Last night Robin and I had a rare night out together. What did we do with that rare night out? We went to a rock concert. Though we might look like old fogies, we aren’t. We can still bang our head, and bang our head we did. We headed out in the single digit temperatures to Lincoln, here in Nebraska, for a benefit concert called “Camp Out For Kids” featuring Alter Bridge, Another Animal, and local band Down Sumner. The venue was the State Theater, which is an old traditional theater that has been turned into a concert hall with dance floor, bar, and tables and chairs in the mezzanine seating area.

The concert was great. The local band Down Sumner opened the evening with some very good songs that I had not heard before. The band was pretty talented and very enjoyable. Another Animal was the the next band, and the level of talent and professionalism went up a bit. I have only heard of couple of their songs online and I did like them enough. I had found out that the band contains members of the rock band Godsmack which has quite a fan base of it’s own. The band was very good and I liked most of the songs they performed. The lead vocalist was very interactive with the audience which gives them a plus in my book. Another Animal played for about 30 minutes They could have played longer but everyone was there to see the next band.

Out of the tour bus into the freezing Nebraska air and onto the dark and warm stage in the State Theater came the headliner, Alter Bridge. They heated up the old theater by launching into “Come To Life” from their new release Blackbird, followed by “Brand New Start” and then the heavy rhythm of “Buried Alive. They performed many favorites such as “Before Tomorrow Comes”, “Open Your Eyes”, “Broken Wings”, and “Rise Today.” The band was very tight and gelled very well together live. Mark Tremonti who plays lead guitar was very impressive even though you could tell the guitar techs were having some problems with his gear. He would excite the crowd with his head bobbing and bone crashing guitar playing. Myles Kennedy, their lead vocalist was very charismatic and interactive with the audience. I knew this guy could sing as evidenced on the bands two albums. But seeing and hearing him perform live was a real treat. He challenged the crowd to sing as well as he “humbly” does on the range challenging “Open Your Eyes” as a sing along. This challenge reminded me of his bit performance in the film “Rock Star” in which he is given the mic out of the audience while he is singing along with the superstar lead vocalist of the fictional band Steel Dragon. Myles Kennedy did not disappoint me live as many vocalists do. The guy can sing and he has a great vocal range.

The one thing that was a sore spot was the venue’s lack of crowd security. Robin noticed the anger problems developing on the main floor before I did and almost had to push an event security staff person into doing his job. This kind of thing is going to happen when you serve alcohol to folks without self-control and no accountability from the event staff. The concert as a whole was great and very entertaining. I am still trying to regain the hearing in my left ear, which, as a young head banger, used to be an indicator of a great concert. At 48, not so much. The ringing is almost gone now. Rawk On!!