The Cheap Seats Were The Best In The House

As mentioned in yesterday's post, Jackie and I enjoyed a night on the town Wednesday when we went out for sushi and a show, in this case, an Elton John concert. It was a fun, fun night!

We met at our favorite sushi spot, I Love Sushi at 6:30 p.m. Thankfully, I had arrived about 15 minutes early (because I'm weird like that) and was able to get us on a list for a table. Apparently a lot of people had the same plan in mind for the evening because one couple that was at the restaurant sat just one section over from us at the show. The sushi was as delicious as ever, although the service, for the first time wasn't so swell. I think the girl that waited on us was slammed as she had a large section of tables and they probably weren't expecting such a large crowd on a weekday night.

After dinner, we dropped off my car at my house and then I got in the car with Jackie and we headed to the parking garage where Jackie works and parked there. That way we didn't have to pay for parking and it was only a short walk on a nice evening to the VBC. the show was slated for an 8:00 p.m. start and we walked into the arena about 15 minutes or so before. I was extremely thirsty so I got a Diet Coke and Jackie got a more sensible water and then we found our seats for the evening.

Y'all Jackie did such a great job getting our tickets for this show! We were in the cheap seats in the upper portion of the arena, but the seats were perfect and I'm here to tell you I would prefer our seats over any other seat in the house, even the floor. The stage was set up on one end of the arena and the piano was on the left hand side of the stage. Our seats were to the right hand side of the stage and we had a perfect view of Sir Elton playing the piano and singing his songs. Not only that, but we were able to people watch and laugh like there was no tomorrow.

Right at 8:00 two guys came out and played the cello and I swear I could listen to them all night long and look at them too because those were two nice looking dudes! Those guys rocked the cello like nobody's business and got the crowd quite fired up. It was pretty amazing. They were part of Elton's band but maybe they will strike out on their own one day because I think they would do well. Seriously - they were great! Did I mention they were handsome as well? They were from Croatia which apparently rears beautiful men.

Not too long after the cellists played for the crowd, Elton came on stage opening up with Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting. He was wearing a purple shirt with purple pants and purple shoes and a bedazzled knee-length purple jacket which we think said Elton John on the back, but we couldn't tell for sure. Elton went on to sing for two and a half hours and it was a really enjoyable show. He played all the songs we wanted to hear (Levon, Tiny Dancer, Your Song) and some we didn't (Crocodile Rock). This was my third time and Jackie's firs to see Elton live and as always, the show was wonderful.He introduced the band and his old back-up singers. The back-up singers were four black women, three of whom had to be in their 60s or 70s and one was probably in her 30s or 40s - I think her mother was one of the other women. Also the drummer was one of the original members of Elton's band and has been with Elton since 1969. That was kind of cool.

Not only did we have a great view of the stage, but we also had a great view of the people on the front row who kept us more than entertained throughout the evening. One presumably gay man on the front row had some dance moves that made me laugh all through the night. He looked like he would be a fun person to have as a friend. There was also a couple of the front row who sang along to every song and sometimes to each other and were constantly fist pumping and pointing and just having the time of their lives. At the last song or two, they let the people storm the stage, or at least stand up close to the stage, and the dancing man then began playing air piano on the stage. There was also a lady that appeared from some where and was dancing very similar to Elaine in the infamous Seinfeld episode, which I'm not knocking her for because Lord knows I have no rhythm and have in fact danced like Elaine on more than one occasion.

After the last song, Elton came back out for an encore and for about five minutes or maybe more signed autographs for those folks in the front who were waving their belongs in front of him. Jackie and I both thought this was very cool as we have never seen any other performer be so kind as to sign autographs during a show. Elton seemed really grateful that so many people had come out especially when economic times are as tough as they are now.  The show was over a little before 11:00 p.m. and we walked back to the car, Jackie dropped me off at home and then headed home herself.

There were a ton of people there. I don't think I've ever seen the VBC so packed. We didn't see too many outlandish outfits although we did see one guy in red shorts a dress shirt and bowtie and a blazer and if I remember correctly the blazer was polka dots or something bizarre like that. I saw a few people that I knew at the show and the ones I talked to the next day said they also enjoyed it. Here's a link to the al.com article about the show if you are interested in reading that.

 A view from our seats.