Roger Sees Paul McCartney, Presidents, and... Thrid Eye Blind

Concert life has been a blast! I've definitely been spoiled.

Paul McCartney

Monday, August 17th I drove to Tulsa to see Paul McCartney play in the BOK Center for the venue's one year anniversary (Last year on that same day I saw The Eagles play there). Then Wednesday, August 19th I drove to Dallas, TX to see none other than Paul McCartney (and my great friend Will Stroud of course) play at the new Cowboys stadium!

Talk about fulfilling! Each night was pretty special. At the BOK Center, I sat in the balcony, which I find to be enjoyable. Instead of being blasted by the speakers, you can sit back and absorb the visuals and really take in the musical experience.

On the other end of the spectrum, I sat on the floor of the Cowboys Stadium, which in iteself is pretty amazing. When you watch a Cowboys game, I was sitting about where the number 10 is on the field. I have to say, there's nothing like seeing not one, but TWO 60-yard HDTVs hanging above. Makes you say, "Boy I love being an American" in a to yourself, kind of selfish way. Then you start feeling guilty about not giving more to charities and to the community, and you start telling yourself how you'll do more good in the world than the person funding the construction of an unnecessary stadium.

Then Sir Paul McCartney takes stage, and you forget about all those things because you're a mere 100 yards away from the genius! Quite possibly the closest you will ever be to him in your entire life! He played some great tunes like Drive My Car, Live and Let Die, Calico Skies, I'm Down, and new ones I hadn't heard from his new Fireman album. What made the Dallas show so special was him playing "It's so Easy to Fall in Love," which was quite the treat.

Presidents of the United States of America

Drove to Tulsa to see Presidents of the United States of America at the Hard Rock Hotel. Quite the humbling experience after seeing Paul McCartney, but it was still a blast! I had never seen a stage on top of a bar before, much less have I ever stood in line to be admitted into a club before, that is a club inside of a casino inside of a hotel.

America is such a strange place.

Being it was the first time inside a casino made it pretty cool. David and I had trouble figuring out where we were supposed to find PUSA and walked all over the place. Then whilist standing in line, about the only interesting thing to do was stare at these overweight, mostly retired casino go-ers while they threw their money away into these machines. Couldn't say they were the prettiest of people. Reminded me that I live in the south. I do have to say it was pretty entertaining watching the cougars with plastic surgery and botox getting their drink on. It got less entertaining when one of them started eyeing me.

Sorry. I just prefer a girl that can make facial expressions that resemble her emotions. Oh, and maybe someone closer to my age whom hasn't been divorced twice with three kids.

Just puttin that out there... Ladies... ::finger pistols and winks::

Anyway, PUSA! They were incredible, at least when I finally got into the club. The venue felt like a waste though. They could do so much better in a place like George's Majestic Lounge and make more money too! They played their greats like Lump, Kitty, Peaches, and Backporch along with some newer, lesser known songs like Rot in the Sun and Love Everybody. I hadn't felt so much rock 'n roll since The Toadies (hope they come to Fayetteville again soon!).

What made the trip especially worth it was getting the traditional t-shirt but more importantly a signed album! I spent more money than I wanted, but it was completely worth it!

Third Eye Blind...

It wasn't anything special. Sorry. Maybe if I knew the band better than it's few popular songs. Maybe if the lighting was better (Seriously. You could barely see the band on stage) or the staging wasn't so plain. Maybe if the sound set up wasn't so piss poor (it's called adjusting your buying some speakers to actually fill up the space with sound! Get with it people!). Maybe if they were a more talented group in general (I will say the drummer wasn't too shabby, but I've heard better). Maybe if they didn't have such cheesy stage presence. Maybe if I wasn't so spoiled and used to great stadium shows.

The stadium was filled with the stench of cigarette smoke, marijuana, and empty seats. Disappointing in ways. It was fun however hanging out with my friends John, Lacy, and MBB. That's the most important aspect of these concerts. We laughed at the hard to understand words and danced to songs we didn't know. Good memories.

That will probably be the extent of my live concerts for a while. I hope in the near future to see Death Cab for Cutie, Weezer, Colin Hay, and see Coldplay and James Taylor again.