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Topic: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10 (Read 1732 times) |
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nmf016
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Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« on: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:24pm » |
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Okay, so, I travelled down to Thackerville, OK and the surrounding area for NYE. Here’s my review.
I want to start by saying that I did not always intend to go. I had attended the last two NYE shows and planned to attend again. When the pretty unusual location was announced, my travel mates and I worked out the logistics and decided we would accept the challenge of going to the middle of nowhere. In ten years, it would be funny to say I had randomly spent my birthday and NYE in Oklahoma.. Then the ticketing info came out. I didn’t like the set up, I did not want to pay what they were asking, I opted out.
Then I had the worst month of my life for reasons I am not going to discuss on a public forum. Shortly after a serious issue was on its way to recovery, I was given an opportunity to attend NYE and this time I took it because I had earned a short escape from reality at that point. This really has nothing to do with my review, it’s just me poorly explaining to certain people why I said I was not going and ended up going in the end.
I had some discussions about how this NYE would go before we went. I expected that the concerts would be poorly attended disasters but I also expected that I would have a lot of fun with a friend I don’t get to see very often.
Anyways..
I hoped for a birthday grope at the airport and could have settled for a reverse birthday body scan peep show but unfortunately I was sent through a metal detector (and informed my liquids bag was too big). I flew into Dallas/Fort Worth Thursday morning where S was already waiting for me. From there, we picked up our rental car (We named him Rich, after Richmond, VA because he had Virginia plates. Why shouldn’t we have VA plates in TX, right?) and made the journey north to Gainesville, TX without any real trouble except for being thoroughly unprepared to navigate TX highway exits.
We spent the first night at a hotel in Gainesville for two reasons – it was the ‘big city’ and it was considerably cheaper than Thackerville’s options (I am about 95% certain the band and crew stayed in Gainesville for 2 of the 3 nights they were there). The ‘big city’ had a couple fast food chains, about 4 restaurants and a bunch of hotels. We stayed at a newer hotel and our view from the top floor was a brown field with some cows. Not kidding, middle of nowhere.
After settling in to our hotel room, we decided to drive to the casino just to make sure we could find it and to pick up our concert tickets for 12/30. We crossed into Oklahoma, found the casino because it is the ONLY thing in Thackerville, did what we needed to do, and went back to TX. At some point, I decided to become a tourist and made S take me to the Texas Welcome Center and then we toured the ‘city’ and drove around the insane TX highway exits for a while (in seventy degree weather!!). We had dinner, got ready at our hotel and headed back to OK for concert #1.
We milled around the casino for a while (I won $18 on penny slots. Whoo!!) and then went into the venue when the doors opened. We were in row CC, which was third row in our section, but behind two rows of ‘house’ seats, so we were actually fifth row, which was fine. We spent some time talking to J and M, who S knew, and then talked to K for a while (who S and I both know). There were no openers and the show started right on time.
This is not meant to be an insult, but the 12/30 show was really unremarkable. There was very little banter, the setlist was the same old one that needs to die – expect AEOM was cut. Some lyrics were messed up in Broadway, John thanked us for cheering for an encore even though we knew they’d come back, that’s about it for them. I recorded the audio of the show but no video because security known to be very strict at the venue and I had security very close all night. We moved up to row BB right when the show started because the guy in front of me was seven fucking feet tall and I decided not to push my luck too much more. For me, the most memorable part of the 12/30 show was the audience, which I will get to later.
After the show, S and I met up with K, H and A and we decided to go have a drink and talk for a while. We ended up in the Toby Keith restaurant (America, fuck yeah!!!!) mostly because I dared K to suggest it to S. So we hung out for a while next to the cow patterned booths and the ‘Read, y’all’ posters and told stories and laughed and just had a really nice time.
S and I drove back to our hotel and tried to sleep after being awake for about 21 hours. The whistling window from hell, hailstorm and difficult thermostat made it challenging, but whatever.
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nmf016
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #1 on: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:24pm » |
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The next day we got up, checked out and drove around for a while. We visited the OK Welcome Center, revisited the TX Welcome Center because I had lost my Bibleville pamphlets, visited the Western Outlet store where I saw more boots and belt buckles than I could have hoped for, drove out to see some ranches (and get chased by dogs) and then stopped at heavenly Sonic. I have Sonic commercials at home and have spent my whole life wanting Sonic drinks, but the closest one is like 160 miles away in a really unfortunate location so I absolutely needed to go. The truth is that Sonic is the only real reason I flew to TX.
After Sonic, we made our way back to the casino in OK. We were too early to check in so we camped out in K and H’s room (thank you!!) for a while. Then we checked in, picked up our tickets for the 12/31 show and had some quiet time. It’s important to note that this was the first time we saw the itinerary for the night which told us the GGDs would be offstage before midnight.
The hours leading up to the show were different than the other NYE shows I have attended. About six of us hung around in a quiet area outside the venue and talked and came and went but no one really lined up early. It was very relaxed and pleasant. No one was trying to play games or cut lines or scheme even as more people arrived. Both S and I had M&G passes so we didn’t even have to care about lines because we assumed we’d have to forfeit our spots on the floor anyways.
The venue was set up differently than the seat show the night before. There were tables of 8 or 10 that everyone was assigned to. There was a buffet set up and it really did look like a wedding reception. No one was made to go to their table so when we were allowed in, a lot of the fans went right to the pit in front of the stage while the others went to their tables or to the food line. S and I were directed to a couch to wait for our M&G.
After our M&G, we were allowed to go back into the concert room. Our friends had kindly ‘stood wide’ for us at the rail and there were so few people waiting on the floor that we easily claimed our spot. I was directly in front of Robby.
From here, I could write an entire thesis on what happened. For now, I will stick with the actual performance.
Again, no opener. The Goos went on around 9. We had a clear view of the setlist so we knew what to expect. The only changes from the night before were January Friend swapped in for Another Second Time Around and Something For the Rest of Us acoustic swapped in for AEOM, which was in the axe spot (SFTROU made it, but Broadway was cut off the end).
The show was alright. It wasn’t the best, it wasn’t the worst, but it will be one that always stands out in my mind. We knew it would be a small show because it was pretty much only high rollers and a small group of fans, but I didn’t expect the high rollers to be as awful as they were. There were only a few rows of people in the pit and by the end, it seemed like a significant percentage of the high rollers had left the room. Most people would jump at the chance to have such an ‘intimate’ show with so few people, but it was uncomfortable and almost embarrassing to be happening in such a cavernous room.
The highlight of the crowd sucking was that the band kind of embraced the small group of us that were there for the concert. By the end, they were performing for us, not everyone in the room. John made a few remarks about it being more like a wedding reception than a NYE concert and he did a fake countdown really half heartedly, but towards the end he made a comment about how the group was ‘small and mighty’ and he was not talking about everyone in the room. More on this later. Someone had brought two plastic champagne bottles of confetti with them and offered up one to John (who we all know loves shiny shit). He happily sprayed the crowd with confetti. It was that shitty leftover confetti that is in little tiny pieces that could, like, shred your corneas. I got nailed with it and found some in my hair days later and there is still a pile riding around in my purse. When he was offered the second bottle of confetti, he promptly dumped the whole thing on a cameraman and his camera. The guy took it in stride but I don’t know what effects it will have on the camera..
The highlight was certainly SFTROU acoustic. I don’t believe John and Korel had done this in a proper concert setting up until this point and it was beautiful. During the ‘We belong’ part, the entire crowd in the pit was singing with John and nearly drowning him out. I don’t want to get overly dramatic, but the whole night had been very fans vs. highrollers and it was this really nice unifying moment between the band and the fans.
They cut Broadway out of the encore and were off the stage by about 10:45. The room was incredibly empty. We were all kind of like ‘now wtf do we do for NYE?’ Everyone went up to their hotel rooms to change or do whatever before regrouping. S went back down to the venue before the rest of us and she ended up meeting Robby, who, along with Mike, had come out to meet people for a few minutes. They were gone by the time K, H, J, M and me made it back. We all claimed a table and some champagne and counted down to 2011 with the shitty shitty shitty dj that the staff had decided was more qualified to ring in the new year than the Goos. After that, we headed over to the buffet we had passes for and hung out for a while.
We said our goodbyes, went to bed and were up bright and early the next morning to check out and make our way back to the airport. Aside from a fuel door disaster while trying to re-fuel (it seriously took us 10 minutes and many laughs to open our fuel door), we made it to the airport with no issues. I finally got my body scan full of delicious radiation and pseudo-nudity, took a ride around on the Skylink (S humored me), and was on my way home.
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| « Last Edit: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:25pm by nmf016 » |
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nmf016
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #2 on: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:24pm » |
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The finer details:
The audience: The 12/30 show was better attended than I would have guessed it would be. I couldn’t see all the way to the back, but there was only a little spottiness in my section. I am awfully familiar with high rollers getting preferred seating so the fact that there were two rows at the front for them didn’t shock me. What did shock me was that they were actually roped off with security guarding them. When the Goos went onstage, only about half of them stood or went to the railing, which was a decent distance away. There were not even enough people in the front two rows to fill the railing. Many of them came and went for beer
The 12/31 show only had a fraction of the people the 12/30 show did. The room was only set up for 400-500 people or so and I would guess that 85% of them did not even know who the Goos were. They were there because their tickets were free and there was food. When I was in line to get a bottle of water before the show, an older man came up to S and I and asked if we could tell him a song they performed and what kind of music they played. I’m honestly not saying it to be insulting, but the lack of people who gave a damn about the performers was astounding in a way I cannot even describe. I have no idea why the band or the casino thought the band was the right fit for the people who were ‘invited’ to this event. It was 100 times worse than I had expected and it totally killed the mood a night like NYE should have.
The set up for 12/31: It really was set up like a wedding reception. There was a ‘dance floor’ but it was primarily set up for people to eat and drink with a band playing in the background – which was NOT the way the ticket packages were sold to fans. I think all fans assumed the band would be playing and counting down to the new year at midnight – and I think it would be a fair assumption. I won’t speak for anyone else, but I did not find out that they would be off the stage well before midnight until that afternoon. The band most certainly would have known before 12/31 that they weren’t playing through midnight and even if the venue didn’t tell us, I really do believe the band should have had the balls to tell us before 12/31.
The whole ‘situation’ – The set up for this NYE was not right for the band – at all. From the day the details were announced, I have tried to understand why they chose to book this show. I want to make it clear I am not judging the location. One of two things happened – either they took the highest paying show they were offered or they took the only show they were offered. If they took the only show that was offered, then I wish they had been more forward with that information because I would be less inclined to judge their decision.
If they booked this show because it was the highest paying one, I hope that in the future they weigh the paycheck vs the freedom of their offers. People have made excuses for them for this show – that they didn’t know the terms until after they had signed the contract – and that is not the way good businessmen work. After 25 years in the business, I truly believe they know the importance of reading a contract (or have a booking agent that does). If they truly did not know the terms of the contract before signing, they need to fire whoever booked this show for them.
However, if the band did know the terms of the contract before signing (and I believe they did) then John needed to leave out the remarks about the awful audience and performance time. You don’t get to ‘eat your cake and have it too’, you don’t get the big paycheck and the exact set up you want. Also, I truly believe the band owed it to the fans to be clear up front how the night was going to happen and that it was designed to cater to high rollers.
I attended NYE this year with huge reservations so I’m not asking for pity for parts of the NYE situation being disappointing. But I think it’s fair that I review these shows the way I actually feel instead of sugar coating it all. I hope people’s lukewarm response to these shows makes the band realize this is not the way to go for future shows.
ALL THAT BEING SAID, I had a fantastic time adventuring around TX and OK with a friend. I laughed for hours with some people I have known for years and some people I had just met. I won $21 (paid to top off our gas tank before returning our car). I got to make a complete ass out of myself in front of the band! Not a terrible way to spend a birthday, end my year and start a new one.
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| « Last Edit: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:26pm by nmf016 » |
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nmf016
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #4 on: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:33pm » |
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But really, can we just discuss this picture? It is posted on the highway right by the casino/hotel. We actually parked at the hotel's inn and ran across the deadly grass to get a close up.
Because, okay, I guess some people have these signs where they live. But I live in the wet Great Lakes region and grass is never in danger of just going up in fucking flames.
But THEN, it's on fucking EXTREME. Not just 'oh, it's a little dry here'. It's 'YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY MILES OF GRASS THAT COULD GO UP IN FLAMES AT ANY FUCKING MOMENT AND YOU WILL DIE. ENJOY!'. Give me some snow any day!
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| « Last Edit: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:41pm by nmf016 » |
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nmf016
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #5 on: Jan 6th, 2011, 6:41pm » |
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My Meet and Greet disaster:
I've kind of made it a point not to meet the band. I attended one M&G six and a half years ago (with Shannon!) and really only had an opportunity to say hi to John. Robby had been attacked by a group of guys and Mike just seemed SO uncomfortable that I avoided him. There were like 10 people all meeting and greeting at once so it was easy enough to kind of avoid it. Like a year later, I met Robby at a cd signing he was doing locally. I wanted a signed cd but wanted to avoid actually meeting him so I strategically placed myself to go up to him when someone else would be right behind me so I could do it quickly.
Since then, I've avoided a handful of signing and M&G opportunities. I never know what you'd do in a M&G. It seemed pointless to use your 2.5 seconds to introduce yourself because it really doesn't matter if they know your name since they won't be seeing you again. I have no important items I want to give them. I have no desire to say John Rzeznik has touched me. I'm not a hugger. I don't want to saddle them with some horrific story. I've always felt like meeting them would give them an opportunity to accidentally offend me in some way and then I'd have to hate them and I didn't need to give them the chance to do that. Long story short, I am awkward and insane.
On a whim, I entered the two M&Gs for 12/30 and 12/31 and hoped to lose. I ended up winning for 12/31 and so did my friend S. I wasn't sure I was going to go through with it but decided that if I was ever going to do it, having moral support with me was the best way to go. I also considered that we don't know how much longer the band will be around and I suppose it would be nice to have a picture after 13 years of this fandom.
So...
We got our wristbands and went to the side of the stage where we were going to be let backstage. Security Mike came over and then the first four of us were allowed in. I was number 2. The backdrop was turned in a way that you couldn't see each others' M&Gs as they happened.
I had decided I was going for boring. I was just going to shake their hands, wish them a happy new year, have a picture taken, and move on. How wrong could that go?
So I went around the backdrop and they were all lined up. First I said hi to Robby, then John and then when it came time to say hi to Mike I said 'Hi Robby'. FUCK ME.
It gets a little blurry at that point because I was dying on the inside. I don't know if someone began to correct me but then I was like 'OMG, you are not Robby, you are Mike. And I know that. I'm so sorry' and Mike said it was okay.
At that point, I ran away from Mike to the other side of John because that's kind of where there was space for me to be. John already kind of had his arm out to place me next to him. As we all positioned ourselves I was just like 'God, I'm going to be that person you all remember after this for being a disaster' and John and Robby were laughing (No idea what poor Mike was doing). Then Robby looked at me and goes, 'It's okay. For the first three years, we called Mike Jennifer.' (This is actually true.)
Then the picture was taken and since I had already completely made an ass out of myself, as I left, I reached to shake Mike's hand and said 'Happy new year, Jennifer.'
I would not hate myself so much if I had called either of the other two by the wrong name. If I had done it to John, I would have laughed forever. But Mike already gets so ignored and he definitely seems the least comfortable with M&Gs and I felt so awful for screwing his name up. It also totally made it look like I was the type of person who was like 'Well, I'm going to meet this band. I should check a cd and figure out what their names are'. And I just wanted to be like 'I know your full name and the date you joined the band and your birthday and your siblings' names and totally know I drove past your college on the way here' but that would have been equally horrible.
So yeah. Never again. Still cringing. Still haven't gotten the courage to go see/save my picture.
(Question for people who have gone through this horrible process. Did John have a death grip on you while posing for the picture? I've always judged fans for having photos where they are pressed up against John but he totally pulled me against him even though it put our arms and shoulders into weird positions where I had to, like, grip his back to keep upright. I need to know if this is normal and if I have to forgive all of the girls who are pressed into him. This is the only thing I actually noticed about John because he was not even on my fucking radar during my disastrous moment with the band.)
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| « Last Edit: Jan 6th, 2011, 7:36pm by nmf016 » |
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rzezniksangel
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #6 on: Jan 6th, 2011, 9:26pm » |
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Ok, you had quite the experience on your trip...when you tell this story 10 years from now you'll be happy you went! 
The last time I met them I swear I thought John was trying to squeeze me to death!
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DWG
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #7 on: Jan 6th, 2011, 11:42pm » |
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Okay, so I laughed out loud several times through your story, but it's because you have a unique way of expressing yourself. I like the honesty, the sarcasm, the detail and observations.
Regarding the squeezing...are you short? I think us shorties cause a certain ~awkwardness~ when a taller guy is posing with us in a picture...they have to lean in, and maybe that's what happened. On the other hand, Robby lines up really well with us shorter folk.
That's my theory and I'm stickin' to it.
And "Jennifer" is a lovely name. Just sayin'.
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Shannon
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #8 on: Jan 7th, 2011, 9:49am » |
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I read this late late last night and just haven't had time to comment yet. I'm not ignoring this since I begged you to write it Comments to follow when I have 15 minutes to sit down today. And thank you so much for taking the time to write out all the details good and bad. I truly love your reviews.
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| « Last Edit: Jan 7th, 2011, 10:02am by Shannon » |
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Nicole
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Re: Thackerville, OK 12/30/10 and 12/31/10
« Reply #9 on: Jan 11th, 2011, 3:44am » |
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Thanks for the review! Your meet and greet doens't sound as awful as I thought it was going to be
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