mission impossible

I went to the Kenny Chesney concert tonight at the Home Depot Center. Its my first time there, and have to say it was a really nice venue. Because its set with a college campus, its strangely comfortable, almost intimate, which is odd considering its a stadium.

The show was actually pretty good. As 'America's Gay Cowboy', his show and his band have gotten a lot butcher since the last time I saw him. He put on a great show and even sang a lot of his older stuff (like "Back Where I Come From", which always hits a nerve). I prefer that to his beach-era recent stuff, all of which seems to sound the same. I'd have rather heard more from him than the cameos from Uncle Kracker and Van Halen, but that's part of concert going in LA. From the design side, its one of the better uses of video screens and animation (well-designed animation even, not the typical cheesy concert stuff) that I've seen in a long while. They really take advantage of live multiple cameras and screens at some points with synced up pre-produced video and animation at other points.

I ended up having to go to the show by myself. My friend that I was supposed to go with ended up having to still work (he's a feature film editor and works insane schedules). I spent the day calling pretty much everyone I knew that might be open to going to a country concert. No takers. I gotta say, it does make you feel like you're a big loser. It's a sore spot with me about living in California.

Despite the silly California "cowboy" outfits everywhere, spotting the genuine ones in the crowd made me wistful for Texas. The warm night in an open stadium only added to it. It felt like one of countless concerts I went to when I lived in Dallas. Finding someone to go with there was never a chore. And certainly never impossible.

It was a good show. It was a nice night. But it left an empty hole that I'm getting tired of.