It is the morning after the concert. Tammy is having a bit of a lie in, and I’ve caught up with my email and RSS feeds. Being without the Internet for a couple of days will do that to you. I want to put down a few words about the concert, but it is going to be short, because I just don’t type quickly on the iPod. We didn’t bother to bring a laptop with us on the trip. Tammy really packed light. Considering how often I abuse her for taking the kitchen sink on trips with the kids, that’s something.
The venue was excellent. The amphitheater is semi-open, which meant that there were actual evening breezes drifting through, keeping the air cool and fresh. We were a fair ways back, but I had a good view of the stage, and there were two big screens as well.
Here are some pictures from the concert that Tammy took.
We got there in plenty of time, after catching the 6:30 shuttle ti the fair. A couple of t-shirts and a bathroom stop and we found our seats. The opening act was Dokken, another 80’s band but neither Tammy nor I know any of their music. And still don’t, because the sound wasn’t very good. You could hear drums, bass and vocals but the guitar was lost. I hoped that the Scorpions sound wound be much better.
And it was. If Dokken was a bunch of has-beens, Scorpions showed what it takes to be relevant and awesome almost thirty years after making it big. The band was amazing and on their game. Klaus was tight and sounded almost exactly the same as on live albums that are 25 years old. The stage was cool, with a digital-projection backdrop that provided the 21st century equivalent of pyrotechnics. Their set list was surprisingly heavy on their hits, considering they are promoting their new album A Sting In The Tail. And yet, it didn’t feel like has-beens up there reliving glory days. It was more about real performers with a massive back catalog making a great show. In fact, prior to the encore, I had to think for a second or two to realize they hadn’t played Rock You Like A Hurricane yet, or No One Like You. Good thing those were the encore songs. 🙂
I’ll copy and paste the set list later.
The show ended at 11, which meant that we hustled out and made our way to catch the last shuttle bus, which dropped us off at the mall and two minutes later we were back in our hotel room.
Here’s the set list as best as I can remember it. I was too busy dancing and snapping 😀
1.Sting In The Tail
2.Make It Real
3.Bad Boys Running Wild
4.The Zoo
5.Coast To Coast
6.Loving You Sunday Morning
7.The Best Is Yet To Come
8.Holiday….Acoustic then the full-on rocker part
9.Raised on Rock
10.Tease Me Please Me
11.Dynamite
12.Kottak Attack
13.Blackout
14. Six String Sting
15.Big City Nights
16.Wind Of Change
——————
17.No One Like You
18.Rock You Like A Hurricane
Time to add a few more notes on the trip itself. It was my second trip to the States in less than a month, but it was Tammy’s first trip anywhere since we went as a family to Palm Springs in March of 2007. Colin and Carol caught their ferry from Pender Island as planned, and got to our place by 10. They warned us that the traffic was all backed up on Sooke Road from the paving and we should give ourselves extra time. So we visited until 11 and then headed out.
The traffic was every bit as bad as they said. I’m glad we had the extra time. Subway was lunch, and we got to the Coho terminal at 1. We saw and overheard a family in a minivan talking about how they had been waiting since 7 am, because they didn’t have a reservation. So Tammy called and made one for the 9:30 sailing back on Sunday night. Didn’t want to be stuck overnight in Port Angeles. The weather on the U.S. side was nice and clear, and the views of the mountains as we went through Olympic National Park were great. The last time we came through it was cloudy and we couldn’t see a thing. The drive down was uneventful until we got to the stretch between Olympia and Vancouver. We’d stopped for a wonderful supper at the Olive Garden in Olympia, knowing we had less than two hours’ drive remaining. However, half an hour south there was a sign beside the freeway, saying left two lanes were closed one mile ahead. I was already in the right lane, which shortly came to a stop while the traffic in the left and centre lanes continued to whiz by. It took an hour to get through the construction, meaning we got to the hotel after 11 o’clock.
Saturday was a free day for the most part. I was awake early and so was Tammy. Thanks very much, Ian. You’ve got us well-trained 🙂 The highlight of the day was going into Portland to visit Powell’s Books, an enormous new and used bookstore that I’d been to several times on business trips. We picked up a kids’ cookbook and a card game called "Poo".
The afternoon was low-key. I think Tammy was saving her energy. She hardly spent any time wandering in the mall next to the hotel, barely a minute in Fredericks of Hollywood. 🙂
The concert I already covered. http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Sunday we lazed around a bit but then headed out, with the intent of reaching Port Angeles before the afternoon ferry on the off-chance we could get on. We didn’t hit any strange traffic on the northward journey, even if our GPS did choose a different route for us. I ended up figuring this out (Hey, weren’t we supposed to take Highway 101?) and forcing the original route, even if the other would have worked. We got to Port Angeles and asked if we would get on. We were 18th in line on standby. Turns out they got 15 on, so we had to wait until the 9:30 ferry after all.
So we wandered around Port Angeles looking for pie. I had a hankering for pie after seeing the slices at the fairgrounds, but couldn’t stop to have one at the time. No dice. Had to settle for a cafe mocha instead. We went to an Indian restaurant for dinner and walked out on the pier for a bit, before retreating to the car to read and wait.
The ferry ride was good, in the same way that all ferry rides late at night have that surreal feeling. Everybody on the boat is quiet and either dozing or doing something low-key. Few hardy souls were outside, even to look up to see the stars. We docked, got through customs, and then were on our way home. Got there about midnight and went straight to bed. Colin and Carol had set themselves up on the futon downstairs, so we were back in our bed.