The Black Keys made an appearance at the E.J. Thomas Hall Saturday night. I am pleased to say that I wasn't forced to choke anybody. I am not pleased to say that I expected the show to be better than the concert in Indianapolis, since it was a homecoming, of sorts, for the band from Akron, Ohio; but the Indianapolis concert was better, in spite of the extra-curricular activity at the show's conclusion.
The J-dogg said their Toledo show, which I was not permitted to attend, was much superior; so, we were disappointed.
The crowd in Akron seemed older than the audience in Indianapolis; so, that might have been the reason for the subdued reaction by a much larger hometown crowd. And while alcohol was served at the Vogue in Indy, more so to one particular gentleman than anyone else, the brew was flowing more freely in greater portions to nearly everyone in the audience in Akron -- almost like a Cleveland Browns game.
I wondered about that.
E.J. Thomas Hall is on the campus of the University of Akron, which is a state-operated university.
And I got the answer. Heading for the main artery out of Akron, less than a mile from the concert hall, I honored the "PREPARE TO STOP" sign, as the traffic was funneled into one lane along the left curb of the one-way road, about a half dozen Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers and a couple Akron police officers operating a sobriety checkpoint.
We left before the concert ended. We were practice, I guess. The trooper politely announced why we were being stopped and asked if we had any alcoholic beverages to drink, to which we both replied, in unison, "No, sir." He wanted to see the expiration date of my license. I handed it to him, "Expires Wednesday." He smiled and said, "Happy birthday, and drive carefully, sir."
The J-dogg pointed out, "Nice guy. Didn't expect that."
Posted by Bill at October 13, 2008 07:33 PMHey, happy birthday, Bill! Have a great day.
Posted by: Kyle at October 15, 2008 02:39 AM