America - In Concert at the Clearwater Casino

[Kaing of Kaings]

Last Friday night on November 3, 2018, my wife, the same two friends who we saw Gin Blossoms and got drenched in Eddie Money sweat took a chance on seeing the band America. We were kind of jaded after seeing Eddie Money and considering the band American has been around the 70s and are as old as our parents, we were sharing thoughts before the concert that we hoped that they wouldn't be too old to sing and rock anymore.

The night started off by arriving at the Motel 6 in Clarkston on a cloudy and smelly Stinktown night. Turns out the WSU vs Cali football game on Saturday meant almost all the hotels were full in Lewiston, Clarkston, Moscow and Pullman. Typically we stay at the Casino which means you don't have drive anywhere but on that night, we had a plan to take a taxi back after the concert because we knew there would be drinking going on (and spoiler alert, there was a lot of drinking). Anyway, we left my RAV4 at the Motel 6 and headed for the Casino in our friends car to hopefully eat at the buffet. This was about 630 at night with the concert starting at 8:00 pm. When we got the the Casino, the line to the buffet was long and all the tables were full. There was also a line of people already waiting to get into the concert. The Gin Blossoms and Eddie Money never had this many people waiting in line that early. Luckily the bar has food too (just burgers, wings and shit) so we decided to eat there. We were able to find one dirty table and found a waitress to help clean it off and order us drinks and food. An older man, probably in his 60s came out wearing a leather jacket and jeans with kind of spiked hair. He had classes on too. He walked by our table, stopped and looked at me and smiled like he just let out a pleasant fart. I don't think my friends saw him but something about the encounter seemed off. Our waitress soon disappeared and it took a long time to get our food. I think it was 7:35 when our food came and it gave us a short time to eat before the concert started.

We finished up our food and went to the events center which was jammed packed with people. We had General Admission tickets which means we had to sit in the back on the bleachers. We finally found a place to sit and the Concert started right up on time and the band took the stage along with two older guys. It was then that I noticed one of the living members of the America band, the guy that looked like he farted by our table, was on stage. I pointed this out to my friends and they were like cool. It could be a coincidence but I think Gerry Beckley of America was the guy that smiled at me while we were sitting at our table. He may have also farted near our table although that is not confirmed. The band started off rocking and when Gerry and Dewey Bunnell started singing, we knew that we were in for a good concert.

The band played all their hits including most off their greatest hits album, the song Magic and a couple songs I have never heard before. All the while we kept going to the bar to get drinks and the drinks kept coming whether I was buying, Travis was or when Tanya broke the no-fireball shots rule and made us take a shot. They even had a special drink of Huckleberry Vodka and 7Up which was called A Drink with No Name that Jenni and I tried. It was good but prety sweet. The music was great though and we were enjoying ourselves. I was singing all the words (I may have been the second youngest person there as there was a kid slightly older than Own there too) and people were really into it for the most part. They closed the concert with A Horse With No Name and I don't think they did an encore. They didn't need to as they had played all their hits. It seemed like a short concert but not as short as Eddie Money. I think it was about 1.5 hours but I lost track of time after it started.

After the concert, we went back to the sports bar and had some more drinks. We discussed everything from football to...shit I can't remember. I do remember an intense discussion of politics broke out since our friends are on the other side of the spectrum but we still were friends after. After a while, my head started to get heavy and all of us were feeling pretty drunk. I remember I had to rest my head and Tanya called the cab thankfully. We somehow made it through the casino and into the taxi but that was not before I threw up at the casino entrance (a good welcoming sign for anyone coming in or leaving) and my friend Travis passed out at a slot machine. Somehow, we all got round up and in the taxi. That's when the loud music came on and made me sick again. I puked again getting it all over myself but luckily, hopefully, not getting any on the upholstery of the taxi. No one but Jenni even new I did it. The next thing I knew were were back at the Motel 6, falling onto bed and going straight to sleep. Jenni and I woke up next morning with a hell of a hangover (a reason I don't drink too much anymore) but we eventually started functioning again and went to Balldonalds for some breakfast.

Overall, it was a fun experience and the music was good. It's starting to become a tradition of going to these concerts at the Clearwater Casino with our same 2 friends. Maybe next time, the fireball ban will stay in effect.