We felt pretty important to go downtown last night to the fancy Dodge Theatre, by-pass the regular ticket lines and walk up to the 'Will Call' window for our FREE tickets. David gave his name, and there was a little packet of 3 tickets waiting for us, just like that.
Why, you may ask? Because the drummer for Flock of Seagulls is our close, personal friend. Actually, he's David's buddy and one time band-mate. I've only met him once. He is an exceptionally polite guy with a gentle spirit and a soft speaking voice. He smiles easily with a mouth that hosts brilliant white, perfect teeth. His language was clean in my presence, and he did not fit the stereotype of what I presumed a career touring Rock band guy would be like. (Very talented Mr. Michael Brahm is 2nd from the R)
It was the Phoenix stop of a nostalgia tour, featuring a line-up of 80's acts. The opener was Belinda Carlisle from The Go-Go's fame. Their spot was the guinea pig for the sound system, unfortunately. She had long blond hair extensions and wore a goofy hat. She sang badly about 4 or 5 songs that all sounded the same. It was not the voice I had remembered. Rachel and I were laughing so much we had to take a break. The show was even piped into the ladies' room eliminating any chance of escape.
Finally, after a $6 "jumbo" hot dog the size of a shrunken pickle sliver, and a delightfully stale batch of equally expensive nachos, the head-liner was on! We watched Michael gesture to the stage hands a lot as he inspected his drum set. Once he was satisfied with whatever the issue was - maybe the monitor - the show began.
The sound was great, the little light show kind of annoying but the smoke machine really kicked butt - and of course the band was amazing. I had only seen Michael perform in a small club out in Scottsdale. It was exciting to see him in all his showmanship glory on the big stage, with the lights streaming dramatically through billowing clouds of towering smoke and his drum sticks flying like crazy! He was masterful. He threw them up high, catching them again without missing the beat and stood to point like, "DUDE!" at the lead guitar at the end of the song. I thought the only thing missing from this picture was black leather pants. He was truly in his element. He was a classic, dynamo Rocker.
