I am going to rant like I did last summer. We saw a good free, outdoor concert at Fort McDowell, Arizona on Independence Day. The Coasters, the Drifters, and the Platters sang. Like Carl Showalter said in Fargo, "You can't go wrong with Jose Feliciano. ( Side Note: Feliciano was playing Lets find each other tonight which is pretty funny when you think about the scene in the movie.) Because we got there early my beloved spousal unit found some great seats about 40 rows from the stage while I took the illegal cooler back to the car. We settled in and then a mini Jerry Springer Show tryout began right in front of us. Why do people come to concerts like this if they are not going to watch or even listen? The male was drunk, loud and obnoxious. The female just had to get up and dance to every number not even remotely considering the dozen people behind her who were trying to see the show. She was the only one dancing out of 3000 people. Her child had perfected the yelling-and-whining-until-I-get-money-for-food bag of tricks and was using every trick in his repertoire. Fortunately his parents gave in to his demands and he was gone half the time. Then the male Springer, fortunately had to go hunt him down and get another beer. He would come back, light up, and loudly explain what happened to the kid, etc.. When he lit up this caused the usual smoker's chain reaction causing everyone in his party of loud people to light up. This routine was repeated 5 times. I asked them once to be quiet, but, frankly, this guy looked like an escaped Charile Manson type serial killer, so we suffered in silence. His spousal unit, the dancer, was probably the ugliest woman I have ever seen.

The music on stage was good enough to offset this sideshow in front of us. The Coasters were out of sync it seemed and were feeling the 110 degree Arizona desert air even though it was Dry Heat. The Drifters and the Platters pulled some old sounds out of the back of my mind with a smooth and effortless performance. How many dances did I dance in high school or college to those songs? Charlie Brown, Poison Ivy, Searchin', Yakety Yak, and Young Blood from the Coasters. Great Pretender, Magic Touch, My Prayer, Only You, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, and Twilight Time from the Platters. On Broadway, Save The Last Dance For Me, This Magic Moment, Under The Boardwalk, and Up On The Roof by the Drifters. I pulled my cap over my eyes so I would not have to watch the ugly dancer and remembered the innocent days of my youth. Some songs brought tears to my eyes or was that from the smoke of those cheap Brand X cigarettes the Springers were smoking? At one point Charlie, the serial killer, got up and took the camera and shot some obligatory we-were-there photos of the rest of the Springers. While he was snapping away I was behind them, smiling and slowly raising a finger right before each snap. Did you get that Charlie?

I have started disliking events like this because people in general have gone from being plain rude to being obnoxiously rude. They must think they are in their living rooms or bathrooms. They talk, even yell at inappropriate times, and get up and go to the bathroom and to multiple visits to the food stands during the show. They have no respect for those around them or for the performers. They talk on their cell phones. "Guess where we are?" or "Where you at?" These people must consume 5000 calories each at these events. There isn't a fat-filled food item too gross for them to pass up.