LIX Junius
RUNNING OUT of June or Junius according to plan and if you have not fallen behind, let your dues or membership lapse, you know it has been a couple of days since the Last Confession. In THIS business we say water has passed under the bridge.
IT HAS BEEN NEARLY A WEEK?
I know right?
But yes.
The 105 K GDR on Saturday was FINALLY a breeze. I mean I got it done in a respectable time taking into account the poor drivers later in the ride, conditions and fatigue. There were only two scheduled stops LESS THAN five (5) minutes total however there was one (1) safety stop late in the ride that was 2-3 MINUTES which standing at the corner waiting for traffic SEEMED like a FOREVER moment.
The two planned stops were to drop off and hide the hydramax camelback water backpack in a shady tree at the end of the first hour and to pick it up for to refill the water bottle, a brief rest out of the saddle (OOS) between 80-90 km markers.
Immediately afterwards, it was final packs and preps to get out of town which delayed liftoff by one (1) hour or 60 minutes.
Last night attended a stellar event.
Recall back in April your correspondent volunteered at the WWAF and actually won a door prize which was tickets to a concert which was you guess it … LAST NIGHT.
Cage the elephant and Beck played in Dallas the night before and last night, Sunday, the tour made the next stop in the Woodlands (Houston).
With FB and S2 who purchased an extra ticket to get in to make three (3), we ‘ubered’ to the venue and were dropped off like, like … well rock stars OR at least celebrities.
When S2 bought his ticket, he got some very valuable intel which made the rest of the event planning a snap.
WHAT? EXPLAIN THAT POR FAVOR.
Certainly.
The ticket had clearly two (2) acts as mentioned in the up paragraphs however the intel gathered by S2 revealed four (4) bands, acts or groups whatever you wish to refer to them as AND the time(s) each was coming on or better said scheduled to start.
Now suddenly we had ‘free time’ on our hands so rather than go in, sit and suffer thru two (2) unknowns and be held hostage for exorbitant refreshments we hiked to a nearby watering hole which turned out to be an English (style) public house (pub). The place was quite well done and as close to authentic as one or I could imagine.
The bar keeper was Rick, very engaging and extremely knowledgeable. The Redsox were playing the Yankees on the telly and scored on a 2-run home run to make the score 4-2 so I was good for a while. We had time for a second round so we did and settled very nicely into a ‘comfort’ zone.
YOU ARE DIGRESSING IN A MAJOR LEAGUE FASHION SO GET ON WITH THE CONCERT TEASER !!
Very well.
We arrived back at the venue and guess what?
WHAT ?
NO line(s).
We processed (whisked) right in me with a bottle of water in back pocket which was a mild surprise in this day and age of super security.
AND THE CONCERT … ?
Running out of time so OK.
It was a blast right up there with the ‘Best of Times.’
Cage the elephant was highly entertaining as the front dude paraded around stage with a ‘schizophrenic swagger’ outlined well in the Houston Press recounted well this morning. I’ll see if I can score a link for full coverage.
Beck’s run was short. WAY TOO short.
There were two large screens one on each side of the stage and they were broadcasting images in black & white with intermittent psychedelic effect(s) to keep things interesting.
Behind the stage a HUGE color display perhaps a series of screens was multi-everything and no limits, just right. Colors, shapes all blending, merging and running together in the most artistic ways AND constantly changing.
The laser lights were sharp and crisp and were randomly changing sequencing, arcs and lightning flashes.
There was nothing, NOTHING visually distracting or boring and we haven’t touched on the music.
Let's leave it at the visual effects were stunning, state of the art and magnifique.
The music was fab. But again over the span of Beck’s career only a small representative sample was possible in the headline time slot available which was a shame.
One aspect I found annoying and a 'sign-of-the-times' ... all the sheeps, I MEAN PEEPS either recording songs, the event, taking photos selfies etc with the latest technology. That aspect was IMHO 'over-done'.
From this perspective, the show was so Grande that this writer MAY HAVE seen his last concert.
THAT GOOD?
Yep. It’s like where else could it go?
The sound level in the VIP area under the tent was not ear-ringing and just about tight. The folks running the event clearly had learned from previous rodeos and WHEN, IF (etc) my mind changes, stars align, etc I WOULD attend such OR a similar type event at THIS VENUE for they know what they are doing and how to do it.
The security staff aka ushers were even cool and they were checking tickets at every reentry.
I made special note of the outfit for ‘next time’ green collared shirt with khaki shorts.
The gestopo in the image today I played with explaining I was the governor of Utah and was slightly incensed that she did not recognize me.
I need more coffee and maybe a dip in the pool here. Maybe after breakfast.
I will be ONE of THOSE days.
