October 15, 2005
Wilco
I ventured to Indy by myself on Thursday to see Wilco. I had bought the ticket about 6 weeks previously and continuously fogot that I was going. Luckily, I remembered that night. And I even remembered my ticket as I left the house. I've been trying to think of what Wilco song I could post on here for your enjoyment as you peruse this entry. So many to choose from, but I think I will put up a favorite from the show.
I gave myself about 2 hours to get to Indy, find the Murat Theater, find parking, and maybe get a bite to eat or explore a little before the show. It typically takes approximately 45 minutes, so I thought I had plenty of time. Little did I realize that I would be stuck in traffic due to construction for an hour! I had just driven to Indy the day before to pick up Erica from the aiport, and while there was construction, there were no delays. As I braked to a stop on the freeway, I didn't expect it to last long. Inching along for the first 20 minutes and looking down the road to see a line of cars changed my mind.
Eventually, I made it to Indy and found the venue right away. I even found a good parking spot about a block away (for free). The Murat Theater is apparently where they host Broadway plays and such. It was really nice inside. I wanted to explore, but I had already missed the first twenty minutes of the show, so I climbed up to the second balcony to find my seat.
A lesson I learned is that you should get tickets right away if you're going to get them. I went to purchase my ticket the morning they went on sale, and I got a good seat on the floor in the center. Then the $30 ticket magically turned into a $50 ticket (thanks to ticketmaster's outrageous fees! I hope the owners of this blood-sucking business burn in hell), I started questioning how strongly I wanted to see Wilco (esp. all by myself, which seemed kind of sad). A couple days later after listening to them and getting some advice from a friend, I decided to go for it. Two days makes a huge difference. Now I was up on the second balcony, on the right, two seats away from the wall. Oh well. I could still hear them and I could see their tiny little figures jumping around and pounding the piano. I took some pictures:
I was worried that since I had missed the first twenty minutes that I wouldn't get my money's worth, but Wilco went on to play for 2 more hours! Of course, it was for charity, so they were probably feeling charitable. I don't know who/what Riley is, but we all raised over $210,000 for her/him/it. That made me feel extra good inside. (Although ticketmaster probably didn't give any of their exorbitant, extraneous fees to the cause.)
Since I didn't have the best view of the band, I sometimes got distracted by the lights and the architectural details of the ceiling. So I took some photos of that too.
It was nice somtimes to just sit back and look at the lights. We must've listened to Wilco in Nebraska because that's all I could think about, slowing down to 40 as we got near a small town, the silos and fields. It made me smile.
The crowd was really into it, singing along and jumping for joy when they recognized the first couple notes of a favorite song. One group threw glowsticks. They looked like firework fountains falling off the balcony (and made me a little happy I wasn't down there afterall). Jeff Tweedy was pretty endearing when he'd speak in between songs. I always leave concerts with a schoolgirl crush on one (or all) of the musicians.
I left Indy around 11. I love driving at night, and this time there was no construction traffic to disrupt my progress. Although, even at that late time of night, the traffic inbound was still at a standstill. I took a blurry picture as I cruised by.
