About a month ago, I heard that Bob Seger and Kid Rock were going to be putting on a concert at the Fargodome. I LOVE BOB! My earliest memory of his music was as a kid at the Wilken County Fair. There was a swing ride that was a big favorite amongst the kids. It was just a little wooden swing, on long, long chains. It would take you up so high you could see the other side of the fairgrounds! That was also before the time of seat belts. You just sat in the chair with a little bar over your lap and held on! You needed a partner for this ride though. The person in the back had to hang on to the person in the front's chains. Then when the music started, you had to let go and when the music stopped, you needed to be back together. It was almost impossible to do, but it was tried, over and over. During this ride, Bob's music was blasted as high as the speakers would allow. It was pure heaven. Swinging high up in the air, around and around, arms stretched out to your partner, listening to Bob croon, "Against the wind...We've got tonight....Old time Rock n Roll..." Most of us pretty much spent all our fair money on that ride. It just wasn't the same, to listen to him on the ground. But, then as time went on, and I got older, Bob still hung around. As a teen, I found him on my car radio and at all the beach parties. As an adult, he was still on the radio and also on every jukebox in every town. He was simply ageless and never left. I love every single song, he has ever sang. So, when I heard he was going to be less than two hours away, I said, "I am so going!!!" Tim didn't want to go. (I know! What is wrong with him???) So, I posted on Facebook, that I needed a date and my sweet friend, Dawn said, "Pick me!" It was a no brainer. Well. Here's the deal. It has been years since I have bought concert tickets. The last few concerts I have been to, either the tickets were given to me or someone else picked them up and I just paid them. I "thought" I was on the Fargodome site, getting the tickets. I was actually at Ticket Mix, or something like that, third party, jacked up priced, rip-u-off, company. I was looking at the seats down by the stage and they were priced at $500! (I later found out that the people who bought tickets right away, got front row seats, dirt cheap!) So, I ended up getting what I thought were $80 tickets, seated up in the boondocks. When the tickets arrived, they said $45 (each) and the invoice was over $200! I not only screwed up, but I got screwed! (And not in a good way!) I was really upset.(That's putting it mildly) I called to complain and they wouldn't take them back! I told them EXACTLY what I thought of them. (Nice lady, I was not.) I dreaded telling Dawn what happened but this chick is wonderful! She said, "Let's ditch them and sell them on facebook. We'll get more!" She found someone who had two tickets by the stage who only wanted $60 each for them! (Something came up and they couldn't go) So, with the great deal on the new tickets, we were able to sell our nosebleed tickets a little cheaper, and they sold right away. Then we needed to find a shuttle bus. I called a few bars and all the buses were full. We were probably going to be stuck in traffic for hours. UGH! Then the night before the concert, the snowstorm alerts came. At the last minute, I called the hotel to see if I could get our room for two nights instead of one. They said, "No problem!" I threw some stuff in a suitcase and told Tim, I was leaving! Normally, it takes about an hour and 45 minutes to get to Fargo. It took an extra hour. The roads were full of snow and ice, and while there were quite a few cars and semi's on the interstate, no one could go over 25 mph. UGH! By the time I got there, I was a little stressed. (That's putting it mildly.) I checked into the hotel and the clerk asked me if I was going to the concert the next night. I said I was and he then asked me if I needed a shuttle bus ticket. Well.... heck yeah!" The hotel had a shuttle bus lined up! My luck was changing! Yee haw!The next morning, Dawn arrived and we had a fabulous lunch at Famous Dave's and got a little shopping in before we had to get back to the room to get ready for Bob. (We love Kid Rock too, but Bob is the man!) We had time for a quick drink in the bar (There was a bar in our hotel!) and then we got on the bus. Our driver was great! The traffic in the left lane was at a standstill, but we were in the right lane and we zipped right on by and were there in no time! I do believe half of Wheaton was at the concert, but do you know I only saw one Wheaton person and he wasn't even close enough to say hello to. How 'bout them apples? We found our seats and I was thrilled to be on the end of the aisle.
(I hate climbing over people.) The lights went down, the smoke/dry ice/whatever it was/ started and then there was Kid Rock.
Showtime.
Now, here's the deal. I don't have any good pictures! I didn't have my camera (I know! Say what??) and all I had was my phone. Every single picture is a blur. Like the one above. But you can at least see how close we were. While I think Kid Rock is pretty good, I have to admit there are only a couple of his songs that I know and like. The ones where he sings in a normal voice. The rapping and screaming ones do nothing for me. But, he does put on quite a show! I put the time when he was doing his rap stuff to use, by refreshing my beer cup. Ha! In this picture, it looks to me like he was wearing a white puffy vest. (I forgot my glasses. I know. But, I was in a hurry! I also forgot my vitamins, and underwear! But, that's another post for another day.)
This picture was posted by DeeDee Klugman on facebook. Guess that white puffy vest, was fur!!
Then after about an hour and a half (No joke!) of Kid singing, FINALLY....Bob arrived!!!!
Another shot by DeeDee. Thank you DeeDee!!
Over the years, we all get older and change. Our clothes, our hair, our tastes. For some reason, I had it in my head that Bob would look the same. Long hair, beard, jeans, black T-shirt, sexy as all get out. Well, he had the beard. Even from where I was sitting, I could see the silver hair, nerdy sweatband, watch and big ol' glasses. WTH??? Was my first thought. He was an old fart! Not as young as he used to be, for sure. (Did you know he's 67?!?!) Then he opened his mouth and sang. I closed my eyes and was immediately taken back in time. When I opened them again, that old fart singing, suddenly looked good to me. He was still cool. Only Bob could dress like a old geezer and make it look sexy and cool. Only Bob. He sang for at least an hour and then Kid Rock came back out and joined him. They sang Bob's songs and even a few of Kid's rap songs. It was an outstanding show! I think they even had five encores!! I am so glad that I was able to go. It is going down as one of my all time favorite times. And in case you're wondering....yes I did pick up more underwear.I'm not as young as I used to be either.
