#1033 Macklemore in SLC

This year there has been one CD that has been in my car most of the time. I must have listened to the CD at least 50 times all the way through and some songs many more times than that. I'm talking about "The Heist" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Of course T introduced me to the CD; I was totally enthralled with the song Thrift Shop, but I came to love other songs on the CD just as much. When I learned he was coming to Salt Lake in concert, I knew I had to go. It seems like I bought the tickets so long ago and finally it was showtime on Saturday night.

The tickets I bought said that we were in General Admission section 3, GA row 4, seats 39 and 40, so I was hopeful that we would actually have a seat. I felt like I was a little old to stand in the General Admission pit area with the crowd moshing and what-have-you.

When we got to the Maverik Center, there was a long line to get in the building, so we stood in the line. A security person came along and said that if you had seats, you could go in one of the other entrances. I showed him my ticket, and he told me to stay in line. Sure enough, when we got to the door, the big sign said GA PIT. We got wristbands, they marked our hands and sent us down to the floor. We walked up close to the stage - we were probably about 10 people back from the stage. T was smiling and I admit I was pretty excited and a little concerned.

a selfie at the concert

 There were two acts that opened the show. The first was Big K.R.I.T. Of course, I didn't know any of his songs, but I did enjoy his music. When a rap song ends in a concert, there is like this big sort of "game over" video sound, I guess, that indicates the song is finished. I noticed the same thing at the Kendrick Lamar show we saw earlier this year. It just makes me smile.

Big K.R.I.T. photo by T

The next rapper was Talib Kweli. I didn't know his music either, but I liked him just fine also.

Talib Kweli photo by T

The time in between Talib Kweli and Macklemore was when things got a little interesting in the crowd. There was a little jostling for position and some bad words (not from me) as people were trying to get closer to the front. I will say that T and I were able to move up a little and we were probably eight or nine people back when Macklemore came on stage.

Now during the two opening acts, I felt pretty comfortable. I was a little squishy, but everything was pretty good. There wasn't much pushing and shoving and everyone behaved well. When Macklemore came to the stage, though, there was like this surge that was a little wild. We surged forward, then as it must happen, we surged back a little too. Everyone had their hands up and was jumping around and screaming and singing/rapping and we got straightened back out.

I already love Macklemore, but I loved him even more when he came out wearing a John Stockton jersey!

The photo is a little blurry because I was using the zoom on my beloved iPhone and I was being jostled around by the people.

The fourth song he did was Thrift Shop and all hell kind of broke loose. Wanz, the guy who sings the hook, was there, but you couldn't really hear him because everyone in the 7,000 member audience was singing along. It was fucking awesome!  (Line from the song - sorry for the bad word, but it is rap!)

The crowd also did a loud sing-along during the chorus of Same Love. That song is Macklemore's plea for equal rights for same sex marriage.

He has a few songs that are serious. Besides Same Love, there is Otherside and Starting Over, both songs about his struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. I love Starting Over. It's one of my favorite songs on the CD.

Mostly, though, the songs that he played last night were upbeat and fun. We did a lot of jumping around and waving our arms in the air like we just didn't care. I didn't jump, but I went up and down on my toes and my calves are sore today.

Macklemore is an energetic performer. He's also talkative. He told several stories, including one about skinny-dipping in the Great Salt Lake and another about having a post-tour dinner with Mariah Carey and Snoop Dogg.

He also has something of an alter-ego called Raven Bowie. Raven came out toward the end and performed And We Danced. It was entertaining and energetic and we had a really, really, really good time (lyric from the song.) Here's a pic of Raven Bowie:

That's some fancy hair and a sparkly cape on top of that Stockton jersey.

Macklemore performed one song two times. I'm not sure if that is standard on the tour because I know he usually ends with the song Irish Celebration, but then he finished up with Can't Hold Us. That's the song he did twice. When he did Can't Hold Us for the second time, the crowd surge was crazy. We ended up about four people from the stage, but it wasn't because we tried to get there; we were pushed. At that point, I felt a little claustrophobic and way to close to other humans that I didn't know, but since it was the last song and we were having so much damn fun, I just went with it.

There were fireworks and tons of confetti and lots of screaming and cheering and jumping and dancing and general merriment. We loved that guy. And he loved that we loved him and everyone was happy.

As all good things must, the show came to an end and we came home with a good memory and a new item of clothing each (t-shirt for me, sweatshirt for T). Our feet were also sore and my unrepaired knee was pretty sore too. Still, I'm really glad that we were in the pit and had a good experience. We both had lots of fun and that's all that really matters, isn't it?