Average Jane Goes to a Concert

Well, the weather held out just fine so that my husband and I could go see Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie at the new Sprint Center. We paid a fortune for a parking spot about two blocks away, even though we could have parked in the garage next to my office building for free. My husband had been fussing about the five-block walk for days and I figured we could park wherever he wanted as long as he was willing to be the one to pay.

The opening act was a band I'd never heard of called In This Moment. I'm not a big metalcore fan, but it was cool to see a heavy band with a female lead singer. Their set was only 20 minutes long, but you could tell that they were overjoyed to be on the tour at all.

Rob Zombie played all of his solo and White Zombie hits with a generous sprinkling of songs and video from his various movies. He's very fond of cheesy sci-fi and horror films of the '60s mingled with scenes from stag films of the same era, and the mishmash of images played on video screens all around the stage throughout the performance.

Ozzy also stuck mainly to his hit songs, playing only about three or four songs from the latest album. His interaction with the crowd ping-ponged between, "I can't fuckin' hear you!" and "I fuckin' love you guys!" all evening long. Zakk Wylde is looking more and more like a Viking with every passing year. I think touring bands must spend all their spare time working out these days.

Another thing of interest to me about Ozzy's band: his keyboard player is Adam Wakeman, son of famed Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

The crowd wasn't exactly boiling over with enthusiasm for any of the bands. I think the Tuesday evening date and the unfamiliar venue may have contributed to that. Plus, the average age of the concert-goers had to have been hovering around 40. Forty-year-olds who have to go to work the next day just don't rock out like teenagers.

Still, it was fun and we were glad we went. These days, we don't go to concerts as much as we used to. It's nice to get out from in front of the TV and see a band live now and then, no matter how good  concert DVDs can be.

Comments

[super des]

I love concerts. And yes, I often have that problem with going to work the next day. (in fact I'm doing that tomorrow.)
Oh well. Fun is fun, right?

[Suzanne]

Personally, I hate concerts but that is because I am a freak and it annoys me that live music is not played the exact same way it is recorded, which is how I know it and like it. (Making grumpy face.) However, I am very glad that the weather held out and that you were able to get out and enjoyed the concert.

[tish grier]

Thanks so much for writing about this! I remembering you mentioning that you were going and was *so* jealous! Hysterical that the crowd was hovering around 40-something! I keep thinking back to my childhood, when 40-something people were listening to Lawrence Welk. So, does that make Ozzy and Rob the Lawrence Welks of our brave new world?? oh, and there's a serious link between stag films and horror cinema--when you consider that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was distributed by a mob-owned distribution company that was also making adult films...oh, the things we never knew as kids!