Rockin' to the Eighties

 

Thursday, August 1, 2024

The woman I thought would be Evie the homeless kitty's mom turned out to not be her. For whatever reason, I guess it was not meant to be. She came over with her daughter and with cat carrier in hand. All was set. Evie took one look at them and took off running for the space between the ground and the deck. From there, all was lost. She would not come out. 

Later I received a call telling me they chose not to take her as they thought she was too feral for them. She isn't really feral as much as she is flat out scared of all that's going on around her. But, it is what it is and I guess it just wasn't meant to be her forever home. That's okay as I will enjoy her company a bit longer. 

***

Tonight Terry and I are meeting Mallory for a concert in the Sutherlin Community Playground and park area. Rock Shop, a band from Washington, is coming into town to rock us all while donning some bodacious '80s haircuts apparently. 

I worked all day, but was ready to relax in a park setting and listen to some music. '80s music is always welcome, so we'll see how this goes. It should be a lot of fun!

Of course, the splash pad is always fun for me as well as children. No, I have not mentally turned my age yet and I'm quite happy with that. The ankle has slowed me down, but not put a stop to my fun in life. 

Mallory and Hayden appeared shortly upon our arrival. We were ready to rock and get wet in the cool splash pad. I simply could not handle the heat any longer. Sitting in the sunny spot Terry had picked in the front row in front of the stage just wasn't something I could do. I'm so Irish white that I burn within moments it seems. I told him I may have to move, but he could stay there if he wanted to take photos of the band and get some good video. Mallory is just as light skinned as I am. We both picked our chairs up and moved into the shade of a large oak tree. 

A band was up on stage performing as they tuned their instruments. Sound checks were a must. It was fun to watch them and listen to a song they performed that I've never heard before. Once they were done, music blared into the hot air of the park while people hung out, chatted, ate food from food trucks, and played in the water. We chose to make that same choice. Water was calling my name. 

Mallory and I took our seats on the picnic table in the shade while Hayden introduced himself into the mix of children in the water. Then the fun began. 

My new 11-year-old grandson began to soak himself in every spray of water he could find. The other kids were enjoying themselves as well. In a matter of moments, all of the kids were soaked. It looked great and sounded awesome. I knew before the afternoon was over that I too would be drenched. It was a moral imperative. 

Water ran into the buckets. The weight in the orange pails shifted as they filled, causing the bucket to tip. Cold water would fall onto the unsuspecting (or suspecting) person under it. I have been the recipient of that pail of water, as stated in one of our other blog posts called Splashes of Life. It was fun, but oh! So ice cold. Today was 100 degrees though so I'm sure it felt great on a day like today. Removing the shoes and socks might be suggested next time. Just sayin'. 

Hayden stood high on the fire hydrant, holding the bucket and waiting patiently for someone to venture underneath. 

Watching it spill over became the game as nobody was taking him up on his offer to get wet. 

Hayden spotted his mom, Mallory walking past the play structures. Hmm. Wondering if he could give her a hug? After all, moms cannot deny hugs, right? 

I do believe Mallory actually turned his offer down. Come on, mom. Take one for the team. 

Mal and I grew adventurous. We decided to go into the water. She watched my phone that was sitting on the picnic table as I went in. I was wet, but not drenched when I came out. Mal? Well, she walked into the light spray, but found herself under attack as the other water fountains went off. Well played sprinklers. Well played. 

This woman was trying to convince her little man that the water would feel good. He was having no part of it. 

When it came to the feet, he could lift those out of the water. But the body? Um, no. 

She was trying to convince him it would feel good, to no avail. The dog thought she was nuts. There was nothing fun about running through a spray of water. Let's go home now. It's time for Lassie on TV. I have dog treats waiting for me. 

With the half shell in place, the concert was preparing for a good night of '80s rock and roll or a facsimile thereof. I had no idea what this band was like. 

With his hat on his head, cooler by his side, and chair under his derriere, Terry was ready for some good music. I have no idea who the other man is. He was waiting for it all to begin as well. 

Mal's Uncle Mark called and said he was coming to watch the show. Her aunt was not feeling up to it, sadly enough, but Mark wanted to check it out since '80s music was one of his favorite genres. He began the evening by sitting up with Terry. Later he came back to meet me and talk to Mal. That's when the lightbulb went off. He figured out that it was a better spot without being in the hot sun. Terry had the best view, being right up by the stage. We had the best seating out of the sun. Depends on your preference. Terry got some great videos though!

I snapped some photos of the band members, to capture the hair and the clothing, all from the '80s. After all, this was supposed to be an '80s hair concert by Rock Shop. 

I had to zoom in the camera from further away, so I'm surprised the photos came out this well. This is a bit blurry, but he was moving all over. 

Terry was filming, but rocking out to most of the tunes these guys played. They sounded pretty good in covering the songs they chose. We went from heavy metal to lighter sounds during the evening, all songs from the '80s. Good stuff. 

Overall, I would say Rock Shop gave us a great night of good rock. The main singer's voice began to crack and it sounded like he was losing his voice, but we were surrounded in smoky skies. I'm sure that didn't help. He still sounded good, but at one point he gave up the singing to the guy in the red shirt. He also gave us some great music. The band was awesome actually. Especially once people had a few drinks under their belts. I'm not sure if much mattered at that point. You know how that goes. However, I do not drink and they really rocked the house or the park as the case would be. 

The main vocalist was the man in the brown shirt in this photo. He was good. Had a great voice. That is, of course, until it began to give out on him. I felt bad for his condition. 

Now, as with every concert, the concert attendees that like to get up and dance are the most fun. I sat back and watched several of them. The girl in the red hair definitely loved to do some serious head banging moves by throwing her hair all around. 

The young girl was cute. A couple of times she shook her head around so much she almost went face first onto the ground. But all of the rockers had a great time dancing to the tunes of Rock Shops choosing. 

Since Terry was in a primo spot for getting video, he shared some of them to put on the blog. Here are some highlights of the concert, even though one of the speakers in front seemed to be failing and like I said, the lead singer was losing his voice. All in all, it was great. At least it was fun. 

I Wanna Rock

Don't Stop Believing

I Was Made For Loving You

Hungry Like a Wolf

Relax

Danger Zone

I Ran

Cars

The Final Countdown

Rock and Roll All Nite

Beat It

Your Love

Detroit Rock City

Livin' on a Prayer

That was a bit of the concert. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Overall, even with the couple of flaws, the band was good, the music awesome, and the night went well. Next Thursday the event is Rumors, a night of Fleetwood Mac. I can't wait for that one. 

That was our Thursday night. We have nothing planned for Friday, so we will have to see what comes up and what kind of trouble we can get into. Until then, take care of yourself and enjoy life!