...BUT THE LOBSTER WAS GREAT

My brother gifted me with two tickets for a treat last night. First I was able to take a good friend to a lobster feed under a big tent right behind the performance stage on the waterfront where the Tim McGraw concert was to be held. The lobster dinner was put on and co-sponsored by the BangorMetro magazine, McLaughins Seafood, Grandville Stone and Rentals, Whoopie Whoopie Pies, Live Nation (the organizers of the waterfront concerts) and a winery whose name I don't recall. It was a great affair. I'm sure the tables, chairs and linens were supplied by Granville Party Rentals. And the dinner of lobster, coleslaw, potato salad, corn on the cob, whole steamed lobsters with melted butter and lemon slices, and shelled shrimp with cocktail sauce (provided by McLaughlins) was delicious.

Mock magazine covers featuring Tim and Faith had been created for the three magazines published by WebsterAtlantic Corporation, BangorMetro's publisher showing Tim on the cover of BangorMetro, his touring company on the cover of MaineAhead, and Tim's wife, Faith Hill on the cover of Real Maine Weddings. And a gift basket from the winery with some other Maine products had been prepared for both Tim and Faith. According to "the plan," Tim and Faith were to drop in and say Hello, according to Live Nation who requested the pre-event event.

However, the McGraw family reportedly wanted to see Mt. Desert Island and Arcadia National Park yesterday and the story goes they got a late start because of "Earl." Apparently they didn't get back to Bangor until too late to put in an appearance at the lobster feed - in the tent right behind the performance stage...(!) The lobster dinner was over by 6:30pm and everyone took the opportunity to freshen up. The opening act was scheduled to begin at 7:30.

Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the opening act was that everyone stayed in their seats while listening, clapping, and yahooing. However, everyone was able to actually see the stage and the performers. From our position in the Reserved Seating section, it looked like it was going to be an enjoyable evening. Appearances can be deceiving.

Then the two men that constituted the opening act left the stage. And people got the idea that Tim McGraw was "in the house - Showtime." Except all we heard - for over thirty minutes - was taped music that wasn't even coutry western! But people THOUGHT Tim McGraw was coming. He was right there behind that black curtain. Gotta stand up to see just that glimpse that MIGHT be him. And so the people stood up. And they stayed standing. Even though absolutely NOTHING happened. For over thirty minutes nothing happened.

But everyone found it necessary to stand in place to be prepared to greet him. And they never sat down again. From that point on - with pretty pricey seats (perfect viewing)- we couldn't see a single person on the stage the entire concert. So many people were taking cell phone "flix" versions of the show, holding their cell phones high over the heads of the people in front of them just so they could see the stage, when they would have had a perfect view IF everyone had just sat down in the seats they had - and if people without seats had not been allowed to move into the aisles and open spaces in front of the stage and stand, thereby blocking the view of the people with seats. Ludicrous!

My description of the stage and the show will forever be a green and blue plaid shirt worn by a twenty-something college basketball player over six-foot five swaying, with his arms around his girlfriend, intersperced with a piercing white light aimed from the top of the stage out toward the audience.

Of course, when my friend and I left, immediately after my brother and his fiance (about two-thirds of the way through the concert), I could see even more of the problem. Others who could not see the stage had moved out into the side aisles. There was nowhere anyone could move without having to actually "relocate" (I don't want to say gently "shove") bodies to one side or another just to get through what was supposed to be the ACCESS aisles. No one was sitting down, with the exception of a few elderly people in wheelchairs who had no option! They certainly couldn't see anything but the behinds of all the people standing around them. Imagine how frightening that situation must have been for them with people crowding around their wheelchair or oxygen tank!

I wonder how anyone in the "seats area", or those who were already physically handicapped, who might have needed medical attention would have fared. They probably would have been dead before anyone could have gotten help or help could have gotten to them.

While there were plenty of "Alcohol Enforcement" personnel and uniformed personnel on duty at the entrance gates going in, one has to wonder about Live Nation's responsibility about letting the aisles become so congested during the concert. What this writer observed was ridiculous and irresponsible.

Anyway, we got out of there and to our car. About three blocks down the street we saw people sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Gold Dry Cleaning establishment. They could hear the concert just as well as we were able back in our reserved seating - and see it as well, too. (Saved a lot of money, too.) Of course they probably hadn't had a pre-concert lobster dinner. But you never know.

Hope the McGraw's enjoyed the Gift Basket.