Well, I had a fun time seeing Zac Brown Band last Friday at Hollywood Bowl, but it comes with some headaches when heading to a large amphitheater in Hollywood near the 101 freeway.
First off, the shuttle pass at the Lakewood mall was sold out by last Wednesday, so I had to buy a pass for $11.00 for a shuttle that's near a park & ride that requires 20 more miles of driving deep into LA traffic, on a Friday afternoon/evening.... that naturally took forever to get to the lot.
Second off, the seller I bought the ticket from Stubhub didn't transfer the ticket with like 90 minutes to go before the first band opens. So I called Stubhub Customer Service, they got to me pretty quickly and got me a new seat with no additional charge and I got the ticket transfer. I mean it's a good closer view and probably was a ticket that’s worth a lot than what I paid, but I always prefer a more center view in general, but with this being so close to show time, you take what you can get. Also, walking around this area is such a huge hassle in comparison to your typical arena/stadium to get to your seats.
Here was my view.
Here was the distance from where I seated to the nosebleed section that I had bought the original ticket for, right around the nearest section where that right trees were at.
Anywho, first band was all right. The main vocalist was a guy that was playing the pedal steel guitar for most of the show and he was playing a variety of rock, funk, gospel, etc. They played a cover of Jesus Is Just Alright, (which the first time I heard a version of that song was when Stryper covered it in one of their more recent albums in the 2010s). I liked the opening act and this wasn’t going to be the last time we saw him or his backing band.
For Zac Brown Band, they broke the set into three parts that lasted around over two hours overall. The first part they decided to have a night bar aesthetics to remind them of their beginning days when Zac Brown played in Open Mic Nights in the Atlanta area. The first song he played of the show was only him on acoustic guitar and as the set continues on, the bassist, the fiddle player, the organ guy, their guitarists, the drummer, and the percussionist slowly join in the set on by one as it goes on. That lasted about 40 minutes.
Second set was next that lasted 50 minutes and their setting was more in tune with your typical arena show setting with the video screens and all. A great mixture of their new stuff, their island songs, their ballads, and their rock sounding songs. I was glad that they played one of my favorites from them, Goodbye in Her Eyes. Closed the set with a cover of The Devil went Down to Georgia. Crowd enjoyed the majority of the show for the most part and I think they were a friendly bunch to be around.
The encore was really different than what I expect from Zac Brown Band. They were incorporated the opening band from today in this encore and did a 25 minute medley of covers like That's The Way, Brick House, Happy (with their percussionist player singing the Pharrell Williams lyrics), Never Gonna Give You Up, etc. and everyone was dressing sophisticated. Giving that big-band feel and coming off as something someone like Justin Timberlake would do with his touring band arrangements. I had no true quarrels with it, but I did feel like it dragged on for a little too long. I, not surprisingly, enjoyed the encore, of the last time they came here in Irvine in 2019, better where they playing stuff like Hot For Teacher, Pour Some Sugar on Me, and Bulls on Parade (with their fiddle player singing the vocals).
After their long medley section was over, they closed off with their biggest hits (Colder Weather, Chicken Fried, and Homegrown). After Colder Weather (which got the biggest singalong of the night), I decided to start the walk down a hill surface to get back to the shuttle to get back to the Park & Ride. That said, I found a LA Hot Dog street cart as I was walking and thank goodness, they accept Apply Pay, so I bought a hot dog for $11.00 because screw paying concession prices in the venue. Rather support those street cart people rather than the concessions. Got home in one piece and was very content on the show.
Don’t think I’m going to see Elton John at Dodger Stadium this month. Ticket prices seems fine for what they are, but trying to figure out how to get safe and cost-effective parking near Dodger Stadium and how to get back to the lot after the show in LA in the dark is too much of a headache for me to consider. Just need one more concert in December and I reached my goal of going to at least one concert a month. Still eyeing Trans-Siberian Orchestra in Ontario, California like I always do.
Topic: Concerts for 2022 (Read 37738 times)
