My wife and I attended the Joe Bonamassa concert this past Thursday night at the Fox Theater in Bakersfield. I hadn't been inside this place since my college days in the 70's, and that was to see a movie because that's all the theater was used for back then. Wow! It's been refurbished and it's now a very nice venue for smaller, more intimate live concerts. And Bonamassa? I suspect he's as good a blues/rock guitarist as you'll find on this planet at this moment in time. I was a little disappointed that he didn't have his brass section with him, but all in all, it was a good concert, with the exception of some poor manners and behavior on the part of a few attendees. More on that later.
When I was younger, a lot younger, I attended live concerts fairly regularly. Back in the late 60's and early 70's, the Civic Auditorium put on some top acts. I saw Jimi Hendrix there, Ten Years After, Alice Cooper, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Vanilla Fudge just to name a few. I attended Cal Jam 1 at the Ontario Speedway in '74. That was something else. I think there were about 8 or 9 of the best bands around, and the thing went on all day. About 200,000 people were at that one. I guess back then, when I was younger, I was more tolerant of oddball behavior from some of the concert-goers. Most of us didn't really mind if someone got up and danced in front of us, because most of the time those someones were female, and many times they removed their tops during their dancing frenzy. I don't really remember seeing anything like that happening during an indoor show. It was at the big outdoor events like Cal Jam where the herb-induced mood seemed a lot looser.
Also, the phenomenon of matches and lighters being lit in unison at a nighttime concert started occurring during this time. I never thought much of those displays of flames. I guess I felt I was too cool or reserved or just plain embarrassed to let myself show that much emotion. Most of the attendees at the events in those days had full heads of hair as well. Obviously, that was an age variable. Rock bands hadn't been around that long by that time, maybe 10 years or so, so most of the people that bought tickets were from our generation. Our parents, when they did go out to some kind of event, usually went to see the opera, or a play, or just stayed at home and watched Lawrence Welk, like my parents did.
As I've aged, the frequency of my concert-going has diminished quite a bit, for several reasons. My taste in rock music is permanently log-jammed full of classic rock and oldies. I've been to a couple of concerts over the past ten years or so that featured groups that were popular several decades ago. Some of the acts I'd seen in their prime, and others I didn't get a chance to. But I won't do that anymore. They were similar to what you might experience watching an old-timers NFL tackle football game....familiar names and faces, but none of the speed or athleticism that made them super-stars. Just lots of snapping bones and naps. For the most part, the vocalists can't hit the high notes anymore, so the crew that does the mixing makes sure the music is so loud that you can't hear the vocals. The thought of the upcoming Black Sabbath reunion tour featuring Ozzie now scares me in an entirely different manner then the bands dark music did back in the 70's.
So back to last Thursday night at the Fox. My first impression as we walked into the lobby was that the median age was about 50. Lots of gray hair and sagging everything. I was really hoping that none of these old blisters would remove their tops during the concert. There were long lines at the beer bar in spite of the $5.00 per glass cost. All that beer drinking came back to haunt many of the imbibers later in the night. Getting older seems to have a profound effect on bladder capacity and frequency of urination. There was a steady stream of humanity heading up the aisles towards the restrooms for most of the concert. The only misbehavior tied to intoxication seemed to be from a few 20-something girls who insisted on standing up and dancing to the music, blocking every one's view behind them. They didn't take their tops off either. It's probably just as well. My wife would have punched me if she had caught me looking. Sheesh, I'm not dead yet!
The other thing that I found to be very annoying was all the miniature camcorders and cell phone cameras that were illuminating the auditorium. Good grief....were those people really going to take their video memories home with them and watch them at a later date? I absolutely don't get it. No more candles swaying to the music in the darkness. They've been replaced by electronic communication gadgets. And where was all the smoke coming from. I mean it was real smokey. And it didn't smell like the good stuff. Strange, I don't remember seeing anyone smoke. And my clothes didn't stink like smoke when I got home. Weird. Maybe some kind of special sensory effect to transport us back in time before there were restrictions on everything we do.
I don't see myself attending anymore of these types of shows. My tolerance level for certain types of behavior and live rock concerts in general has definitely decreased with time and age. Been there and done that. "Hey Linda, what time is that Lawrence Welk special on PBS tonight?"
