Pretty much everybody, except my midwife, told me I was crazy to go to a concert at nine months pregnant. Probably, but so what, it was likely my last chance to see these guys and I didn't want to miss it.
So we drove to The Gorge to see The Dead (sans Jerry, they are no longer Grateful). The kind people at the entrance put us in handicapped (alter-abled, whatever) parking, because of my condition. We arrived around 3pm. The Doobie Brothers opened, and we just flat out skipped that part in favor of laying in the shade a bit longer.
Then the Allman Brothers (er, singular brother at this point) took the stage, with Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, and rocked it hard the way we like it. That was a highlight for me - I've always liked them, never seen them before, and caught a good vibe despite the late date and despite the fact that they don't play my favorite song anymore. Warren Haynes led a wicked "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," that made it all worthwhile.
I'm usually in the back dancing and don't care if I see the band, but we'd thrown down for real seats this time and were ninth row stage right. Meaning we could see each finger hit every chord. And the ASL interpreters air guitaring every chord (who knew). Hubs got some amazing photos.
The seating logistics were slightly annoying, since they were just folding chairs set up on the asphalt, moveable and moved by whoever got there first so you still had to fight for space. I wasn't in the mood to be subtle and I think I succeeded in forcing our chairs out far enough to give me room to move, and I dare anyone to tell a pregnant lady to squeeze her chair forward. That said, the system is just dumb.
There was one place to pee, about halfway up the (steep fucking) hill in porta-potty town with a nonstop line, so they let me use the ADA bathrooms at the bottom. At band-break hubs got some $9 beers and I got an $8 cup of undercooked noodles with chicken. Thanks, Live Nation, for the hospitality! Way to cover people's basic needs!
We had a crew of friends on the lawn but I just couldn't deal with seeing them. The more pregnant I get, the less tolerant I am of people. People I know, people I don't know, people who want to touch me or ask how I'm doing or say something stupid about being pregnant because they haven't been there before. I don't want to hear it. I don't have the patience. I don't want to still be the sober person in a sea of stupid. It's akward for everyone. So I avoided the friends and stuck by the seats.
The Dead came on with Bobby in front looking like a cartoon Einstein with a fluffed out shock of white hair. Phil still can't sing. Warren Haynes again taking a role. The first set was a little disjointed, it felt like songs without much of a flow.
And everytime I tried to dance, I got a Braxton-Hicks contraction. Makes it really difficult. I made it to setbreak (maybe 10:30pm), and then I just couldn't make it anymore. So we left, headed to our (well-planned) hotel in Ellensburg where we both crashed. And thank you to hubs for being supportive and understanding throughout it all.
Reviews of the second set were good - some said mellow, some said spacey. I know someone will get the show and share, so I'll hold judgement until I hear it for myself.
At least I can say I was there.
Here are pics and setlist.
Glad you had fun. I love your sober assessment of the scene and show. Thank you!
Posted by: DB | 18 May 2009 at 12:12
Glad you had fun--it was a great show! Btw, there were LOTS of portapotties down at the bottom to the left of the stage (behind the concessions). The folding chairs are lame. The band was not!
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