My grandson Corbin won two tickets to the Crue Fest Concert and since his dad was out to sea I got invited. Corbin won the tickets by calling in first to a radio station and correctly identifying Motley Crue as the group hammering out," Smoking in the Bathroom". Corbin plays bass guitar and has a pretty good appreciation of rock and roll given his thirteen years.
Sunday afternoon was stormy and rainy when we arrived at the outdoor pavillion. Armed with umbrellas, beach chairs, and towels we trudged through the rain to seek out our lawn seating. As we neared the entrance a parking lot attendant told us umbrellas and lawn chairs were not permiitted. Sloshing back from the car free of the forbidden items we entered the pavillion area absolutley soaked.
To our good fortune the usher in our designated area allowed us to take seats slightly under the roof of the pavillion. Instead of a constant pelting of rain we only received the wind borne mist.
The show featured several other bands performing before Motley Crue's climax. I had never heard of Papa Roach, 6 AM, or BuckCherry but Corbin explained these bands were alternative and hard rock musicians representing and playing a brand of hard rock that was popular during the late seventies and eighties. The growing crowd confirmed his assesment as most attendees appeared as late thirties to mid forties people.
I found the tatooed young ladies most interesting. From my era (1960's) girls with tatoos were rare and usually the artwork was a small heart, flower, or shamrock placed on the lower leg, ankle, or part of the body not normally seen. These modern rocker babes had tatooes with screaming skulls, dragons, crosses and eagles spurting forth blood, tears and all manner of lightning, knives and spears. It was amazing to see so many attractive women splashed with so much permanent color all over their arms, legs, backs, and chests. I estimated that at least 40 or 50% of the women sported body art.
As expected the music was loud with lyrics I couldn't understand expect for the repeated use of the "f" word. Many of my fellow concert goers did know the lyrics and screamed the words which I still couldn't understand. The musicians in each group appeared to be incredibly underfeed, highly energetic and tatooed to the max. Corbin said the words weren't as important as the skill of the individual musicians with their guitars and drums. During parts of each set a majority of the audience repeatedly flashed a two finger salute to the band which Corbin explained as something about hell, the devil or satanic horns ?
As storms flashed and boomed the dark came and I noticed the very large contingent of people happily frolicking in the grassy, muddy areas of the ampitheater. There was mud wrestling, a few beer induced brawls and many middle aged costumed wannabe hard rockers. People under the roof had become equally festive with seat dancing, howling, head bucking, and beer chugging happening as far as I could see. Despite the terrible weather the crowd in and out of the rain was massive by the time Motley Crue thundered onstage.
Motley Crue was as loud and "f" engorged as the other bands but they came with two massive screens displaying their stage show and symbols I soon found distressing. Upside down crosses, President Bush flashing the universal one finger salute, pictures of Jesus and Mary in odd and unattractive poses and flashes of devil figures and pitchforks dancing over the screens in tune with the booming sounds. I began to feel uncomfortable and of the opinion that a lot of this was distasteful and not entertaining. Obviously I was in a minority as the crowds were in a pitched fit all standing up with their two finger signals flashing.
To this point I had enjoyed the show and the interesting musician/fan mix but Motley Crue's
anti-Christian, anti-Bush film flashes left me depressed. Suddenly all the cold wetness that had been there the last 3 or 4 hours made me hurt. I thought that perhaps this adoring generation would be the ones to finally push our American culture to disaster.
My stupor was distrubed by Corbin telling me we should leave early and beat the crowd out of the parking lot. As we drove away I asked him his impression of the evenings entertainment and he said the music was fantastic. I pressed the issue of the foul language and symbols on the screen and he gave me an answer which represents the wisdom and long view a thirteen year old can impart to a sixty two year old. He said, " Grandy remember it was just a show ".
Later we enjoyed greasy and sweet breakfast foods at Denny's and I wondered how many generations of old people had been scared out of their wits by acts, performances, and music which to their children and grandchildren were "just a show".
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