"QUEEN, PAUL RODGERS AND SMOKING CRACK AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL"
HOLLYWOOD,CA:HOLLYWOOD BOWL
10/22/05

DSM6 -> PACLC -> M1
DA20 -> CDRW700 -> EAC -> FLAC


01. -taped intro-
02. Reaching Out
03. Tie Your Mother Down
04. Fat Bottom Girls
05. Another One Bites The Dust
06. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
07. Bad Company
08. Say Its Not True
09. '39
10. Love Of My Life
11. Hammer To Fall
12. Feel Like Making Love
01. -drum solo-
02. I�m In Love With My Car
03. -guitar solo-
04. Last Horizon
05. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
06. Radio Ga Ga
07. Can�t Get Enough (with Slash)
08. Rock And Roll Fantasy
09. I Want It All
10. Bohemian Rhapsody
11. The Show Must Go On
12. All Right Now
13. We Will Rock You
14. We Are The Champions


I've been feeling kinda icky all week, havent felt like going to any concerts at all. Didn't stop me from indulging in one of my favorite games of bidding super low prices on Ebay concert tickets then either getting outbid or not hitting the reserve. So I was pretty surprised to wake up Thursday to find out I won a pair of tix to Queen/Paul Rodgers at the Hollywood Bowl for 99 cents plus $14.95 Fed Ex from a broker in Wisconsin.

I immedietly tried to give away first the whole pair to my mom (Queen is her favorite band) but she is also sick and wouldn't want to go without Freddie Mercury. Tried to invite friends and also made a lame attempt to trade off the pair for a single Stones ticket anywhere in the state. Luckily I felt a little better by showtime.

Outside the Hollywood Bowl, there were more people trying to sell tickets than going inside. No one wanted to take my pair in K2 for a better single without any extra cash as well. Made one last round yelling "CHEAP TICKET CHEAP TICKET" which only attracted hoardes of people trying to unload their own tickets.

Finally I was going to give up and have two seats to myself when a guy approaches me needing a pair together. He had a single like 20 feet in front of me, in Sec E row 20. Not much of an improvement but at least I am helping a guy out instead of wasting the ticket or giving it to a scalper. I also noticed lots of empty seats several rows ahead. So I ended up in Sec E row 7 a few seats away from where I was at the NIN show.

Paul Rodgers is a little unsteady while Brian May and Roger Taylor were totally amazing. As usual with the Hollywood Bowl, it just isn't loud enough, though the volume seemed to briefly spike upward a bit midway through.

About an hour into the gig, this really skinny chick comes down my row and sits to my left. Then a minute later she moves to the empty space to my right. I think, wow, what a crack ho, then immedietly feel bad, there is no way a crack ho would be at this concert. She is probably in the final stages of cancer, here for one last night out. She is starting to cough. Not the kind of thing I would notice at a concert with appropriate volume. Its persistent and a little unsettling. Then she asks me where the restroom is. I point and say "Out there I guess." "You mean I have to go all the way out there?" WTF? I shrug. Possibly the stupidest question I have ever been asked at a concert. Obviously someone not used to public, or private restrooms.

Then another group comes in and fills out the rest of the row. So I don't have much space. She takes something out of her pocket, and starts rolling it under a lighter. Then she sticks it in her mouth. It doesn't look like anything I have ever seen weed smoked out of. Then she pulls her sweater over her head and I see the glow of the lighter. After a while her head re-appears and she blows out the smoke. It dissapates quickly. I don't smell weed. I don't smell tobacco. I might smell a faint something but it could be various unrelated concert smells.

A few minutes later the process repeats itself. I am almost leaning into the lady next to me. I point to the crackhead and say "I think she is going to light herself on fire" followed by "I don't think thats weed." This generated some exciteable yet inaudible chattter amongst that party. They kept looking over, and staring at her. She said "Is that why she is coughing?" I hope she wasn't spreading tuberculosis or hepatitis.

I have been to over 500 concerts. I have seen vomit, blood (including my own), the restrooms at the Hollywood Palladium and a compound ankle fracture during Slayer at Ozzfest last year but never seen anything disgusting as that emaciated creature smoking crack.

When Slash appeared during "Can't Get Enough" she leaned over and asked "Do you see Slash's gold bracelet" which I didn't. Maybe she was only smoking pure vitamin A. Still I had a hard time getting into the show even though I still didn't feel like backtracking 13 rows to my regular seat.

Its all still too fresh in my mind but I don't know if I want to go to another concert. I am tempted to just burn all my tickets.