My goals for the weekend were to see Foster the People at Aloha Tower with my good irish friend and old Maui surfing buddy Lisa McInnis and to get some water time. Both missions were accomplished. (Thanks Agent 99!) We got to the Aloha Tower around 7pm and enjoyed the balmy weather hoping it would last through the show. As usual, as soon as the gates opened at 8pm, I shot like a bullet to the front row, making the mistake (which ended up being not-a-mistake) of ending up on the under 21 side. The band was scheduled to come on at 8pm but were 45 minutes late which, even if it did prompt some name calling and swearing, would have been drownded out by either 1) the extremely loud pumping jams of the DJ who was to the right of the stage dutifully cranking the eardrum shattering decibels across the waiting crowd OR 2) the sound of coughing and hacking due to the smoke machine triggering asthmatic reactions across the populace. According to state data, Hawaii has the highest asthma rates in the nation at 17.6% of the population for adults and 28.3% of the population for high school students. (2010 and 2009 data, respectively) So, if there are any entertainment lawyers out there, I highly recommend that you tell your performers to turn off those machines at any concert played in Hawaii. Actually, go ahead and throw them off the plane into the Pacific Ocean. Why not use a massively huge humidifier instead? Don't forget to pour in a jar or two of medicated Vick's. It makes cool-looking ambient vapor and actually mentholates the air simultaneously. It opens up our hawaiian asthmatic bronchial passages, thereby allowing us to scream and sing more while actually deodorizing the sweaty, stinky dancers at the same time. Just a random 'how bout killing 2 birds with one stone' thought.
The funniest line of the night was the whine behind me of a kid saying "This is taking too long [for the band to come on]. This is actually longer than school!" I turned around to see the cutest local version of the Peanuts character Marcie with a disgruntled look on her face and... who could blame her. But the band eventually came on and played, completely amped out on every tune and ended with Pumped Up Kicks. No intermission. No encore. Just an hour and 15 minutes of straight high energy. It was the equivalent of drinking a shot of Jeigermeister rather than sipping on a fine Cabernet in alcoholic terms. It was worth it [I have always wanted to see Foster the People live],although the albuterol did have to come out that night due to the smoke machine (I heard other people complaining about their asthma also) and hasn't returned to the medicine cabinet yet. BUT....I am VERY happy and stoked I got to see the band . They rocked it. It also didn't rain which was a blessing and Mark called the island "beautiful....a paradise." He takes his craft 100% seriously , executing his music like a Manhattan businessman getting down to it. A businessman that has downed a can of Red Bull. The most impressive part of the performance was how Mark can dance around like that, move his feet, his legs, his hips, EVERYTHING, and yet keep his fingers still enough on his keyboard to play the chords correctly. I just was amazed that he could do that. It was a feat beyond imagination. He sings and performs with heart and soul. Pontius completely amped it on drums... Monster style, all of them and then *poof!* they were gone. This was ok, the entire 'now you see me, now you don't' because they came out before the show and cavorted with the music loving peasants. And I loved meeting and talking to the charming Cubbie Fink and thought it very cool that Foster came out and took photos with the People. It just put smiles on everyone's faces (ok...yes...it 'fosters the people'...happy now??....) and added to the positive vibe. Now,to change the subject entirely, have you ever seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers? I am talking about the 1978 remake starring Donald Sutherland. Remember the scene where an alien discovers that the human is not 'one-of-them' [e.g. the body has not been snatched] and so lets out this horrible silent scream (apparently it was at a decibel only audible to other aliens, sort of like a dog whistle]?? That was the freakiest part of the movie...haunts me to this day...and it is actually 100% relevant to the next part of my story. The story about the VIP section of FTP. Stay tuned, Chief.
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