Keller was scheduled to be opening for Widespread at The Wharf Amphitheater in Gulf Shores, AL, AND Larry and Jenny were playing with Natural Bridge at The Hangout, also in GS, on the same day!! (No amount of text formatting can correctly portray the equal parts excitement and frustration in that first statement.) This was a conundrum for us because the venues are like 15-20 minutes from each other, and the show times weren’t overlapping (NB to start like an hour and a half or so before Keller). Also, I was excited to bring a friend with us to see Keller, too. Being the overachievers that we are, we thought, We’ll do both!! We had some serious FOMO because both shows were so close to home. Practically in our back yard.
Tangent: Nate has a bit of a man-crush on Larry, but you know… Larry's voice, personality, and beard… <shrug> I get it. I’m not worried though.
We drove to Hangout to show some love to Natural Bridge for coming so close to us. We were hoping Keller would show up to do a song or two with his buddies before heading to the Wharf for his set. I mean, they’re all in the same damn town at the same time; it’s not too much to expect they’d get together for a surprise for the fans, and I wasn’t going to miss it. That did not happen. We did get to meet and talk with Larry, Jenny, and Mark before the show, and they remembered us the next time we saw them at Suwannee Park. NB started a little late, but oh my gawd, they’re great. Unfortunately, we had to bail before the end because time was running short, and I wanted to make sure I was there before Keller started to get my customary rail spot.
Poor planning got us again… I didn’t consider the traffic jam that had formed because Panic was in town. Holy shit the traffic was insane, and it took – no exaggeration, here - three lifetimes just to get to the parking lot, and two more lifetimes to find a fucking parking spot! OK, that’s definitely an exaggeration, but it didn’t feel like an exaggeration at the time. My anxiety level was steadily rising at that time because we were late! I was going to miss out my coveted rail spot! After making our way up to the gate, I could hear Keller singing about his Cadillac, so my anxiety was raised a couple more clicks when we realized our Will Call tickets were not in a separate line from the yahoos who hadn't bought a ticket before the show. No offense to those yahoos, but I had already bought tickets. There should be a separate line.
Tangent: That’s fucking stupid. Poor planning, Wharf Staff, poor planning.
I tried to smile and dance, but I was freaking out inside my brain. The line was so long, and Keller had just broke into All Apologies in the middle of Cadillac! Gah!! The Wharf is an amphitheater in a pine swamp, so I could hear it all fine. I just couldn’t *see* him, and that was killing me.
After he finished up Cadillac, he thanked us for all being there so early to see him before the show, and we somehow made it through the ticket line without my regressing to a temper tantrum. Then, we had to get in another line for the security the pat-down to get inside the fence. I could see there were 2 or 3 dudes patting down dudes, but there was only one chick to pat down all the chicks in line… with all their fucking purses (I don’t carry one, so… more than a little annoyed). Keller was now singing about his love handles, and I wanted to fucking scream. I held it together though… I made it through the line while staring holes through Nate, who had gotten inside at least 10 minutes (excuse me, a lifetime) before me because dudes don’t usually carry purses to shows.
Tangent: If more dudes took the hit for their chicks who carried purses… security lines would move more evenly. I feel like the dudes checking dudes probably wouldn’t bat an eye, especially if you declare your intent is to move the line faster. Just saying.
While I was seething in line, he was doing Freeker/ Word up/ Freeker, and I was struggling to calm myself down. I seriously couldn’t get over myself. I mean, it was all my own decisions that got me to that point. No one was to blame but me, and I knew that, but it’s hard to be mindful of that when Keller is singing just out of view like some kind of dangling carrot that seems like it's moving further away. I'm a mediocre Spread fan at best; Keller is the only reason we paid the money and battled all that traffic for the Wharf.
I’m sure my frequent eye rolls and impatiently loud sighs were speaking volumes to the people around me. In hindsight, I wish I could have calmed the fuck down and enjoyed the fact that I could hear the show. I was with people I love, and it was a beautiful day. However, my impatience was showing like a petulant child… I’m sure my Mom would not have been proud my behavior in that moment (one of my personal behavior metrics: What would Momma think about this action?).
So… we were all finally through the gate. Since I was the most determined one of us, we linked hands as I lead us through the crowd, worming our way through the throng of dancers, hoopers, stumblers, and twirlers… I could just see Keller’s moppy hair and cargo shorts as he was finishing up Freeker. My heart was beginning to flutter, and then Keller says, “That’s about all of my time…” because it’s OVER!!? What?! He finished the set with Celebrate Your Youth, but I was not feeling like celebrating. The rest of the show was alright or whatever, and then we went home.
I did learn some things from this experience, so it's not wasted. Sometimes I need to relax, get over myself, and realize the people around me don’t & shouldn’t care about my mood to enjoy their good time. I should let them enjoy the fact that they seem to have made all the right choices by already being at the show when it started. I was the one who tried to have it all and failed. Not them. It's not any of their faults, so it was pretty pointless to be so annoyed. Now I there is a recording of that show and can listen to it any time, and it's a good story.