Night on the River
It’s been AGES since Daddy and I have gone to a concert, so it was a special treat for us to both have the night to ourselves last Thursday to go downtown and enjoy some awesome music by the Des Moines River. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m infatuated with Greg Laswell, so I jumped at the chance to purchase tickets to see him open for (his wife!) Ingrid Michaelson. Greg opened with an acoustic set while Ingrid followed with her full band. We were in an amphitheater setting, so it was nice to just sit on a blanket in the grass…which worked fine during Greg’s performance but led to us only having excellent (?!) views of the derrriers of some young, obnoxious concert goers in front of us. The annoying part is that they just ignored the stage and talked the whole time!
Waiting for the concert to start…
Nice view? Nope, I don’t think so.
Were we so obnoxious and self-absorbed when in our younger twenties? Maybe so, but I would like to think not! After Greg finished his set, he actually loitered by the side of the stage for a few minutes…Daddy encouraged me to go up and get a picture with him, but I chickened out and just admired him from a distance. He was much tinier in person that I imagined and appeared to be very gracious with the other folks who went up to see him.
Greg Laswell singing….love the hat!
Two really, really great moments from his set was the inclusion of “Late Arriving” from his latest album and, one of my favorites, “Sweet Dream”, which I discussed in this post of the same name. One of the things I love about concerts, especially acoustic sets, is that the artist typically will give some nuggets of background that led to the songs that were written For “Late Arriving”, he noted that it was about his father and a rough patch he was going through at the time. How interesting when we make assumptions about songs, or make them about our own situations….all this time I presumed the song was about his wife or a prior lover. I did capture “Sweet Dream”, attached below…
For Ingrid’s set, it was with a band so was more enthusiastic and crowd energizing, plus the night was beginning to fall so the outline of the lights and downtown skyline were an incredible back drop. We really enjoyed our time, but decided to leave a little early to beat the crowds leaving and to get back to the boys. Absolutely loved the night, and I hope we get to do it again soon!
Ingrid on stage…if you look closely!
Our view when we left early…
What’s your favorite recent concert experience? Any good bands traveling for a summer tour in your area?
A.J.
Daniel
