This was the strangest BNL concert since the infamous Chicago concert when former-lead-singer Steve was “on cough medicine.”
Normal BNL concert:
The opening act is great, but not mind-blowing.
This BNL concert
The opener, Whitehorse, didn’t play their music so much as assembled their music live on stage.
They did a lot of work stomping those loop-making machines that have a name that I don’t know. They banged on a lot of pots. My only critique would be that the female singer was so breathy (or the mike was so diffuse) that I have no idea what the lyrics were for most of the songs. Someone should alert Quentin Tarintino to this band: they need to be on his soundtracks.
Normal BNL concert
Crowd is on their feet immediately.
This BNL concert
As ~~Silk had noted, BNL concert-goers are encouraged to hug the stage and dance, and I suppose that means the front row has to stand up to see, making the second row stand, etc. I always assumed the standing was because we like to dance, but evidently it’s just a domino effect. Well, the very front row seats to this concert cost five hundred dollars … that number is not exact. It was some appalling amount, and I am not easily appalled by high ticket prices. Since the right center front row kept their butts planted on their $500, I didn’t stand out of courtesy to the rows behind us. (Plus I was still a bit thoughtful / dazzled by the opening act.)
Normal BNL concert
Rare lighting or sound glitches. Any glitches are acknowledged and ridiculed.
This BNL concert
See these lights?
Those lights swiveled into my eyes routinely and painfully. I had to put on my sunglasses. And for an entire song the sound system crackled the way my headphones crackle when you plug them in, only 500 decibels louder. Techs were RUNNING across the stage. It was just one song, though.
Normal BNL concert
I listen to the lyrics reverentially. Talkers make me insane, especially the ones who get louder when the band gets louder.
This BNL concert
The talking started early, even in the VIP seats, and you know, it didn’t bother me as much as usual. It bothered Gary. I can only assume the change of life has mellowed me. Perhaps. My mid-life mind had this tape running through it. “Oh well, these people are talking, they’re drunk, let it go. Quit shining the lights into my eyes. It’s very comfy in this seat. Quit shining the lights into my eyes. This is the loosest show I have ever seen.”
Normal BNL concert
The crowd is on Ed’s side.
This BNL concert
Since the National League baseball playoffs were happening a few yards away, someone in the crowd yelled, “It’s 2 to 2,” and Ed replied he did not “give a shit about baseball.”
(Analogies: saying you don’t give a shit about football in Dallas. Beer in Milwaukee. Soccer in Brazil. Springsteen in New Jersey. Jesus in Rome. Hockey in Canada.)
The crowd turned on the news of the Toronto / St.Louis shit deficit. This improved the show, because the rest of the band had to step up to win them back. Tyler jumped in. Kevin jumped in. Jim, actually, just let him sink, but the other band members became much more engaged. And I like to hear from the whole band. It’s as if Broadway showed only monologues except for one play. BNL is the one play. The members interact. They interacted more before Steve left, and now Jim, Kevin, and Ty keep a little too quiet. But after the crowd turned on Ed, Kevin made a lot of musical commentary and Tyler, bless him, did a spontaneous riff about the St. Louis blues hockey team, name-dropping Bobby Orr and Gary Unger.
“GARY UNGER!” I screamed in response to what Ed later called blatant crowd pandering.
To be fair to Jim, he eventually pitched in and brought up Ted Drewes, and I believe Ed referred to a Ted Drewes concrete as a blizzard. Outrage. More crowd pandering needed to be administered, and by the last encore Ed bowed and scraped to a Cardinals towel someone had thrown on stage.
But as always, the crowd was on its feet when The Old Apartment came up. It was nice. Perhaps this is a new routine to keep it fresh, turning the crowd against you to win them back over.
16 responses to “Strangest BNL Concert Ever”
I couldn’t have said it better- this is like a little blog scrapbook of the night! I liked the show but agree with your assessment. I had some talkers in my area too. I wish I could have been more like you about it- but I was more like Gary. I don’t understand why they did that through the whole thing. It was almost as if they just wanted BNL to create some background music for them : ) It was really good to see you. Hopefully BNL won’t wait too long to come back to us!
I’m going to see them at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem on Friday night. My ticket was stupid expensive, but under 200. I plan on sitting on my a$$ in the front row the whole time, and if dancers try to stand or dance in front of my little area, I shall beat them with my cane.
That’s my plan. They can dance in front of the other chairs.
Wow. I can go nuts at home, and it doesn’t cost me a penny.
Rachel from the Cruise – A CONCERT IS NOT A SOCIAL EVENT. It’s like a movie. People should shut up. I’m less mellow today.
Tami – That’s a good plan. Have fun beating people! I want to hear how that goes.
Hattie – Oh, I didn’t pay $500. Much much less. Sixth row was a lot cheaper. Under #200.
Who sang the Old Apartment? I don’t think they did it in Charlotte.
Wendy – Ed sang it.
I’m glad, Boothby sang Yoko Ono. Adam Gardner sang Call and Answer. I just found out that I won two tickets and a photo pass to the show in Chattanooga. I just have to put an app on a phone and take and post 10 pictures from the show. That doesn’t sound like a scam does it?
Wendy – I saw Boothby sing Yoko in Nashville. It was great. And the photo pass doesn’t sound like a scam at all. What kind of access do you get?
I saw Boothby sing Yoko Ono in Holmdell, NJ. 🙂
My show went FANTASTICALLY! Nobody stood in front of me, even when they were on their feet dancing! People made a little hole for the poor old lame lady!
BTW – I COMPLETELY agree with you about Whitehorse being on a movie soundtrack. The song that they did that I liked the best was the one without so much electronic help, “Broken”. It’s the Luke song that Melissa re-worked.
Weird side story – I commented on a picture of Melissa posted by a BNL fan on FB, and Melissa “liked” the comment. Freaky.
Apparently with the photo pass I get to stand in the photo pit area for the first 3 songs. Then I post 10 photos to a twitter account. Feel free to post a photo of yourself!
We saw Alt J recently and were discussing different things you might have to do in order to get to be the photographer. The one that night was dressed a little like an anime character. Turns out it wasn’t nearly as degrading as we imagined.
Tami – Good to know that a cane will keep the standers away.
Wendy – Sorry you missed out on any degradation.
Me too. It’s been awhile.
pic.twitter.com/9bfJGBRZFB
The show was fabulous. This is my third time seeing the band minus Steven. First time seeing Ed sing Brian Wilson. It was great. The Chattanooga numbers were fun and they did a little tribute to Lou Reed. My 15 yo daughter went down front with the photo pass and took pictures. And we stayed in a train car at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel which was cool.
Wendy – that was sweet of you to let your daughter take the pass. I like the photos, especially the one where the light makes Kevin’s suit look lime green.
I say Jim looks skinnier. Daughter says no, he was always exactly that skeletal. But she thinks Ed’s butt is bigger. Which makes me think about when I ran into Ed on the stairs and he was wearing a speedo. and then I grin. I will tell her you like the pictures. The official photographer was not impressed with her pass. He was like, anyone can come up here and take photos. Dude, she has a sticker–make her feel special!
Wendy – You are both right. Jim is noticeably skinnier, while Ed’s bigger on the bottom. And now I’m picturing what I know of Ed in a Speedo. Why thank you.