Concert Journal Part V: The Best

I have been holding off on this one because I just know that I will forget to mention some great concert, and remember it shortly after posting. Still, I've got to try.

Two of the best concerts have already been mentioned. A-ha, from my series on the first concerts I attended, and Presidents of the United States of America, from shows at the Crystal (though I saw them at the Rose Festival too).

I can't rule out that part of A-ha's appeal was how much I loved them, and how young and new I was. Still, I'm not sure that I loved them that much more than Charlie Sexton, and I still knew his concert was not as good. The energy was high, Morten was flirting with all of us all night. (Can someone tell Chris Carrabba that playing to teenage girls does not have to be boring?) They were awesome, and as disappointing as it was that they did not come anywhere accessible on their farewell tour, at least I had that.

The Presidents are just fun. Maybe removing the extra strings from their instruments gives them more time for awesomeness, or maybe it's that they don't take themselves that seriously. Energy of the crowd is one thing, but the energy of that band is something else. If Chris Ballew had any more energy, they would need to tether him to the stage.

There's a lot to be said for showmanship. Googoo Dolls wasn't a bad show, but it was almost more like watching a jam session. Johnnie and Robby were riffing off each other, and sometimes they would remember to look for us, but at times it was just a little flat. Now change that to Third Eye Blind. I mention them together because there were a lot of similarities in venue and audience and so on. The difference was that Stephan Jenkins lived for us! He was all about the audience and that made a better show.

That was one of the great things about the Psychedelic Furs, which is largely giving props to Richard Butler. He didn't have a lot of "business" (like Stephan came into one of the balconies, and had a hat)--all Richard did was pretty much the same dancing and jumping, which had kind of a nerd vibe, actually. But he was just so happy to be there! You could feel it, and it made us feel good. Really, if rock stars can't enjoy their work, who can?

With a really great show, even previous rules may not apply. For example, I was at a punk show, on the floor with no seats (not in the moshing area, though there was one), but it was Green Day and it was awesome! I don't even know what was going on with the puppets, but somehow it worked. Talk about your audience attention--Billie Joe was so careful to not leave anyone out he mooned one half of the audience, wriggled his pants back up, went to the other side of the stage, and repeated for the other half. Okay, I could have done without that, but don't you see? He was there for us.

One of my more fun reads this year has been Rob Sheffield's "Talking to Girls About Duran Duran", so it seems appropriate to end on them. One thing he pointed out was that there is always some band or singer teen girls scream over, but then they want the guys to respect them, so they take on a harder edge and lose their fan base. Duran Duran was always perfectly happy to be entertaining the girls--there is no guilt in their pleasure.

So, when the original five reunited came on the stage and just stood there, basking in it for a moment before they played, it did not matter how many years I am removed from teenager, or that they are not even in my top bands, and that my sisters and friends have always liked Duran Duran more than me. I was a girl and they owned me. And it was a great show.

Mosiah 7-9
12784 steps