So, went to the Ludo concert last night and I have very mixed feelings about it. One thing is for sure, I am never going back to the Avalon Theater again, no matter who is playing there.
On the tickets it says the doors open at 6:30. So everyone gets there at 6:30, and they wouldn't let us in. They didn't open the doors till 7:15. The concert was supposed to start at 7. It had snowed and was freaking freezing, and no one had coats because its a concert, if you take a coat you're just gonna end up carrying it. Once we finally get inside its still freaking freezing because they had no heaters and doors open everywhere. I heard later that they made us stand outside for 45 minutes because someone forgot to print out the will call list. WTF? And this place was ghetto. It was basically a gutted old theater, like the old Huish in Payson. They didn't even give the will call people tickets. They crossed my name off on the list and said go in.
So we get into the theater and they start warming up. At around 7:30 the opening band starts. They weren't too bad, they weren't great, but we listened to them. They did their thing and got off the stage. So another group comes out and starts warming up stuff, we're thinking its the warm up crew, turns out its a second opening band. I watched the lead singer for about 30 seconds and realized I could not watch him and possibly leave with any opinion of the band. He was just irritating to watch. So I started playing sudoku on Sam's phone, just listening to the band. That worked for the first song, it wasn't bad, I could listen to them without wanting to murder them. But as they kept playing their songs kept getting more and more annoying. By the time they were done I was ready to shove the mic down that nerdy kid's throat.
So they finally finish and get off the stage and another group comes out and starts warming up. Again, we think its a warm up crew for Ludo, again we're wrong. Turns out, its a third opening band. Three opening bands? Seriously? Thankfully, these guys were fairly entertaining. The lead singer was sick and you could hear it in his voice, and he openly admitted it and apologized for a lower quality performance. :P I wouldn't buy their music myself, but they had a great stage presence and a good connection with the audience. They were really good performers.
Finally, at 9:30, Ludo comes out. But not to perform, to warm up. The place didn't even have a warm up crew for the main band. They set up all the stuff themselves. Then the theater's sound system started to fail and they had to switch out mics. The lead guitar was not happy. So, after 20 minutes of messing with the sound, they walk off the stage and start their official entry.
From then on it was great. Ludo are great performers and so much fun to watch. One thing I love about them is the lead singer is not the only one who talks to the audience. The other members of the band are spokesmen too, so it gives the band a feeling of equality. They really work as a group. Since there was snow outside, they had the audience sing Jingle Bells. It was hilarious. When they were done, we demanded an encore, of course, so they came out. Apparently, their bass player was a substitute for their regular player and had already played all the Ludo songs he knew. But, they were prepared, for he knew one more song. They played Ghost Busters as their encore song. It was awesome.
So we left the theater in a great mood, and I would say for Ludo, enduring all the rest of the crap was worth it.
