We (all four kids and I) picked Christian up at work at 4:30 and then it was I-5 southbound to Auburn. We did well south Seattle past Federal Way, but Auburn is notorious for horrific rush hours, and last night it lived up to its reputation. Too many cars, not enough roads. We snaked our way through town and found an OK (marginally) place to have dinner, Oddfellas. Afterward, we took off and encountered even worse traffic.
We arrived partway through Gavin DeGraw's set, which didn't break any of our hearts, fortunately. We did get to hear his uptempo hits, "I Don't Wanna Be" and "Best I Ever Had."
Up next was The Script. I'd never heard much of their music until yesterday, when the kids and I had a cram session, in prep for the concert. Good, solid pop music, and having watched a couple of videos of them live in concert, I thought we'd be in for a treat. We were. A bunch of hard-working Irishmen on their last night on this tour, they put on a show. The band was tight, professional, personable and fun-loving. Of course, they had me even before "Hello," because they opened their set by playing Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" playing on the video screens. :) Then they launched into a rollicking 10-song set which concluded with their biggest hit, "Hall of Fame," definitely a stadium anthem type song. Great fun, and glad we got to see them. We're fans now. :)
Annabelle doodled on her Magnadoodle during the show. I loved this DJ she drew.
She told me she wanted to do a version of it on her computer the next day, and that she did. ...
So cute!!!
Train came on a little after 9:30 p.m. and played a non-stop 90-minute set.
During the very pretty "Marry Me," Monahan came out into the crowd. Far out - like right to the front row of the 200 section, where we were. In between me and the woman in the checkered shirt was Annabelle. She reached out far enough to get a handshake from him, as did CJ, who was just to my left. They were both pretty tickled. "I'm never washing this hand again!" CJ declared.
Overall, the show was wonderful - even magical, in parts. It was so good, in fact, that for most of it I was able to forget what a sh*thole the White River Amphitheatre is. Where to begin? ...
When you ask someone who has been there for advice regarding attending a concert at White River, their response is fast and emphatic: "Don't go!"
One Yelp reviewer summed it up like this: "I might go back. If the reunited Beatles played with the reunited Led Zeppelin." Having lived it for myself now, I'd have to agree.
On the way to the show, horrific bottlenecks of traffic getting there that made 3 miles feel like 70. As previously stated, we missed most of the first band. It also stunk that the venue's sound system was thin and weak for the upper registers (a shame, since that's where Train's Pat Monahan really shines). And how 'bout those video screens with the resolution of an early 1990s home projection TV? And while I can't blame the venue for it, the passel of drunk, non-stop babbling women in the row behind us didn't help the ambiance. Neither did the lovely smell of cow pasture wafting in during Train's set. Afterward, there was the 45 minutes to move 2 car lengths in the parking lot, despite paying $28 for a "VIP" parking upgrade to avoid just that, because some clueless temp workers are issued reflective vests but are given zero training about how to assist rather than impede traffic flow.
All that said, I'm glad we went. But we're never going back.
The kids were slightly less critical. ...
The Concert Last Night: A Review by CJ Kisky:
The concert last night was a pretty good one. I thought it was pretty cool, (three artists performed: Gavin McGraw, The Script, and Train) especially because they were all artists that I liked (excluding Gavin).
At the concert, I noticed that it was slightly larger than Safeco Field (editor's note - this is wrong, it has a capacity of 20,000), which, I guess, may be a good choice if you want to host a concert. Anyway, The music the bands played was great, and I think it's unfortunate that it was The Script's last night on tour. :"-(
Also, what I want to say is I pulled off a lot of dance moves there, and I noticed that a lot of people looking at me. I bet that I am already viral on Facebook, I just can't find myself on there because there could be a whole bunch of names for me (like "random dancing spazzy kid," and "Mr. Hornet in his pants.").
Anyway, I want to say that the concert, overall, was great.
Annabelle's take ...
The concert was very good last night, and it featured Gavin DeGraw, The Script, and Train. We heard a little of Gavin, but we were a bit late because of traffic, so we only heard 1 or 2 Gavin DeGraw songs. The Script was wonderful, and by the time Train came on, I was already 3/4ths deaf.
Train was absolutely FABULOUS, and they played some songs you may be familiar with, such as: Save Me San Francisco, Hey Soul Sister, and many more. They also played Ceiling Can't Hold us, Macklemore's newest golden record! Even though it went on after midnight (I was staying awake on Diet Coke), I think it was very worthwhile.
Overall, I would give the concert 10/10!
As CJ referenced in his review, he was a dancing machine for the second night/concert in a row. People in the stands around us were giving him high fives, and taking video of him on their cell phones. He had the security guards cracking up, and Rick and Kennedy pretending they weren't his brother (ha ha, just kidding).
We've seen lots of live music this summer, but we're on a hiatus for about a month - until Wembley Stadium and Roger Waters performing The Wall! Can't wait!
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