Def Leppard/Journey

This past Tuesday, I worked another gig at the Van Andel Arena, serving snacks'n'bevs to perhaps the weirdest, most random audience I've yet encountered there. I've had more raucous nights, and certainly been much busier when it comes to sheer volume and pressure to move the product under intense demand... but I'm not sure that I can point to any stranger behavior that I've witnessed from behind the counter.

The night was kind of conflicted from the very beginning, since the event was competing (to the surprise of everyone who had anything to do with booking the gig) with the Detroit Tigers, who were in St. Louis that night in the third game of the World Series. The Tigers were coming off of what turned out to be their only win of the series on Sunday and I imagine a lot of people in the crowd were seriously distracted at the thought of missing the game while their favorite bands were playing. Our stand has a TV mounted at one end so when a big sports event is on, the arena management concedes to the audience and puts the game on, and it inevitably draws a crowd. Last spring's Pistons' playoffs produced a similar phenomenon - we workers don't mind because it gives us a chance to keep up with the action and it probably helps boost sales at our stand.

As it turned out, the game was a big bummer for the local fans as the Tigers wound up getting shut out 5-0. And since baseball moves at a slower pace, the crowd didn't get quite as big throughout the evening as it did when the Pistons game was winding down. But I believe that the collective disappointment put a sinister, angsty vibe in the house - not so much that it overwhelmed peoples' ability to enjoy the concert, but it injected an edginess that wouldn't have been there if the Tigers had played better and created a feel-good, "we're winning" mild euphoria in the minds and hearts of those of us who Care About Baseball.

Which leads me to the main objects of attention, namely the bands Journey and Def Leppard, two stalwart carry-overs from the glory days of 80's power-ballad pop-metal arena rock. Billed as "co-headliners," Journey was still stuck in the second-fiddle role, ostensibly because they don't have the same lead singer as they did when they were cranking out hits, whereas Def Leppard is still actively releasing albums of new material rather than strictly relying on a back catalog of "classics" (of which they have plenty.) The new Def Lep album is titled "Yeah!" and it actually interests me more than anything else they've released since their "Hysteria" hey-day (and even then, I was never really a fan of theirs...) "Yeah!" is a collection of covers from some of their favorite early influences, like T. Rex, the Kinks, Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, etc. and it should be a fun listen, given the band's undeniable ability to make big, vibrant rock sounds.

But anyway, Journey got things moving after an opening act played for about 20 minutes or so, some singer-songwriter guy that I won't bother to look up and mention here (sorry, dude.) The most remarkable thing about the band's performance was the note-perfect recreation of former singer Steve Perry's immediately-identifiable-but-often-annoying vocal stylings by their new singer (Steve Augeri - see, the name even rhymes!) I say "often annoying" while also recognizing that Perry's singing was a huge factor in transforming Journey from a modest regional band into a major radio-friendly headlining act. He established a template for sensitive-guy rock'n'roll lead men that held sway throughout the 80's but has now morphed into a parody of itself - I think of Steve Perry and his ilk whenever I hear one of those Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" radio ads - the dippy histrionic singer who belts out the cliches and slogans...

I will give Journey credit for serving up heaping helpings of what the crowd was hungry for. They kept the hits coming - pretty much everything from this CD found its way into the set list - finishing up with "Don't Stop Believing," an "anything is possible" youth anthem which was actually one of the biggest digital-downloads of this year, I was surprised to find out recently, and "Separate Ways," which accurately described the situation as the band retreated backstage and the audience was left to resume its ordinary life without them after the show was done. As I mentioned, the remarkable facility of the new singer at recreating all the little nuances and vocal flutterations that Steve Perry made into indelible hooks was the outstanding feature of the show, though I should also give guitarist Neil Schon his props, since he is pretty fluid on the axe - I enjoyed his pre-concert jam session. Still, Journey serves as an example of corporate rock's strengths and weaknesses - functional, efficient, steady, homogenized, built from interchangeable parts. All the spontaneity, freshness and surprise value of a Big Mac, but at least you know what you're getting if that's what your appetite calls for.

Def Leppard was similarly polished in its craftsmanship, and probably rank just a bit higher in my estimation because they are, after all, English and considerably less sappy than Journey. Their music still provides enough ingredients for a fine syrup, but they manage to keep a touch of rawness in the mix. Not all that much, really, but some. Fact is, I really don't have all that much I consider interesting to say about Def Leppard. I worked their show with Cheap Trick, almost exactly one year ago this week, and from what I can tell they did basically the same show... or at least, all the big songs were in the same place at the end, finishing up predictably enough with "Pour Some Sugar on Me." I was having computer problems at that time so I never reviewed the gig, but what's there to say... They came out, they harmonized, they rocked it... they're Def Leppard!

So what about this weird audience? Well, there was just a strange behavioral aspect, largely chemically-induced I imagine - alcohol and other substances - but I just had a lot of bizarre conversations and even confrontations with some of the customers. Some were very happy and funny and amusing, others were irritating and a few were confusing and kind of sad.

The funny amusing: a group of four women who were just exceedingly gregarious and flirty and uproarious, dancing and hooting and cavorting around as they bought their beers - really working hard to show everyone that they were having a fantastically great time at the concert.
At least they had wit and charm working in their favor - one of them in particular had a great ability to banter and I always enjoy that part of the job.

The irritating: a woman had asked for a pen, and the only ones we have at the stand have a little chain attached, like at the bank. So I lent her one from my pocket and she promised to bring it right back. But when she did, she insisted that I owe the woman working the register next to me something before I got my pen back. Journey was playing at this time so it was loud and I wasn't able to really understand her comments or get her point, and I never did, but she got rude to me as I tried to figure out what she was trying to communicate. She even held the pen out to me and pulled it back when I tried to take it from her! Eventually she told me that I needed to buy my colleague a bottle of Captain Morgan rum! I got stuck trying to make logical sense out of what she was saying and got to the point of just telling her flat out, "Give me my pen." Then she scolds me for my poor manners! She wound up giving the pen to the woman next to me, walked away and I was just stumped...

The confusing and sad: another woman came up to me toward the end of the night and asked my name. I told her, and she said something along these lines: "Dave... they didn't send me over here to talk to you, and I'm not saying it's your fault or anything... but they should have. I mean, we were supposed to have this... to be where you are... but they took it away and we didn't deserve it. I mean, we worked hard and what they did wasn't fair, and it has nothing to do with you, but... you know what I'm saying? My roommate and I are... I mean, umm, it's just not right. It's pretty f--ed up. But I'm not holding it against you or any of you..." Meanwhile, she's slouching on the counter in a very low cut spaghetti-strap top and I don't know if she's about to start crying, pass out or jump over the counter and grab me by the neck. I tried piecing clues together from her comments and wondered if she had been employed by the arena but let go when they recently brought in a new concessions-management company - but when I tried following that line of rational thinking, her comments veered off into another layer of her rapidly unravelling subconscious interpretation of reality. We were never able to connect on what it was that compelled her to initiate the conversation with me - and she didn't buy anything either. Words were exchanged, but no core of meaning was ever settled upon. I can't sufficiently recreate the succession of non sequiters that followed, but I'm relieved to say that she was able to walk away from the counter without any of the socially-awkward behavioral eruptions I feared might happen. Let me just say that I was using some of my best professional listening skills in helping her re-attach her mind to the plane that most of us exist on, in public settings anyway.

After she stepped away, one of my colleagues simply asked me, "What the hell was that?" and I just did my best to help him understand how I approach the task of addressing an unhinged mind. He said, "well, I'm just glad that the doctor is here to deal with that stuff." And my "Captain Morgan" cashier friend said to me, "You attract a lot of weird people!"

After the show was done, the crowd gathered in front of the TV to watch the tail end of the Tigers game. I stood watching as well as the corridor was jam-packed with people and without much warning, a fight broke out between two women - the whole hair-pulling, nail scratching and even biting thing going on. Then the men accompanying the women got into it and started punching each other in the face and upper body. With all the people standing around, it took security a couple minutes to intervene - it was very strange for me to watch this happen in front of me and not get involved - my physical management instincts were kicking in and I could envision myself initiating a PRT on one of the guys but of course I'm not authorized to do any such thing in that setting!

Well, within a short time, the fighters had been separated, the police showed up and the focus of attention was apparently on the women - the scuffle between the men appears to have remained "off the record." But the woman who got bit had a wound and wanted to press charges. Right about this time, the Tigers had lost their game. I was eager to just get out of there and go home - and shortly thereafter I did - not a minute too soon!