A gentle end of summer breeze blew in from the back of the Dome, and it spurred a thought. Alison Kraus was making her way through her vast catalog of songs on a stage a hundred feet away, and the summer night was creeping towards us. It reminded me of concerts at Jiffy Lube Live, The Great Frederick Fair, and at countless other venues, and I wondered who I had seen the most concerts with in my life.
The answer was immediate, obvious, and sitting next to me. Despite the fact that both my wife and I say we don’t like live music (whenever Spotify attempts to play a live version of a song I get upset and demand the studio version), there is something about it that keeps drawing us in. Maybe it is the atmosphere or the randomness or the gentle, relaxing nights spent together.
I like the stories. I enjoy the moments between songs when the artist interacts with the audience. It is a breaking down of walls. Telling us tales or the songs and their lives. How the two intertwine and interact. It is a glimpse behind the curtain into lives that we otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
My least favorite part of any concert is the encore. I don’t see the point. Every artist does it now. It isn’t special and it has become too much of a gimmick. A couple years ago we saw The Del McCoury band at a local brewery and at the end of the night he called out the gimmick and said something along the lines, “Now is the time in the show where we pretend to walk backstage but hang off slightly offstage before coming back out to play our biggest hit, but I’m 80 years old and my knees hurt so I’m going to stay right here.”
Those are the moments I enjoy. It is about the stories and the interactions. Now we have been to concerts where the artist gets on stage and it is like watching a human jukebox. They are stiff boring, don’t interact with the audience, and just play the hits and leave (Bon Jovi). Alison Kraus wasn’t that and this was the third or fourth time I have seen her in person. All previous times have been as an opening act, but as the main event she shined.
She was effervescent, personable, and seemed to enjoy her time on stage telling stories about herself and her bandmates. She’s had a long and storied career and she shared that through both songs and stories. And the new Dome venue wasn’t bad either. It felt a little bit like seeing a concert in an airplane hanger, but one with good lighting and acoustics and a fancy bar.
It was a fun night with a wonderful person, and I look forward to future summer evening concerts at a fun little venue ten minutes from our home.
David Huzzard Writes 