downtown punctuality

This is so incredibly not health-related.

So last night I had the chance to see a wonderful show down the street here in the guts of Detroit. The headliners were Death Cab for Cutie. It was like a dream. If you are not familiar, Death Cab are an indie rock-ish ("college rock" or even "quasi-emo" perhaps?) band that have been extremely popular in the past several years with those my age and a bit older I think? Anyway, there were quite a lot of people there, 20-year-olds and otherwise. The show was at the stunning and enormous Fox Theatre, which is located pretty much as downtown as you can get. Surrounding were plenty of bars and restaurants and such, as well as another venue showcasing Stone Temple Pilots for the evening. Notably, the Hockeytown bar that even I had heard of on ESPN was right next door.

Sports fans can already see where this is going...

Last night was also game six of the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals, with Detroit's Red Wings preparing to Zamboni all over (my team, if I can claim to have one) the Pittsburgh Penguins, here in Detroit. The Red Wings were up 3-2 in the series, such that if they won, they would be this season's champions. It should be noted that hockey is a pretty big deal in Detroit - who wears a hockey jersey to a concert? - and since the home team was just a game away from the Cup, everyone was wound up and a little wild.

The game and the concert started around the same time. After the opening rockers finished up their set (Rogue Wave, for those keeping track), the emcees announced that the Wings were up 1-0 at the time, followed by plenty of cheers and whatnot. On it goes; commence DCFC. Pretty deep into their set I think some people found out the game was over and that Detroit had won, as I could see some crazed dudes running up and down the side aisles of the theatre...

Concert ends. Showgoers dump out into the downtown night. Commence madness. The streets were already fairly full of bar-prepared fans from Hockeytown et al, and now add a theatre's worth of hipsters excited from the show... It was nuts. Traffic was in the process of being stopped, so there were still a few cars trapped in the mix; police vehicles were all over the place. Everyone was honking horns, yelling, cheering, hi5ing, watching the big screens, (vomming on the sidewalk) celebrating in general. It took us at least 15min or so just to get a few blocks away to meet dad with the van. eek!!

Great timing, eh?