Another Band at the Bandshell

 We went to the Daytona Beach Bandshell tonight, cause it gets kinda boring here at the trailer. And we love Chicago.

Chicago Rewired and REO Survivor and Co. played the songs of REO Speedwagon and the band Chicago. And guess what? Both bands are the same dudes, with an added horn section. I’m getting immune to the excitement of hearing live music at the bandshell, but I keep going. It’s not a bad way to spend the summer. But I guess I can crank any of my favorite songs off you tube with a pair of good earbuds, than listen to mediocre hits in public. I’m just picky. And my dopamine system doesn’t function properly without “alarming” amounts of caffeine. Which is why I usually get a coffee at 7 eleven.  Gotta pregame.

We spend a lot of time on the boardwalk smoking, before the show begins, and during the break, and if they’re playing a bad song. A lady saw us having a puff and figured we constituted the “smoking section,” so she decided to join us but didn’t say much to us (hey guys: the world is your oyster! It’s just a real judgy place. I wish drinkers had to eat the same shit smokers do (for the record: alcohol is just as deadly, but makes people act like total idiots)), until we wondered why the flag was at half mast: must be for the passing of the famous Dolly Parton. A guy walked up and said “you know that rocky horror picture show guy died, too” (Tim Curry (what a way to be remembered)). Perhaps the pole people forgot they left their flag down. 

They decided to play songs off Chicagos 1980s albums, which disappointed John, because it’s not their best music, despite what the numbers say. Luckily, we got to hear most of their best songs. They introduced Make Me Smile as “Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon,” which is its unofficial title. It sounded good. Of course they played Saturday in the Park (it’s like my own personal anthem for trailer park life ;)). I think it’s lovely music from a time period which I was not fortunate to live through; I only get to experience it auditorily (like Frost said, “nothing gold can stay.” Luckily, music lives on (although I’m pretty sure I’ve had a past life)). Call me a posing hipster; I like what I like. Like I said, the world is judgy…and so am I. I didn’t enjoy all the songs (okay, there are good hits from the 80s (as if a decade could own music…)), but they ended with 25 or 6 to 4, a crowd favorite, and I thought it was their best cover. It really matched the lead singer’s voice. We started walking out at that point, and we could hear the fireworks behind us as we hiked our foldable chairs down Atlantic. Sounded like bombs to me (that’s just how I think. Pre-apocalyptic). 

And that might be it for our summer trips to the Bandshell. There is a Pink Floyd concert coming up which I think I’d like to see. We’ve been to more free concerts than we’ve been to the beach this year, so I’m really lacking a good tan. What can I say, you can’t have it all. 

But sobriety did promise me I’d have my life back, and here it is.

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