Quite a blast from the past concert weekend!
Friday was Cruefest at Saratoga. I was hoping I wouldn't have to drive and didn't as my buddy Kevin was bribed with some gas money and a free ticket. Sis Tara came along for this one as well. Before buying tix on ticketmaster or at the door I checked good ole ebay for a bargain and got one...6 lawn seats including shipping for $47 - Haven't paid less than 8 bucks a ticket in a longass time and thought I would have to fight off those who wanted to come with us, but alas the timing just wasn't right for this one and I ended up just straight up giving away the three unused tix at the door. It's amazing how suspicious people are of you when you're offering something free, but when you turn away to offer the tix to the next person in line, they speak right up. So in actuality I guess I ended up paying about $25 bucks for the ticket I used, but these days that's a bargain!
So we got started a little late and left po-town around 5ish and we were parked at spac right before 7. We missed Nikki's band Sixx AM which I haven't heard, but heard it's nice solid rock, and Trapt who I don't really care for anyway. Papa Roach was onstage as we went in - another who cares for me...caught the last 15 minutes of their set and the audience dug them, especially when they ended with Last Resort.
As they ended we decided to hit the Beer Garden. UGH - this is one of the main reasons I hate seeing shows at SPAC. If you want some drinks - and if you've read any of my past blogs or profiles, you KNOW I'll be wanting some - you have to go and drink this in a gated off area WHERE YOU CAN'T SEE THE STAGE! It's the only ampitheatre around here that I know of that does this nonsense.
Anyway, we head to the beer garden just when Papa Roach ends and 10,000 people join us...it's is backed up mob scene getting in. Kev, who's driving and would probably only have 1 beer anyway decided to get a spot to check out Buckcherry. After about 10 minutes we work through the mob to the gate where they're checking ID's (and one would think they would give you a wristband so the next time they don't have to check EVERYONE, but no) we get in and get on an actual line for beer.
I haven't been to tons of shows at SPAC, but a good few and I've NEVER seen the beer garden packed like this...just wall to wall and a very drunk crowd. At the top of the tents it lists the beers you can get and I see magic hat, so my mouth is watering and anticipating the apricotty 9 and I reach the head of my line and guess what...at the top of my line they only have Bud and Bud Light...Magic Hat is available about 5 Taps over, but it's so busy, you have to get what they got. So me and the sis each get a bud and grab small clear spot by the fence to drink it before getting on a line for actual good beer.
In the 10 minutes or so it took us to drink the beer, we saw three men publicly urinating on a tree 3 feet in front of us and the fence we were leaning on 5 feet to the right of us. I'm SURE they didn't piss on the spot I'm leaning on...right guys?!? The thing is there's about 20 portapotties maybe 50 feet away and the lines weren't that bad for those...some folks just like to wizz in public I guess.
So I had seen my annual share of man meat, but it was evened out somewhat buy the 20 year old chick who stood on the other side of the fence from us begging to be let in for beer and flashing away while she did. I found out she was 20 because she turned out to be the cousin of the wife of the guy standing next to us. And I must say it was a little uncomfortable how much attention he was paying his young wife's cousin with his wife standing right next to him. But in happy cruefest fashion his wife ended up finishing her beer and whipping out her whoppers too. Ah...the families that flash together stay together!
So about this time Buckcherry comes on. This caused at least 50% of the beer garden to clear out and the individual beer lines to dwindle down to nothing. Excellent. I dig Buckcherry, but I've seen them before and was really there for the Crue so me and Tara get our Magic
Hats and actually end up getting seats on one of the few benches by the gate.
With Buckcherry playing in the background, we were witness first to this woman in her 50's being heavily hit on by this HAMMERED dude until she yelled at him to get the fuck away from her and bother someone else as her husband was coming back.
This this guy who was surely drunk, but DEFINITELY on something else comes over and sits in the empty spot behind my sister. He's leaning on her so she gets up to go the the porto and somehow I became his best friend. He's chattering away until my sis comes back and sits down, then for some reason he stands up and goes to sit back down and totally misses the bench and lands on his ass on the grass. Oh man, I love a good beer tent.
He gets up when two babes come over and chats them up for a few and leaves.
Some time passes, Me and Tara are finishing our beers and Buckcherry is about finishing their set when perhaps that guys PCP kicked in and he comes running over to me and kneels down and gets about 8 inches from my face and for about 8 minutes he is yelling at me (not mad at me, as I'm somewhat egging him on and agreeing with everything he's saying - just talking VERY LOUDLY and EMOTIONAL like) about some nonsense involving scab workers and Unions and he runs some union and here look at my SPAC shirt and how the local radio station is telling lies about his union and he's "concrete" (he kept saying this) - I'll admit...it was a bit scary. I don't know what set him off, but just glad he thought I was a friend. So I eventually stand up and tell him it's time for the crue and it was the last we saw of him.
I've seen the Crue numerous times and this was nowhere near the best. Not performance wise though, they were energetic, sounded great, etc, more the song selection - only one song from Too Fast for Love, but we get SOS (Same Ol' Situation), Don't Go Away Mad, Primal Scream (in a row no less almost right after Tommy Lee's titty cam break which just kinda brought the show to a halt for me). But they start strong and end strong and if Crue fest continues each year I'll be back, just not at SPAC.
So that was Friday night's party with 15 thousand or so drunkards, the next night continues with 15 thousand more at Bethel Woods for Journey with Heart and Cheap Trick
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