Sunday, September 4, 2011

Blogging from the Blink 182 Concert

Comfort Dental Amphitheatre.    What kind of name is that for a place to share the magic with tens of thousands of rocking fans?

Rancid rips the smooth evening air with punk power cords & anger.  Folks are singing along with the pounding melody with smiles on their faces.  "This song is for friendship because that's what Rancid stands for".  The crowd is young - I am one of the few 'silverbacks' on site.  Even with the energy pouring off the stage I sense that the real reception is being reserved for My Chemical Romance & Blink 182.

"All we seek is freedom" belts out Rancid as the tempo picks up even more.

It is an immersion in an ocean of shimmering guitar and passionate song.  The last time I was here, it was Ziggy Marley at Fiddler's Green. I thought it was a lame name for an outdoor amphitheatre, but the bastions of capitalism have outdone themselves.  It's even an odd location for an amphitheatre, plunked down as it is in the middle of an industrial park south of Denver.
But there's no mistaking the event.  Punk isn't dead, it isn't even sick.


Are rock concerts & astronomy mutually exclusive?  We are facing southwest, into the setting first quarter moon.  It is outshining Antares but that beautiful red giant is giving the sky all it's got.  The moon is solidly in Scorpio & Hercules dominates the western sky.  I even found the gorgeous globular cluster M13 with my little Nikon concert binoculars.

Blink 182 takes the stage and all other thoughts fade away...