September 7, 2021 Summer of Seether - USANA Concert West Valley City, UT

 How many Seether concerts am I going to this year?   You may well ask that, but I originally started with just Idaho and Sacramento.  I booked those and then they announced the West Valley concert and I had to go to that one, it's practically in my back yard (compared to Idaho).  You got to remember, I've only been enjoying this Seether-Obsession since last fall, and I have 20 years of concerts to make up for.  

Speaking of backyards, I took the day off, thinking my daughter and I would go to the concert early.  Didn't really need to, as the gates didn't open until 7.  But I did get some writing done and I mowed the back lawn.  Well, lawn is overselling it.  I mowed the back weed, dirt and crabgrass.  Since I forgot to put on a mask until I was half-way through and had to stop and wait because I couldn't get the mower started again.  Flooded the engine, evidently.  So after spitting up dirt and blowing it out of my nose, I finished up with a mask.  Which is why I probably hacked more at the concert than my daughter who smokes.

So, what was Seether and Crew doing when I was mowing the lawn.  No idea.  Their concert schedule has been more Thursday, Friday, Saturday and home but this concert was on a Tuesday.  The previous week started on Thursday, September 2nd and went Friday 3rd, Sunday 5th and Tuesday 7th.  Not enough time to go home, I think, even if they fly.  So who knows.  Hopefully better than a tour far in their past where they spent their day off on the side of the road in a bus that had broken down three hours from the next venue.  And they'd run out of cigarettes, too.  Lots of vaping going on nowadays.  From a 2021 vantage point it's strange watching a concert video of them in the early 2000's.  There's a video on You Tube, which I'll try to find again (if I keep listening to concert clips, I'm never going to make it to work).  Anyway, there is a concert clip that shows just Shaun and Dale doing a song on stage.  Shaun's singing and smoking.  Dale's playing and smoking.  It just looks so odd twenty years later with the clean air act and no smoking in public buildings.  But think back to Frank Sinatra singing and smoking over his microphone.

Concert time, we drove over at 6-ish for the 7:00 gate.  We started forming a line to get in, everyone searching for their tickets on their phones.  O.K. maybe it was just me.  They directed us to an alternate path, down a dirt road to the entrance gates.  We talked to a very nice lady tending the ATT Fast Lane line.  She is a single mother with four girls, ages 8 to 16.  My daughter looked at her and said, "You have a sixteen year old?"  She replied, "I'm old, I'm thirty-seven."  Oh boy, what does that make me?  Damn.  She was delightful to talk to and so proud of her girls.

Into the concert area and visited the plentiful Porta Pottys, or honey-pots, as my husband calls them [construction].  Got our "I'm over 21 and can drink alcohol" wristbands.  I haven't had a beer in forty years.  My beer of the day back in the day was Coors Light.  But something in the beer (the hops?) gives me headaches.  We opted for a margarita in a can.  From the One Cold Night DVD, I understand the Seether beer-du-jour was Old English.  I've been looking for it to try but no luck in my state.  Maybe at the California venue next month?

We were set with our tall margarita cans and hit the merch booth.  My daughter opted for a couple t-shirts and the hoody, with a zipper.  Good choice on the zipper, guys.  I said, one of each please, down to the hat.  I found out later when I got home that the bank sent a text to both my husband and I saying, essentially, what is your card doing at a concert venue and why are you spending almost $200 in a merch booth?  Is someone [younger and more exciting] using your card without your permission? My husband was delighted to tease me about that.  Just supporting my band.  My daughter was quick to grab the hat.  I must say, she looks very cute in it.  She just looked over my shoulder and said, "Oh, yeah, I was adorable AF in that hat.  Because it wasn't my hat."  She thinks she only looks cute in borrowed hats, not her own hats.  I think she looks cute AF all the time, but I'm biased.  The merch booth guy helpfully told us to roll the shirts up together so we didn't drop anything.  Good idea.  My daughter used them as a seat cushion.

We had really good seats, in the 200 area.  From the stage, the 100 seats are fairly flat and then the 200's start after a small balcony or really a raised area.  

Here's what it looks like up closer:

So we spent the time waiting listening to the DJ [see the fellow on the right of the stage on the first photo] from the local radio station doing his best to entertain the crowd.  He got more response when the seats filled up.  I read a little on my phone, an article from School of Rock about how to tune your drum kit and what the different drums are.  John Humphrey has a few more items than the basic kit, it looks like.  I need to find out why some of the cymbals have holes drilled through them.  [From Master Class: "Many cymbal manufacturers make effects cymbals by punching holes of different shapes into the cymbal."]  So, now we know.  A little bit, anyway.  Like I've said before, people's jobs look a lot easier that the really are.  And they are a lot more complicated than they look.

So Seether came on the stage at 7:30 and played their hearts out for an hour and a half.  

Setlist:

1. Gasoline
2. Fine Again
3. Broken
4. Country Song
5. Nobody Praying for Me
6. Rise Above This
7. Bruised and Bloodied
8. Wasteland
9. Let You Down
10. Dangerous
11. Fake It
12. Remedy

Now the Setlist on the site Setlist.fm has Words as Weapons listed after Rise Above This, but, believe me, they didn't play it.  It's one of my favorite songs and it has significance for me, because it really started me on this Seether road.  I happened to catch it on the radio and looked it up when I got home to find out what it was and who played it.  I ended up with the You Tube video from the River City Rockfest live performance from 5-24-14. Holy cow! I was hooked. The energy and intensity, the beauty of the music, Shaun's voice.

I read a lot of whining about Seether opening for Three Doors Down.  If somebody says the word "underrated" one more time, I may have to slap someone.  But I was there for Seether.  Unfortunately, the people who skipped Seether and came to get to their seats for 3DD required the whole row to stand up.  By the time we got down to Fake It, this was about every 2-3 minutes and Seether disappeared behind a wall of backs.  The fellow who came for his seat directly in front of mine was about 6 foot 5.  I could see Shaun if I leaned to the left, Dale and John if I leaned to the right.  I caught glimpses of Corey, but didn't have a great view.  And up they all stood to let someone else get to their seat, again.  My daughter kindly switched seats with me, but by Remedy, I was standing in the aisle watching them.  I wonder what the 3DD fans thought of all us yelling, "You're such a fucking hypocrite" at the top of our lungs.   

In a way, I wished I would have stayed for Three Doors Down.  I really do like their music.  They are just not Seether.  So awash in the Seether Afterglow, we walked back to the car, one of the lone cars leaving before the next set.  I look forward to Sacramento.  I hope they can still play by that time and the venue lets them play.  I'll leave you with the three pictures I got of the band.  Sort of dark, but it is, what it is.  Corey is the third picture.  Really, I swear it's him!

PS. I'm reading a book at the moment called "From cradle to stage" about the mothers of musicians written by Virginia Hanlon Grohl, mother of Dave Grohl.  It's very interesting and Ms. Grohl is quite charming and likeable.  And a good writer as well.  I mention this because the mother of Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band would go to his concerts.  "Having been given a good seat, she doesn't understand why everyone must stand up and ruin her view." (page 129)  Yes!  And stay in your damn seat!  At both concerts everyone was coming and going.  Are you there for the concert or what.  Maybe I'm just becoming a curmudgeon.  Did you know Val Matthews is from South Africa and that Dave Matthews was born in Johannesburg?  I sure didn't. Em the Quail Lady.