I went to the Atlanta concert on July 5 and had a great time! The music from ELO was great, as expected (same setlist). The light show was also wonderful - not surprising (same as last year, for the most part). It was very much like last year's concert. I had fun pointing some cool things during the show to my husband (who has had two ELO earworms so far from the concert: 10538 Overture and Last Train to London
). He's not a big fan, but he likes a few songs, and he enjoyed the show in his own way.
He really does
not like Telephone Line (my fav ELO song), but he danced just a little with me during that song anyway. He's such a good husband!
I enjoyed Dhani Harrison more than I enjoyed Dawes last year, but some of the songs seemed repetitive to me, and it was hard to hear/ understand some of the lyrics as he sang them. His resemblance to his father is uncanny, and he's obviously very talented. He joined the band on stage for Handle With Care, sang a good bit of it, and sounded great!
The Atlanta crowd seemed to be enthusiastic, judging from the lines for the merch stand, the number of ELO and Jeff Lynne t-shirts, and the number of people who were singing along (according to my husband).
(fuzzy picture of merch stand)
However, they were not as excited as the Philly crowd last summer
--not as many people on the floor standing up and dancing, yelling, etc. But of course, that did not stop me.
The people behind us were very kind and accommodating when I asked them if I was blocking their view. "No, just do your thing," they said!
We had floor seats on one of the two central aisles, which gave a better view of the stage than last year, when I was closer to the front, but on the far right aisle.
The best part about our seats, though, is the fact that we were right next to a very sweet couple from Tennessee. They were just a few years older than us and they said that they were at the concert in honor of and in memory of their only child, a son named Blake who lost a five year battle with cancer a couple of years ago at the age of 19.
Being the parents of one child, a teenage son, we found their story to be heart-wrenching. Their son had been a big ELO fan since he was a little kid, and they said that they felt that he was there with them in spirit at the concert. The mother was wearing a t-shirt from a fundraiser that his school had sponsored to support him. They gave me permission to tell his story here and to post this picture of the shirt. We really enjoyed talking with them about a lot of other things besides their son, too. They're great, positive, inspiring people in spite of what they've been through.
We were in Atlanta for less than 24 hours, but we enjoyed walking around the area near the hotel and the arena, Centennial Olympic Park, the focal point of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. We were also near the CNN Center, the network's Atlanta headquarters. The hotel is one that was once a popular luxury hotel in the 1960s, and the first racially integrated lodging in Atlanta.
It has been recently renovated, refurbished and redecorated with mid-century style and themes. It made me think of our discussion of mid-century hotels a few months back. There were lots of cool features in the hotel, like a cold-war spy themed restaurant, retro mini-fridges, mid-century photos on the walls, and a sample of some old school candy treats (Pop Rocks!) in guest rooms. It's a neat place!
atlanta.curbed.com/2017/10/4/16390290/downtown-atlanta-hotel-the-american-centennial-olympic-parkJust like in Philly, I thought I saw the (distinguished civil rights leader, former American UN Ambassador, fellow New Orleanian, and former Atlanta) mayor (Andrew Young) there just hanging out near our hotel and the downtown palais where we were about to see ELO!!
Not the most picturesque view from our window, but Atlanta's Sky View costs only about $14 for a 20 minute ride --a lot cheaper than the London Eye, but with an admittedly less spectacular view.
Maybe we'll take a spin during another visit.
That's all ! Great concert, great little getaway!