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recent
Before I start ranting, let me just say we had a good time Sunday at the 2003 Tokyo Jazz Festival.
Of course, we would have had just as good or better of a time had we rode our bikes through a park for free, or rented a couple of videos for 300 yen. It's not that Diana Krall sucked. It's that she didn't even show up. Even if she had though, I suspect there would have been little difference.
This is actually only the fourth concert I have ever been to in a stadium or concert hall of this size, so you may think I have no excuse for not realizing that the sound and screen at the local movie theater would provide an experience hundreds of times more enjoyable... and it's air-conditioned and cheaper. In my defense however, of those previous three, two were extraordinary experiences.
- Pink Floyd in Ann Arbor, where I was actually working as a ticket checker, 12 rows from the stage... by the time anyone made it as far as me they had already been checked 15 times, so there was very little for me to do other than confiscate whatever anyone happened to be smoking. I spent the entire concert standing in the isle facing the stage. The guy next to me paid $250 for his seat. I got paid $60 for the same view.
- Eric Clapton in Oosaka. This sucked. And having had this experience I should have known better what to expect from the Jazz Festival.
- Jimmy Buffet. Outdoors in the rain in Wisconsin. This was the greatest concert I could ever imagine. With courage gleaned from the hours of tailgating before the concert with thousands of parrotheads, we managed to mamba our way from way out in a field where we couldn't even hear the speakers, right past the ticket checkers and into position less than 30 rows from stage.
By the time our bladders began to complain, the ticket checkers had gotten things in order, and we realized that if we left to the port-a-pot, there is no way we could get back. Fortunately everyone was wearing rain gear. Unfortunately my brother decided to pee on the foot of the guy in front of us, instead of on his rain-coat. Fortunately it was a Jimmy Buffet concert, and everyone was in a laid back mood.
Leaving the concert was another great adventure, as the rain had turned the parking field into a mud-hole. Everyone spent the night pushing each other's cars out and getting caked in mud.
Back to Diana Krall. It was hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. We were far away. Far. Far. Far. And it was hot. When we arrived at the stadium, they announced that Diana wouldn't be performing because of a flu. Our first thought was to return the tickets. After all, the only reason we shelled out $60 each was to see Diana Krall. The man at the gate told us we probably can't get our money back, but there is a booth set up where they will listen to us whine.
We decided not to whine, and try to make the best of it anyway. After all, Shaka Kan was the replacement, and we figured it can't be too bad.
It wasn't bad. It just wasn't worth $60. What really ticks me off though, is the fact that we can't get our money back. I was under the impression that these concerts insured the show, so that if the main star is a no show, they can refund the tickets. So what's the deal? It really makes me wonder if Diana was even actually ever going to appear. Were they just using her name to draw more people?
More photos from the 2003 Tokyo Jazz Festival
Oh, I see that she didn't show. I was offered free tickets to the event, but looked on the web, noticed she had cancelled, looked at my stack of work, and decided not to go. Sounds like I should be glad I didn't.
galleries
