Thirty Five Years In The Making

Last night Kris and I got to go on our one summer concert (sometimes two depending if it is someone we both like or want to see).  This was a trip to the Waukesha County Fair to see 80’s powerhouse Night Ranger.  The show was free with fair admission, though I sprung for “VIP” seating for $15, and it turned out to be a good call.

Night Ranger has been on my radar since I was a teenager and saw their first music video on MTV (yes kids, MTV used to actually play music videos).  I had all their albums, and then later cassettes, they put out in the 80’s, and I always wanted to go see them when they were on tour back then.  Unfortunately, when I was younger there was always something, either I didn’t know they were coming, were playing on a night I couldn’t go due to work, or something else, or just didn’t have the money.  The closest I ever got was the Jack Blades supergroup with Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw, Damn Yankees.  In college, I had 10^th row seats at the old MECCA, but I ended up coming down with the flu the day before the show and had to sell my seats.  Luckily my roommate wanted them so I was able to get rid of them.

They are currently on their 35 Year Anniversary tour (it’s hard to believe that it has been 35 years since I first saw them on MTV) and this time around everything lined up.  The VIP seats were a fenced off section of folding chairs in front of the stage instead of sitting on the grass.  And it was good thing since it had rained the night before and the grounds were a mess of mud.  The two rows in front of the stage were the “special VIP seats” which just meant the people who were sitting there paid almost $100 for them.  But when we sat down I had a look and the ground in those rows was nothing but a big mud puddle.  I would have been mad if I had shelled out almost $100 to stand in water and slop.

Overall, the show was really good.  They still sounded very good for being in their 60’s and they sound was not distorted to the point of not being able to hear.  And the sight lines were really good.  We got lucky that there weren’t any tall people standing in front of us.  The music was top notch except for a couple of technical glitches when they first came out.  They played straight thru for about an hour and a half, and a total of 15 songs.  They did a couple of covers of Damn Yankees songs, and then they also did an Alice Cooper and an Ozzy cover, which I could have done without and would have rather the picked a couple of their own songs to play instead. 

I can’t believe it took me 35 years to see these guys.  I would go again if they came around, and I think I will keep an eye on their website for more tour dates.  For the money, that show could not be beat.

The only complaint I have is the pictures I took with my phone are not great, especially for how close we were.  But a lot of that is due to the zoom I think, and the fact that the spot lights were reflecting off of their skin making details look like nothing more than a white blob.  Hopefully you can make out some of these.