If all had gone well, and if a certain jerk of a pedestrian hadn’t jumped in front of the headline act’s tour bus in Boston last night, I would not be here writing this right now. I would be already safely across the pedestrian bridge at SPAC, surging with concert-going masses 70 feet above Geyser Creek toward the amphitheater seats and/or lawn blankets that would give us our vantage points for the evening’s entertainment. I was looking forward (admittedly a guilty-pleasure alert)) to the soaring chords and howl of their hit from a couple years ago–Your Sex is On Fire– by those headlining former Tennessee choir boys, one of whom is now biblically involved with a Victoria Secret’s model, so I’m guessing that song worked for him. But I also like the new title song Temple and the one that caught my attention lately from that new album — Family Tree. Even though they are almost a pop group now, I still like their sound.
In mid-August, absent any t-storms that could rock your world, one of the best places in America to see a concert is right here in ‘Toga town, as I’ve written about many times before (and hundreds of others probably have too). This was s’posed to be a killer triple bill that I figured to be the highlight of my local summer concert scene… and the KINGS OF LEON have done this to us here in Saratoga before, two years ago, when the lead singer went into booze rehab just before they would’ve come to town. This time his brother the drummer was the casualty, as it was Nate Followil’s ribs that were busted up in a quick stop that injured him instead of the freakin’ nutbag that tried to either drunkenly hi-jack the bus, or get killed by it. Maybe the bus driver should’ve just plowed into the wacko attention-seeker, and there would still be music happening on this night.
Think of the nasty and negatively expensive karma that spins out from this one guy’s impulsive & asinine act– thousands of people…maybe 15-20 thousand tonite alone… who would’ve been enjoying Kongos and Young The Giant as much or more than the Kings of Leon (according to my younger consultants), are now missing out on perhaps the most au courant concert of the SPAC summer. I’m not likely to get the same vibe from either Li’l Wayne vs. Drake next Tuesday, or Steely Dan at the end of August… one too young a crowd, the other almost too old and nostalgic for my taste. Since SPAC is a seasonal venue, it’s not easy to re-schedule gigs here– it costs the bands money, the promoters money, the SPAC vendors and employees lots of money, and a lot of work was done issuing tickets that won’t be used, including mine– Section 8, right in the middle of the arena, straight on view. Bummer, bummer, bummer, thricefold. The band Kongos were even supposed to be playing out of their trailer before going onstage, somewhere on the Park property, so make that fourfold. You can’t re-invent a concert like that. I wish now I’d gone to see Young The Giant separately down at Upstate Concert Hall a month or so ago.
Not only the SPAC crowd in Saratoga will miss this tour from this point on, but maybe another month or more of cities that will have to cancel their shows as well… what is the extrapolated impact of one fool’s action?! The only good thing here is I’m going to be a lot fresher for work tomorrow than I would have been after getting out of that chaotic back parking lot off Route 50 at midnight otherwise. O well: hell’s bells to the Followils and their followers, there’s nothing to be done but to go with it, or in this case, not go.
On the bright side, instead of experiencing new sonic revelations and feeling visceral exhilirations, I am also NOT getting bit by mosquitoes and standing in long lines to the john after paying for $9 beers in plastic cups. I am here in my study with a cool breeze in my face from the west-facing screens getting one more blog done, and getting ready for more music to come this month.
Next week, after a High School Reunion whose numerical value I do not even want to contemplate, I hope to hit the Rest Fest in Troy on the way home and see some true indie bands again instead of pinning my hopes on over-hyped luxury tour-bus types. I just heard a tune called “Faxes on a Yacht” by “Rival Galaxies,” one of the 4 groups that will be there, and that song sounds like dynamite…
Till next time, this one was just a brief one…
Copyright 2014 by Wayne for WaynesWord2 at saratoga.com