Dateline Dayton – Last week I took Pauline to a Josh Groban concert at the Fraze Pavilion, an outdoor facility here in the suburb of Kettering. I am not a fan of concerts. Once I had a bad experience attending a Cher performance at the Nutter Center, on the campus of Wright State University in Fairborn, another suburb.
I paid very good money for what I thought were going to be great floor seats, in the first section. They looked impressive on the seating chart. However, they actually were in the last row. If that wasn’t bad enough, everybody stood. The only way for us to see Cher was to join them.
Worse, besides the drinking and smoking of who-knows-what, the handicapped section was directly behind our seat. The only way for these good people to see was via the monitors. You-know-who was blocking their line of vision. Standing there, I felt guilty. I knew I would be blocking whatever view they might have. I guess you go to concerts to hear the music rather than to actually see the performer.
I have taken Pauline to a few events the past couple years. We saw Michael Bolton at the Fraze, and he truly entertained the audience. Earlier this year I took her to see Johnny Mathis at the Clark Performance Center in Springfield, a wonderful evening of reminiscing.
The Josh Groban concert was quite worthwhile. He has an excellent voice. But he was 15 minutes late getting on stage. I find that inexcusable. We paid top dollar for our seats. Entertainers should be on time. It’s not as if they a just arrived at the venue. He even acknowledged he had done sound checks earlier. Just a lack of respect for fans who pay hard- earned dollars to attend his concerts.
Additionally, his orchestra, which included the Dayton Philharmonic, was so loud you hardly could hear the words he was singing. I do not understand why entertainers feel they need all that loud background music, especially when they have outstanding voices.
With all of my complaining, I am not a good, or typical, concert attendee. I really do enjoy them, though. The evening of Josh’s concert there was a beautiful starry sky. A partial moon added to the ambiance of evening. Add in the unseasonably cool August weather and that only enhanced our enjoyment. At least everyone wasn’t standing,during the performance.
Weather Thou Goest
Boy, when you wear a sweater or jacket in Ohio during August, that is something unusual. One thing that did concern about the concert was the number of people wearing hoodies. As you know, George Zimmerman claims people wearing this type of garment are members of gangs. They should be feared, even to the extent of shooting them. Fortunately, the lady seated a few rows in front of us didn’t cause problems. Neither did the man seated in front of her, even though his hoodie had the name “Gators” on the back.
On a More Mundane Note
Monday morning, my day off this week, after taking Pauline to breakfast, we headed to the Green County Fairgrounds in Xenia for an auction. I haven’t been to an auction for some time. Normally, Pauline does not accompany me. I was able to purchase a few Piqua postcards, and Pauline found jewelry. On the way home, she even commented that she had a good time. It was fun to attend together.
That evening we were at our second to last Dragon game. Unfortunately they lost 6-1. But as I have said, win or lose, we always have a good time.
Tuesday night I drove to Piqua to attend an event at the library. They had a presentation of early Piqua photos, taken by a relative, the late Step Lange. It was interesting seeing pictures of Piqua from 1945 to 1950, when I was growing up.
Random Tragedy
Although shooting deaths are a daily occurrence, I really was taken aback this week by the killing of Christopher Lane from Australia, in Duncan OK. A young man, 22, minding his own business, killed by three teenage thugs, for fun. How well does that speak of our country?
We have an Australian friend, who will visit us in November. I see where Australia’s former Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer, is encouraging Australians not to travel to the United States until we pass gun legislation. I hope our friend Milton will not postpone his visit because of this tragedy.
Guns do not kill. People do. Until we start dealing with the real problem, with or without gun legislation, there will be killings. No, I do not own a gun, and I am not a member of the NRA.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
