Boston: Concert Report: Corporate America tour

[kiya]

Two notes from driving to New Hampshire, before I get into my actual reportage, which will be weird to read because I'm going to try to write it how I experienced it and the insides of my brain are always a little confusing. Not to mention multitrack and violently overlapping.

One: a truck with a plaque on the back: "If you can read this your tailgating." This hurt. This depresses me so much I have to share it. Other: License plate: DADDIES. One wonders if it was intended to be the plural or a possessive.

Getting up there was pretty straightforward, really. We parked (ten bucks the parking) and wandered around looking for someone to sell us food. I bought a packet of Sun Chips and a soda, and we sat out on the grass in front of the arena for a bit munching since they wouldn't let people bring food in. (Which reminds me I should ought pull the chips out of the lining of my jacket at some point.)

Our seats were . . . well, the fact that we had a clear view of the stage was much more a function of the sheer drop in the upper deck of the arena than proximity. There were no seats behind us, and I am being overliteral here. We spent some time deconstructing acrophobia (not just the height; the slope was such that the backs of the chairs in the row ahead of us were at exactly the right level to be psychologically classed as "Will trip me up.")

There was an amiable fellow in the row ahead of us who wanted to engage us in conversation; we talked with him a little. Not sure about that. Off to our left, a few people kept trying to clap to encourage something to happen, but the attempts were somewhat feeble and tended to die.

The stage was set up on the floor of the arena, black cloth draped to separate the apron from the rest of it. The lights on the curtains were blue and violet and red, and the combination was very aesthetically satisfying. Occasionally a roadie would drift across the stage, and the colours would drift across him like a chameleon effect.

The first roadie appeared and crossed; I said, "The transiting roadie, migrates from stage right to stage left in the spring." He came back with a bunch of others, though, and started mucking with the equipment on the apron, stage right -- banks of things to tweak. Perhaps they migrate to acquire mates.

Then one of the black-wearing figures picked up a guitar and slung it over his shoulder, and it twanged gently.

"Sound test," said teinedreugan. The guitar riffed a little, and then started to climb, higher and higher, until it shrieked out the top of its range and then fell silent. "That was a runaway guitar", he added.

A spotlight lanced out from the platform right above and in front of us, and picked out the guitarist; he winced back, apparently not expecting that just at that moment. And then the curtain pulled away, and everyone else was there, behind it.

The Star Spangled Banner	Huh. That's not bad for a sound test, given that it spans an octave and a half.		It took a few moments for me to recognise what he was playing, actually; it was probably at 'the rockets' red glare' that I figured it out. All of a sudden people started pouring in, instead of the vague trickle it had settled out to be.	And I still hear guitars in the air as we sat in the sand.
I Had A Good Time	Good place to start, with one of the new pieces. 'Specially one with the very familiar soundflavor.	Hey, I wanted you to know I wish you were mine. . .		You gotta let yourself go, the band's gonna take control.
Rock and Roll Band	And then an old and familiar one.	Dancin' in the streets of Hyannis. . . .	I have to note that I spent essentially the entire concert being vibrated. The guitars were hitting the vibration pitches of the chairs, for one thing. But also, there's just how . . . how the music is, how I breathe it. You can apply that guitar CPR to me any day.
Peace of Mind		Now everybody's got advice they just keep on givin' Doesn't mean too much to me Lot's of people out to make-believe they're livin' Can't decide who they should be. . . .	I've always loved this song. It just feels . . . like one of mine, one that makes sense to me, wound up around me. And it's got guitar, the right sort, the guitar I can sing along with. . . .
Don't Look Back	Snowflakes?	I'm much too strong not to compromise. . . .	There were spotlights in the back of the stage, that would occasionally sweep out over the crowd in various light patterns. Concerts are like that. For this song they'd go forward and then pull back to the edge of the stage, and forward then back, and so on. Instead of being solid lights, they were snowflake patterns, or webs. "Doilies!" I said to teinedreugan.	We won't know where we might go 'Till we take it all the way. . .
Living For You	This one was on two albums that I know of.	And I, I never needed to lie Can't you see I believe in my heart when I'm saying It's love that you see You mean the world to me I'm praying for you. . .	This, the first of the slower songs. There were a couple of people with glowy things of some variety -- mostly blue, but there was one that alternated between blue and red in the seats on the arena floor. Also, several lighters put in an appearance.
More than a Feeling	Now playing on the bridge of the Enterprise. . . 1 1, 4-4, 5 5, 4-4. . .	I hide in my music, forget the day. . . .	Most of the stage lights went down, too, so it was possible to see the constellations around the arcs of the stage, behind the performers: green lights, red lights, banks and banks of the electronics.
An instrumental	Everyone take five! Tom wants to fiddle!		Each of the songs came to a conclusion, a brief pause, and then the spotlight would settle on Tom Scholz. He would start to play, and it was as though everything hung on him, and everyone took their signals from him, and the next song would start. teinedreugan wondered how long they'd go without a break. I think this instrumental may have been something off the new album; I couldn't place it. And then Brad said, "HI!"
Cryin'			This was as good a place as any to hunt down and kill a loo. Fortunately, there was one right outside the stairs I went down, and there was no queue; I got back well before the end of the song.
Someone	Much catchier, yup.		I was driven to wonder, given Tom Scholz, how much he micromanages the light show.
Cool the Engines	Hey, Third Stage!	Take me for a ride Take me all the way Take me where I've never been Someplace I can stay. . .	Somewhere around here, the people to our right started in on a joint. I'm not allergic to pot, but the smoke made me cough a bit on the particulate principle. Then my head started to fall off, and I asked teinedreugan if marijuana is a muscle relaxant. My back feels better, too. I think it smoothed out my voice a little too, at least for a while.
Surrender to Me	This is one of the songs I use as a Prime focus, constantly, instinctively. The energy flows over and around my hands, raising goosebumps on my skin, sliding into me until I vibrate with it.	(Hey) You never believe what I say. . .	The coda of this thing is something else. The guitar, essentially on its own, and then the drums come in, exactly right, the thrumming pulse, the driving onwards, each thing in its place. The lights flickered over the drummer in time with the heartbeat of the song, and I had to laugh at it.	But when we got up on stage and got ready to play people came alive. . . .
Hollyann	Tom takes the keyboard out for a spin.	Hollyann We made the dark into light. We saw the wrong and the right. We were for life And we would never concede it.	And then they took a brief break to do more introductions and talking. I could never quite pick out what anyone was saying, any of the times they talked. I say 'anyone', actually, it was all Brad, the lead singer. ("It hasn't got any strings on it.")	I understand about indecision But I don't care if I get behind People livin' in competition All I want is to have my peace of mind. . . .
Turn it Off	Was stuck in my head before we got in there. Boston Does Nirvana.		And still more introducing around.
With You	"It's sort of counter to stereotype to have a woman on bass outside of a chick band, isn't it?" "Yeah. But I like chick bands."	With you, the stars shine much brighter. . .	The women to our left expressed some puzzlement. "Did they have a woman in the band?" I explained that she'd joined this most recent album. They said ahh. I talked about it a bit more. I get the impression that they weren't especially interested after all. Oh well.
Let Me Take You Home Tonight		If you you could see your way to me, come on and let me try.
Corporate America	A little . . . illumination!	Now what's it worth? When do we evacuate to outer space?	The stuff behind the Enterprise bridge got illuminated -- pipes, smokestacks, industrial grunge. There's a line in the song, in the refrain, "What 'ya gonna say when you never even seen the light -- see the light!" On the 'see the light', a bank of strobes kicked in -- just for an instant. Very nicely done.	The strength to say what you believe. . .
Walk On medley (part 1)	Gods, Tom looks like he's having fun.	What's it take to see? What's it take to believe right from wrong? Never knowing where you belong Walk On!	Lots and lots of Tom on keyboard. As they went through the instrumental and the rocking, rolling bits, the pipes and the like from Corporate America started coming down in clouds of steam and rumbling noises, and slowly from the wreckage the pipes of an organ emerged.
Bach, Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor	"Why is he doing the evil villain theme?" "You can't say it's inconsistent with the band's sound."		What's not to love about a band where the lead guitarist can suddenly break off into playing Bach on an actual pipe organ and have it not break the mode of the performance at all? The drunks in front of us objected. Silly creatures.
Walk On Medley (part 2)		If you want to win the game then you know it's a shame not to play. . .	I'd thought they'd dropped out some of the sequence -- Walkin' at Night, Walk On, Get Organ-ized, Walk On (some more) -- but the fugue segued remarkably neatly into Get Organ-Ized and we carried on from there quite contentedly. oneironaut, have you listened to that sequence yet?	Anticipating love and music, play, play, play!
Amanda	Always emotionally complicated, this song, even though the relationship it reminds me of is not only long concluded, but one I'm no longer hurting over.	If I tell you tonight will you turn out the light And walk away knowin' I love you?	There's one spot where there's a ping sound -- a triangle, I'm guessing. The spot was on the drummer for the exact split second of the ping. I laugh with the delight.	Well I get so lonely when I am without you But in my mind, deep in my mind, I can't forget about you. . .
The Launch	Close encounters of the bass kind.		This is a song that needs a follow-up. They already played 'Cool the Engines', so I was moderately perplexed and amused. They actually put in a pause after it and then picked up the next song, which felt a little weird, but given what went on with this was entirely understandable. Some of the lights detached from the arch over the top of the stage, and slowly flowed downwards, spewing smoke. Red lights, circles, in clusters, with white lights between them. The mothership launched in a scream of guitars that sounded remarkably like jet engines, and the stage was dim except for a row of bluish-purple lights behind the band that reminded me of a runway.	Sometimes seeing is just not believing Like a spaceship coming down from Mars. . .
(What Does it Take) To Be a Man?		What does it take to be a man? What does it take to see It's all heart and soul A gentle hand?	More lighters.	The light in your eyes is all the hope I need. . .
You Gave Up On Love	Tom sings?!	Guess you're not so tough. . .	teinedreugan wanted them to play this one, and I can't blame him; the interplay between Brad and the new female singer is terrific. It was, however, a little startling to have Tom Scholz doing some of the vocals in the early going. . . The flautist is the woman.
Foreplay/Long Time	More with the keyboards.	I've got to keep on chasin' a dream. . .	teinedreugan correctly pegged this as the last song in the official part of the concert, before the encore. (The encore was two early pieces, "Something About You" and "Party". I was rather hoping for 'Didn't Mean to Fall in Love' or 'I Need Your Love', but you can't win them all.) I pointed out around the corner to one side a pair of women dancing, laughing, singing to this. It was . . . alive. Beautiful. I was torn between watching them and the stage.	And the wind in your long hair blowin' as we stood for the band.

But hey . . . I wanted you to know.

I had a good time.

Comments

[bibliotrope.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great concert. I've never seen Boston live, but I have several of their albums, at least the first two or three. "More Than a Feeling" is one of my all-time favorite songs. The first time I heard it on the radio, it just blew me away! And now I'm probably going to be humming it all night... :-)

I enjoyed the multi-column format of your report too! A very concise way of showing what was going on on many levels. The quoted first lines for those who might not associate a title were helpful, since that happens to me sometimes.

[kiya]

Last concert I went to I was so awfully amused by various events that I took notes so I could write a con report. This one . . . Boston's music gets me in such a way that mostly I just wrote down the song titles. There wasn't enough miscellaneous otherness for me to write it narrative; I get too wound up in the music and don't notice as much random stuff.

The multi-column format was sort of how, on one level, I realised I would have to write it to express my experience of it at all. It took for-bloody-ever to code, though. :} I tried to pull single particularly meaningful lines out of each of the songs for the third column. The fifth was sort of a tribute to the fact that now I have . . . essentially Boston's entire songlist . . . in vast single-line medley in my brain.

I'm still wired, yup yup yup. And completely exhausted.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I loved the multicolumn format, it was so strong and clear.