Keepin It Classy

There's a first for everything. This past Friday night brought about a first of two different natures.

Let me start with the positive. Bryan Adam's rocks my face off. Hands down, he is one talented man. The years of touring he's gathered under his belt have not impacted his vocal chords one bit. He sounded just as amazing in person as he does on his CDs, which is the mark of true talent. I've been to a few concerts before where you left totally disappointed in an artist's voice when it's untouched and real. And although I won't name any names, a-hem...Randy Travis, I just left feeling mislead. Not the case with my friend, BA. He is beyond talented, funny, and genuine in a "I'm going to say exactly what I think and you can do with it what you will" sort of way. I left the theater feeling like we all got a glimpse into his true personality outside of what he promised in a concert performance.

Now onto the not so positive side of "first" time experiences. Let me start off by saying that the concert theater was THE hottest venue. And not like hot as in cool or trendy, but straight up like 100 degrees inside. Praise the Lord I had dressed in layers or this preggo would've died a hot, sweaty death while being serenaded by 1990's ballads. Not the worst way to go, but still... Turn down the dang heat, would ya?

Okay, I digress. A bit of foreshadowing for you...before the concert we had the perfect seats to people watch as the crowds rolled in. With one group of 30-40 year old dudes entering the room, I pointed out to the Hubs, my brother and my mom that "those guys are carrying 4 beers each". I'm not sure if they've never heard of making a second trip to the bar or if they were afraid the beer would sell out, but they all proudly walked in with their 4 beverages each. Big mistake. Big. Huge.

Once the concert began, it was clear this crowd was here to party with BA. I've never heard a more lively crowd before. People were constantly screaming out song requests and professing their love for BA the entire time. Because the venue is a bit more intimate in nature than a coliseum, voices travel pretty easily. Halfway through the second song, it was apparent that a few folks were having a serious conversation and we were all just along for their ride. To give you some perspective, we were seated in the balcony seats, they were seated in the floor section, and we could STILL hear them over the song.

Just like that, at the end of his song, BA stopped what he was doing and asked who had decided to talk through the song. About 20 people frantically pointed the group of dudes who had the 4 beers each. Busted. I saw that one coming a mile away. BA then kindly asked them to "shut the F up". Boom. I guess you can do that when you the one on stage with the microphone and big bouncers between you and rowdy mob of loud talkers. Fast forward two more songs and the same homeboys clearly were not going to stop talking. BA stopped his show for the second time. He asked the lighting guys to shine the spotlights on those fools so he could see who they were, told them the rest of us "didn't pay good money to listen to them talk" along with some other choice words. Amen! He then had them kicked out. Needless to say, the theater erupted in applause and support. We were later told by an usher that 20 people had been kicked out by the police for disturbing the peace, etc...

People, cannot we not keep it classy? Why on earth should an artist be forced to stop his own show and ask you to please stop talking? Why? Why is that not a respect that is ingrained in you as 35+ year old? A 4 year old, maybe, but a grown man? It's just sad and there were a few thousand people who were embarrassed for you and for our city. I doubt he'll come back. I wouldn't! You paid good money to insult him and to let the rest of us know that you're way more important than us. Good work. I'm hoping you had some time in handcuffs to process the importance of your conversation that just couldn't wait. For your sake, I'm glad you opted to not launch a conversation during Summer of 69. I'm certain you would've had your tail whopped by a few hundred people surrounding you. That's one BA song that you just don't mess with or else...

And in the future, I highly recommend purchasing one beer at time, followed by a nice, refreshing bottle of water. We saw where 4 beers got you and it wasn't pretty. When Bryan Adams asks you to "shut up", you do it. It's that simple. Thanks for keepin it classy.