Trip to KC for an outdoor concert (KC Crossroads) along my route down south. Haven’t seen Blue in eons, not since they released Foiled for the third time… Wasn’t particularly enamored with Approaching Normal, which came out while I was in England doing my MA. But now here’s Any Man in America, and whoo! Finally! Back to their roots. Justin does the angry-man stuff best. Ryan’s been flung around too many instruments, rather than spending most of the concert playing rock violin with his spectacular horns atop his head.
The venue was nice, though the standing room only near the stage made it tough for short folks once the booze started to flow. Being outdoors, it cooled off fast, but there were enclosed bonfire pits up top to help folks warm back up.
The concert kicked off with solo artist Ashleigh Stone. She tried hard… a solo pianist at a rock venue. Wasn’t my thing. The guys probably found her sexy, though.
The second opener was I Am Dynamite, which, for being a two-man band, I was enamored. High energy, great vocals, catchy tunes. Chris #1 caught my attention as he was coming on stage, dressed as a 1950s ice cream man. Swoon! And Chris #2 had the fun tie-bandana thing going on. Whereas Ms. Stone was too minimalist for me, the Chrises just didn’t need anything else to detract. Tight playing, great harmony, one of the best bands I’ve seen.
And then Blue came out, and I was so so so so so so hopeful that, like back in the old days at the Music Box in Omaha, they’d play a wide range including their old tunes, maybe let Ryan play PNR. But alas. I see… now that they’ve hit it big, no one knows anything pre-Foiled. The tunes were primarily from Approaching Normal and Any Man in America. I was glad to hear Any Man in America live finally. Yay! But I ended up being a crowd watcher during most of the Approaching Normal songs. The teeny-boppers practically swooned, they got sooo excited. And the two songs I thought were decent on the album… weren’t so hot live. Oh well. And, poor me, the oldest tune they did was their first video: Calling You. And I’m not sure most of the youngers knew it. Too bad. They don’t know what they’re missing. I’d have swooned if we’d have had an Italian Radio moment, and gone to Heaven for Balance Beam. Or had a single down-on-the-edge-of-the-stage to play Blue Sunshine and have a private quiet moment with several hundred people…
Maybe next time… ??? Please????
night,
dawn
Mine Own Oxymoron 