The Woodland Park Zoo has a summer concert series each year. The name of the series is "BECU Zoo Tunes". Strangely, the concerts are presented by Carter Subaru. Why is that strange? Because BECU stands for Boeing Employees Credit Union. Why then aren't these shows being presented by Boeing? That would be like "McDonald's ZooTunes", presented by Burger King. Strange. Anyway, I've never really followed their concert schedule, largely because most bands who play there are bands I've never much cared for or, in some cases, never heard of. The few times I've heard whose playing there are bands that are likely (or frequently) played on The Mountain (which means "Blech" in Spanish).
Somehow the wife scored VIP passes to Susan Tedeschi's concert a few nights ago (August 19th). I'll admit to being something of a cave-dweller musically (in my opinion, the last "good" decade of music was the 70s), and I'm not a big fan of the blues, so I'm somewhat ashamed (OK, I lied, I don't really care) to say I'd never heard of the woman.
HOWEVER, when someone scores VIP passes, with the weather was as great as it was (mid-80s), and it might well be the last time I get to do something fun with the wife before Junior comes aboard, who am I to say "no"? What exactly do you get with VIP passes? Well, you get to sit in roped off section, enjoy nice, comfy adjustable beach chairs (if that's the right description), and get a pretty tasty box dinner, with extra pop and water as desired. I'm not sure what the passes cost, but it was nice to make use of them.
The opening band was JJ Grey and Mofro. Again, not a big fan of the blues, but they were pretty good. JJ Grey sorta reminded me of Billy Bob Thornton (I hope I'm not turning anyone off), but he had a damn good voice, and his band was decent.
Between sets, the wife and I got up to walk around and stretch the pegs a bit. On the way back to our seat, I say a woman who looked familiar, but I just couldn't quite place it, until if finally dawned on me that I was looking at a former classmate from high school. It's been 27 years since I'd last seen her, but I was finally able to dredge up a name. I've still got it. Still heading back to our seats, I saw the former Microsoft VP of Windows, Jim Allchin.
Susan Tedeschi's band was really good, and she's got a voice that belies her speaking voice. She speaks in a sort of high, girly voice, but when she sings, it's a loud, bluesy voice I never would have expected to slip from her mouth. She's a pretty good guitar player, too. That she's married to Derek Trucks, a guitarist with the Allman Brother's band, probably doesn't hurt. I liked the songs a lot more than I expected, even though the only one I recognized was a Beatles cover. Before I quit here, I have to say one thing: Her sax player ROCKS-THE-HOUSE!!! Unbelievable. He really knows how to make that sucker scream, and he got a rousing hand every time he cut loose.
The sound for both shows was mixed really well and was not overly loud. I suspect that volume has a lot to do with not wanting to disturb the animals at the zoo. Good thinking.
As we were leaving, I got a good chance to look at the venue, and found the place PACKED! I was surprised at how old the crowd was, but also surprised at how many little kids were there. It was nice to look out over the crowd and see friends and families peacefully enjoying a beautiful summer evening. Relaxing in that type of environment is probably one of the nicest ways to catch a show, and I think the zoo does a pretty damn good job of providing a space where people can spread a blanket, enjoy a picnic dinner (or to-go pizza), and listen to some nice music with friends and/or family.
Bravo, Woodland Park Zoo, bravo.
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