Concert Wars. From an enertainment standpoint, this was one hell of a week! Last Monday was the Rod Stewart show, Friday I attended the Delbert McClinton concert at the Rio Grande Zoo, and Saturday was the Earth, Wind and Fire and Chicago concert at the Journal Pavilion . See below for my impressions of Rod, but I'm going to have to say that on a combination of entertainment value, performance, venue and ticket price the clear winner was....
Delbert McClinton! Got there at about 4:45 pm to get a good place in line and, based on the previous Los Lonely Boys and Indigo Girls shows, prepare for the onslaught of the crowd's mad rush to find a good spot on the lawn. Well, to my shock and awe, I got a series of surprises:
1) I was only about 4-5 people back from the front of my line.
2) They opened the gates at about 5:40, not the expected 6:15.
3) I found a spot right in the very front of the lawn in front of the stage right speakers!
4) There was an opening band that played a half hour set at 6:00 pm; Hillary Someone and Hip Pocket, who were quite good.
5) Very well behaved, mellower older crowd, not too many drunken idiots like the Los Lonely Boys show.
Barbara joined me about 6:30, and our seats provided us with great opportunity to bump into many friends as they passed by the front. All the best folks attended this show. Delbert and band took the stage right on time, and proceeded to unleash a blistering set of terrific Texas roadhouse boogie and blues. It was damn hard to keep from moving one's posterior to the great music. Anytime anyone attempted to stop for more than a few seconds in front of the stage and dance, they were gently urged off by uniformed security officers. So after a while, small clusters of folks started dancing on either far side of the stage. Mustn't block the view of the stage, you know. Then came the guy in the blue shirt and shorts. This cat dances down the walkway in front of the stage, kind of goofing off for the crowd, and actually dances around one of the the rent-a-cops, kind of fooling around with the guy in a very good natured way. The cop guides him out of the way, and Dilbert sees this, saying, " Hey, Mister Poe-lease man! If the guy wants to dance, let 'im dance!" (This was one of the very few things he said all night.) Obviously this kind of ticked the D-man off, and within 5 minutes Ray Darnell and the rest of the Zoo powers- that-be made a snap executive decision and let the people dancing on the sides fill in to the walkway in front of the stage.
From this point on, the concert became a joyous old-fashioned dance party. I tried to get Barbara up to dance, but she was reluctant. Thankfully, my great pals Scott and Anita came up and pulled us both out of our chairs, and we joined the crowd. My friend Leah came up and joined us, and I danced until I was out of breath. Many people, including myself, found the guy in blue and thanked him. His reply was "It only takes one person to change things!" Wiser words were never said.
Anyway, this turned out to be the most fun I've had at a concert in a loooong, looong time, say maybe since the Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper show at El Rey Theatre in 1989? I surely haven't danced that much at a show since then.
Delbert played an amazing hour and a half set with no stopping, backed by an outstanding band, and I hope he comes back real, real soon. I don't care that he didn't say much, he said it all with his awesome music.
Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire. This was a much different animal. I went with Sue and Theresa, and we thought we left early, but apparently everyone in Albuquerque was going to this thing too! We finally made it into the venue five minutes before showtime. We rented chairs and went to find a spot on the lawn to sit. (Cheap seats-$30.50 including all the ridiculous service charges.) Theresa picked the spot as luck would have it we end up next to some people I vaguely know from Old Town; Michael, a kind goofy guy who drives a pedicab around the plaza and Julia, who owns a restaurant where Michael also works. Of course they were already on about the 50th adult beverage of the evening, and they sort of befriended us. Michael tried really hard to befriend Theresa, if you know what I mean. Anyway, the crowd was in a jovial mood, thanks partly to the music and partly to the good folks at Anheiser-Busch.
The show started with what I can only describe as what seemed like a live rehearsal. I think both bands were onstage, and I think they were attempting a couple Chicago songs, but things seemed very loose and people just seemed to be wandering around the stage. Finally, someone explained that they would flip a coin to see which band went first. EWF won, and started the show in earnest.
They were very good and played most of their big hits, and the stage energy was generated by the wild tazmanian devil-like bass player who darted around the stage frantically. They were fun, and got me up off my feet dancing on several occasions.
At the break, Sue and I went to look at t-shirts and find a restroom. The shirts were ugly (the EWF ones were remarkably plain) and overpriced. I found the men's room and was out before Sue even got near the Ladies' room door. She told me to go on ahead, so I tried to find my way back and was largely unsuccessful. I could spot neither Theresa nor Michael, and ended up at the blanket of three women who attempted to help me relocate myself, so to speak, I went up by the beer cart, which was my only true frame of reference and luckily bumped into Sue, so we both stumbled down the hill trying to find our spot. We found, three enemy chairs, no Theresa, no Michael, but recognized the people sitting in front of us. Once everyone came back, we settled in to enjoy the second half.
I really came to see EWF, but Chicago were a much tighter, more professional sounding unit. Their set was like one long greatest hits medley, punctuated by some cool instrumental solo moments, such as an awesome flute solo. I actually came away from the show admiring Chicago much more than I had.
Finally both bands joined together, ETW now in more or less coordinated white outfits, and did an awesome finale featuring both groups biggest hits. They really made one SUPER supergroup, and had tons of energy for this final set. Everyone was on the their feet dancing through stuff like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" " Shining Star" and "25 or 6 to 4" (which is a song that makes no freakin' sense to me at all).
Finally the show ended, and we made our way back to the parking lot, which seemed 6 miles away. It took us about 45 minutes just to get back onto Broadway. Then, being the genius I am, take Lead downtown, and decide to cut up 6th street. Wrong move, brainboy. I forgot that police block Central on Saturday night and divert traffic downtown. We were caught between Lead and Central for about a half hour. All the while Theresa is "mentioning" she has to pee badly. Urging me to cut down blocked streets with cops standing on the corners. Sorry girl, you're going to have to soil the upholstery first! Anyway, we finally make it to Central, and back home a total of 90 minutes after we got in my car at the venue!
Overall, too many people, too far away from the stage, too many drunks, too much traffic hassle, and I was already tired from dancing to Delbert the night before. Good value for your entertainment dollar, but that's the best of it.
Okay, to justify my earlier statement: Rod Stewart was the most lavish show I've seen, Rod was awesome, the songs great, but Delbert proved that sometimes, all you need is great music, dancing, and the freedom to enjoy yourself. Yes, less can indeed be more.