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glatt · 06-16-2016, 08:04 AM

Saw Howard Jones/OMD/Bare Naked Ladies concert last night, picnicking on the lawn at Wolf Trap with friends.

I rented the little folding lawn chair/back rest things from the concession. Maybe that makes me old, but they made sitting in the grass for four hours comfortable. I highly recommend. A folded up towel under the lower part on the hill makes them nice and level and keeps you from getting a wedgie.

Going in to this, I had low expectations. The forecast was for thunderstorms and while I thoroughly enjoy a few BNL songs, I don't really follow them. And Howard Jones and OMD are so dated. I went to the Howard Jones website the day before to see what he was doing these days and it was all this peppy disco synth crap with no vocals. But it's always nice to have a picnic with these friends, so I figured it would an ok time.

Well, let me tell you, Howard Jones blew me away. He started off with a song that I knew really well, and he sounded GREAT. I figured, "this is great. He's starting off strong with the one song I'll know, to get me into it. Even if I don't know the rest, at least I like this one." That song ended, and he promptly started in on another song I knew. And it sounded great too. And then another, and another, and another, and another. Who knew? I've apparently got the whole Howard Jones catalog stored in my head from 30 years ago from all the airplay he got back in the day. He sounded so good. It was really nice. Surprising. He's on Jimmy Fallon tonight, so check him out.

So then there was a little break before OMD came out. I checked my weather radar app on my phone and saw that the thunderstorms were splitting to go around us to the North and South, and we were going to be in the clear!

Our friends were there to see OMD. The husband is a big OMD fan. I figured I would know 3-4 OMD songs, but it turns out I only know 1. They were decent, but following Howard Jones had to be difficult for them. Still, having our friends right there singing along to each one made us enjoy the band through osmosis, or something.

Then Bare Naked Ladies came out. I'd never seen them before, but I like 4-5 of their songs, and I understood that they have a great stage presence. It's true. They were a tremendous amount of fun. The lead singer told a story about his airline adventure earlier that day and how he almost hadn't made it to the show on time. And he apparently had thrown together a song about that afternoon's airline mishap, and they must have had a chance to get on the same page because the song sounded pretty damn good. They played all the hits, and a couple good songs I didn't know, and a handful of covers that sometimes seemed spontaneous because they followed banter that was specific to to that day. They invited Howard Jones back out on to the stage in the middle of their set, and they backed him while he played his big hit "No one is to Blame." It was so good, it gave me goosebumps on this muggy and warm summer night. These guys are musicians who can be all spontaneous and sound good while doing it.

So it was a surprisingly good concert. Fun was had by me.
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06-16-2016, 08:04 AM	#101
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Saw Howard Jones/OMD/Bare Naked Ladies concert last night, picnicking on the lawn at Wolf Trap with friends. I rented the little folding lawn chair/back rest things from the concession. Maybe that makes me old, but they made sitting in the grass for four hours comfortable. I highly recommend. A folded up towel under the lower part on the hill makes them nice and level and keeps you from getting a wedgie. Going in to this, I had low expectations. The forecast was for thunderstorms and while I thoroughly enjoy a few BNL songs, I don't really follow them. And Howard Jones and OMD are so dated. I went to the Howard Jones website the day before to see what he was doing these days and it was all this peppy disco synth crap with no vocals. But it's always nice to have a picnic with these friends, so I figured it would an ok time. Well, let me tell you, Howard Jones blew me away. He started off with a song that I knew really well, and he sounded GREAT. I figured, "this is great. He's starting off strong with the one song I'll know, to get me into it. Even if I don't know the rest, at least I like this one." That song ended, and he promptly started in on another song I knew. And it sounded great too. And then another, and another, and another, and another. Who knew? I've apparently got the whole Howard Jones catalog stored in my head from 30 years ago from all the airplay he got back in the day. He sounded so good. It was really nice. Surprising. He's on Jimmy Fallon tonight, so check him out. So then there was a little break before OMD came out. I checked my weather radar app on my phone and saw that the thunderstorms were splitting to go around us to the North and South, and we were going to be in the clear! Our friends were there to see OMD. The husband is a big OMD fan. I figured I would know 3-4 OMD songs, but it turns out I only know 1. They were decent, but following Howard Jones had to be difficult for them. Still, having our friends right there singing along to each one made us enjoy the band through osmosis, or something. Then Bare Naked Ladies came out. I'd never seen them before, but I like 4-5 of their songs, and I understood that they have a great stage presence. It's true. They were a tremendous amount of fun. The lead singer told a story about his airline adventure earlier that day and how he almost hadn't made it to the show on time. And he apparently had thrown together a song about that afternoon's airline mishap, and they must have had a chance to get on the same page because the song sounded pretty damn good. They played all the hits, and a couple good songs I didn't know, and a handful of covers that sometimes seemed spontaneous because they followed banter that was specific to to that day. They invited Howard Jones back out on to the stage in the middle of their set, and they backed him while he played his big hit "No one is to Blame." It was so good, it gave me goosebumps on this muggy and warm summer night. These guys are musicians who can be all spontaneous and sound good while doing it. So it was a surprisingly good concert. Fun was had by me.