Counterfeit Tix, Bitchy Seat Neighbors, Awesome Bands: KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas

This past Sunday we went to night two of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas. I'm a dumbass so I'd missed the general public sale date which meant I had to sit my ass in front of a computer for the week preceding the show refreshing my browser on Cragslist in the hopes that someone would be descent and post a pair of tickets at face value, which of course they don't do that early on, because they have the luxury of time for selling their tickets to people who can't be at their computers obsessively refreshing their browsers for a week, for two to three times the face value of the ticket. And I know why they do it, and I know that they can, but it just really pisses me off. I mean, some people were selling them for $500 a ticket. Really? And people buy them at that price? Why? Actually, I know people who'd buy them at that price because they go to one show a year and they don't know any better. Don't know how to search for tickets and be patient. But anyway. I really couldn't spend more than face. Quite literally I did not have the money for it, so it had to be face or below, or nothing. And I knew it might come down to the day of, standing outside the venue, haggling with some scalper, but I was prepared to do it, because I really wanted to go.

So, I found a guy, who eventually sold his tickets to me for a little below face, without me even asking him to bring down the price and yeah, it was a bitch of a drive to get them, but it was worth it for being able to get into the show and for paying less than face. As we were going in to the venue, we saw two "kids", probably late teens, who'd unknowingly bought counterfeit tickets - you know, the kind that are sent via e-mail and you print at home? Yeah, never buy those for that reason. I'm sure there are some legit people selling those, but why risk it? I felt so bad for them because they looked so upset. There were two cops looking over the print-out and the line (there were only a few of us there) was being held up while they investigated. More than looking mad about it they looked disappointed and my heart went out to them because I could imagine how much it would suck to really be looking forward to going (as I was) spending the money, being at the door and being told your tickets are no good. Sometimes, people just suck. Especially Craigslist people. As the line opened up and we went through security I heard the girl ask the cop "isn't there anything you can do?" and I wished I'd had the money to run out and get them a pair of tickets from a scalper so they could get in. It also made me want to text my seller and thank him for not being a scalper, but he might have thought it weird to get that text...

The seats were pretty good if a little to the side. Unfortunately, my seat neighbor had a stick up her ass. I go to a fair amount of concerts a year, so it's all kind of second nature to me. I know how it works- I know people are going to be getting up to get beer or go to the bathroom, I know you might end up next to an annoying talker or shouter, and sometimes you luck out and you get cool people who just enjoy the show and don't annoy the crap out of you. I think I'm a fairly good seat neighbor: I'm sober, I don't shout annoyingly, I don't get out of my seat often for beer or whatever and when I talk to my friend, I talk into his/her ear and not out loud so the whole section can hear me. I do dance in my spot though, and every now and then, I might accidentally elbow the person next to me (not hard), after which I quickly apologize. Cool people don't usually mind. They understand it happens, as I do, when it happens to me. This woman was a giant bitch. I was reaching down to get something from my purse and accidentally bumped into her leg. I quickly apologized only to have her give me the stink eye and cross her arms. She crossed her arms for about half the freakin' show. It's a five hour show! At one point, she'd left her seat and I moved over because I was recording and I had a clearer view from her spot. She came back just as the song was ending and I told her in a friendly way that I'd move in about five seconds. She sighed heavily and crossed her arms again. Her seat was next to the isle, I mean, it wasn't  a hardship to give me a few secs. When I was done I thanked her for waiting and smiled and she said nothing back. See? Bitch.


Anyway, as for the show, I thought it was great. This was my third year going (not consecutive) and I feel like this year was smoother than last. No stage issues and no lag time between bands. I think they do a good job of keeping it moving. I saw Broken Bells, The Temper Trap, Florence + the Machine, and The Black Keys for the first time and loved them all. Florence + the Machine and The Black Keys were especially great. Florence has great stage presence and a powerful voice, and the Black Keys are just so good and so much fun. I could not stop dancing. Loved. Them.

I'm not a Neon Trees, or Vampire Weekend fan, but I knew a few of their songs, so their sets seemed to go by quickly. Brandon Flowers was entertaining, I guess. I used to really like The Killers, but I've moved on from them, and him and so I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to seeing him or not. I liked that he did a cover of Betty Davis Eyes, and did a Killers song (or was it two? I've got the worst memory) but overall I was pretty indifferent about him. Phoenix closed the show, and while I like them very much, I'm not sure they were the best choice to close. I find it interesting that they were the choice because from what I could tell, Vampire Weekend had the bigger fan reaction (which baffled me, but what do I know? I don't listen to radio). Anyway, Thomas Mars, the lead singer seemed a bit tired but they still put on a good show.  I think the choice to play Love Like a Sunset was interesting... just because it seemed people got restless and then started to leave. I may be overgeneralizing, but I think people who are regular radio listeners (or who mostly only listen to radio) don't care for songs with no lyrics or catchy hooks. They just don't know what to do with those.

All in all I was so thrilled to have been able to go. I loved the bands, even the ones I didn't love, just because I was giddy to be there. Concerts/ live music in general make me giddy, so five hours of it, even next to a bitchy, anal seat neighbor was fun!

Here are some vids:

The Eclipse Soundtrack. Why the hate?

Last week, one of my Facebook friends was complaining that he refused to pay $15 for that stupid Eclipse movie soundtrack despite the fact that it contained a handful of songs he wanted. Since then I've seen a few other things (blogs, status updates, tweets) in which people are complaining about something along those lines. And honestly, I don't get it.

Ok, yes, the soundtrack is tied to the movie, but buying the soundtrack does not force you to become a fan of it. It's just music. Really good music. Who cares why it was compiled? You don't have to watch the movies to be allowed to buy the soundtrack. The purchase of it does not mean anything more than you have good taste in music. What's the problem?

I can sort of understand how if you're a big fan of a certain artist you may take issue with them being involved with the franchise. I know Muse fans (of which I am one) had nothing good to say about the band's involvement with the movies (on a side note, click here  for an article I love about Matt Bellamy talking about what he thinks of that). But that's not really the case with people who complain about having to buy the soundtrack to get some of the songs they want, and that's why I'm confused. My aforementioned Facebook friend was not complaining about the artists being on the soundtrack. He was complaining about having to buy the Eclipse soundtrack.

I can't help thinking, at this point doesn't everyone know that if nothing else, the movies produce really good soundtracks so that if you were "caught" with it on your iPod, most people would just give you a pass? You may hate the movies, but the music has always been good and original and there are few who could really argue that. So I can't help but ask again, what's the problem?

Here's the delicious Florence + The Machine song Heavy in Your Arms which I honestly can't stop listening to. It's just too good.