The White River Amphitheatre is a truely lovely place. Lots of free parking, numerous food and drink venues sprinkled liberally throughout and a lot of restroom space for women... which is revolutionary with regard to concert venues.
The place is beautiful. An open-air ampitheatre, covered seating (except for the grass seating in the way-back), large screens to give you the stage action. My only gripe is that the seating in the 2xx section isn't pitched correctly. I was sitting behind an average sized guy, who was sitting behind an average sized woman and we spent the entire time leaning around each other to see the stage.
I found food and was heading for my seat when I saw a familar face. He was looking around, maybe looking for something or someone. I nudged him on the arm as I walked past, "Hey Cameron..." He looked at me, surprised, as if to say "How do you know who I am?" I just smiled and moved on, allowing him to do the same. I'm sure he didn't remember me, but I remember him, standing at the bar watching his wife play in that little band, the Lovemongers, chatting with the rest of us like the regular guy he is. I wasn't at all suprised that Cameron Crowe was at the concert, and as usual, he figured he could walk around like the rest of us without being hassled -- something Nancy certainly couldn't do.
My brother and his friend Marvin joined me and we had a great time. Berlin performed first and Terri Nunn was hot. Her voice was awesome and she pranced around like the sexxy vixen she still is.
But the real show was Heart. Wayne and I are Heart fans from way, way back, even before the big haired 80s hit-a-thon. We really had a great time, the girls sounded excellent, and Ann especially was all there with regard to her voice. Judging by their performance and between-song chit chat, they were having a great time. They gave us two encores. Song highlights for me: Mistral Wind, Battle of Evermore, Silver Wheels ... but they were all good and all performed equal to or better than the recorded versions. The lead guitarist, Gilby Clark, formerly of Guns 'n Roses, the bass player, Mike Inez, formerly of Alice in Chains and Ozzy's band, and the other band members rocked the house in proper Heart fashion.
How good is Annie? I think my brother said it best "Ann Wilson is the only singer alive who can sing Led Zeppelin now."
And then it was over and it was time to part with my brother and find my way back home for a good night's sleep in my own bed.
You know what I think? I think that the people who do flagging for concerts are paid to send you in the opposite direction from where you want to go. I figured going towards Auburn and linking up with hwy 18 would be the easiest and most familiar route to take. I pulled up near one of the exit queues and sat there for 15 minutes before realizing that it wasn't going to move anytime soon. I turned myself around and headed for the other exit. They wanted to route me back the way I came. I didn't want to go back through Enumclaw and Buckley, since I still had hard feelings about getting lost on the way out. I went that direction for a little while before pulling a U-ey and going the other way. In the end I was directed and flagged and sent in the direction of highway 18, but by a route much longer than I'd been expecting. I didn't get home until 1:30. I almost immediately collapsed into bed after setting my alarm for 7 am. I wanted to get an early start for the beach.
Posted by buggy at June 26, 2003 10:40 PM
