FLOAT ON

Hell: Opening for the headliner.

Doug Martsch was ‘dancing in the flames’ when he opened for Modest Mouse last Sunday in Charlotte, he the lead guitarist of Built to Spill – perhaps Boise’s best rock band.

His band or Flaming Lips opening for Mouse on their current tour, but this night just he and his acoustic guitar playing 7 songs.

Or he could have been singing nothing, merely lip-synching seven songs, nearly impossible to hear over crowd conversation, without a band not loud enough to drown the noise out.

Which I understand – people act like they’re in their living rooms, free to chat – the Netflixation of the world.

But can’t condone. It’s why we quit attending shows at Chastain in ATL, the treatment of opening acts reprehensible, the crowd chatting, eating elaborate meals – many with candelabra – at the outdoor venue.  

Some great opening acts I’ve seen trashed at “The Rudest Venue in America”: John Hiatt, Warren Zevon and Wilco the most prominent – but there were a couple more whose names I couldn’t catch over the crowd buzz.

Young people! (Shakes fist angrily, until realizing the crowd was our age, changing the shake to confusedly).

Poor Doug finished, politely clapped off the stage in about 35 minutes. I researched what an opening act earns, but AI’s answer of $100 seemed woefully low – though I could hear it speaking to another AI, so maybe Netflixation catching on.

But my reactions from a time warp: This the first concert I’d seen since pre-Covid.

Not sure how that happened, but the spell broken by my Charlotte daughter who noticed the Mouse date, knew they were the remaining item on my bucket list, and offered to get tickets as my Father’s Day gift.

I said Hell Yes! And we planned the trip.

But as the date approached I remembered I’d gotten ‘old’ post-Covid, justifying the ‘medically fragile’ tag I’d been labeled with during the pandemic.

I’ve had recent issues with my hip, which the ortho told me wasn’t structural, might be bursitis – and I’ve scheduled the exorcism she recommended as treatment. My Captor adding as possible causes some things that give me pleasure – her solution to anything that ails me. Not sure what she has against IPAs…

A potential issue when we learned the venue was standing room only – but with seats in the back.

So, planned for an early entrance to snag seats. Which turned out to be easier than feared, and the sight line good. Which reassured My Captor as well, humoring me by attending – unable to overcome the ‘Father’s Day card’.

Another concert development setlist.com, with every performer’s setlist from every show – an upgrade from the old days of scribbling Elvis setlists which were unreadable the next day.

Which led to another ‘old person worry (OPW)’: Would they play what I wanted to hear? Every concert goer playing ‘Song Roulette’ hoping for their favorites. But I knew they’d be loud, so I could at least hear what they played -covering another real ‘OPW’.

No need to worry.

They opened with ‘Dark Center of the Universe’, getting very loud at the minute mark, and very Mouse-ish.

They played for about 2 hours/23 songs, which worked.

Isaac Brock an unassuming rock star, which also worked.

And I might have been the oldest person in attendance, after getting the other old guy removed by lighting his ponytail on fire.

The concert was bitchin’, as the youngsters say.

One of the best Father’s Day gifts and weekends ever.

But what’s better than grandkids and loud rock music?

For 297 more posts like this –each with a wish for another hip– go to beersatthenifty.com. Your phone will display every post, and you can waste an hour or two.

ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING ‘AGING HIPSTER MUSIC’:

Good old Doug Martsch (aka Uncle Doug) the lead singer of Built to Spill, a fine Boise band (but all that was in the post – sorry for the repeating), and 2 BTS songs are added to the BATN playlist.