So, last Wednesday, as a sort of last hurrah to the summer, I went with a few friends - Kellee, Rachel, and Will - to see Jack Johnson in Atlanta. Here's a photo gallery from the AJC - I forgot my camera. I did not know until Monday that I would be going, so this was a pleasant surprise. We left T-town at 1 PM in order to arrive around the time when doors opened, hoping that we would be able to get a good spot on the lawn, which we did, but more on that later.
The first guy on stage was Neil Halstead, and the best way I could describe his music was an acoustic Death Cab-like sound - aka really good! I was pleasantly surprised, and may have to find some of his music.
Then, after his set, came the worst part of the concert - continual ads telling us how to combat "climate change" - the new, vogue way of talking about global warming. One day, I may post my feelings on the subject or link to a meteorologist whose feelings I share, but I won't today. It was an unnecessary and pointless set of ads meant to brainwash rather than educate.
The next set was from Rogue Wave. They may have been okay, but I was unable to listen because their music was WAY TOO LOUD!!!! I actually had to walk outside in order to save whatever hearing I still have. Shame that it happened, but I don't feel like I missed much from what little I was able to hear.
Then, after another mind-numbing period of ads during which I almost was convinced that climate change is real, and that I should go and do whatever the voice in the ad told me to do, Jack Johnson finally came on stage. He was great, but there was a problem during the set. Actually, there were five problems - two guys, three girls, and a lot of alcohol.
They decided just before Jack Johnson got on stage that the small space in between our blanket and the people in front of us was the perfect spot for them to stand (or attempt to stand). They immediately began to irritate us and cause problems, but we (read: Kellee and Rachel) were the bigger people and didn't do anything other than mutter insults under our breath.
Then, one of the girls falls onto the blanket we're sitting/standing on, and starts to blame us (or we think she did) - all she could get out of her mouth was "Really?" repeated over and over again, and her friends decided to blame us too. Well, Will stepped in to try to diffuse the situation, and me and Rachel went to get a cop. We came back with three cops, who wandered around us and kept watch for a while, forcing the drunken idiots to calm down.
By now, we were into the fourth or fifth song of the set, but the rest of the show, including the encore, was incredible! Here's a picture of the set list for those of you who are crazy about Jack. He, of course, came out and did an encore, bringing out Zach Rogue and Neil Halstead to join him for a bit.
Overall, the concert was an A, which is also the grade I give the cops. The beer vendors, however, get an F for selling so much beer to the group in front of us (just during Jack Johnson, they had 2-3 beers each, and they were already wasted when they got to us). Limits, people, limits!!!
Labels: summer