Glam Nation Experience
Sep. 15th, 2010 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vixaliciousTuesday, August 14: Atlanta's Symphony Hall
I have to admit, I was not all that excited about going yesterday. This week has been a busy week, and I had a lot going on yesterday and it became just one more thing on my to-do list. Added to that I had planned to take MARTA to avoid traffic and paying event parking; in other cities, taking the subway makes life easier - here, not so much. I had to make sure I knew the train schedules so as not to repeat the Great MARTA Debacle of 2007.
Also, while I am very glad I went to the concert alone rather than miss out on an experience just because no one else wanted to go, the part that gets sacrificed is the pre-show excitement. When you are going with someone else, you get to plan together, you get to talk about what you'll wear and eat and listen to and all this excitement builds. By myself, it's all worry and obstacles.
Until the curtain comes up, and then it doesn't matter, because there's music.
Allison Iraheta, the girl who came in fourth on AI8, was the opening act. I like Allison: she's spunky, she's got fiery red hair, I like the way she dresses, and she's got a great smoky voice. I just wish I could like her music. It doesn't really connect with me, and on the couple of songs I thought were catchy, I have problems with the lyrics. Case in point, Beat Me Up. I realize that isn't what she means but I can't get behind a song that says I love you even though you beat me. I'm hoping that as she matures (she's only 18), she'll come out with something I enjoy.
Her band was amusing. I am officially old. They all looked like teenagers: the guitarist was actually painfully emo-looking. The bassist and the drummer were girls, so go Allison for that! Her stage banter was good, and other than not actually liking the music, I enjoyed the show. She needs to work on her dance moves though, in that she only has one. Also, the sound system was clearly not adjusted for her, which is common for opening acts, but she sounded fuzzy which was unfortunate.
The break between acts is when I really started having fun. Prior to that, all the seats near me in my row were empty (way to emphasize me being there by myself, universe) but then two women came and sat by me so I had someone to chat with. And then the whole crowd started dancing and singing along to the music they were playing as they swapped out the equipment, and I am never one to pass up dancing and singing along.
And then it was time for the show! Adam is such a theater kid, I have to admit I cracked up a little. But I loved the choreographed dancing (boy can move, just sayin') and his vocals were amazing with the acoustics in the hall. It felt to me like he was really enjoying that, but that could just be an every show thing. The crowd got into it, as much as the venue would allow - symphony hall =/= rock concert - and the light show was awesome without being distracted. My only complaint for the show was that it was overly staged; what I enjoy about seeing musicians live is the chance to feel like you've interacted with the artist. I like the silly stories about what they did that day, or how they got lost on the way to the venue, or explanations of in-jokes with the band, etc. This was very much like watching a play, where Adam was the lead character, with his script and no deviations from that. And it was kind of a cheesy script - all you need is love. It was still a lot of fun, though, and I'd go again.
No pictures to share, because I actually purposefully didn't take my camera. I wanted to just enjoy the venue, and I'm sure people with much better cameras than mine will be posting pictures soon.
I have to admit, I was not all that excited about going yesterday. This week has been a busy week, and I had a lot going on yesterday and it became just one more thing on my to-do list. Added to that I had planned to take MARTA to avoid traffic and paying event parking; in other cities, taking the subway makes life easier - here, not so much. I had to make sure I knew the train schedules so as not to repeat the Great MARTA Debacle of 2007.
Also, while I am very glad I went to the concert alone rather than miss out on an experience just because no one else wanted to go, the part that gets sacrificed is the pre-show excitement. When you are going with someone else, you get to plan together, you get to talk about what you'll wear and eat and listen to and all this excitement builds. By myself, it's all worry and obstacles.
Until the curtain comes up, and then it doesn't matter, because there's music.
Allison Iraheta, the girl who came in fourth on AI8, was the opening act. I like Allison: she's spunky, she's got fiery red hair, I like the way she dresses, and she's got a great smoky voice. I just wish I could like her music. It doesn't really connect with me, and on the couple of songs I thought were catchy, I have problems with the lyrics. Case in point, Beat Me Up. I realize that isn't what she means but I can't get behind a song that says I love you even though you beat me. I'm hoping that as she matures (she's only 18), she'll come out with something I enjoy.
Her band was amusing. I am officially old. They all looked like teenagers: the guitarist was actually painfully emo-looking. The bassist and the drummer were girls, so go Allison for that! Her stage banter was good, and other than not actually liking the music, I enjoyed the show. She needs to work on her dance moves though, in that she only has one. Also, the sound system was clearly not adjusted for her, which is common for opening acts, but she sounded fuzzy which was unfortunate.
The break between acts is when I really started having fun. Prior to that, all the seats near me in my row were empty (way to emphasize me being there by myself, universe) but then two women came and sat by me so I had someone to chat with. And then the whole crowd started dancing and singing along to the music they were playing as they swapped out the equipment, and I am never one to pass up dancing and singing along.
And then it was time for the show! Adam is such a theater kid, I have to admit I cracked up a little. But I loved the choreographed dancing (boy can move, just sayin') and his vocals were amazing with the acoustics in the hall. It felt to me like he was really enjoying that, but that could just be an every show thing. The crowd got into it, as much as the venue would allow - symphony hall =/= rock concert - and the light show was awesome without being distracted. My only complaint for the show was that it was overly staged; what I enjoy about seeing musicians live is the chance to feel like you've interacted with the artist. I like the silly stories about what they did that day, or how they got lost on the way to the venue, or explanations of in-jokes with the band, etc. This was very much like watching a play, where Adam was the lead character, with his script and no deviations from that. And it was kind of a cheesy script - all you need is love. It was still a lot of fun, though, and I'd go again.
No pictures to share, because I actually purposefully didn't take my camera. I wanted to just enjoy the venue, and I'm sure people with much better cameras than mine will be posting pictures soon.
