Say hey
Last week, I got a call from a friend who remembered Lori and I, especially Lori, like Michael Franti. The Outdoor Retailers Show was in Salt Lake City last week, and a boot company was throwing a private concert that our friend was doing the sound for. Michael Franti was performing at this concert, and our friend called to see if we wanted to get put on the list to get in. I called Lori, whose amazed response to this news was "No f---ing way!" We asked a neighbor to watch the boys, and before we knew it, we were seeing Michael Franti in concert.
We had seen Michael Franti last summer at Red Butte Garden -- an outdoor amphitheater in SLC. We were about 25 yards from the stage on the lawn (it's all lawn seating at Red Butte) and danced all night to the awesome show being performed. Our concert last week topped that. The venue is small -- if you were at the back of the room, you'd only be about 40 feet from the stage. We got there early enough that we were practically on the rail (in fact, halfway during the show, Lori was on the the rail). The show was amazing, full of energy, dancing and singing. Since we saw him last summer, I actually know more of his songs, which allowed me to sing along more. I'm guessing not many of the audience members knew that many of his songs (aside for "Say Hey (I Love You)"), but it didn't take long before everybody was swept up in the energy of the show.
The only down side of the night was a drunken guy who was pushing against a bunch of us in front. If you get into a fight at a Metallica show, it's not extraordinary. If you do at a party band by a singer whose songs stress peace, love and harmony, it's just bad karma. A guy next to us looked ready to take a swing at the drunk, and I was in perfect position (and height) to throw an elbow into this guys throat. Seriously, I wanted to tell him that if your drunk and people are telling you that you are acting like a dick, odds are, you are acting like a dick. The jerk left before the encore, at which time the other guy high-fived me and joked "You had my back, right!"
The only other glitch was the taking of this picture on Lori's phone. That's Lori on the right, and woman who was near us on the left, and Michael Franti in the middle. Alas, I didn't turn the flash back on Lori's phone, so he's hard to see. In the spirit of the night, Lori immediately emailed the photo to the other woman. I got to shake his hand after the show and thanked him. This might have been the most fun I have ever had at a concert. I'm almost sure it was Lori's favorite concert ever. I've been humming his songs all week since the concert, and Ben, who loves "Say Hey" and "I Got Love for You" by him, has been singing them as well. If Michael Franti returns to Red Butte Garden next summer, we're going ... and definitely taking the boys. Our Michael will have fun (no matter how much he protests before we go) and Ben will go just crazy -- just like we did last week.
We had seen Michael Franti last summer at Red Butte Garden -- an outdoor amphitheater in SLC. We were about 25 yards from the stage on the lawn (it's all lawn seating at Red Butte) and danced all night to the awesome show being performed. Our concert last week topped that. The venue is small -- if you were at the back of the room, you'd only be about 40 feet from the stage. We got there early enough that we were practically on the rail (in fact, halfway during the show, Lori was on the the rail). The show was amazing, full of energy, dancing and singing. Since we saw him last summer, I actually know more of his songs, which allowed me to sing along more. I'm guessing not many of the audience members knew that many of his songs (aside for "Say Hey (I Love You)"), but it didn't take long before everybody was swept up in the energy of the show.
The only down side of the night was a drunken guy who was pushing against a bunch of us in front. If you get into a fight at a Metallica show, it's not extraordinary. If you do at a party band by a singer whose songs stress peace, love and harmony, it's just bad karma. A guy next to us looked ready to take a swing at the drunk, and I was in perfect position (and height) to throw an elbow into this guys throat. Seriously, I wanted to tell him that if your drunk and people are telling you that you are acting like a dick, odds are, you are acting like a dick. The jerk left before the encore, at which time the other guy high-fived me and joked "You had my back, right!"
The only other glitch was the taking of this picture on Lori's phone. That's Lori on the right, and woman who was near us on the left, and Michael Franti in the middle. Alas, I didn't turn the flash back on Lori's phone, so he's hard to see. In the spirit of the night, Lori immediately emailed the photo to the other woman. I got to shake his hand after the show and thanked him. This might have been the most fun I have ever had at a concert. I'm almost sure it was Lori's favorite concert ever. I've been humming his songs all week since the concert, and Ben, who loves "Say Hey" and "I Got Love for You" by him, has been singing them as well. If Michael Franti returns to Red Butte Garden next summer, we're going ... and definitely taking the boys. Our Michael will have fun (no matter how much he protests before we go) and Ben will go just crazy -- just like we did last week.
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