Super Bowl Weekend in Detroit
Being in town for the Super Bowl was pretty nice. Gauri and I picked up some very fun and lasting memories. Here are the highlights:
Thursday night: The Pepsi Smash concert was pretty enjoyable, although the lines we had to deal with both getting into the place and at the concession stands were obnoxious and harbingers of things to come. The line outside was so long that I had time to run into the Subway that was right there when we got in line and polish off an entire combo meal before we made it halfway through. The line for concessions then caused me to miss the entire set by Train (though not completely; I could still hear them). I was in there, however, for all of the Goo Goo Dolls, Nickelback and Kanye West. Some general impressions:
1. Johnny from the Goo Goo Dolls isn't aging all that well, and there's a 99.9853% chance he was high that night. They performed competently, but didn't blow me away.
2. Nickelback's performance, on the other hand, was outstanding! It was high-energy from start to finish, and they really acknowledged and enjoyed the crowd. They also get bonus points in my book for being the only band to use pyrotechnics.
3. Kanye West was a little spotty in places. Half of his time, he wasn't even on stage, letting one of his backup singers take over for part of it, then this woman who I had never heard of before. And then, half the time he was out there he didn't even do his own stuff. He did finish strong, though.
Friday night: We went to the NFL Experience, where I embarassed myself by taking part in drills that are supposed to approximate NFL training drills. Then, we headed over to Motown Winter Blast and walked around for a little bit. The only notable thing about the evening, though, is that the line for the shuttle bus back out to the suburbs stretched about 3 blocks, forcing us to wait 45 minutes to take a taxi instead.
Saturday night: Nothing builds camraderie among total strangers like waiting outside in the snow for 3 hours trying to get into a party/concert. We had a particularly nice conversation with a rather tall 34-year-old factory worker, who later helped Gauri get one of the T-shirts that a local radio station was throwing into the crowd. Why were we out there freezing our butts off for so long to begin with, you ask? Well, that's what it took to get in; about half the people who had tickets to the Bud Bowl didn't even make it inside.
It was a great time, though. They had a couple of breakdancers who were really phenomenal. We ran into them after their performance and told them how great they did. They were grateful, but said that they actually had to curtail what they normally do because the surface was so slick with beer. Yep, it was the Bud Bowl, so not surprisingly beer was absolutely everywhere. Another highlight was when the announcer and the singer from the "Real Men of Genius" commercials got on stage and started riffing about Detroit. Finally, after a long wait, the band got on stage. We were supposed to see 3 Doors Down, but one of their members broke his hand this week. Instead, the Bud Bowl organizers asked Staind cancel a gig in Maine to fly out here. Gauri and I had staked out a spot just a few rows back from the stage, so we were right in the middle of it all. It was so much fun; you could tell they appreciated getting to perform there, and they really got the place rocking! I'd post some pictures, but they didn't want cameras inside, so we couldn't take any pictures.
So, that was my crazy weekend at the Super Bowl. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was worn out from all the partying, so we just stayed in and watched the game. Nonetheless, the experiences from the previous 3 days will stay with me for the rest of my life. Wish you could've been here.
Thursday night: The Pepsi Smash concert was pretty enjoyable, although the lines we had to deal with both getting into the place and at the concession stands were obnoxious and harbingers of things to come. The line outside was so long that I had time to run into the Subway that was right there when we got in line and polish off an entire combo meal before we made it halfway through. The line for concessions then caused me to miss the entire set by Train (though not completely; I could still hear them). I was in there, however, for all of the Goo Goo Dolls, Nickelback and Kanye West. Some general impressions:
1. Johnny from the Goo Goo Dolls isn't aging all that well, and there's a 99.9853% chance he was high that night. They performed competently, but didn't blow me away.
2. Nickelback's performance, on the other hand, was outstanding! It was high-energy from start to finish, and they really acknowledged and enjoyed the crowd. They also get bonus points in my book for being the only band to use pyrotechnics.
3. Kanye West was a little spotty in places. Half of his time, he wasn't even on stage, letting one of his backup singers take over for part of it, then this woman who I had never heard of before. And then, half the time he was out there he didn't even do his own stuff. He did finish strong, though.
Friday night: We went to the NFL Experience, where I embarassed myself by taking part in drills that are supposed to approximate NFL training drills. Then, we headed over to Motown Winter Blast and walked around for a little bit. The only notable thing about the evening, though, is that the line for the shuttle bus back out to the suburbs stretched about 3 blocks, forcing us to wait 45 minutes to take a taxi instead.
Saturday night: Nothing builds camraderie among total strangers like waiting outside in the snow for 3 hours trying to get into a party/concert. We had a particularly nice conversation with a rather tall 34-year-old factory worker, who later helped Gauri get one of the T-shirts that a local radio station was throwing into the crowd. Why were we out there freezing our butts off for so long to begin with, you ask? Well, that's what it took to get in; about half the people who had tickets to the Bud Bowl didn't even make it inside.
It was a great time, though. They had a couple of breakdancers who were really phenomenal. We ran into them after their performance and told them how great they did. They were grateful, but said that they actually had to curtail what they normally do because the surface was so slick with beer. Yep, it was the Bud Bowl, so not surprisingly beer was absolutely everywhere. Another highlight was when the announcer and the singer from the "Real Men of Genius" commercials got on stage and started riffing about Detroit. Finally, after a long wait, the band got on stage. We were supposed to see 3 Doors Down, but one of their members broke his hand this week. Instead, the Bud Bowl organizers asked Staind cancel a gig in Maine to fly out here. Gauri and I had staked out a spot just a few rows back from the stage, so we were right in the middle of it all. It was so much fun; you could tell they appreciated getting to perform there, and they really got the place rocking! I'd post some pictures, but they didn't want cameras inside, so we couldn't take any pictures.
So, that was my crazy weekend at the Super Bowl. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was worn out from all the partying, so we just stayed in and watched the game. Nonetheless, the experiences from the previous 3 days will stay with me for the rest of my life. Wish you could've been here.
posted by Lock Ness Monster at 9:13 AM
2 Comments:
That sounds like a fun time. I guess they didn't have an actual 'Bud Bowl'?
I guess the combination of alcohol, sports fans and bottles crashing into each other doesn't make much sense.
What was kind of strange is that I kept seeing signs for the Bud Bowl being advertised as Sunday, despite the fact that both the event I went to on Saturday and another similar gathering in the same place on Friday were also called the "Bud Bowl." What I suspect is that if the bottles football game we all remember from our youth still exists, it was played on Sunday. For some reason, Anheuser-Busch doesn't see fit to televise highlights from the Bud Bowl anymore, which I personally think is a travesty. Maybe we'll start a petition for next year's Super Bowl if you guys want to.
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