Thursday, November 6, 2008

A different kind of Atmosphere...

We had our first big hip-hop show last night: Atmosphere. Tonight we have An Irish Homecoming. Last weekend we had Beauty and the Beast.

Diversity, anyone?

Good thing we're not doing an afternoon show for kids today, cuz it kinda smells like booze in here.

Atmosphere's crew brought in a sick subwoofer that shook my whole body when the bass notes were thumping. It also shook some of the plaster and paint off the walls, unfortunately. The more of these bass-heavy shows we do, the more we need to tuck away for capital maintenance.

Not much to say, other than that I thought it was a cool show. It was more than sold out a couple hours before the show - standing room only. Most everyone was standing anyway.

Oh - and just a reminder for everyone, to save you and us the trouble of dealing with it the night of a show:

Ya can't smoke in here. Anywhere. Anything. You stick out like a chimney, and when we find you, ya can't stay. Sorry - them's the rules.

Check out the pics, y'all.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Oh, the Horror.

I didn't see the Rocky Horror Picture show the last time it played at the Englert, ten years ago. In fact, I hadn't seen it all. Ever. I can count on one hand the number of people I know who can say the same thing.

After seeing - or rather, experiencing - it tonight at the Englert, I get what all the fuss is about:

It's a football game. A music festival. A political rally.
It's a shared social experience. You have to be there to really get it and understand it. It's less about what's happening on screen, and more about what's happening around you.

Duh. This is surely not news for those who have seen it one or one hundred times, and it's what I had always heard. But still - seeing it? Yeah, I get it.

It's hard not to be impressed by the allegiance of the fans, their depth of knowledge about what and when to scream, and their willingness to give 30-year-ago Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry a run for their money in the campy sexpot department.

Around 400 people turned out. Everyone was cool, got into it, no problems, the Riff Raff guys did great, staff and Transylvanians alike threw down to clean up afterwards... I think one person puked, but other than that the cleanup was all dry goods.

I think it was a big success, and I hope we do it again.

Check out some pictures here.