Wiggled (673 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 5 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Phredde (View user info) at 2004-11-13 22:36:49 EST
Recently, a very popular band had scheduled some performances in my area, and somehow I'd managed to miss the initial ticket sales, and all shows were sold out within hours. Desperate for tix, I entered radio contests until my fingers were numb, to no avail. Then I heard the news I'd been hoping for: due to popularity, the band had added a performance, and tickets were to go on sale Friday morning, 10am.
Blithely, I set out to do what I had not done in twenty years: I stood outside a box office, this time in late October morning chill, waiting for concert tickets. Well, that's not *exactly* how we got tickets in the early 80's. Back then, we'd pitch tents the afternoon before, and take turns at sentry, guarding our cash, beer and blankets, not necessarily in that order. As the night got colder, we watched the attrition with glee, knowing that each cowardly retreat was one step closer to front row center for us. We never actually managed to get front row center, but we did get second row center to Yes, but that's another story. Long, bleary nights on concrete beds, huddled over candles, eating peanut-cheese cracker snacks, betting on the bloody street fights amongst the professional scalpers, moving the car one step ahead of the meter maids ... oh the nostalgia.
Nowadays, it's different. There's a lottery system. Everyone in line gets a bracelet, and about twenty minutes prior to the box office opening, there is a drawing for final line places. It's supposed to deter the scalpers, but somehow there was a comfort in the more darwinian system of longevity within the queue. But then again, I arrived in my lux Chrysler, with credit card and Dunkin Donuts coffee in hand. Between the marketing changes and advantages of my mature age, it was a much more comfortable situation.
The parking lot was full when I arrived at the box office shortly before ten, and I suspected that I shouldn't have stopped for the java. I was relieved, and almost aghast that I was the fifth person in line! And we did not have to stand outside in the cold. Evidently the venue was hosting their annual employee Halloween party, and festivities had already begun.
Us diehards greeted each other warmly, and agreed that we could forego the lottery, keeping our bracelet numbers. Bozo, a witch, and Superman opened their windows promptly at ten, and we were quickly serviced.
I scored four tix fifth row center, not a personal best, but definitely top three. And except for that embarrassing moment when Bozo requested my license, yes, my license which I keep in the glove box, not my state issued pistol permit, as photo id (I can still sprint when properly inspired), it was a rather painless experience.
The concert was last night. What a show! I picked up my companion, a stunning blonde, shortly before six, and we headed to see...
The Wiggles. My four-year-old cutie-blonde daughter's favorite band. In case you don't know who The Wiggles are, think: four forty-something more-than-slightly-gay Aussies dressed like rejects from a Trekkie convention, arriving in what looks like a bright red convertible VW bug, singing not-so-sappy pop-rock tunes with lyrics that make me quite sure that green-bud down under is much sillier than the american variety. Oh, and I think each and every one of them is a multi-millionaire. My wallet agrees.
Actually, The Wiggles were quite good. I expected some lip-synching mechanical show, but got live rock and roll, complete with blunders and improv.
I never knew that Connecticut was named for the shop of a barber named Connetti (connetti cuts), and that an impromptu tune about the naming of our state could be sung like Jagger, Marley, Celine, Buffet, and Ozzie, by a tumbling pirate named Captain Feathersword from Wiggles Bay.
I think I'll go again next year.
User Reviews
Submitted by phredde2 (user info) at 2004-11-14 09:02:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Anthony and The Captain were the best in show... both did a Jagger schtick, and kept poor Jeff laughing, even when he was supposed to be asleep. Murray was absent due to serious illness in the immediate family. He did make a guitar-playing video appearance that began with the ubiquitous intro chords of "Stairway to Heaven".
Next year I will have to remember to bring biscuits for Wags the Dog, roses for Dorothy the Dinosaur, and very special mushrooms for Mama Phredde. ;)
Submitted by Circe (user info) at 2004-11-14 08:43:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for the Wiggles.
When my son was younger and going through this addicted-to-the-Wiggles phase, my mind started to go. You know something is wrong when you find yourself singing "toot-toot chugga chugga big red car" in the shower. And you know something's got to give when you hear yourself saying "I have such a thing for the Blue Wiggle." (His name is Anthony. I'd give anything not to know that.)
Submitted by Stin (user info) at 2004-11-14 08:06:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Put a big grin on my face. I loved the flow of this.
Submitted by creep_firebombing (user info) at 2004-11-14 06:59:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I can't wait to have kids. Not for the whole kids music thing, of course. More for the fact that it's the next challenge in what I consider a fullfilling and exciting life.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2004-11-14 00:21:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Cute story! And it sounds like a hot date too! :)