The summer concert season began this past Wednesday night when I attended the show at the Odgen Theater in downtown Denver. Playing this evening, in order, were Swirl (rock band from Los Angeles), Extreme (rock band out of Massachusetts) and Ratt (heavy metal band out of San Diego). I was there strictly for Extreme, headed by frontmen Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt, a band that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gary was also lead vocalist for Van Halen for three years until the band let him go following the 1998 VHIII tour.
Had dinner at a nearby restaurant and arrived at the theater by 7:30 for the loud opening act, Swirl, pumping up the crowd. The tequila I carried in was also both warming and loosening me up. Extreme followed with both Gary and Nuno on center stage, putting on a great show. What was nice was that this is a relatively small theater and getting up close was fairly easy. Gary was all over the stage, just like in Van Halen days, sweat pouring off him as a result of the poor air circulation in the building and his dancing around the stage. The crowd was wildly exuberant. I contributed to the loud cheering and whistling, probably ruining eardrums in the heads of people in front of me.
I pretty much finished the half liter of tequila by the time Ratt showed up on stage. Good, an opportunity to "dry out". They too put on a good show, although by that point I had seen what I wanted and I simply let the music take over, in a sense checking out.
What now follows is a trip to New York with the kids, visiting my two sisters, hanging out at the beach. More concerts follow: Echo & The Bunnymen (August 2), Green Day (August 15), The Pretenders (August 22), Blink 182 with Weezer (September 6), The Killers (September 9) and Chickenfoot (September 11). This should be a very fun second half to the summer!
Lots of crappy pictures. At first I thought it was the tequila affecting the steadiness of hand and eye. But no, its my daughters Kodak piece of junk. With all the shows coming up, I bit the bullet and shelled out a good sum of money for a nice pocket camera.
The summer concert season began this past Wednesday night when I attended the show at the Odgen Theater in downtown Denver. Playing this evening, in order, were Swirl (rock band from Los Angeles), Extreme (rock band out of Massachusetts) and Ratt (heavy metal band out of San Diego). I was there strictly for Extreme, headed by frontmen Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt, a band that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gary was also lead vocalist for Van Halen for three years until the band let him go following the 1998 VHIII tour.
Had dinner at a nearby restaurant and arrived at the theater by 7:30 for the loud opening act, Swirl, pumping up the crowd. The tequila I carried in was also both warming and loosening me up. Extreme followed with both Gary and Nuno on center stage, putting on a great show. What was nice was that this is a relatively small theater and getting up close was fairly easy. Gary was all over the stage, just like in Van Halen days, sweat pouring off him as a result of the poor air circulation in the building and his dancing around the stage. The crowd was wildly exuberant. I contributed to the loud cheering and whistling, probably ruining eardrums in the heads of people in front of me.
I pretty much finished the half liter of tequila by the time Ratt showed up on stage. Good, an opportunity to "dry out". They too put on a good show, although by that point I had seen what I wanted and I simply let the music take over, in a sense checking out.
What now follows is a trip to New York with the kids, visiting my two sisters, hanging out at the beach. More concerts follow: Echo & The Bunnymen (August 2), Green Day (August 15), The Pretenders (August 22), Blink 182 with Weezer (September 6), The Killers (September 9) and Chickenfoot (September 11). This should be a very fun second half to the summer!
Lots of crappy pictures. At first I thought it was the tequila affecting the steadiness of hand and eye. But no, its my daughters Kodak piece of junk. With all the shows coming up, I bit the bullet and shelled out a good sum of money for a nice pocket camera.
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