March 14, 2005

• ANNOUNCING THE JOSH GROBAN – METALLICA WORLD TOUR

  
  

   

  
  

  I mentioned in my last post that I was going to see Josh Groban in concert at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City and that I’d let everyone know how the concert was. I took a lot of grief at work for spending so much money on tickets to a concert that my co-workers categorized as nothing but “glorified elevator music”, but I can say that the concert was as finely orchestrated an evening of entertainment as I hoped it would be.  As I was entering the arena for the show I suddenly realized that the last “large-venue” concert I attended was when I took my son and some of his buddies to go see Metallica at the International Raceway in St. Louis.

  
  

   

  
  

  That was a somewhat different experience.

  
  

   

  
  

  Do you remember those dreadful “compare and contrast” papers that you had to write for your freshman comp and western lit classes in college?  As I pondered the two concerts I decided that it might be an interesting exercise in this case:

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica: There were literally hundreds of young women baring their breasts for the appreciation of the band.  Josh Groban: I didn’t see a single breast, but I did have an 80 year old woman flash me a little glimpse of slip on her way back from the bathroom.

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica: I couldn’t understand the lyrics because James Hetfield isn’t exactly known for precise articulation. Josh Groban: I couldn’t understand the lyrics because most of them were in Italian.

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica: Most of the audience was in their twenties and most of the band was in their fifties. Josh Groban:  The performer was in his twenties and most of the audience was in their fifties.

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica:  There was a haze over the audience that smelled suspiciously like burning rope. Josh Groban: There was a haze over the audience that smelled suspiciously like Ben Gay.

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica: The show started with James screaming “We’re here to rock this f*^king house!”  Josh Groban: The show was started with Josh screaming “Je suis ici pour roche la maison baiser! (Literally – I’m here to rock this f*^king house!)  Ok…not really.

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica: The St. Louis fire department was there to actually “hose down” overheated concert goers. Josh Groban: For twenty bucks a guy in a tuxedo would dab your temples with a little Perrier.

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica: The band shared the stage with Kid Rock and a midget. Josh Groban:  Josh shared the stage with his concert master and several members of the OKC symphony (although some of them were kind of short).

  
  

   

  
  

  Metallica: There were lots of muscular men in bright yellow t-shirts labeled “security” stationed strategically around the arena in order to keep hormonal 15 year old girls from storming the stage. Josh Groban: There were lots of muscular men in bright yellow t-shirts labeled “security” stationed strategically around the arena in order to keep hormonal 15 year old girls from storming the stage.

  
  

   

  
  

  Actually, the two concerts had a great deal in common. There was an eclectic mix of people at both shows because good music, whether is be a metal power ballad, or an orchestral power ballad, speaks to people of all ages. I was a music major in college and grad school and I still never ceased to be amazed at the shear emotional impact that music of all kinds can have on the human spirit.  Back in college I met my share of musical snobs. You can find them everywhere, and they appear to have followed me to my workplace. I had no tolerance for them then and I have no tolerance for them now. I may not like a particular type of music, but that doesn’t mean that it has any less power to touch the mind and soul of a person who does. For them and all the others in the world that look down at others because of their musical tastes, I’ll close with a line from a Don McLean song that Josh covered at his concert:

  
  

   

  
  

  And now I think I know what you tried to say to me
  how you suffered for your sanity
  how you tried to set them free.
  They would not listen
  they’re not
  list’ning still
  perhaps they never will.

  
  

   

  • 11:43 pm
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