LoneCactus' Soap Box Moments

So things have changed since I had last attended an arena-type concert. Couscous and Jäger-Bombs were served along side some sandwiches made with fresh baked bread and home made, non-laced with anything illegal, chocolate cookies. So much for the raiding the folk's liquor cabinet and combining tiny portions into a toxic poison. Not to mention that The Police were presented by Best Buy! Once again the Man keeping us down...

Yes, the Police were in fine form, however, I was a little concerned after their first few song attempts. They seemed to be a little off and I thought to myself, "Uh-oh...those years apart are starting to show..." However, once the geezers started to get going, they were great. I am always amazed that in such a large venue that the sound is actually quite good, all things considered.


Shawn asked me what my favorite all-time concerts were. I took a moment to pause before answering and I realized that most of my fondest concert memories were not because of the performers, but because of the person or people I attended it with. In no particular order:

• Eric Johnson (with a special appearance by a very, VERY, drunken Slash, then of Guns N Roses) with Shawn at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
• The Outfield with Shawn at The House Of Blues in Las Vegas.
• Bruce Springsteen at the Shoreline Amphitheater with Joe. Springsteen fans are very loyal!
  
• Incognito with Shawn (okay...we're sort of the musicians of the group of friends, so...) at Bimbos
• Interpol at the Fillmore with Andrea (my absolute fave as this was Andrea's first concert!...I really do feel privileged!) It was sooo cool to see the excitement in her eyes as Interpol took the stage.

What was very cool was that The Police performed with no back up musicians. There were no keyboard players, no horns, no back up singers. One could hear every instrument being played and every mistake made. Hey, that's the joy of a live performance...it's not perfect!

There is a moment in the film The Wall where the singer Pink envisions himself as a Hitler-esque type figure as his fans cheered for him. That image popped into my head as the entire coliseum echoed what Sting was singing. At times it was very eerie. Yet, how thrilling it must be to have 60,000 people chanting words that you wrote...

Some of my favorite Police lyrics:

• I will turn your face to alabaster, when you find your servant is your master...
• Your brother's gonna kill me and he's six feet ten...
• De-doo-doo-doo, de-da-da-da...
  

So overall, this was definitely one of my fave concerts...

The bad news. ..

The bad thing about large, humongous venues such as the McAfee Coliseum is the leaving part. As the crowd shuffled its way out of their seats I felt like we were a herd of cattle being led to the slaughter. Hmmm...