A Concert 19 Years in the Making...

Not 19 years in the making for me. 19 years ago, I'm pretty sure I had no idea what a concert was, let alone any appreciation for music. No, this one was for Jonmikel.

He's a big fan female vocalists of many genres, and has been a fan of the Breeders since their first album came out 19 years ago. The Breeders are kind of an alternative, punkish chic rock band with interesting vocals and harmonies. I was never a huge fan, though I do remember some of their songs from back in the day (OK so no as far back in the day as Jonmikel's back in the day, but you know). But the deal was, I saw the ad on a Monday for their concert up at the ABC Hall (or something) in Glasgow (the music scene capital of Scotland) on Tuesday, and Tuesday afternoon we packed up and headed off. To be honest, I needed to getaway anyway; Edinburgh was starting to wear me out. So we booked a hostel right in the center of town and made a random road trip of it. While train tickets are more expensive than bus tickets, trains are way more entertaining and comfortable, so we just head to Waverley.

I have to admit, Glasgow has some ups. Well, one, which is that it feels like a real city. Which is a down after about a week. Not a big city girl. But it was neat to be somewhere that felt less touristy and more 24/7.

The set up of the ABC theater is quite nice: the dimly lit in shades of purple bar is in the back of the hall, so while you go up to get a (reasonably priced) drink, you don't miss any of the concert action. We managed to find some prime real estate close to the stage but off to the side. People were shying away from it because of its stage left location, but it turned out to be perfect. Up close and personal with the Breeders. Jonmikel seemed to enjoy it. :-) Admittedly, I was one of the youngest people in the crowd, which was odd considering the crowd wasn't all that old. When I'm the youngest person, it's usually because I'm at a Bob Seger or Steely Dan concert, and I'm out-aged by about 30 years. Here, though, I was obviously younger, but only but maybe 5 years. Most of the people were late 20s, early 30s, and most of the men looked a good deal older than Jonmikel despite being of a comparable age. Good for us. :-) And I was probably the only person who didn't know vitally important lyrics. But I really love live music. Of all kinds. I really enjoy people who enjoy performing. I've seen bands that I love perform live, and they've sucked because either they looked miserable up on stage or because I felt that I wasted $60 to hear what I could have heard back home on my couch. I like performers who engage with their audience, who smile and laugh and have fun. Generally, if they're having fun, I'm having fun. The first time I saw Counting Crows, I didn't really like them; but they're concert as excellent because they were having a great time up there. So The Breeders were great because they all seemed to be performing for the love of performing, not because record company said so.

Also, maybe this is a silly British thing and should go under that heading, but I'm not positive: there was no encore. Seriously. They did a last song and just... left. And so did the audience: they just started walking out. In the States, there would have been chanting and clapping and a general insistence that they play an encore, if not two or three. I mean really, where's the fun in just buggering off at the end of a set? If anyone has any insight on Britishness in this sense, let me know...