Chicago (not the city) Update

Chicago (not the city) Update was Originally Posted on January 13, 2013 by lavarock

I went to the Waikoloa Bowl (not a bowling alley) and saw Chicago (not the city) in concert. I think this was their first time in Hawaii, on Hawaii (the county not the state).

Unlike some concerts, the venue here was a large, very soft grassy area with a semicircle of concrete in front of the stage for chair. Those chairs were dubbed by me “not the cheap seats”.

We commoners and cheapskates sat on blankets on teh grass. I was 3 or 4 rows from the chairs and pretty close to the stage. It also appears I was in direct line of the bass speaker and felt the thumps quite easily.

The concert was a couple hours long but very enjoyable. My last real concert was the beach Boys on the National Mall back about 1983.

There was no in/out to the venue, lots of stuff you could not bring in, but all in all a very friendly crowd with no problems at all. I do know someone snuck food in because I smelled a tangerine (and *I* know that smell quite well).

There was food and beer and I think everything ended up costing $8 each. I did not partake.

The only drawback was that I was one of the first to enter and picked a place on the grass where I would have a great view, yet be able to exit before the majority of the crowd. The guy behind me was in radio and hollered and made comments when his coworker was on stage making announcements. There was lots of radio station talk behind me and I bit my tongue and made no comments about how I also had been master of ceremonies at a concert many years ago (Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band [since you asked]).

After the concert started, 4 girls decided to move in and encroached on my space I had set up. We were allowed to bring a blanket and I laid mine out to leave a small walkway which connected to the rest of the walkway people had left. The girls decided to fill that walkway. I bit my tongue figuring that they would get tired of the small cramped place and move. They did not. The one girl who sat in front of me decided to sway and do some kind of “praise the lord” hand thing which I guess is common with either young people now-a-days or to people on drugs. She may have been both.

As I have gotten older I am less irritated by people as I was when I was younger. I have let many things just slide, although a few events recently have not gotten the nice treatment.

So during the “hana hou” (when the band does their return finale, I rolled up the blanket and made a hasty exit to the truck. I was able to meet up with a friend and recover my Obi110 I had lent her and got home quickly. The dogs eagerly welcomed me and gave me that look all Labrador owners know too well. It is loosely translated as: “Welcome back. You know you didn’t feed us and we were afraid you had forgotten. Can I have an extra portion? Please?”

I took a few photos and short videos but have not yet reviewed them. They may not be of “broadcast quality” as we say, so I may not post them.

It was a great concert but tomorrow is a workday.