he asked me if i wanted to go to this concert over a month ago. i figured they must be pretty good since he drives all over the place to go see them, following them around like many did for the Grateful Dead; i joked with him about having season tickets. so on tuesday i went over to his house, spent my last $15 on one big boomer which, as it turns out, came out of the same batch as the ones i took to lollapalooza with me last year and ate for three days straight.
once we arrived at the uptown theater, we wandered around the parking lot for awhile, looking at all the vendors and followers, a couple of cute hippie girls with hula hoops, lots of blown glass goods, and the ultimate wookie-fest marker, grilled cheese sandwiches for a buck. i was already turned off by the crowd, not being much of a jam-band enthusiast. the closest thing to a jam band that i enjoy is WEEN, of whom i'm a huge fan... this scene had everything that the ween fans make fun of.
at 7:00 we entered, and went to the bar. i was only there to smoke a cigarette and eat my mushroom. i don't know if it's because i've eaten so many over the years or if it's just this particular strain, but they don't really affect me like they used to. i'm always searching for the eye-popping, mind-blowing, life-death-rebirth trip and it just doesn't happen anymore. instead i just become contemplative, analytical, sympathetic and empathetic.
the band started playing and i immediately became aware of how much of an outsider i was. i didn't know any of these songs, hell, i'd never heard any of these songs, i wasn't hip to the the inside specifics and traditions of their live shows. i felt somewhat how i do when i attend church with (for) my mother, and at the same time i was very aware of how the people i've told "Oh yeah, go see Ween live and you'll be a fan.. you'll understand.." thats the same thing they told me about this band. i looked around, fairly unimpressed with these songs that i have no emotional or historical attachment to and realized that this band was these peoples' Ween and like those outsiders that i've dragged to Ween shows, i didn't 'get' it. essentially, it was exactly like a Ween show, but with songs that meant nothing to me, and therefore, i wasn't impressed when they extended each one to 10 minutes or longer with little more than wheedla on guitar...
so, this week i learned, i'm just not really a Widespread Panic fan.
hail boognish.
once we arrived at the uptown theater, we wandered around the parking lot for awhile, looking at all the vendors and followers, a couple of cute hippie girls with hula hoops, lots of blown glass goods, and the ultimate wookie-fest marker, grilled cheese sandwiches for a buck. i was already turned off by the crowd, not being much of a jam-band enthusiast. the closest thing to a jam band that i enjoy is WEEN, of whom i'm a huge fan... this scene had everything that the ween fans make fun of.
at 7:00 we entered, and went to the bar. i was only there to smoke a cigarette and eat my mushroom. i don't know if it's because i've eaten so many over the years or if it's just this particular strain, but they don't really affect me like they used to. i'm always searching for the eye-popping, mind-blowing, life-death-rebirth trip and it just doesn't happen anymore. instead i just become contemplative, analytical, sympathetic and empathetic.
the band started playing and i immediately became aware of how much of an outsider i was. i didn't know any of these songs, hell, i'd never heard any of these songs, i wasn't hip to the the inside specifics and traditions of their live shows. i felt somewhat how i do when i attend church with (for) my mother, and at the same time i was very aware of how the people i've told "Oh yeah, go see Ween live and you'll be a fan.. you'll understand.." thats the same thing they told me about this band. i looked around, fairly unimpressed with these songs that i have no emotional or historical attachment to and realized that this band was these peoples' Ween and like those outsiders that i've dragged to Ween shows, i didn't 'get' it. essentially, it was exactly like a Ween show, but with songs that meant nothing to me, and therefore, i wasn't impressed when they extended each one to 10 minutes or longer with little more than wheedla on guitar...
so, this week i learned, i'm just not really a Widespread Panic fan.
hail boognish.
Now you've seen it from both sides. Keep taking, not dragging, the people who will have the same standards of mind-blowing concert experiences...you won't be the only one walking away satisfied. Like I should talk (hehe,) however I had you and Amber a block ahead of me feeling content from the show.