Sugar Ray Concert
Sugar Ray was one of my favorite bands when I was a preteen. That's why when I heard a few months ago that they were going to be performing at my town, I just knew I had to go see them. The lake in my town holds a summer concert series every year and they were first on the list. The concert was last night.
So, these are free concerts and the way it works is via a kind of lottery system. You have to get up really early and get down there, get a wrist band with a color and number, and when they call your number you can go take your blanket and set it on a place on the grass. So, that's exactly what my mom did. I'm grateful to her for that. She got us a pretty decent spot that was off to the left side. Not the closest to the stage, but fairly close. They also had screens so you could see the band more closely, which was nice.
Later we got all of our lake cards renewed because they were expired. My parents' cards were from 30+ years ago lol. We just don't go that often. And it's only in the last several years that they've put expiration dates on them. Luckily we could get them renewed the same day. Simple process. We also brought our chairs over to the spot. My dad didn't want to go to the concert with us, so he was going to drop us off. Maybe it's just as well because there was hardly room for another chair. We also had invited my brother and maybe his girlfriend to come, but unfortunately he had to work. We went to the store to pick up drinks and chips to bring to the concert and we went back home for the rest of the day until it was concert time.
The concert was at 7pm and my mom wanted to leave at 6:20, but I was concerned that there would be a line of cars to deal with getting into the lake. We did end up leaving a little earlier, but that was probably not good enough. Here's the thing, by the time we got dropped off and made it to our spot it was about fifteen minutes before the concert started. The crowds were really immense and overwhelming and just getting and navigating around is a slow and cumbersome process. We found our spot and then got some candy from the vending machine and went to the bathroom. I didn't even want to dare try to go back for one last bathroom stop. I probably could have after the opening act was over, but it was madness. I didn't wind up drinking any of my drink for that reason. But, I made it through whole concert OK. We never ate our chips either. Just the candy.
So, the opening act was a band called Claremont Voodoo Society. They were a blues band and they were pretty good. Older dudes with interesting songs with strange lyrics like “Get your hands off of my girl” and something about “morphine being in fashion.” Again, unusual, but they were catchy tunes. I liked them.
Then it was a long wait before Sugar Ray finally came on. Like 45 minutes. But Mark McGrath (The lead singer) came in on a boat like a boss. The first song he sang sounded off, but apparently it was a soundcheck problem. He sounded better later on. Mark McGrath was so funny. Constantly cracking jokes between songs. He joked about doing a 45 minute blues solo and being 68, even though he's only 55. He was born in 1968. I love him. What I didn't know is that he used to live in my town from 1976-78, so that's really cool. He even went to elementary school here, and you can tell he has a lot of love and appreciation for my town. Sugar Ray is just one of those bands a lot of SoCal people know I think. It's a local thing.
But, getting back to the music... I knew all the songs and most of the lyrics. I don't think I can say that for any other concert I've been to. I'm a true fan of Sugar Ray, and have continued to be for years. I never stopped listening to their music. Mark also sang some covers too. There was a section where the band started to play a few songs, and he had to sing whatever they played. At least, that's what I think was happening. They included songs like “Blister in the Sun”, “How Bizarre” and even “I Want It That Way” by The Backstreet Boys lol. I was surprised when he sang one of his earlier tracks: “Mean Machine.” I wondered if he was going to sing something from those early days. There was one day I decided to check out Sugar Ray's early music, and I couldn't believe it was them because it's so different to what they would sing later. Much more hard rock and grunge, but I also love it.
Sugar Ray ended the night with their hit: “Fly.” And I was like, that's it? It's over? It felt kind of short, but I did have an enjoyable time and I'm glad I was able to see one of my favorite bands ever perform. They did sing quite a few of their hits.
Then came the chaos of getting out and getting picked up by my dad. The best way was to walk all the way to the park, which was about a mile walk. Fortunately, we got the kind of beach chairs that you can wear on your back like a backpack. That made things a lot easier. My mom wanted to move faster down the sidewalk. The people in front of us were too slow for her. We didn't really want to leave my dad waiting too long. It was a work out getting back.
I'm tired today. It's been a hectic week. Concert was great though and Mark McGrath had such a great sense of humor. Love that guy.
So, these are free concerts and the way it works is via a kind of lottery system. You have to get up really early and get down there, get a wrist band with a color and number, and when they call your number you can go take your blanket and set it on a place on the grass. So, that's exactly what my mom did. I'm grateful to her for that. She got us a pretty decent spot that was off to the left side. Not the closest to the stage, but fairly close. They also had screens so you could see the band more closely, which was nice.
Later we got all of our lake cards renewed because they were expired. My parents' cards were from 30+ years ago lol. We just don't go that often. And it's only in the last several years that they've put expiration dates on them. Luckily we could get them renewed the same day. Simple process. We also brought our chairs over to the spot. My dad didn't want to go to the concert with us, so he was going to drop us off. Maybe it's just as well because there was hardly room for another chair. We also had invited my brother and maybe his girlfriend to come, but unfortunately he had to work. We went to the store to pick up drinks and chips to bring to the concert and we went back home for the rest of the day until it was concert time.
The concert was at 7pm and my mom wanted to leave at 6:20, but I was concerned that there would be a line of cars to deal with getting into the lake. We did end up leaving a little earlier, but that was probably not good enough. Here's the thing, by the time we got dropped off and made it to our spot it was about fifteen minutes before the concert started. The crowds were really immense and overwhelming and just getting and navigating around is a slow and cumbersome process. We found our spot and then got some candy from the vending machine and went to the bathroom. I didn't even want to dare try to go back for one last bathroom stop. I probably could have after the opening act was over, but it was madness. I didn't wind up drinking any of my drink for that reason. But, I made it through whole concert OK. We never ate our chips either. Just the candy.
So, the opening act was a band called Claremont Voodoo Society. They were a blues band and they were pretty good. Older dudes with interesting songs with strange lyrics like “Get your hands off of my girl” and something about “morphine being in fashion.” Again, unusual, but they were catchy tunes. I liked them.
Then it was a long wait before Sugar Ray finally came on. Like 45 minutes. But Mark McGrath (The lead singer) came in on a boat like a boss. The first song he sang sounded off, but apparently it was a soundcheck problem. He sounded better later on. Mark McGrath was so funny. Constantly cracking jokes between songs. He joked about doing a 45 minute blues solo and being 68, even though he's only 55. He was born in 1968. I love him. What I didn't know is that he used to live in my town from 1976-78, so that's really cool. He even went to elementary school here, and you can tell he has a lot of love and appreciation for my town. Sugar Ray is just one of those bands a lot of SoCal people know I think. It's a local thing.
But, getting back to the music... I knew all the songs and most of the lyrics. I don't think I can say that for any other concert I've been to. I'm a true fan of Sugar Ray, and have continued to be for years. I never stopped listening to their music. Mark also sang some covers too. There was a section where the band started to play a few songs, and he had to sing whatever they played. At least, that's what I think was happening. They included songs like “Blister in the Sun”, “How Bizarre” and even “I Want It That Way” by The Backstreet Boys lol. I was surprised when he sang one of his earlier tracks: “Mean Machine.” I wondered if he was going to sing something from those early days. There was one day I decided to check out Sugar Ray's early music, and I couldn't believe it was them because it's so different to what they would sing later. Much more hard rock and grunge, but I also love it.
Sugar Ray ended the night with their hit: “Fly.” And I was like, that's it? It's over? It felt kind of short, but I did have an enjoyable time and I'm glad I was able to see one of my favorite bands ever perform. They did sing quite a few of their hits.
Then came the chaos of getting out and getting picked up by my dad. The best way was to walk all the way to the park, which was about a mile walk. Fortunately, we got the kind of beach chairs that you can wear on your back like a backpack. That made things a lot easier. My mom wanted to move faster down the sidewalk. The people in front of us were too slow for her. We didn't really want to leave my dad waiting too long. It was a work out getting back.
I'm tired today. It's been a hectic week. Concert was great though and Mark McGrath had such a great sense of humor. Love that guy.