By Jason Beck
My second Sleater Kinney show. My fourth Pearl Jam show. This may have been the best one yet for me. Security was LAME. I chose the Nash Vegas show because Sleater Kinney is one of my favorites ever. I arrived with my gang of friends around 6:00 p.m. As we were walking up we saw the band and PJ playing Basketball and Ping Pong behind the fence backstage. We stopped only for a second or so. The security guard runs over and tells us “They want you guys to keep moving……” It wasn’t as if we were calling out their names, we were actually just looking. We moved on to the ticket window, picked up our tix and went into the line for entry.
The security guard makes me throw away my pens in my pocket stating ” They really don’t like to sign anything”. It was just a pen in my pocket. A pen. Fine. I move in wandering around the venue to get a sneak peak of the ladies from SK. Many posts have stated they wandered around a bit. No such luck. SK XL tees were sold out as well : ( . I get ready for the show by finding my seat with a nice view.
Ed comes out does a song and introduces SK. They plowed into “O2″ and I got goose bumps. Those ladies put on quite a show. Many times they mentioned “Nobody knows this song but…….” I had already met those gals once in Atlanta so I thought after they said that I would try to show my appreciation after the show. “All Hands on a Bad One” was rocking. ” Don’t watch CNN!!! Read Read !” “End of You” slamming. It doesn’t get any better. The ladies were up to par and served up some jams in the songs to spice it up. There was a newer song that I liked. “You’re No R & R Fun” was catered to the PJ fans although many didn’t know it. I would say they got a better than average response. The fans in Nash Vegas really know how to jump and dance. I caught Coldplay at the Ryman last month and felt the same vibe. I thought for an opening band they did very well in winning over some new fans. The lights came up and went down again.
During the second PJ encore everyone came out and did “Leaving Here”. The gals sang great backup. “Fortunate Son” with Steve Earle too……aghhhhh! And then “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Nice touch at the end. Felt like a great jam amongst fans and friends………ahhhhhh what a night!
Afterward we went back to where the buses were I was hoping to see SK and tell them I was there singing every word and how much I enjoyed it. I was hoping to shake Ed’s hand and tell him great show. Security would have something else in mind. As we stood waiting with maybe 10 others, Security guards threatened to write us tickets and citations if we didn’t leave. What??? It was crazy. I love PJ but I was there to show SK love mostly and these dudes with flashlights were harassing us. No one was outta hand we were just standing there hoping to say thanks. Some people had autographs in mind I am sure but come on. “Leave them kids alone!!!!!” They kept using the word ” They “. “They don’t like you guys waiting.” It was totally lame and they kept threatening the people away. Who are “they” anyway. I hope the band reads this and does something because it was like terrible and harassing for sure. I will probably never go to another amphitheatre show again. We were bummed. It almost put a damper on the whole night until I woke up the next day and said to myself ……… “They” may not like it but you may have seen the best show ever!
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