Today's rambling: Just between us...a review!
Written on Thursday, Aug. 05, 2004 at 7:16 a.m.
while feeling a bit

Last night's concert gets a...*booming voice* THREE JOURNAL REVIEW!!!!

Yes, that's right, I'm putting the same review in all three of my journals. Because hey, I do have different audiences! ;) Anyway...

So last night, I went to see Rush with Geoff and Tim. I actually don't know much about their music, other than a few of their commonly-known songs, but I was still interested in seeing them. The venue we went to was the Tweeter Center, which is right on the Camden waterfront. (I would like to say, just for the record, that I didn't realize Rutgers was in such a crappy area.) Since Geoff had bought the tickets the day before the concert, we were stuck with lawn seats. However, we were close enough that we could see the screen above the stage easily, and we could even see the dryers turning. *laughs* Yes, they had two dryers onstage, with T-shirts that tumbled around throughout the entire concert. And there was a vending machine right next to it, if I'm not mistaken. At least, that's what it looked like when I looked through the binoculars.

The lawn area smelled really bad, like a mix between cows and stale beer. And the area closest to the railing was all dirt. But we set out our rented lawn chairs (which we really didn't need anyway, since we had to stand the entire time), and it was all good. The concert started with a little 'movie' of Jerry Stiller waking up suddenly and calling the band out. 'Radio' was the first song they played (and the only one I knew, LOL!), and the lights were awesome. The screen switched between shots of the band playing and these trippy random splashes of color; I think if I had been tripping, like half the other people there, I would have freaked out from all pulsing lights and colors! :P

Getting past the voice, which is admittedly grating at times, the music was just awesome. Every time the cameras zoomed in on the guitars, I just stared in fascination as their fingers flew back and forth over the frets. And of course, the drumming was just as awe-inspiring (I can't imagine playing something different with all different limbs! I just don't have that coordination!).

About an hour or so into the concert, after night had fallen, the wind started picking up. "Why do I get the impression that we're about to be rained upon?" I shouted to Geoff...and sure enough, not two minutes later the rain blew in. Literally. First, I was just pelted by dust as the wind kicked up all that dirt below our feet, but then the rain whooshed in...and it was a cold rain. Combined with the wind, I was standing there with my arms crossed, shoulders kind of hunched, and teeth chattering. Within minutes, we were all completely soaked, and part of me was dying to run and find shelter...preferably in the main lobby, where there was a particularly orgasm-inducing picture of Robert Plant. *grins* Yes, The Pants follow me no matter where I go. After awhile, though, I didn't even care about being wet, and I somehow started enjoying the concert more after that than I had before the rain!

The energy just shot up after the rain started falling, too. Maybe it was the charge of everyone challenging the heavens to 'bring it on'; or maybe, like me, the rain served to wash away some of their inhibitions (after all, you can't really look reserved when you're looking like a wet dog). Either way, I think that was a lot of the reason why I enjoyed myself so much more. I felt like I'd been transported back in time to the original Woodstock, though nobody was crazy enough to slide through that disgusting mud. By the end of the concert, however, one girl was sitting on a guy's shoulder, her skimpy halter top pulled up above her breasts. That was interesting. Right before intermission, Tim and I went down to the restrooms...and on our way, we discovered that part of the sidewalk was completely flooded. He was going to climb the stairs and fight through all the people to take a different route, but I plowed right through the water, which ended up going past my ankles in some places. On the way back, the lights were on and I saw exactly what I was walking through...and then it wasn't quite so fun as it was in the dark!

My biggest complaint about the show was that they really had no rapport with the audience. All Getty kept saying was 'thank you' and whatnot, and he never made any mention of us out in the lawn seats getting completely drenched. Usually, you'd think the band would make some kind of quip about it! And maybe they didn't realize it while it happened, but after intermission I'm sure they had to have heard about it! But oh well, I guess he's just not good at working a crowd. Goodness knows they seemed to be worked up enough without him talking! There were 4 guys in front of us that were headbanging crazily, and Geoff leaned over to remark that they reminded him of Beavis and Butthead. They were really funny-looking!

Anyway, that's about it. My attention span is ridiculously short, and Rush's concert consisted of two 1 1/2 hour sets. Actually, the second set was way longer, including the encore and everything. Considering I didn't even know the music that well, I was definitely getting impatient by the middle of the second set, hehe! But then again, Queen is the only band that would be able to keep my attention for that long.

All in all, though, it was an awesome concert...and considering how angry I'd made Geoff before we left (yeah, he noticed me acting funny once we got to the apartment, and he wouldn't leave me alone until I ended up telling him about Tim...which made him every bit as short-tempered as I'd expected him to get)...well anyway, we all had a good time. And that's all that counts!