Tonight hubby and I had lawn tickets to Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in NY. We have attended concerts at this venue since we were seventeen, back when lawn tickets were two bucks. (These were forty apiece) We used to bring our girls to concerts here when they were little and the tickets were twenty bucks, so we are very familiar with lawn tickets. We know the drill – we always used to bring a blanket and a bucket of chicken, a few bags, chairs and coolers, etc.
I arrived in NY about three today and if we wanted dinner, we needed to leave at four. My husband looked at me and said, “What about bringing a blanket? We don’t have any chairs here. We didn’t think this out too well.” I told him to put the blankets in the car and we’ll decide when we get there. Well when we got there he decided he didn’t want to carry them around. I said let’s just go in without chairs or blankets and be mobile all night. It was the best decision. We got drinks and sat on a bench until the concert started. Wandered around during the warm up act, standing next to a few trees in the back. Went back for another drink to wait for Kelly to come on. Sat on the bench some more. It was great not to have to find and keep a spot or not be able to leave our bags and chairs.
When Kelly came on I really wanted to see her. It was a capacity crowd and there wasn’t even a smidgen of lawn (actually dirt) territory to be found even if we did have a chair. We sauntered down the handicap ramp to the extreme left of the amphitheater. Half way down the ramp we stopped and stood in front of a large screen. We had the best view, until security moved everyone off the ramp. Before he got to us, we climbed inside the railing where people were sitting amongst the landscaping. I found myself a nice little nest in the plants, sat with a glass of wine and thoroughly enjoyed Kelly.
She was right on. Serious voice in person. This was the first concert I’ve been to in years where the band didn’t drown out the vocalist. She had it in perfect balance. She sang every one of my favorite songs and saved “The People Like Us” for the encore and wore a dress and glasses made out of glow sticks with neon lipstick. It was very cool. The whole performance was energetic and she managed the stage well.
For the next intermission before Adam, we were free to move about the venue again without the burden of chairs and bags. When Adam came on we ventured up on top and stood in the back watching on the big screens. He also sounded great. I’m a big Maroon 5 fan and really enjoyed their music. From the back Adam sounded amazing. He, too, had it balanced really well and his band didn’t drown him out. We decided to leave before the end because with the amount of people there tonight, it would’ve easily been an hour walk back to our car.
Adam and Kelly were awesome, but the best part of the concert lawn experience was NOT taking chairs. Sometimes you just have to go with what you have (or don’t have) and you end up having a new and better experience. (Just like the Harpoon Brewery experience in Boston – tonight I wore my UFO shirt which has turned out to be the best T shirt I ever owned.)
And so, as another day goes by, I’m learning life is so much more fun when I let go of always having to have everything perfect and planned, and …I have written.
My “nest”:
And the view from it:
So smart!