Filed under: Ordinary Life | Tags: bands, concerts, entertainment, Leslie
This weekend was supposed to be amazing. It was going to be epic. I had been looking forward to it for months, ever since my beautiful wife splurged on an anniversary present by getting a VIP package to see U2 at the Rose Bowl.
The weekend began when I woke up this past Saturday with a bit of an upset stomach, but thought it was just something I ate. Didn’t feel well enough to go to a friend’s housewarming party that afternoon, so sent my wife without me. I then spent the next few hours in unexpected agony and threw up about 6 times on Saturday. No bueno. I could barely stand and laying down hurt too much, so I spent most of the day and night trying to find a comfortable sitting position.
Sunday was better, but not great. Decided to pull it together and go to the concert since my wife had saved up a lot of money towards this and there was no way we were going to miss the experience. I was managing the discomfort okay, thankful we had easy VIP parking right next to the gate and a short walk to our seats in the 5th row. Spent about half the show sitting down as the Black Eyed Peas opened the night and I thought the intense amount of low end would be the end of me, but I did okay. Glad I did, because we got to see Slash come out and join the Peas doing Sweet Child of Mine. It was an awesome moment.
When u2 came on, it was surreal. The stage was so amazing and the crowd was electric. I was starting to feel pretty good. Unfortunately, I think Leslie caught something similar to me. She wasn’t feeling great during the VIP party, but she decided to ignore it and enjoy the show. About 10:30, 90 minutes into U2’s set, I looked over and she had tears welling up from her stomach pain. I think her tears were also partly because she didn’t want to be the reason we missed out on anything that night. However, I love my wife… way more than I love U2, so we left and missed the last hour of their set. I’ll see the end of the show someday on DVD. I’ll be with my wife for the rest of my life. It was an easy decision. I guess in some ways, it was still an amazing weekend afterall.
I got into watching the Next Great American Band. We even went to a taping of it earlier in the season. It was cool to see real bands with real musical talent rise from various levels of anonymity through the show. It was also great to see such diverse groups make it deep into the finals. Their was bluegrass, gospel, big band, country, rock, emo, pop, funk and more. Some of the bands had struggled for years to make it in the music business, while others had literally just begun with very little experience. My favorites throughout were Denver and the Mile High Orchestra and the Clark Brothers. Both bands were full of believers and used the show as an opportunity to shine some light into the darkness in subtle but meaningful ways.
Last night was the finale and I was so thrilled to see The Clark Brothers win it all. They have a vulnerable authenticity combined with an unflinching passion. Their background as a traveling family doing music for big tent revivals in the South is like a storybook. But, their love for the Lord and their commitment to their faith was evident throughout the show without being preachy or phony or annoying. One of the best moments was captured in the photo below. It was taken just seconds after they were announced as the winners. They didn’t jump up or thump their chests or scream – they spontaneously and in unison fell prostrate. It was their natural reaction to being overwhelmed and it just seemed to fit the moment so well.
To top it off, the Christmas “medley” (I hate that word, so I felt urged to put it in quotes) was actually really good. Ricky Minor put it together and it featured all the different bands mashed up and combined into a bunch of little super groups doing Christmas songs. Each song fit so well and featured each performer perfectly. It managed to not feel overproduced or cheesy somehow – it just felt joyous. And now for the obligatory please comment on my blog questions… Did you manage to catch the show? What did you think of it? Who was your favorite band?
