Truth be told, I've never been much of a concertgoer. I suppose that started because I wasn't allowed to go to concerts when I was young. I still remember the one time I was allowed to go to a concert - it was The Go Go's, and the show was opened by A Flock of Seagulls. Not sure how that all came about.
A little while down the road, in spending so much time (and then living) on Cape Cod, I started going to a lot of concerts at The Melody Tent. The great thing about that place is, not only is it a small venue, but it's a theatre-in-the-round. It's literally a huge tent with a stage in the center that turns, so no matter where you are, you still have a great view. I went to a bazillion concerts there, and nearly as many comedy shows.
I guess that spoiled me, because by the time I was old enough to not worry about being allowed to go to a concert, I didn't get the point. In a big stadium, you are often so far away you can barely see what's going on, and because the crowds are so huge and noisy, you can't even hear. I'd rather watch a video of the tour.
The one concert I did intentionally go to, and am still glad I did, was the Elton John / Billy Joel Face-to-Face tour. That was awesome!
All that said, what came to mind for me when faced with this week's prompt of "I went to a concert ..." was the time when I had first moved to New Orleans, and a friend's hubby had to go out of town for work. She called and asked if I wanted to use his ticket and go to the Rolling Stones Voo Doo concert with her at the Superdome. As I said, I wasn't particularly interested in going to any concert at such an enormous venue, but I had never been inside the Superdome before, and she didn't have anyone else to go with at the time, so I said sure. All I remember thinking was that Mick Jagger had to be on speed or something, because he was zooming all over the place, making me exhausted just watching the show! They did a great job though.
Anyhow, before the show started, or maybe during intermission, I was chatting with my friend and heard a voice behind me. I just sort of chuckled to myself and shook my head. My friend looked at me quizzically, so I smiled, turned my head and asked the gentleman behind us ... "Are you from Quincy by any chance??" His eyes widened and jaw dropped.
As anyone from Massachusetts can attest, contrary to what you hear on television and on the big screen, we don't all have the same crazy accent. There are actually a number of crazy Massachusetts accents, Quincy's being one of them. That's where I was born, and I lived there until I was four, so lucky for me it didn't stick. It's a doozie! Talk about finding a needle in a haystack ... out of all the people in that massive building and with all that noise going on, I managed to sit right in front of and pick out of the crowd that hometown accent.
What makes it even funnier is that it somehow turned into a trend. I don't know if something happened in Quincy between 1993-1994 that sent people running to New Orleans or what, but I must have encountered five or six other folks from Quincy that year. To make it even stranger, there was an attorney for a local school board that my boss and I worked closely with, so I got to know his assistant pretty well. By then, I was beyond ready to get my a$$ back east. One day, Harry's secretary called me and started asking me questions about Massachusetts. Turned out, her hubby got a transfer, and she would be moving there...of all places, to Quincy! We tried to work something out so she could stay and I'd go with her hubby, but he wouldn't go for it for some reason. ;) I didn't want to live in Quincy again, but at least it's close to the Cape.
Anyhow, before the show started, or maybe during intermission, I was chatting with my friend and heard a voice behind me. I just sort of chuckled to myself and shook my head. My friend looked at me quizzically, so I smiled, turned my head and asked the gentleman behind us ... "Are you from Quincy by any chance??" His eyes widened and jaw dropped.
As anyone from Massachusetts can attest, contrary to what you hear on television and on the big screen, we don't all have the same crazy accent. There are actually a number of crazy Massachusetts accents, Quincy's being one of them. That's where I was born, and I lived there until I was four, so lucky for me it didn't stick. It's a doozie! Talk about finding a needle in a haystack ... out of all the people in that massive building and with all that noise going on, I managed to sit right in front of and pick out of the crowd that hometown accent.
What makes it even funnier is that it somehow turned into a trend. I don't know if something happened in Quincy between 1993-1994 that sent people running to New Orleans or what, but I must have encountered five or six other folks from Quincy that year. To make it even stranger, there was an attorney for a local school board that my boss and I worked closely with, so I got to know his assistant pretty well. By then, I was beyond ready to get my a$$ back east. One day, Harry's secretary called me and started asking me questions about Massachusetts. Turned out, her hubby got a transfer, and she would be moving there...of all places, to Quincy! We tried to work something out so she could stay and I'd go with her hubby, but he wouldn't go for it for some reason. ;) I didn't want to live in Quincy again, but at least it's close to the Cape.
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Next week's prompt will be: "I never understood what the big deal was about ..."
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