I feel I got out of this what I wanted, I did want a little more, but who am I to be so selfish
Parking:
- not an issue as ended up biking to my friend's place off bladensburg and just walked 1.5 miles
Preshow
-well neglected to realize that Atlas was closed at 8PM, but the time we were there it was pretty much time to get there
The venue
-Damn was it freaking packed, went to about 5 different spots on the stage left by the bar and it was just nuts. So many tall people too, must be that mid-west corn-fed thing. But that was annoying.
Ended up getting all the way down to the end of the bar and that wasn't easy to get somewhat of a good vantage point. But in general, when I pay close to $70 for a ticket, I would really like to see the band. Not sure why the stage isn't up about 4 feet higher, but the sight-lines in that venue really suck. I thought the sound was awesome. Usually don't comment about the ambient temp, but I do agree with another poster, the AC was keeping it perfect temp
But reading about that boston show, I really would have seen this show at the club.
Would have paid $100 for that
The crowd
-while I agree it was the wolf trap crowd. The band's core audience is in the 40's. As you can imagine there were a lot of balding pears. But other than the people who were pretty adamant that I was not going to pass them (and their were quite a few of them) the people I ended up standing by all tened to be super nice and really into the show. I actually had a few bonding moments and I love that about shows that can never be replicated no matter how good your audio system is...live music is just different...not that most of you on this board don't already know that. In general just about every group I was situated by loved just about every song. The Sing-a-long thing...well sometimes that does get tired, but man to me these were songs I'd been dying to hear for 30 years and I lost all inhibition and let my freak flag fly. I also thing the copious amount of alcohol and other things legal in DC also influenced that. Will say I managed to sustain peak buzz and not get too sloppy.
The show
- f'U f'n haters on this board, that was freaking awesome. Did my face melt and will I tell the grandkids about...no. Probably not a top five show of all time. But man, they sounded great and looked great. Paul and Tommy really looked to genuinely enjoy every bit of it. Besides my issues with the sight-lines, I though the sound was tight and that's been my experience at EchoStage shows...they do get the sound right. Didn't catch J Roddy, so can't comment on that. Hearing: I Will Dare, Skyway, Valentine, Waitress, You Be Me, Favorite Thing, Kiss Me, Seen The Video and Bastards (Those two songs really made my night)
And That freaking encore:
Skyway, Left of the Dial, Alex Chilton, Never Mind, I.O.U.
Ok, I'm really lamenting not hearing at least one of two of these: Here comes a regular, Unsatistified, Answering Machine, Shooting Dirty Pool, Androgynous, I'll Buy and Dose of Thunder. I was surprised how many songs they played I didn't know. I know fans of the hoot/Stink/Sorry ma were extremely happy. Takin a ride in to Favorite thing was just a great way to start the night.
My Boy Lollipop was kinda trite and I knew it was coming and resented it even more. And I'm not really that impressed with Whole Foods Blues either.
Long story, only slightly shorter..good freak'n show. They were awesome and glad I caught this show.