Ah yes, a night to remember…
I’ll spare all the details, but will of course dwell on a number of the meaningless ones:
* DTE Energy Center Music Theatre is a good place to see a concert. We saw kd lang there a couple of years ago (oh, and fwiw, she was absolutely amazing. I’d go see her again in a heart-beat) when it was still called “Pine Knob.” The next time I go to a show out there though, I think I’ll remember to plan some minor version of tail-gating. The Mrs. and I ended up splitting a highly over-priced Domino’s pizza when we could have had something better and as simple as sandwiches in the car.
* We ordered our tickets Wednesday on the Internet and they were “e-tickets” that we printed out and took with us to the concert. To get into the venue, we gave our tickets to the woman at the gate, who scanned them with something that looked a lot like a PDA. I realize this is geeky detail, but I found that interesting nonetheless.
* This was about the “whitest” event I’ve been to in the Detroit area in I don’t know how long. There were 10 or 15 thousand people at this show (I’m guessing) and I swear to you, there wasn’t any person of any ethnicity other than “white” in the whole crowd. Maybe that’s expected given the acts, but still… Oh, and I would also describe the crowd as predominantly a “VH-1” listening demographic. There were some college and high school kids (including two high school girls right in front of us who just LOVED Alanis, that was clear), but most of the folks were thirty-somethings or older.
* Alanis Morissette was the “opening act,” as it were, which seems to be a decision based on different venues. BNL has a big following in Detroit-City, but she was the “headliner” in Milwaukee, according to this review of that show. I don’t have anything against Alanis, but I don’t know her songs that well, either. She’s got a good voice and a good band, but I didn’t feel that much of a connection, really. Interestingly, the most lively part was when the BNL boys came out on stage and sang one of those songs from her Jagged Little Pill album. See, tells you what I know.
* While in the men’s room during the Morissette part of the show, I heard a guy talking very loudly into his cell phone. This is what he said, more or less:
“Hey. WHAT?! I CAN’T HEAR YOU. WHAT?! THE MEN’S ROOM. THE BATHROOM! I JUST TOOK A PISS! WHERE ARE YOU SITTING? IS THAT ON THE RIGHT, OR THE LEFT?” And so forth.
* The people sitting right behind us were about as annoying as my friend in the bathroom. One of them dumped a beer that ended up splashing us; they all ended up talking very loudly until BNL really got going.
* The BNL were awesome, putting on a great show. Lotsa energy, lotsa fun. No sitting for this one, and it was pretty clear that these guys got to where they were by playing their asses off for years and years.
* Steve Page looks like me; or I look like him, depending on your take. He’s probably hovering more around my “target weight,” but otherwise, a lot of similarities. Don’t believe me? Compare the picture of me in the corner here or this picture here with the picture of Steve Page on this site.
* I decided to not bring the digital camera, which was a mistake, though I don’t know if would have gotten any decent pictures.
* Judging from this review of the Thursday night show, the Friday one might have been just a tad more calm. Oh, and here’s a review that includes a set-list
* The drive home was an adventure for a lot of different reasons; I’ll just leave it at that.