Tegan and I left around 4:30.
It is impossible to get out of town when you want, especially if you are trying to get everything set for the babysitter, coordinating this and that, changing out of your work clothes into your rockin' clothes.
But we managed.
The trip down to Cincy was fine and there were no real traffic issues. We listened to REM along the way to get in the mood. Little did we know . . .
We found the Taft Theatre without incident and successfully located a parking garage close by. The doors opened at 6:30 and we got there about 6:40. I thought we were going to miss the opening act, but we didn't. We got there in plenty of time to wander a bit, check out the t-shirt stands, notice that the political activists were relegated to the basement level where the bathrooms were (come on REM, where's the swing state love?), and decide not to spend money on beer.
Our seats were five rows back on the first balcony, stage right. Absolutely the best view I have ever had for any concert, much less REM. The crowd was a healthy mixture of college kids, grad student types, early middle-agers like us and people that simply seemed TOO OLD to be rockin'. I swear there was a 60-year-old dad with his college-aged daughter. They were punished by having to sit at the top of the theater.
Speaking of dads, there was a young couple with (I kid you not) a 5 month old baby!! Tegan, I and everyone around us were flabbergasted by this. The kid had to have either been drugged or deaf and mute, because it made no sound everything we noticed it. Dudes! Spring for a baby-sitter . . . we did!
The opening act was Now It's Overhead. A very nice, young group from Athens, GA. They have recently been in Budapest, according to Stipe's intro of the band and were driving to San Diego right after the show. Man they looked young but there were good. This was their fifth and final opening for REM and I think they learned a lot. There were definite REM vibes from this quartet, along with occasional elements of Joshua Tree U2, a bit of Oasis, and something else that I couldn't place. I will buy their album, cause they were good. It put me in mind of the last time I saw REM and the young, up-and-coming Indigo Girls opened for them. I wish these dudes well. They played a tight, quick set of about 45 minutes and then there was a 30 minute pause to reconfigure the stage.
REM kicked off around 9ish. To see the full review, see WWYG?! Omnimedia. The link should be available on my list of good sites, to the right.
AWESOME!!!!
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