Welcome to My Nightmare

Last night fulfilled a bucket list item for me, kind of. I’m not a huge believer in bucket lists, but I’ll just say I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.

The final tour for Motley Crüe came to Boise, and my wife wanted to go. I moaned about the ticket price, and the fact that I’d already been to one of their concerts. She said, “But Honey, they’re on tour with Alice Cooper.”

That was all I needed to know. We bought our tickets about six months ago. Last night was the night.

Waiting for the show

Alice Cooper was phenomenal. I first stumbled across him in the early 1970s, and my eight track player was always loaded with one of his tapes. I’ve always heard that he put on the best, and most theatrical live shows. Until last night, I’d never seen one.

I Googled it, Cooper is 67 years old now. I wish I had gone out of my way to see him sooner. It would have been worth a trip to the coast, or Phoenix to take in his show.

He’s had a long career, and the show was a mixture of older and newer music. He chose well. I still lamented the songs I didn’t get to hear.

I never got to play with the Black Widow, or Go To Hell, there was no help from Nurse Rosetta, or a trip to the Quiet Room.

There are just too many songs for him to cover them all in the scope of a concert. I still knew every song, and had a great time.

His choices ran the gamut from oldies like Under My Wheels and Eighteen, to his newer hits like Poison and Feed My Frankenstein.

 

How could he not include Frankenstein. It just screams to be part of a live show. This included some cool electrodes, and a fifteen foot monster running around stage chasing the band members. My picture is crap, but that’s Frankie behind the band members. That ought to give you an idea of scale.

I may have been to over a hundred concerts in my life. I’ve seen everything from country to acid rock. There are some things that become staple items. I’ve seen fog, lasers, fireworks, and all the usual things before.

This show had swords, straight jackets, electrodes, a working guillotine, and a fifteen foot monster. (Did I mention the monster?)

I am one happy dude today, and I bought the tee shirt. I’m going to spend a portion of my day downloading those songs I didn’t get to hear last night.

Oh yeah, and Motley Crüe played last night too.

Alton Brown Live

Old What’s Her Face* and I had date night last night. We bought tickets nearly a year ago to see Alton Brown Live. For those who don’t know, Brown is a celebrity chef. He’s hosted Iron Chef America for years and years, and his own program, Good Eats, helped put Food Network on the map. This was before all cable chanels became reality TV and game show networks. In the early era, this was a good channel.

Brown taught me a lot of interesting things with his humorous style that seemed to combine Mr. Science and Monty Python. Today, he is relegated to hosting various competition shows. Think; you have 72 seconds to cook something using Fruit Loops, escargot, and rubber cement – go. (Who cares.)

Brown’s talents are wasted in these endeavors, but he has to keep making a living. I get it. He came up with the idea of a live show that wasn’t a typical cooking presentation. I have to say it was a fantastic show. It involved some standup comedy, a few humorous songs, and some food preparation that involved sensational props.

In similar style to other shows I’ve attended, there is film running before the show starts. This is my horrible attempt to capture yeast puppets burping and farting as they do what yeast does. (Maybe my sourdough starter would have enjoyed the show.)



Yeah, I know it’s awful photography. I never claimed to be a photographer.

This was a long show, roughly two seventy minute segments with a twenty minute intermission. I was sad when it ended. Brown is a genius of presentation. His song, Airport Shrimp Cocktail, is worth the price of admission.

There was food preparation too. He made a gallon of chocolate ice cream in ten seconds using a fire extinguisher and some jet propulsion techniques that were way over my head. He also made two pizzas using a super sized Easy Bake Oven. The oven was about ten feet tall and powered by theatrical lights.

His engaging stories cemented something in my mind. He used suspense to make the punch line all the sweeter. His story elements all tie together in the show too. Yeast from the film is a central player in a dough mishap he shared with us. (And it was hillarious.) As a writer, I really appreciate all the technique and polishing that must have gone into this show.

If you ever have the chance to see Alton Brown Live, do it. Even if you aren’t a cook you’ll have a great time. Oh, and never eat airport shrimp cocktail.

*Not my date’s actual name.

Mythbusters Live

My wife and I had a blast at the live Mythbusters show last night. Adam is pretty funny, and Jamie is just like you’d expect.

Anyone who gets the chance should consider going to this show. Now if Alton Brown would just come here the cycle will be complete.

Time to pack my clothes and head for Thanksgiving in Nevada. This time it really will be blog silence for awhile.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.