Concert Review - The Oak Ridge Boys (and a story, of course)
Norene and I went to the Desert Diamond Casino to see the Oak Ridge Boys on Friday night. The casino is south of Tucson by way of the Nogales Highway. I swear, we were nearly to Nogales by the time we got there. It's that long of a drive.
We got there at 7 for an 8 PM show. Since we had an hour, we decided to grab a bite to eat so we looked at a few eateries in the casino. One of them looked to be a sit down place but the other was a Taqueria. Just what we were looking for. It was one of those places where you go through the line, get your food from the people behind the counter, got your drink then went to the register. Pretty simple concept.
We headed in and got in line.
And waited.
And waited some more.
There were two people working the line (oh, so very slowly) and a third at the register. The people at the front of the line had clearly been there a long time because they started nibbling on the food as soon as they got it. Obviously, they were starving.
There was a couple in front of us who decided to bail and look for another restaurant in the casino. It at least moved us up a spot.
Being the take charge, can handle anything with beer in hand person that I am, I told Norene to hold our spot in line. I then went to the end to buy us some beers. The choices were Corona, Pacifico, Tecate and Bud Light. Why does no one have Miller Lite? I swear, it's a conspiracy.
I yelled across to Norene to see what she wanted and she said Bud Light. Thank goodness. While I was purchasing our beers, a woman came back to the register with a receipt and asked what imports cost. Turned out she was charged $4 something and the big menu above our heads said $3ish. (OK, I wasn't paying complete attention but it was like a dollar difference.) The cashier said, "Oh, they raised the price but they couldn't update the menu board."
WTF? Is it not against the law to post a price then charge more? I think so. The woman actually took it but wasn't happy about it. I have an idea for the casino---cardboard, a marker and some tape. It may look tacky but at least you won't piss people off. I was pretty happy to get my $2.75 domestics, though, let me tell you.
Norene hadn't moved up in the line at all when I got back to her and I wasn't surprised. I told her, "Well, we are in Tucson so what can you expect?" Tee-hee. It wasn't fair but I love jabbing at the town that has that school in it.
They finally got it going and the food was actually really good. I had pork tacos and Norene had fish ones and we were both happy.
We got into the show area just a few minutes before 8. Norene went to the bathroom while I headed to the bar. They had Miller Lite! I used my debit card and the woman asked for my ID. The guy behind me pulled his out and said, "Mine's from Nebraska, think that will work?"
OK, I get a guy to chat me up in the beer line and it's a drunk octogenarian (and even married). That's just my luck.
We got to our seats at 8 and the show started promptly after that.
You know, for guys who hit their peak in the charts on the 80s, they were damn good. They're all in shape and can still really sing. They did the favorites: Elvira, Bobbie Sue, Trying To Love Two Women, Thank God for Kids. They also did some new stuff from an album that just came out (who even knew they had a new album?).
As was the case in the past few shows I've been to, I was definitely in the bottom percentile in age. Lots of grey hairs in the place.
At 9:30, they did the standard "Thanks for being a great audience" stuff and left the stage. Everyone else started piling out. Norene said, "What? Is this their first show? Don't they know they're going to do an encore?"
Apparently, they knew more than we did because that really was the end. The house lights came on and it was over. I was disappointed but then I figured that we only paid $35 for the show so, dollar for dollar, it might even have been a better deal than some of the bigger, longer shows I've seen.
Hell, we can't go home at 9:30, ever! So, we headed to the casino lounge. Norene went to the bathroom while I got our beers (she knows how to work that to her advantage). I turned away from the bar to see my friend from earlier. I said, "Hey, Nebraska, how are you?" He said, "Sober!" To which I replied, "How did that happen?" He was ordering doubles for him and his wife so I doubt sobriety stayed with him for long.
I can check the Oak Ridge Boys off my list of people I haven't seen in concert now. I'm glad I went - it was really a good show, despite it's brevity. It brought back lots of fond memories for both Norene and me of good times in the past and that's always a good thing.
We got there at 7 for an 8 PM show. Since we had an hour, we decided to grab a bite to eat so we looked at a few eateries in the casino. One of them looked to be a sit down place but the other was a Taqueria. Just what we were looking for. It was one of those places where you go through the line, get your food from the people behind the counter, got your drink then went to the register. Pretty simple concept.
We headed in and got in line.
And waited.
And waited some more.
There were two people working the line (oh, so very slowly) and a third at the register. The people at the front of the line had clearly been there a long time because they started nibbling on the food as soon as they got it. Obviously, they were starving.
There was a couple in front of us who decided to bail and look for another restaurant in the casino. It at least moved us up a spot.
Being the take charge, can handle anything with beer in hand person that I am, I told Norene to hold our spot in line. I then went to the end to buy us some beers. The choices were Corona, Pacifico, Tecate and Bud Light. Why does no one have Miller Lite? I swear, it's a conspiracy.
I yelled across to Norene to see what she wanted and she said Bud Light. Thank goodness. While I was purchasing our beers, a woman came back to the register with a receipt and asked what imports cost. Turned out she was charged $4 something and the big menu above our heads said $3ish. (OK, I wasn't paying complete attention but it was like a dollar difference.) The cashier said, "Oh, they raised the price but they couldn't update the menu board."
WTF? Is it not against the law to post a price then charge more? I think so. The woman actually took it but wasn't happy about it. I have an idea for the casino---cardboard, a marker and some tape. It may look tacky but at least you won't piss people off. I was pretty happy to get my $2.75 domestics, though, let me tell you.
Norene hadn't moved up in the line at all when I got back to her and I wasn't surprised. I told her, "Well, we are in Tucson so what can you expect?" Tee-hee. It wasn't fair but I love jabbing at the town that has that school in it.
They finally got it going and the food was actually really good. I had pork tacos and Norene had fish ones and we were both happy.
We got into the show area just a few minutes before 8. Norene went to the bathroom while I headed to the bar. They had Miller Lite! I used my debit card and the woman asked for my ID. The guy behind me pulled his out and said, "Mine's from Nebraska, think that will work?"
OK, I get a guy to chat me up in the beer line and it's a drunk octogenarian (and even married). That's just my luck.
We got to our seats at 8 and the show started promptly after that.
You know, for guys who hit their peak in the charts on the 80s, they were damn good. They're all in shape and can still really sing. They did the favorites: Elvira, Bobbie Sue, Trying To Love Two Women, Thank God for Kids. They also did some new stuff from an album that just came out (who even knew they had a new album?).
As was the case in the past few shows I've been to, I was definitely in the bottom percentile in age. Lots of grey hairs in the place.
At 9:30, they did the standard "Thanks for being a great audience" stuff and left the stage. Everyone else started piling out. Norene said, "What? Is this their first show? Don't they know they're going to do an encore?"
Apparently, they knew more than we did because that really was the end. The house lights came on and it was over. I was disappointed but then I figured that we only paid $35 for the show so, dollar for dollar, it might even have been a better deal than some of the bigger, longer shows I've seen.
Hell, we can't go home at 9:30, ever! So, we headed to the casino lounge. Norene went to the bathroom while I got our beers (she knows how to work that to her advantage). I turned away from the bar to see my friend from earlier. I said, "Hey, Nebraska, how are you?" He said, "Sober!" To which I replied, "How did that happen?" He was ordering doubles for him and his wife so I doubt sobriety stayed with him for long.
I can check the Oak Ridge Boys off my list of people I haven't seen in concert now. I'm glad I went - it was really a good show, despite it's brevity. It brought back lots of fond memories for both Norene and me of good times in the past and that's always a good thing.
