Seeing Without Sight: Traveling back with 'the gambler'
I can still vividly recall the first concert I attended back in the summer of 2008. It was the Styx, REO Speedwagon and Def Leppard, all performing in the same evening at Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit.
I've had the distinct pleasure of seeing Metallica, Machine Head, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks perform live.
To top it off, on Feb 1, I had the opportunity to see Kenny Rogers perform live at Soaring Eagle Casino here in Mount Pleasant.
I'd been to Soaring Eagle prior to my coverage of Rogers' performance. Walking in though, my olfactory system is almost immediately assaulted by the putrid stench of the smoke-filled air. I was prepared for that, but as someone who does not smoke cigarettes, it's still a smell I utterly despise.
The roads were snowy and a bit slick that evening. My photographer, Adam Niemi, and I were running a bit behind schedule.
We waste no time in locating the entertainment venue in which Rogers would perform, and after some verification as to who we were, I was shown to my seat to listen and for Niemi to shoot some photos.
Rogers had already started at this point, so the sound system was in full swing as we walked down a ramp toward the sound booth, and were given our seats.
I ask Niemi, and he tells me we are about 100 feet from the front of the stage. We're a bit off to the side from the sound of it. The music sounds a bit, although definitely not overly, off to the right.
I heard a few of Rogers's songs prior to covering the concert, so I was familiar with his distinctly raspy vocals.
For a 75-year-old man, he has a great voice and I'm really impressed. He has an aura of energy and life about him as he sings and, in between songs, he reflects on his 50 years in show business and his incredible career.
We are eventually asked to move and told not to shoot anymore photos after his first three songs. We are shown to chairs off to the other side of the venue. Luckily, Niemi has already taken an abundance of photos.
Now, the music is off to the left. I ask Niemi, and he tells me it would be extremely difficult to shoot from where we have been placed, but other than a directional difference, Rogers still sounds as clear and as vibrant as he did at the start.
From time to time, I hear what I can only assume to be empty beer bottles being collected, which is a bit annoying and detracts from listening to the music.
Overall, the concert is great – although the atmosphere is certainly more placid compared to other shows I've attended in the past.
It is definitely a different kind of crowd, and Rogers catered to them.
Even though I'm not from the '60s, I enter a time warp at the concert. I was able to connect with the time period in which some of the songs were first recorded and published – truly a unique experience.
I can tell from Rogers' musical and non-musical storytelling ability that the '60s were a totally different era. I can, in a way, feel myself existing during that time period instead of just sitting in a plain chair in the middle of Soaring Eagle.
