We all went to the Indigo Girls show @ Woodland Park Zoo tonight, with mixed results.
I have to ask why a group of a dozen of so adults would pony up for their tickets ($28 each) just to chat and gabble through the whole show? Why not just have a barbeque and run the CDs? Less stressful, as your kids are not running around in a crowd, for one thing.
My guess is that moms really wanted to go and make a family outing of it: next time, ladies, leave the kids and dads at home and have a better time.
But the Girls were good. Hadn’t seen them in a long time and they sounded great, in good voice with lots of energy. They had an opening act who was a bad fit: she had a more country sound and her material was very down-tempo where the Girls are almost always driving pretty hard with their stuff. So it seemed to drag a bit.
Bonus appearance by local girl Brandi Carlile covering Hallelujah. Nicely done, though I’m not sure everyone knew it. She came out for one more song as we were leaving with the Girls. She’s worth keeping an eye on.
This was the first Zootunes show I have been to with a beer garden and it was doing a brisk trade. Some people snuck in their own refreshments, only to have security confiscate them (seriously people, can you not get through a couple of hours without a drink? Again, why not just have a BBQ at home?).
Our last Zootunes show, I think. Too crowded, too much feeling like we were guests in someone else’s living room. Shame really, but it might just have been the booking itself. Just ‘cuz they’re folkies doesn’t make the Indigo Girls a family act, perhaps.