Roger Waters - July 3, 2012 / Consol Energy Center

So ya

Thought WE

Might like to

Go to the show

That pretty much sums it.  Me, Gig and Elyssa hit the Roger Waters concert at Consol last night.  We went down there with pretty much nothing.  Actually, I take that back.  We had 4 signs, 2 turkey wraps (comprised of leaf lettuce, mozzarella, plum tomato, and a hint of Dijon), a bottle of red wine and a Captain & coke.  I didn't take pictures of the food or beverages.  But I did use the camera on my I-phone for the first time...

  

Gig's friend Elyssa was in town from Sacramento and she was committed to getting in.  But we were going to stick to our guns.  Speaking of guns, Roger Waters was fast and furious last night with the machine gun fire.

Completely bad ass.  Let me give you an idea of what I'm talking about ("Bear" on Maury Povich when he's proven not to be the father).  Here's another snippet from the In The Flesh opener.  

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" - additional comment from Bear in regard to the second paternity test.

Of course this is from the United Center in Chicago, but you pretty much get the gist of it.  So how much did we pay to see this spectacle?  As you may have surmised, we made $20... and parked for free at the Church of the Moops on the cusp of the hood.  We literally flew into our parking spot much like that plane crashed into the wall.  As Gig ripped up the emergency brake, a young, white thug scrambled for his life.  Initially obscured by a van (belonging to the hallowed Pixburgh Moops), I think he was either taking a piss or rolling a doobie.  Either way, we freaked him out a little.  I don't think we've ever made it to the venue so quickly.  Probably about 5 minutes from her house to an outer Moop.  Not bad.

We immediately ran into Danno and G Max who were also sans tix.  We all began to pound the pavement in the usual quest.  The gals sported the signs, but to no avail.   It seemed harder than usual.  Not many tickets floating about.  Probably because Wednesday was the Fourth of July.  AJ and Cousin Mike strolled by and offered some fleeting condolences as crunch time quickly approached.  About ten minutes til 8 pm, the other 3 got nervous and walked to the upper box office.  Then, as luck would have it, Danno spotted a ticket lying on the ground.  Badda Bing, Badda Boom.  Apparently, I stepped right over it.  You'd think I'd be more cognizant of the immaculate ground score. But alas, my mind was elsewhere.  Anyway, he quickly sold it for $80 and then bought a ticket in 114 (alongside the perimeter of the wide screen which pretty much morphed into "the wall").  The others coughed up the obligatory $100 per ticket.  Ouch.

I went back to the lower level and ran into Tim the Scalper.  He said, "Your woman's way up there in line.  I think she's gotta a line on some tix."  Before I could respond, a small, very pregnant looked at me.  With a gruff voice, she barked, "You need a ticket.  Here ya go.  What the fuck am I gonna do with it ???"  As I thanked her profusely, she muttered, "That's cool.  Have a good one!"

Sweet.  Now we had three freebies.  Right at crunch time too.  So I ended up selling my extra to Tim for $20 and we hurried in.  We then met up with everyone in the Captain Morgan lounge.  What happened next, I was unprepared for.  The tickets Gig got from those guys were section 112, row f'in B (that's row "B" as in "Bitchin" or "Bitchtastic.").  And they were aisle seats to top it off.  For those unfamiliar with the layout of Consol, these were some of the absolute best tickets in the house.  They were listed as comps but they had to be in the $220 face value zone.  Badda Boom, Badda Bing.  We hung out for the first set and then I ventured to the other seats with the townies.  I figured Elyssa would enjoy the second half in the kill zone.

So what did I think of the concert?  First off, it really wasn't a rock concert.  It was more of a performance or masterpiece, if you will.  I refuse to even rank it in my top shows.  I will always consider it separate.  Too many highlights to mention.  I will say this... at one point, my eyes welled up and I almost cried.  For those unfamiliar with my emotional state, I cried once back in 1992 and another time in second grade.  Other than that, I rarely break down in tears.  My mother said "I cried a little bit when I was an infant, but other than diaper related issues, "I was a good baby."

Mother should I trust the government

Mother will they put me in the firing line

I'll guess we'll see what happens.  If my hunches about history are accurate, those lyrics could be prophetic.  So glad I got to see Roger Waters.  In retrospect, he was most definitely on the bucket list.
Not only that, but the Pirates took control of first place last night with a ninth inning run to beat the Houston Astros (5-4).  Once more time... "Now that's I'm talking about."

So I woke up at 5:30 am and hoofed it back to Wheeltown.  I crashed the Freedom Race - a 5 mile journey through delightful downtown Wheeling.  Man, it was a hot one.  For those who give a damn, I did it in 45:03.  That's an unofficial time though. "Unofficial" because I didn't cough up the mandatory $20.  I know, I'm horrible.  Truth be told, this is the first time I've ever ducked an entry fee.  Don't worry - there wasn't a charitable cause.  I suppose you could make the argument, "I really know how to put the "free" in "freedom" (it being the Jewish 4th of Jew-lie).  We also call this putin' the "yahoo" in Benjamin Netanyahu).