The Gin Blossoms: Live from Vinton!!

My ears were still ringing last when I got home from the concert. I had to turn up the tv to be able to hear and I really hate it when that happens. I already don't have the best hearing from playing and listening to so much music over time, so each time that happens I fear I am slowing turning into my dad. There was no opening act for the Gin Blossoms and the concert started about 20 minutes late. I enjoyed the concert, but found it kind of sad. I can't imagine what it must feel like to be at the very top, opening for Toad The Wet Sprocket, traveling the country while ruling the charts, then not being able to cope with success and the death of a friend, only to hang it all up to start back at the bottom, playing for 200 people at a horse racing track. They may be playing bigger gigs somewhere else, but playing at Delta Downs can't be a high point for any band in a career. The drummer was the only band member not around from the New Miserable Experience Tour. Robin, Jessie, Scott, and Bill sounded just as good as ever when they were making a full effort, which was most of the time. For some reason Robin got a kick out of singing into peoples' cell phones while on stage and going into the crowd. It got really annoying and he seemed to have difficulty concentrating on some parts of songs. He had a bad habit of flashing the 'peace' and 'rock on' bullhorns after every little thing he did and somehow managed to play tambourine on almost every single song. One of my friends actually got a picture with him and got to play the tambourine for several songs. She said that he had definitely been drinking and seemed kind of drunk. Who knows, maybe this is the normal concert experience. I usually don't get to sit close enough to see those kinds of things. I was less than 20 feet from the stage and Robin was all over the front of it. The set was a mix of songs from New Miserable Experience: "Allison Road", "Found Out About You", "Hey Jealousy", and "Lost Horizons"; Congratulations I'm Sorry: "Follow You Down" and "As Long As It Matters"; Major Lodge Victory: "Learning The Hard Way", "Come On Hard", "Someday Soon", "Heart-Shaped Locket", "The End Of The World", "Long Time Gone", "Super Girl", "Let's Play Two", "Curious Thing", and "Fool For The Taking"; and what was probably the favorite of the night, "Til I Hear It From You". That's a lot of songs and would seem like a long concert, but keep in mind that most Gin Blossom songs are pop gems, that last just long enough to be nice and then end. The combined time of the concert was 75 minute, which included an encore of two listed songs, a weird, unannounced Robin bathroom break/band jam session, and a drum solo that never went anywhere in particular (Louie Weaver would have kicked his butt easily). For some reason the band decided to run the only song I have ever hated from them, "Heart-Shaped Locket" into the ground over and over again. I wanted to hose them off or throw something at them, but wussed out because who in their mind would do something stupid like that at a casino with so much security? Bill Leen's bass playing was quite entertaining. He would dance with his bass in semicircles, never missing a beat or note with his trusty pick. I have never seen someone play that thoroughly with a pick. The guitarists were both quite capable of playing complex guitar parts, but John Hampton's production during New Miserable Experience gave the band a 'jangle' rock sound, almost ripped straight from Peter Buck's Document era. The arpeggios killed me. Why does one guitarist have to continue to hammer the same pattern out through an entire song while the other guitarist plays mainly power-chords to carry the songs.
Once again, live concerts are always fun for me and getting to see a good band again was a great experience. I just wish Robin would have left the cell phones out of it.