i do not have olympic fever. as i told my boy, patrick: its been a strange role reversal. usually, on any given evening, i am watching sportscenter while disinterested theresa is reading or on the internet occasionally looking up when something spectacular sounding is being shown. these past few weeks, its theresa watching sports while disinterested joseph is reading or on the internet occasionally looking up when something spectacular sounding is being shown.
olympics is my bizarro(sports)world.
but here is my favorite olympic moment thanks to youtube, nike and the killers:
its the killers getting their due with their greatest song(to date)featured in an olympic spot shown around the world capturing the (theoretical)olympic spirit. such a short clip that sends hearts soaring. imagine a full performance.
the song is off their first album(third album due in the magical fall)and experienced a boost in sales on amazon and itunes thanks to nike and the five ring circus.
here’s the alternate video made by justin timberlake that was rejected because it had too much booze, misogny and justin timberlake. it was also widely panned for its lack of the olympic spirit. nike was upset because it had no nike. he really wasted everyone’s money and time.
imagine no longer: here’s a full performance at the borgata in atlantic city.
we were pretty content(ecstatic)with getting tickets to the small borgata show of 3,700 in atlantic city. at the time, it was the only north american appearance in 2008…later, when other shows were announced, the ac show was still the only local appearance.
but then the killers announced a fan club only show at the highline ballroom in chelsea, with a capacity of 700. we had last seen the killers with 50,000 plus in austin in the heat and in nyc at the garden with 20,000. if 3,700 was going to small and intimate, what would 700 be like?
this is a true fan club perk. some clubs offer gear, cd’s and access to tickets….but i’ve never seeen a band do a show just for fans.
the highline ballroom is right next to the highline, an old stretch of elevated train tracks that is set to be a park and oasis of nature in the city. in the future, this will be one of the blazing hot places to live but haggling over property has slowed the process.
the usual suspects lined up for the tiny show at the highline after getting tickets through the fan club site: the victims! steph’s brother lawrence joined us in the late afternoon. he was confused why we were there so early for a 9pm show…
but he figured out early as we wound up in the second row. normally our early showing would yield a “better” result but the venue was so tiny….and even though we were not in the front, we were closer to the instruments, the band, the everything than we normally would be when we are in the front…at msg, acl and as you’ll see in atlantic city.
the show was electric. the boys had not played since last fall and had all that energy unleashed for their club. people from across the country and the world joined the mostly nykr crowd. they were alive the whole night! just about any show you can see after a band has been hiatus will have this explosion. sometimes, things come across slightly unpolished(a transition here, getting lost in the setlist there) but bands are eager to justify their existence and their souls are overflowing with emotions to be put on display with the audience being the beneficiary.
there’s no zoom here folks….they were this close. it was like we were on stage with them. if the drummer is about halfway on stage and the bass player(with the black bass) is on the far right, you can get a feel for the space.
the only downside of the night was that theresa almost went to jail when the drunk girl in front of her was flailing and almost swung her head into theresa’s face. she was getting dangerous. we tried to back up and give her some room but she kept pushing the radius of her head whipping. she gave theresa the finger when theresa said something. probably thought theresa was a meek asian girl from the table tennis squad. theresa’s more like the enforcer from the mixed martial arts street gang. luckily, the drunk girl’s (more)sober, cooler head, clearer thinking friend saved drunk girl’s life. the friend stepped in, tried to make peace and kept drunk girl’s spasms to a smaller range. so theresa did not go to jail. and the drunk girl did not go to the morgue. all this was happening under brandon flowers.
the setlists had a ton of b-sides from their sawdust album. they also did a few new songs: spaceman and neon tiger. they also did acoustic versions of sams town and smile like you mean it. my new live favorites were sweet talk, under the gun and shadowplay. here’s a sample:
friday, brandon lee took us to atlantic city to see brandon(flowers). we got there just as the security guards were figuring out what to do with the growing crowd. one of them went to the office and informed me that wristbands would be handed out soon.
we inadvertently created the crowd when we were talking to the guard and they finally dispersed us because they can’t have a cluster on the floor near the casino. they say its a fire hazard but i think its merely a profit drain.
theresa and i hung around like sharks with a taste of blood in our mouths awaiting the coveted wristbands. a few venues use this method…you get a numbered band and you come back later and line up in order. it costs money so some places forego it. but places like the boston garden which is near major mass transit entrances and at this casino where they would rather have you gambling…they don’t want people hanging around.
finally, the office delivered the wristbands, we got on line and snagged prime spots. feeling lucky about getting railing.
we had a few hours to kill so the kids played penny slots. casinos always have a hint of desperation to me so i try to avoid it and walked around instead.
later, we got some burgers and cheesesteaks at the food court because no one wanted to give the celebrity chefs in the hotel $50 for an entree.
food and gambling were not why we were here….we had our eye on the big prize.
prize obtained.
the benefit of the front row goes beyond the obvious. what is not clear immediately to those in rows 2 to the near back is how hot it will get in the middle. it can be a sauna with the humidity supplied by mr. i’ll shower after the concert and ms. jumps around a lot and mr. and mrs. i’m with fatty. it would kinda be ok if the sweat on you at the end of the show was yours and yours alone…but its not…so its(really)not ok. the front row gives you a vent…a steady stream of cooler air. and often, bands have fans blowing from some location and you get some of that breeze too.
another great attribute is that you can lean or sit against the railing. standing is much easier when you are supported by steel infrastructure. in between acts, we turn around and put our backs to the barrier to stretch and rest. if we do sit, our backs enjoy the same support.
other benefits we’ve gotten up front are safe places to hang our jackets or bags; leftover water bottles from security’s stash after the concert; setlists, picks and other props off the stage thrown into the audience.
its worth the extra effort and on occasion the loss of some sleep to get there early for a show.
the killers fans ahead of us in line were pros and had the same game plan we did(i guess we’re pros too)so we did not get the spot we had projected and wound up on the left…closer to the guitarist and away from the lead mike and the bassist. however, we noticed that the string of big light boxes did not have many gaps for the band members to cross over from the stage to the audience. serendipitously, there were a few gaps for them to step out and walk toward us…..
…right in front of the spot where we were parked. so the whole night they were in and out and up and down, right in front of us.
another great show with a few setlist changes and just tighter musicianship. the band is from las vegas so being in a casino seemed to really feel like home for them. brandon flowers is an underrated front man…he is teriffically expressive, fearless in jumping on and off of things on the stage…dave keuning, the guitar player is equally into it….the drummer, ronnie vannucciis almost always ripping it…mark stoermer, the bassist provides the steady focus holding down the band.
some postscripts: here we are at the end of the night with some of the flowers thrown from the stage…most of the flowers were given to people in the front row. refer to earlier comments about front row benefits.
