spirit of things for “Gobbledigook”, clapping hands like everyone else…even I was clapping during the song, which is something I never do.
When it was all over we walked out of the theater into rain from what looked like the tail end of a thunderstorm. Bryan called Stacie to tell her the show was over, to come get us. She was already there, in a parking lot across the street. She told me there had been a tornado in the area and that the hotel staf had sent everyone down to the basement while we were gone.
We never would have known. I’m sure the Uptown has been standing for a long, long time. It has weathered many a storm. I doubt the one that swung by yesterday was going to inflict any more damage than the ones that came before it over the course of who knows how many years.
That’s my position when it comes to storms and tornadoes. Stacie says it’s stupid and irresponsible, but you have to drag me to the cellar even when the siren’s blowing. Why get freaked out? I mean, the last house we lived in was built in 1962. It was EXACTLY the same age as I am. I have seen some hellacious storms in my 46 years – so has that house! Not one of those storms ever did any damage to that dwelling. What are the chances that it’s going to be any different the next time a twister blows through? (update: I suppose the answer to that would be “a tiny bit greater than they were before the last one”…I suppose Stacie’s right about my stand, but I am stubborn and
Probably in denial)
I ain’t worried.
10:20 am
We’re loading up our stuff. Getting ready to check out of the hotel. BTW, it’s a Hilton Garden Inn. I don’t know how much we paid for the room but I hope it wasn’t much more than some Holiday Inn would have cost. It didn’t have much going for it, as far as I’m concerned. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t BAD, but I have a sneaky feeling it wasn’t worth nearly as much as we paid for it.
The plan now is to go south to Springfield (Missouri). We’ll probably eat here in Kansas City then head on down (update: This turned out not to be the case). Not sure if we’re going to Fantastic Caverns before checking in or after. At first I thought we should go to the hotel first, so we could get all our shit unpacked before doing anything. That way it would all be done before we got back and we could relax.
But then again, if we go to the caves before, a little earlier, there will be a better chance of possibly doing something else later…
11:20 am
Our driver has been hopelessly lost for at LEAST the last 30 minutes, but FINALLY it appears that we are back on track. It’s a good thing we’re not on a tight schedule.
The city is HUGE! I probably wouldn’t mind living here, but it would require a LOT of adjusting. Especially navigating the highways.
There are several places we should have made plans to visit on this road. The American Jazz Museum would have been cool. There are a couple of art museums that I’m sure would have many more (and more varied) displays than anything in Oklahoma. Perhaps another time. I’ve already done what I came here to do…I’m content to go along with just about anything they want to do today.
11:45 am
I just have to say that the higheays in Missouri are just as bad as, and mayber even worse, than the onews in Kansas. Not all of them, mind you, but the ones that are rough are REALLY rough. The baddest roadways I’ve driven on in Oklahoma are in Tulsa, and some of these are MUCH worse.
I’m hoping that we’ll stopping soon for lunch.
11:47 am
Apparently there is a town here named PECULIAR, as I just sae a road sign twlling us that it was 6 miles down the road. Peculiar…now that’s a peculiar name, don’t you think?
Ha. I’ll bet I’m not the first one to say that.
1:00 pm
Yes, indeed, there IS a Peculiar, Missouri, and we just ate lunch there. It was a buffet at a place called Country Market (update: I have since then been informed by my wife that it was the restaurant section of a Flying J truck stop…I saw “Country Market” on a sign in front of the general area so I assumed…).
I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT! At $7.99 it’s cheaper than Golden Corral, but it’s a lot smaller. I don’t mind that, but most all of the food was disappointing. The roast beef was okay, but the potatoes that come with it were hard as stone. The carrots weren’t exactly “hard”, but they had this thick, sponge-like texture which rendered them inedible. The salad bar wasn’t quite as bad, but the ranch dressing was watery and the French didn’t taste very good.
All in all I would venture to say that we won’t be eating at a Country Market again. However, the adjoining convenience store/gift shop had a lot of cool stuff you don’t see all the time.
The Monster (energy drinks) were “on sale” @ 2 for $5.00. They’re cheaper that that all the time at home. I got the last one in the cooler, so it would appear that they are selling well at that price in Peculiar, Missouri.
Also purchased:
~~~ 1 Big Hunk candy bar
~~~ 1 Slim Jim pepperoni & cheese snack
~~~ 1 bottle Perrier water
2:30 pm
Good God, but the trip between Peculiar and Springfield is tedious and boring, especially having been on the road for so long already (and yesterday, too – let’s not forget the standing in line for the Sigur Ros concert – that wears one out, too).
The only half-way interesting thing we saw was some Amish dude in a horse drawn carriage. I assume there is an Amish community somewhere in the general vicinity (update: Which would seem like a “duh”, but then again, you wouldn’t expect one of them to be where we were, either).
It’s beginning to rain a little bit. The weather forecasters said it looked like some severe weather might be hitting Springfield later tonight – picked a nice weekend for a vacation, didn’t we? (Well, WE didn’t choose it. If the show had been next month that’s when we would be here. It was a “rain or shine” deal).
Bryan decided he wanted a Java Monster. I had one yesterday and gave him a sip of it. He liked it a lot and so we got him one on our last stop at Peculiar. He hasn’t developed a taste for straight coffee yet, but since we took him to Starbucks last week he keeps asking to go back and he can’t get enough of Java Chillers at Sonic.
Anyhoo, he just gave me the last ¼ of his “Locamoca” Java Monster. He said, “I don’t think I can down anymore…I’m awake now.” Indeed he is (update: He was a little TOO awake, if you get my drift). So I’m drinking the rest of it. Damned good, but I’ve already had probably 20 ounces of regular monster (with half a 24 ounce can left to go). I don’t need anymore. Still, I don’t get too wired up on these things because I tend to drink them slowly. I don’t “chug” them. I think I’ll be good to go for the rest of the night, though.
3:15 pm
Having a difficult time finding Fantastic Caverns, but I’m sure it will all get sorted out soon.
Stopped at a convenience store so I could use the restroom. Someone had written on the stall “Fuck me running”. Someone else had written, beneath it, “Start running”.
HA! It’s good to know that the comedic bathroom graffiti tradition is still alive and well.
Cheapest gas here I’ve seen in a couple of weeks. At $3.71 a gallon, that’s sad.
3:40 pm
The main roads to Fantastic Caverns are all washed out from the rain, so we are postponing our visit till tomorrow. We just arrived at the hotel, and it does look, from the outside at least, like it will be better than the last (update: It was infinitely better than the last).
Springfield appears to be much bigger than I initially thought it was, and since we’ll have some time to kill, I’m hoping there is a Borders or a Barnes & Noble nearby.
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