Did I mention the fantastic concert I went to recently?
Sunday, October 5, 2008 | Filed: a slight case of logorrhea, always with the lists, music, rant, salt lake city, scent
No I don’t think I did mention it. In fact there were two amazing concerts I went to recently (this one, and this one). I was going through some very blurry photos from one of them (thanks a lot, little digicam) when I realized there were some things I wanted to share.
1. Broken Social Scene was a lot of fun (even when my two buds bailed on me AHEM you know who you are*), but Sigur Rós… WOW.
I even went so far as to exclaim that it was “an experience” (ew, so cliché, I know) to Justin** on the way out the venue. But it was an experience! IT WAS! If you have the opportunity to see them live, GO. RUN AND GET TICKETS. OR I WILL KEEP USING ALL CAPS, AND THEN WHAT WILL YOU DO? HUH PUNK? WHAT THEN? THAT’S RIGHT, THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT.
Anyway…
2. The hipsters, as a group, do not bother me so much anymore.
I know, what has happened to me!? But at Broken Social Scene I found the hipsters were no more irritating than any other idiot who decided to step on my feet, or push me out of the way, or stand RIGHT in front of me. And at Sigur Rós, they were all quite reserved - no elbows thrown around wildly, and only minimal pushing/shoving like you’d find at any concert. In fact the concert-goers at Sigur Rós were downright civilized (except one girl who just became more hysterical with every passing second, but I daresay she was the exception).
So I must conclude that the problem is not with the hipsters, but rather with humanity in general. Thus I have a few requests of humanity: please stop violently convulsing at concerts (some might call it dancing, but it’s not dancing), and don’t light up your cigarette within inches of my eyeballs or spill your pabst on me. Also please shower daily, and perhaps consider going a size up on those skinny jeans because they look like they are cutting off circulation to the legs.
They were all very tall though, hipsters or not. I got pretty dizzy at one point from their combined swaying of the tall people + dealing with my head cold (the one that is still lingering as I type this, a week later) + the mixing odors of the smoke machine and the Great Salt Lake, which brings me to…
3. No matter how life-changing a performance is, don’t play at Saltair. Lordy.
It simply STINKS out there. It’s a lovely landscape of course, but SHTINKAY. Something having to do with the brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake apparently? Broken Social Scene was great because it was easily accessible, and there was no lake stink. Sigur Rós however… I really could have done without the rotten egg smell. Oh, and they’ve got a fence around a little grassy area near the building, so you feel like a kindergartner or a like a pig in a cage. And if you happen to duck under the 10-foot bit of yellow tape at the far end so you can go check out the lake and a bit more of that wonderfully desolate landscape because you’d really like to go photograph it (but oh, that’s right, they made you leave your camera outside, along with your GUM. You read that correctly - they don’t allow GUM at Saltair. I snuck some in anyway. FIGHT THE POWER, PEOPLE!), the staff come out shaking their fists (no not really shaking their fists) and wrangle you back in with threats of no reentry. Hmph.
Then again, Sigur Rós had confetti twice over. I don’t care how old or cynical you are - confetti makes everything better.
*Ok, one canceled a week or so beforehand, and then the other canceled a few hours beforehand, but it’s all good now. I just have to give them a hard time about it, ha. And the concert was amazing nonetheless.
**To whom I owe a HUGE thanks for inviting me along in the first place and showing me that no, Sigur Rós was not just identifiable as one of the bands that Coldplay stole their sound from. Sadly that’s how I had sort of thought of them before. I had a couple of their singles before, and I liked them, but that live show…. wow. I feel a Jody Foster/Contact (ahem, cheesy) moment coming on - NO WORDS. SO BEAUTIFUL. SHOULD HAVE SENT… A POET. Ha. But seriously now… Sigur Rós was spectacular.
Man, that movie was so bad. How did that reference wedge its way into this footnote anyway?