sad news this last weekend...it appears that the last show has been performed at the bronco bowl, ending an era, a legendary venue, but thankfully leaving fond memories....an odd venue for sure, it was the only combination bowling alling 3,00 seat auditorium, and night club i know of....those of you lucky enough to have seen a show there understand how awsome it was...i think the bowl was one of the top auditoriums in the world to see live shows....intimate, great sight lines and the best fucking sound, it hosted every type of concert imaginable...many greats played here, but the place holds two very special memories for me.
i saw my first techno show/party/whatever there, thenks to my very good friend Geoff, us both being in serious need of fun and cheering up, some spare cash, and his insistance i would have fun....damn was he ever right...saw crystal method and orbital, and it was one of the best shows i have ever seen, and that's saying a lot...i bought us tix on the spur of the moment, at the last minute, made plans to have our friend jeoff, drive us in geoffs car, so we could get fucked up with no worries, grabbed our friend allison and went....geoff accidently left his ticket in the car, which was long gone by the time we realized it...so alli and i found him a scalped ticket, and in we went...i had no idea what to expect, really didn't...turned out dj john kelly was spinning in between sets, and he had the crowd pumped by the time the opening act started...a group who's one song on the radio i hated, but somehow in there it became magic...i looked over to see the most beautiful smile on geoff's face, erasing weeks of depressive bs for both of us...before i knew ithe and i were up dancing, dragging alli up to join us and we never stopped until the show ended 8 hours later....i never stopped smiling neither did he or alli....poor jeoff got stuck driving 3 grinning, rolling, babbling, and in the case of me and me and geoff very manic peeps home, getting an incoherent blow by blow of the night...great intro to the rave culture, the happiest, funnest crowd i'd ever seen...and friendly as hell....thank you so much geoff, allison, and jeoff for that night, and thank you bronco bowl.
my other special memory is from the canyon club, which is the nightclub/bar in the bronco bowl...two very good friends of mine, mila and phil, payed me the enormous compliment of asking me to perform their wedding ceremony, which took place in the canyon club...they made me feel very special and loved by asking me to be such a key part of their wedding...it was totally fun, a bit unusual, and one of the best nights in my life for sure...this despite being so dumbfounded by seeing mila in a dress for the first time i was rendered speechless and forgot everything i was planning to say for the ceremony...thankfully her dad stepped on her veil, yanking it off her head, which she took in stride, which gave me enough time to collect my few wits and speak what i think (hope at least) a short, but nice and from the heart ceremony...it must have been ok, as their relatives spent the entire reception trying to understand why i have no ministry, what my actual religeon was, and how i had been ordained....a few even tried to convince me to come guest sermon at their church, which i politely declined, as it would have been inappropriate.
so while the bronco bowl is soon to be torn down to build a home depot, as if we need another...i have my memories, which no one can tear down, and they take the sadness of losing the bowl away.
if you wonder....i was ordained on line by the ulc, which is legal, i can perform weddings and such in 48 states, and am legally an ordained minister, you can call me brother, or whatever....i take this seriously though....i am a spiritual rather than religeous person, and will gladly perform a wedding ceremony if ever asked for friends, but not for money, and never again casually...the gift given first by jeff and sarah, and then by mila and phil of marrying them, are too special and precious to me to be careless and marry friends who don't value it as i did with ralph and sarah, or for money ever again....i understand this now and while can'tase those mistakes, prefer to simply cherish the two times it really meant something, meant so very much...thanks jeff and sarah, for my first, and mila and phil for the second, and the great bowl memory....love you guys all
Posted by Angstman at August 19, 2003 04:43 AM | TrackBack