Third Time Was a Charm

“And you ask me what I want this year…”

The first set of the Goo Goo Dolls show had wrapped up just minutes before.  John Rzeznik was intriguingly initiating the middle portion of the night with an acoustic rendition of “Better Days” – he was on vocals and was accompanied by, well, himself.  Digitally. On a video screen.  I can’t really begin to describe the way that three song set played out, but you can find footage online.  It’s worth the effort to track down because it was a very unique and cool thing to witness.  As had been the whole evening to that point.

Along with my wife it was Goo Goo Dolls concert number three in as many years.  Equaling the number as well of first-time venues for us in which we had been able to see them.  We had a feeling this was going to be the best show yet as it was the 20^th anniversary tour of their Dizzy Up the Girl album so there would be a solid catalog of tunes we had yet to hear live.  We knew it would be a great night.

The concert was on November 3 which lucky for us fell on a Saturday.  Our plan was to leave early in the afternoon and make the half hour trip down to Seattle, grab dinner, wander around downtown, and then make our way to the Paramount.  We were running an hour or two behind our intended schedule as the day went along and were frantically trying to hurry out the door.  As I made one last trip to the bedroom to grab my jacket, I was halfway past the bathroom door when it flung open to the sight of my wife’s shocked, speechless expression and a pregnancy test shoved in my face.

We didn’t know how to react. It was something we both wanted, but in that moment, I don’t think any words were uttered for a solid minute (but who the hell really knows what our concept of time was in that instance) as we just held each other.  The change of a lifetime we had both been waiting for had just hit us like a ton of bricks with countless thoughts and emotions rattling their way through each of our bodies.  We kept asking and reassuring ourselves that it was real.  That it was finally happening.  Oh, yeah, and then remembered we had a concert to go to!

We blurrily set out on our original plans and enjoyed the few hours we had left before the show. Though this was the third year in a row seeing the band we love, each concert before had been an experience unto itself, and obviously this whole day was shaping up to be no different. The venue most certainly played its role and was a great setting for the whole thing. I personally had never been inside the Paramount before and was blown away by its intricate extravagance.  Its 1927 construction oozes with history and significance from all of those who have played there through the decades.

John, Robby Takac, and the rest of the guys proved as they always do that they can hold their own on any stage.  Their energy, their commitment to the music, but most importantly their devotion to their fans are all always on full display from the first chord strummed, to the last cymbal crashed.  John shows every night why he is one of the premiere front men in rock.

Between the intros and outros, he lets his guitar and his singing scream his enthusiasm.  Between the songs, he lets his heart and his soul do his talking.  The personable nature with which he addresses everyone in the room makes you feel as though bumping into him on the street would be no different than running into an old high school classmate.  To dig as deep into his family’s past as he did that night, to share the eye-watering sentimental story that he did about his mom when introing “Acoustic #3”, to bare his soul on paper and vinyl as he does to make a living – those can only been done to the degree that John does them by someone who truly loves those on the listening end.  What’s even better for us fans is he’s not alone up there.  Robby’s love for what he does, his love for the fans, and his love for sharing his most personal experiences via lyric all grab you by the eardrum and pull you in when he’s up on that stage.

Thankfully, on this particular November night the crowd was reciprocal of it all.  Belting out verse after verse all show long, singing back to the band with John’s mic was held out over them, and extremely accepting of the many stories John and Robby took the time to share throughout the show. Whether you were in the front row, up in the back row of the balcony, or choosing to simply hang out along the back wall down on the floor as we were – the guys never failed to make you feel like you had the best seat in the house.  It’s why we’ve seen them three years in a row and each experience was as magical as its predecessors.

It’s why we’re quite bummed that it doesn’t look too promising for us to see them a fourth year when they return to the area this coming June.  Not because it’s too far away.  Not because we’re burned out on seeing the boys from Buffalo.  No, it’s because we’ll be putting the final preparations in place for welcoming a new Goo fan.

At least, we hope they’ll grow up to have the same appreciation and love for the band that we do. If for no other reason than the fact that they and the Goo Goo Dolls came together to create our night of a lifetime.

The night our world began again.

 

 

The Second Goo Around

There’s nothing like the first time.  You never forget it as most firsts are preceded by years of anticipation, hard work, dreaming, or any number of combinations of the three.  Yet, there are cases in which the second time can be even better.

I can honestly say that my second time seeing the Goo Goo Dolls was definitely better than the first.  Yes, last summer ended years of waiting to finally see them, and it gave my wife and I a great, overnight road trip down to Oregon to make the experience even greater.  But, that night couldn’t even begin to compare to this year’s concert.

I had a feeling that was going to be the case heading into it as the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery is somewhat of a home-away-from-home for the guys in the band.  It is a mainstay on virtually all of their tours, and they even spent time in its locale of Woodinville a couple of years ago when working on their Boxes album.  I figured their connection with the area would provide for a special energy coming from not just the band but the crowd as well.  It did.

At last year’s concert, John, Robby, and the rest of the band came out on fire but I felt the crowd didn’t really reciprocate so the guys just played through it.  There certainly was never a fear of a repeat this go-around.  The stage presence of John and Robby that we’ve all grown to love was on full display.  They both cover the stage from end-to-end, front-to-back with an energy and rock persona that’s tough to find anyone who can match it. But, let’s be honest in saying that Robby takes a definite edge over John in this category.  As my wife said during one of Robby’s first songs early in the set, “You can tell that guy really f—ing loves his job!”

As for the crowd and their energy, I don’t think they missed a beat all night long.  It’s always an incredible saturation of the senses when the voices singing along all around you seem to melt into one with those firing through the speakers.  There’s nothing like that brief moment as you’re scanning the crowd during a song when you make eye contact with someone else belting out the tune.  It’s a great sense of camaraderie in knowing that you’re all there because you share the same love of the same music from the same artist.

I might also be a bit biased toward this night over the first time because I got to have the unbelievable experience of the pre-show meet-and-greet.  There really isn’t a good way to describe it.  It was my first time getting to do it and it was an insane few minutes of whirlwind.  Though you know heading into it that it’s going to be an all too brief experience, nothing can prepare you for those handful of seconds that it’s just you and the guys.  My mind was going a million miles per second with what I wanted to say, what I wanted to ask, and with simply trying to compute how it was possible that I was standing between two of my idols.  It still seems unreal.

What is very much real, however, are the songs those two idols have put into my life.  Which, ultimately, is what put all of us there on that night. The new, the old, the classics, the surprises – they were all shared.  Some were exactly as we know them from the albums.  Some had curveballs mixed in that we weren’t expecting.  All of them were the live version of memories, people, places, and events that have meant so much to us in our lives.

For that I am grateful.  Or, should I say, we are grateful.  I feel that I can safely speak for the entire fan base that was in attendance when I express how thankful we are to have a couple of guys from Buffalo whose talents have played the role that they have in our lives.  What’s even better is that the journey is (hopefully) far, far from over.  We’ll do our best in whatever ways we can to see to that.

We need more new, unknown songs.  We need more summer days of driving with the windows down and the volume up.  We need more nights like we just got with The Long Way Home Tour where we can belt out our favorites alongside a couple thousand new friends.  We need more memories.

I know, I know – it’s all in due time.  As I learned with this second experience being greater than the first, the guys just keep getting better.  It can be said for both of them: you can tell they really f—ing love their job.

 

 

 

 

The Stone Has Been Cast

Little did I know then what I would come to know as the week went along. It hasn’t stopped yet.

Through the magic of television I have been a casual-at-best, distant viewer of the sport of curling. I hadn’t heard the year-old news until this past fall that the U.S. Curling Nationals were being held in Everett for their 2017 rendition. I knew I had to go check it out. My dad was interested to see it in person, too, so on day two of the event we went to the noon Men’s draw. We didn’t know where we should get our seats and debated it for a few seconds. He and I ultimately decided that we should sit front row. As a couple of first timers we might as well get close to the action.

Walking into that arena and seeing ice is nothing new to me. I’ve witnessed hundreds of hockey games in there and have even played on the rink myself. However, to walk in and set my eyes on five separate sheets of freshly painted, perfectly prepared curling rinks was nothing short of awesome. That only helped to amp up my excitement that was already pressing the boundaries of the roof.

Dad and I took our seats along side Sheet A, just above the house of the odd ends. There were just a couple of minutes remaining in practice, which would lead into the team introductions. Little did I know then what I would come to know as the week went along.

I was about to witness my first live curling draw and it would be Team Fenson versus Team Shuster. Again, I have always been merely a casual, uninformed, television-only observer of the sport, and I could not be anymore bummed looking back now on that match-up. Even the simplest of self-education would have properly prepared me for this contest.

To me, these were just a couple of curling teams playing their professional sport. While that is true, the actual truth of the matter runs much deeper than that. I was watching a pair of skips who use to be teammates as John Shuster in the earlier parts of his career played the role of Lead for Pete Fenson. They won, by my rough calculations, no fewer than three times together at this very same competition. They competed in multiple international competitions together. Oh, and they may or may not have made some history in 2006 when they played as Team USA in the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Well, you probably guessed that, yes, they did make history by becoming the first American team to ever medal in the Olympics when they were able to wear bronze medals around their necks for the trip home. But, wait – there’s more: another part of those teams was Joe Polo who is now a member of Team Shuster.

Got all of that? Don’t worry. I’m not so sure I follow it completely, either. I’ve pored over a couple of hours of research into all of this and I’m still finding all of the connections to the dots; pieces to the puzzles. Such as when tuned into the online streaming of the World Junior Championships from South Korea the week following the nationals and seeing Graem Fenson representing the red, white, and blue as a member of Team USA. He is, of course, following in his father’s footsteps, but, not so obviously, following in the footsteps of his older brother Alex who helps create the father-son tandem making up one-half of the squad bearing the family name.

Honestly, I don’t recall how the game in front of me played out. I only remember Team Shuster picking up the win for the second time on a week that would see them go an undefeated 11-0 to win another national title. With four other matches going on simultaneously there was no shortage of action to try and follow. Some games were close up until the final end, and others were conceded just past the midway point. It was an unbelievably cool two-and-a-half hours.

As Dad and I walked out of the arena I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it back for any more of the excitement. Thankfully, things worked out and we were back for a Men’s semi-final draw later in the week. Brady Clark’s team came into the competition as defending champion and had some hometown leverage behind them. Members Philip Tilker and Colin Hufman are from Seattle, and the team’s Skip makes his residence in Lynnwood. It made for a great atmosphere inside of the building with a heavy crowd favorite, but it was not to be for the local hopefuls who would back up their 2016 championship with a third place finish.

I didn’t get to catch any of the Women’s matches all week, and wasn’t able to make it out for the two finals on Saturday. I wish I could have witnessed the Men’s finish as Shuster pulled off an incredible shot with the final stone of the final end to take the victory. There couldn’t have been a better way to cap off a great week of competition.

Though I wasn’t there physically for a majority of it, I would have the broadcast streaming on my computer at work so I could at least listen to it when I wasn’t able to be looking. I even pulled it up on my phone one day so I could listen while driving. Little did I know.

For a sport I have never tried, even I find it somewhat difficult to understand how engrossed I have become with it. Then again, maybe it’s not so difficult to understand. You only have to observe the facets of the sport to be left in awe. The immense physical ability required to simply deliver a stone properly pales in comparison to the even more incredible physical ability required to successfully sweep. Then, you have to account for the mental abilities involved with the chess game that plays out once the stones get beyond the hog line. It makes for a fascinating, exciting sport. One that I certainly hope to try.

Luckily, the Granite Curling Club of Seattle is close by. Unluckily, the curling season is winding down and the opportunity to attend an open house has past. Oh well, it’s something to look forward to next fall when the season kicks back up, or a good reason to try rounding up a group and getting out there that way. I can only imagine that it’s as addicting as it appears it would be. All because of one random week in February when the Granite Curling Club brought 18 of the nations best curling teams to town.

I started the week as a casual-at-best, distant viewer of the sport. Little did I know then what I would come to know as the week went along. It hasn’t stopped yet.

 

 

 

 

Gone Goo Goo

It was a night years in the making.  The band had been around for two decades, had placed well in the charts with several singles and albums, and yet I was essentially oblivious to their good deeds within the music world.  I may have been somewhat familiar with their biggest song, but I honestly can’t say definitively that I was.  How quickly things can change.

The one specific song that I can thankfully blame for it all started getting increased playtime during the holiday season of 2005.  It was a new single that I believe had been out for several weeks, but given its underlying themes and message it fit perfectly for the more current time of year.  That 3-1/2 minute package of brilliance is titled, “Better Days” and it was penned by the genius that is John Rzeznik – brilliant Goo Goo Dolls front man.

It jumped out at me the first time I heard it because the band had just recently been put onto my radar by a good friend whose life has been greatly influenced by the boys from Buffalo.  It was all over from there.  I was a fan.  It didn’t take long for their music to grow deeper within me to the point of becoming an important, invaluable part of my life.

Too many years it took for it all to finally culminate in seeing John, Robby Takac, and the rest of the band live, but I finally did so on Friday night, July 8th, 2016.  My wife and I made the trek down to Troutdale, Oregon for a night we will never forget.  Yes, my wife is a fan as well.  Like so many people, she didn’t even realize how much she enjoyed the band until hearing so much of their stuff in my car that she recognized.  They have provided the perfect soundtrack for our life together.  I went a bit cliché and had “Come To Me” playing when I proposed, but it was only fitting.  The song is an eerily relatable story of the history of our friendship through the years on up to our marriage.  It has always been the perfect theme song for us and has always been there: it randomly started playing at the jewelry store the night we bought her ring, it randomly started playing several days later when I went to pick up the ring, and in addition to the proposal it was our first dance at the wedding.  We also used “Hey Ya” for the bridal party’s procession, and had “All That You Are” playing when we were introduced at the reception.

So, for many reasons this particular rainy night in Oregon was monumental for us both.  The years of waiting were completely worth it.  The opening shows from Tribe Society and Collective Soul were great and the atmosphere went through the proverbial roof of the amazing outdoor venue when the guys hit the stage.  It was a great set that flew by all too quickly in a nearly exact hour-and-a-half.  From the old to the new, and everything in between – dancing and singing virtually non-stop to every song made for quite the evening.  That included getting to dance to our song once again – live.

The energy of the experience is something I will never forget.  John knows how to bring it as lead vocalist, lead guitarist, comedian in-between and during songs, and even when he gives up the stage to Robby when it’s his turn at the mic.  Speaking of Robby, watching that guy is almost worth the price of admission in itself.  His charisma, his excitement, his overall enjoyment and love for the fans and what he is doing – they all ooze out of his every movement, every jump and run around the stage, and every smile and goofy grin that he gives.  Well, I shouldn’t say “every” smile and grin because that implies that he stops doing those things at some point.  He doesn’t.

It’s always a moment of mixed emotions when the band that you’ve gone to see walks off of the stage for the final time at the end of the night.  You’re raging with adrenaline.  You’re raging with mystery of “I wonder what they’d play next had they kept going”.  You’re even raging with a bit of disappointment at having to come to grips with it being all over, and having done so too quickly regardless of it was an hour or three.  Mostly, however, you’re raging with the mesmerizing excitement of what you just lived through.

That night took too many years to happen.  I’m thankful for that.  Not because it gave me time to appreciate it more (I would have appreciated it equally as much had it been five years ago), but because the timing ended up being perfect.  The venue at which it happened, the night on which it happened, and the fact that I got to share it with whom I did.

I know it won’t take me as long to see them the next time.  At least, I can only hope there’s the opportunity for a next time.  If and when there is, my wife and I will be there.  You should, too.

In your home, in your car, or best yet live – Goo Goo Dolls certainly makes for better days.

 

 

NASCAR and Rock & Roll

With Speedway Motorsports, Inc. removing nearly 60,000 seats between two tracks, you can’t help but wonder what led to once normally sold out tracks being resorted to such demolitions.  Charlotte Motor Speedway will be losing 41,000 seats while Atlanta Motor Speedway will get a reduction of 17,000.  Fans have obviously stopped going to not just these, but a large number of tracks around the NASCAR series as is very evident with even just a quick glance at the television coverage.  Why this big of a drop in attendance figures?

Is the television product becoming so advanced and well accepted that folks feel it is a better experience to stay home?  Why not?  It beats the hours of travel, hundreds or even thousands of dollars of expenses, the horrible traffic most tracks are guilty of, and being crammed next to sweaty, smelly strangers in 100 degree heat for roughly four or five hours.  Yet, no TV presentation can substitute the sounds, smells of the cars, and first person sights of actually being there.

Or, let’s be honest and face the possible truth – has the interest begun to dwindle?  Think back to when Brian France took over control of the organization in October of 2003.  That’s when I and a lot of other traditional lovers of the sport began to take a step back.  I will stand by the thought that Brian ruined the sport by essentially selling out and grossly exploiting the exposure that came from the still mind-rattling death of Dale Earnhardt nearly three years prior.  Yes, more sponsors coming in was great, but at what cost?  The sport began being marketed toward a younger crowd; a non-traditional crowd in hopes of growing the fan base.

More celebrities began showing up.  Figures from other sports started to appear.  It made one wonder if the footage from the garage area was a race track, or the red carpet at the Oscars or ESPYs.  Then the gimmicks came.  There were big changes to the cars (for better or for worse) as well as the move that officially ended my tenure as a NASCAR fan – the introduction of the new post-season playoff format for the championship.  Well, what if all of those things have run their courses?

Yes, NASCAR is still extremely popular throughout all three of its elite series, but to what extent?  The big NASCAR fans will spend as much time (if not more) in front of their TV on Saturdays on Sundays during the spring and summer as what football fans do during the fall and winter.  Those are the big NASCAR fans, however.  You will hear or see smatterings of casual followers tuning in for the big Cup races on Sundays, but overall TV ratings are declining as a whole.  So, did that younger, non-traditional new crowd realize there was a reason they hadn’t been a fan of the sport before?  Did the star athletes and the celebrities enjoy their invite for a free trip to a new experience and just chalk it up as a one-off perk of their career choice?

A lot of people have been quick to back-up SMI’s claim that the seat removal is to erase seats that weren’t being used anyway and increase space for higher quality hospitality options.  Which basically means, “we will have better experiences with which to treat the guests of sponsors (a lot of whom are there for free), and we can give up on trying to entice new, paying fans”.  But, what does SMI care?  Fewer seats means they can jack-up the prices for all of their other seats because of that whole “supply-and-demand” thing.  Well, they can at least try because there obviously isn’t the same demand.

Better TV?  The newer fans are beginning to walk away?  Those celebrities couldn’t be converted into ambassadors?  However you look at it, you have to question the popularity of NASCAR 11-years into Brian France’s involvement.

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2015 induction class and they induce some serious head scratching.  This seems to be rather normal from the 700-plus member voting panel.  The most glaring inclusion is Green Day getting in on their very first ballot.  Yes, they have been around for 25 years, but when you factor in bands still outside-looking-in like Deep Purple, Bon Jovi, Yes, Def Leppard, and many others it seems a bit atrocious that Green Day can just waltz on in with only one turn on the ballot.

On the other hand, a couple of positives are that talent such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, as well as, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have been voted in.  Both are extremely deserving as Joan Jett is in the Top-5 for a large number of the population when you ask them for their favorite female artists, or just ask them to name off female singers.  Factor in what the Blackhearts can and continue to do.  Factor in that they’re still out touring (albeit it casinos and state fairs).  That’s an act that deserves to be in.

SRV goes without saying that he and his band are no-doubt hall of famers.  The only troublesome thought is that it took this long for it to happen, and that it came as result of a “popular vote” from the public.  Yes, the public had to demand it.  Not sure where the members of the voting panel have been for the past four decades.  His talent and success cannot be questioned, and even if that wasn’t enough to get him in, his legacy and continued popularity since that night in August of 1990 should have been more than sufficient grounds for this honor years ago.

Overall, congrats to everyone who is going into the hall this upcoming spring.  It makes us eager to see what next winter’s selections will bring.  Also, probably a bit hesitant.