The older I get, the more curmudgeonly I get as well.
Yes, it took me a long time to come to this conclusion too1…but the truth is the truth if you like it or not! Don’t fight it, embrace it!
One of the ways that this curmudgeoness rears it’s head is that I flat out do not like concerts anymore. I don’t like paying the money for tickets plus a “convenience fee” just to get in, I don’t like the crowds, I don’t like the lines, I don’t like the overwhelming sound, I don’t like how much a beer costs, I don’t like _any_ of it2.
That was the “before me”. The “after me” is actually kinda excited about concerts now. After what, you (didn’t) ask? After this past weekend when we went and saw a Led Zeppelin cover band at Abayance Bay in Eureka, MT.
The Set Up
Jenny and Julie went for a ride where part of the ride talk ended in some form of “well, we are all going to this concert now”. The concert being Zoso (holy crap, had no idea that they had been touring as a cover band for 31 years!?!), the venue being Abayance Bay Marina, and the crowd being minimal. Honestly they had me at “Led Zeppelin cover band3“, but the tickets were also cheap and the venue was stellar.
The Implementation
We carpooled with Jenny up to the venue, and the absolute first thing commented upon was the matching outfits. Not planned in any way, shape, or form…just two millennials showing up to party in some version of a maroon onesie. I think I could find some version of social commentary to be made on that, but the writing whiskey kicked in and it’s beyond me at the moment.
After getting in, setting up chairs, and hitting the portapotties to freshen up the first order of business forever will be “get food”. Instead of the normal $36+ expected ($20 = price of food in whitefish, multiplied by 1.63 for the concert upcharge, plus an added $3.75 for fuck you reasons), we each got a slice of pizza for $5 apiece4. Then added a beer ($6) and a 12% margarita in a can (hoo boy) ($8) before heading back to settle in.
The opening band was playing which gave us ample time to eat our food, drink our drinks, find people we knew (hi Caleb!), move to a better spot, and get ready for the show. You probably have not heard of them, but it was Comatose Posse which is a local Whitefish band that plays classic rock n roll hits. We rolled up to Bulls on Parade which is a great way to get fired up for a concert, I won’t lie.
The Show
TLDR; for the “are they exactly Led Zeppelin”? 8. For the “did this show rock” though…they get a 9.55.
The energy was definitely there from the band. The lead singer nailed the wailing in Immigrant Song, the drummer killed it for 10 minutes straight during Moby Dick, the guitarist6 was on point for his solo, and the vibe in general was immaculate. Not to mention that the sun slowly went down behind the grandstand providing such a pure viewing experience. For some reason, the show was very sparsely attended which left plenty of room to sit, to see, to dance, to run around 7, and most importantly to not get any rando germs all up in our grill!
When it all boils down in the end, this is how I want to concert from here on out in my life. I don’t want festivals. I don’t want “the latest and greatest”. I don’t want stadiums. I want comfort and cheap prices and covers of bands that I would have loved to have seen live in the 60s, 70s or 80s. That is my takeaway from this experience.
1 Figured this out at the ripe old age of…19.
2 Whoever said money doesn’t buy happiness has very obviously never had their own VIP seats at a concert.
3 1) Led Zeppelin is my favorite band. If I turn on the radio and skip channels to find something I like I immediately stop for them. Do not pass go, do not “oh there might be something else so I’ll just check the other stations”, full stop and sing along. 2) despite what some people might think (Alice!), I do not need a favorite song, or a favorite album, or a favorite live show. Music is not my thing, so I can actually be happy with <gestures at everything Led Zeppelin> and be fine. I’m sorry that doesn’t work for you.
4 Do concerts realize how much more they would make if they had reasonably priced offerings?!? Holy shit…everyone born between 1960 and 1990 would be out there every weekend!
5 The last 0.5 points is really the fact that I was 5 days out of surgery so my knee hurt. And a little bit because the crowd wasn’t super into it? Jenny did say it was the smallest crowd she had ever seen at a concert there, so maybe the vibe was just more casual?
6 I swear to you this kid was 19. Then I saw the “on tour for 31 years” and now I have no idea what to think.
7 We did no running…we just could have run around if we wanted.