Concert Summer

[Martin Hash]

I could tell this was going to be a great concert year: the fair was open again after a 2-year COVID hiatus, the local Ridgefield arena had great old bands every weekend, and the colosseum in Portland had some great acts coming. My son, Heath, bought us tickets to at least a half-dozen shows, and I bought some more for myself. Starting in June through the end of the summer, we went out to live music 60 times, so about every other night. Mostly we went locally to places like Celebrities in Portland, The Springs in Vancouver, Billy Blue’s, Miekong Bistro, Jack’s Quarterback, At The Garages, Georgie’s Garages, 99 Saloon, 3 Monkeys Bar, Car-B-Que, Cascade Bar & Grill, Ponderosa & Trail’s End. The local bands we heard were Uproar, 24 Hours, Group Therapy, Madson Madness, Tacos From Hell, Jamily, Jam Night, Spellbound, Unpaused, Whiskey Blues, Shinebox, Sucker Punch, Dance Hall Daze, Sparrow Wren, Hit Machine, C.J. Menkens, Dan Crenshaw & Tay Conti.

As for mainstay oldie bands, my wife, Gwynne & I started the marathon with the 4 free shows they had at the Clark County Fair. We got to see Cheap Trick with all the original band members, 48 years together. Martina McBride was the next night, followed by Earth, Wind & Fire; unfortunately, they had none of the original members but played all the old classics. Later on in the month we also heard Guess Who for free at the Indian casino. We had to stand but we were near the front. They still had the original drummer but the rest of the band were new old guys, meaning they all looked like aging Rock Stars but weren't.

Roger Waters is getting old. My son, Heath, bought the tickets. He’d bought tickets for us to go years ago but he ended up not being able to make it but Gwynne & I did. Heath always regretted not seeing the giant flying pig. Getting in at the Moda Center was complete confusion but it was worth it. I wore my "Animals" t-shirt from the previous time, and my classic "Pink Floyd" cap. Several people remarked that the hat was from back-in-the-day. There was no repetition of songs from the last time but the stage show was just as dramatic, including a giant flying sheep, and Heath bought his own t-shirt. We ended the season with The Who. I knew The Who when I was young; I certainly knew about “Tommy,” their famous Rock Opera, but I didn’t watch the movie at the time even though my friends did. A few years ago, Gwynne & I watched it on home video and it was pretty good; now I know what all the fuss was about and feel bad that I never bought one of their albums. You can never get too much music but you can get old.

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(left to right, top to bottom)
Alice In Chains, Blood Sweat & Tears, Breaking Benjamin, Bush, Cheap Trick
Cypress Hill, Daughtry, Earth Wind & Fire, Evanescence, Five Finger Death Punch
Guess Who, Korn, Heartbreakers, Loverboy, Martina McBride
Megadeth, REO Speedwagon, Roger Waters, Santana, Slipknot
Styx, The Who, Warrant, Winger, Full Zoo (a local band but they played at our house!)