Rock of Ages: Bone Bash 2015

Poster from Bone Bash 2015

 On September 19th 2015, I went to my 3rd Bone Bash! This year the traffic was unreal, which made us late and miss Tesla play. I've honestly never seen so much traffic in my entire life. We even had to park away from the venue because there were so many people. Walking just down the street from Google towards the venue distant "Wooooo!"s were being heard. It kind of personified the energy of the night. I quickly entered the Shoreline so we didn't miss anymore of the show.

A random guy stopped me after seeing my outfit and said "What has nine arms and still sucks!?" I said I didn't know, even though it was obvious where the joke was going "DEF LEPPARD" he loudly retorted. 

 As we arrived to the Shoreline Amphitheater in San Jose Styx was hitting the stage. There set looked like inside a space ship, which reminded me of how Boston's stage looks. Plumes of smoke were already ready the night sky as "Lady" began to play. Visuals from "The Grand Illusion" repeated on the screen behind them. "Loreli", "Renegade" and "Come Sail Away" were also played, which brought the rest of the sitting people to their feet. During their epic performance I couldn't help but notice how many similarities they have to Queen (and even The Who). The musicians moved like male ballerinas on stage, and the vocals resonated through the venue, as unmistakable Styx. 

Ticket stub

 Although I loved seeing Styx, I was most excited about seeing Def Leppard. I wore my union jack tank top and blue bandanna around my neck. The band entered the stage, or course including the lead singer Joe Elliott and his infamous shaggy mullet. By this time a large portion of the audience was drunk and rowdy which Def Leppard fit in with perfectly. It was as if everyone's alcohol consumption hit at the same time. Sometimes music provides a time machine feeling, and concerts are terrific at conceiving these moments. Sitting in different seats at a concert venue offers me a new perspective of what I am seeing. At this point I've been to, dozens and dozens of concerts, and each one still feels brand new.

 This time around sitting in the back (not quite lawn) provided a wide perspective of the stage and audience. The mostly 50 and over crow, who were teens in the early 80's looked like they were back there again. Def Leppard performed "Love Bites", "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Rock on" (which I actually didn't know was a DL song), "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" were the grand finale, after a raucous standing ovation. At this point the people around us (mostly couples) were beginning to argue and seriously act like teenagers. DL had the kind of energy I see with AC DC, Though I have never seen them live,  The night had reached it's climax, and my bed sure felt good that night. Fun fact:one of the first things I learned to say as a little kid was "one fucking arm." Which I had no idea what it was about, until years later when my mom explained. I guess she liked Def Leppard at the time.