Let No Good Time Slip Away

August 15, 2021

Let No Good Time Slip Away

Being back in Indianapolis again this year allowed me to get out and explore and do some things that have been infrequent at best over the past eighteen months which included spending some time with my sister Michele and a few select friends. Even though I was being cautious to try and limit any possible exposure to Covid, I knew that being fully vaccinated and wearing a mask and trying not to put myself in obvious reckless situations, I could feel pretty good about resuming some activities.

One of the things that I have really missed the most was attending concerts, live music is one of the things that I enjoy most in the world and of course being in Indianapolis, I made sure to check out who was playing during the time that I was there. A band that I really like a lot and had seen only once preciously, some years ago at Folks Fest in Colorado was playing at one of my all-time favorite venues.

I have been attending shows at the Vogue Theatre in Indianapolis since I was in high school and used to use my sister Michele’s boyfriend’s ID to get into over 21 shows. Even before that I recall going to movies when the place was in its original form as a movie house, I saw my first ever R-rated movie there when my mother accidentally took me at age 8 to see the James Bond film, “Diamonds are Forever”. 

Now a band that I really liked, The Lone Bellow, was going to be playing there and I managed to score VIP tickets which enabled me to attend a special acoustic pre-show set at the venue with about 15 others. I love this kind of thing and try to do it whenever possible. The pre-show set was cool, relaxed and like having an intimate private performance of four songs including a beautiful cover of Paul Simon’s “Slip, Sliding Away”.

The main show was just as awesome, it whetted my appetite for even more live music. I got another chance, purely by chance at the Indiana State Fair when I once again visited. Normally I have an inherent bias against anything that could be described in any sense as “Christian Rock”, It always seems so sanctimonious and preachy. But I was at the fair and I could hear music coming from the free stage so I wondered over. A band by the name of For King and Country was on the stage and they had a massive stage set-up and a packed crowd just like some of the biggest names in music.

Considering myself somewhat up on the music scene, I could not believe that I was totally unfamiliar with what was so obviously a well-established act, one that looked and sounded pretty good. At first I thought they might be a country act that escaped my notice and even after watching a majority of their set, I had no idea that they were a Christian band, which is a good thing to be as their lyrics were upbeat but not preachy and their performance was pretty much pop rock like.

In fact, I thought they were pretty damn good. I am not ready to tune all my radios to Christian music stations or make a crazy spotify list or anything, but it just goes to show that one should have an open mind when dealing with music or just about anything else. I realized that I had an inherent bias and closed-minded attitude so much that if I had known in advance that they were considered Christian Rock, there is no way I would have stopped to watch. 

It always good to be at the state fair and this time I was there for the evening hours, crossing over from the daylight events and activities to the totally different, but equally enthralling nighttime. It is a different world at the fair after dark, the midway takes center stage and the sounds and lights seem to be amplified and there is a totally different energy. I love both day and night and I always try to visit at least once during both times. 

https://www.thelonebellow.com/

https://www.forkingandcountry.com/