From when I discovered the Indigo Girls in about 1989 until I moved to Portland in 1998 - I saw them in concert probably 8 or 9 times. They came through Des Moines, or Ames, Lawrence or KC about once a year and we were always there. Steve and I saw them the first year that we lived here at Lilith Fair in PGE Park before they renovated it. And then - dry spell. None of my friends here were big fans - last summer I even had tickets to the show at the Veneta Vineyards outside Eugene, and ended up selling them on Craigslist because no one I knew here wanted to go and the airlines were being huge buggers and it was going to cost SSSS an arm and leg to try to come out for the weekend from Des Moines.
Last night - Kelly and Mark and I loaded up on some Bud (yes - really - it was all they had that wasn't dark and it was to hot to drink dark beer) MAX'd it out to the zoo - where you can then buy a bottle of wine (I can't imagine any other show I've been to in practically the past decade where they would voluntarily arm the crowd with big glass bottles) for pretty cheap and chilled on the lawn of the zoo ampitheatre until Amy and Emily hit the stage.
They started off with their biggest hit and then into the very appopriate for this time in the world "Shame on You" and we decided we couldn't contain ourselves at the back of the crowd and moved right down the very front amongst all the others who couldn't just sit and watch but had to dance and sing along. They played a great mixture of old songs from lots of different albums, stuff off of their soon to be released new album - there was a new song that Emily did that was just fantastic. They moved the soon-to-be-bride to tears with "The Power of Two" and when they played "Hammer and Nail" I had to call Anita and just hold the phone up. After more than two hours of just two amazing women and their guitars on stage they took a quick break and came back for a few song encore - closing the show with "Galileo"
We headed out back to the Max station where we jammed way more people that is probably legal onto the trains and headed back downtown. Everyone on the train was laughing and smiling and talking to strangers - I've never seen people so smashed into one place that were still having such fun. As one girl commented - everyone should be required to listen to the Indigo Girls before they get on Max and the world would be a better place.
Never again do I go 7 years between shows.
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1 comment:
i saw them back in the 90's too. both at the rose garden and the lillith fair. i loved them. i think i saw them other places too, but can't remember. way to go, getting down there and dancing. portland is sometimes a little to staid with live music and they just sit there like bumps on the log. glad you had a good time. dieselboi
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