Killers Concert May 4, 2013 Tucson Arizona
You know, you forget sometimes.
I forgot how much I love concerts, the smells, the sounds, the invading of your personal space. I know this otherwise does not sound appealing but when you are with this crowd and you all share this love for this band, for music. It is like magic, real life tangible magic. The age and gender gap do not apply at concerts. I love that.
So, it was a round about way that I came to going to this concert. First of all, who doesn’t like the Killers? I think they have songs for everyone. I was talking to a friend one night, by talking I mean texting, of course. He mentioned they were coming to town and I said, “Let’s GO!” I am not sure if he realized just how much of a concert nut I was.
We left Saturday to go to the concert. It was a two hour drive to Tucson, we took the scenic route which pretty much turned out to be going through Florence. Neither of us had gone that way, it was a nice drive. The conversation was good and I liked that I didn’t feel like I had to talk ALL the time. I mean, I already kind of do but there wasn’t this pressure.
I will call my friend Ricardo. I like Ricardo, he is the kind of person you would want to go on the show Amazing Race with. He is kind, calm, and has a gentle spirit about him. He is smart and witty too. Its a good combination in a person. He doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable like some men do and that is a good thing.
So we ate at a yummy Mexican food place, Guadalajara I think. They make salsa for you right there just what you like. It was kind of cool.
Then we went to the concert, it was the usual outdoor baseball complex music festival type show. There was a whole list of bands but we arrived just before the Killers to see Cake. I had seen Cake previously and remember them being awful. They were actually AWESOME and now I am wondering if I possibly mixed them up with another band. We were at the way back, behind the crowd and we wanted to get up front and center.
My specialty. Crowd weaving. It takes a certain amount of pushiness and gumption to work your way through a crowd of concert goers that have been waiting around ALL day to hear the last and BEST band. Ricardo went first, he moseyed nicely through the crowd we stopped about 2/3 of the way up and talked for a second. I think he may have been sure we were about as far as we could go. The crowd was knitted together tightly at this point, heat rising from the vast amount of bodies. It was at this point that I took the lead. I pushed and weaved my way through the crowd, Ricardo following. I began to hit the wall about a third back from the stage. The wall is where you get the hard core people who have been there and are in battle stance, blocking any one who wishes to get through. It was at this point that I said, “My sister is up at the front we have to get to her I had to use the bathroom.” I would then push my way through some would move, some I would just push aside. Now I just have to say on a technicality that wasn’t a lie. I did use the bathroom at the restaurant and aren’t we all brothers and sisters? We squeezed through a few more rows. We were about 1/4 of the way from the stage when we ran into this blond guy. I gave him my schpiel about the bathroom..sister..blah blah. He looked at me like I am not a dummy lady, but I said look, she is younger than me and I can’t leave her there alone. (you know, my poor sister) He reluctantly let me by, but then saw Ricardo and said, “Uh-uh no way is the tall guy going,” and closed the gap between me, Ricardo and the perfect spot. Two rows of people had already filled in the space between me and Ricardo so I said, “Sorry, he’s my husband, he’s coming.” I grabbed Ricardo’s arm and pulled him up. I have to laugh because this was pretty clever on the spot thinking if you ask me and because Ricardo is quite tall. I would say certainly the tallest in the radius of people around us.
We settled in, the excitement was building the crew began to prep the set and then The Killers arrived. It was AWESOME. The crowd danced and swayed, there was confetti. Can you beat any activity that has confetti? I think not. There was crowd surfing, I really wanted to crowd surf. I contemplated it actually, like did a real PRO/CON list thing in my head. I decided that I better not. I was #1 too old, #2 have young children that need a fully functioning mother (my cousin was dropped and broke her arm crowd surfing once) #3 a role model, #4 Didn’t want weird people touching me. It was at this moment that a shirtless, long haired, slick with sweat and body odor man walked right by me. I scooted back quick, because I didn’t want him to touch me and noticed how the rest of the row did the same.
I think that is the professional way of maneuvering through a crowd. You want people to move take of your shirt, be stinky and sweaty. Note taken.
The concert was amazing, Brandon Flowers..amazing. I think Dustland Fairytale was my favorite song he preformed. I am not sure it was all so good. It was a great show, so much fun.
It helped me remember, what I had forgotten about the magic of a rock show.
