Sandy Supposes....

Bands, No...Skating Shows, Yes

PROMPT: Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1973, musician Lou Reed was bitten on his rear end by a fan during a concert in Buffalo, N.Y. ...the male fan was ejected from the show. Do you have any fun or interesting concert stories involving bands you've seen that you'd like to share with us? Alternately, you can share any fun concert story you've heard if you don't have one from experience.

          Okay, I'm trying to picture this ass-biting in my mind. The logistics seem off. Did the rabid avid fan armed with only a set of sharp teeth jump up unaccosted onto the stage? Security was a little lax, non-existent, pre-occupied, slow to react. whatever? Did he sneak up on his unsuspecting victim? Was he crawling, and or kneeling? Maybe he suddenly lunged at Lou? Was the attacker snapping and snarling, or foaming at the mouth? I still cannot see someone striking with their fangs teeth... I've seen people follow through with a punch, a slap, or a kick, but to follow your wide open mouth baring your pearly whites?

          Wait a minute... perhaps Lou's posterior was shaking and bopping right before the nipper , at his face level. Ah.. sometimes the audience sits at different levels adjacent to the main stage... Nope, I'm still not imagining it. Faces and buttocks don't normally meet in public venues. What was this compulsion? Is it referred to as social biting? He had to have been quick, and decisive. Once he zeroed in on his tender target, he was committed.

         Nope, I've got nothin'. What can compare to this ' tail tale'? My forays to concerts were tame in comparison. But I do have experience with ice-skating shows, vicarious experience, since I never stood upright on a pair of skates long enough to entertain anyone much less physically skate.

         Once upon a time, my hubby was a competitive figure skater. Every Spring, he participated in numerous ice shows with costumes, music, and a theme. His home rink staged a three-day extravaganza, so this meant lots of action. For one particular show, his job was to push a giant black top hat out onto the ice as a pair of skaters performed on its surface. Timing was tight, and he had to remain unseen. He decided to finish his number, exit behind a screen, skate in under the hat, and then skate back out onto the ice inside the hat. While he was hidden in/under the prop, he was changing into his next costume. He didn't always snap all of his buttons, or re-lace his skates enough. The poor skaters up top were at his mercy, and their hat often wobbled when he momentarily lost his balance.

         For another show, several of the male skaters wore black outfits painted with reflective paint to resemble skeletons, and they were hoisted into the air to hang from the arena rafters on swings. On cue, the music swelled, and the black lights revealed each of the glowing figures, one at a time. The audience assumed it was a part of the show, and they laughed when a spotlight fell on an empty swing. There was further amusement, when the light panned to the ice searching for the missing skeleton. He was found sprawled on the ice, but his skeleton still looked spooky. Since the whole idea was for them all to be swinging, a quick thinking skater waiting for his routine, skated out and pretended to scoop up the fallen skeleton, and assist him back onto the swing which had been lowered to him. The show must go on.

          During one jungle themed show, a male skater clad in a loin cloth, swung down from the rafters on a rope. He was channeling Tarzan, and yelling. The plan was for him to swing back and forth a few times, and then land on his skates. Well, he made one broad swing, and he lost his grip, plummeting to the ice. Not that any one expected Tarzan to be able to skate, but this guy wiped the ice from one end of the arena to the other.

         When my eldest daughter was about five or six, the annual skating show revolved around a Keystone Cop/ British Bobby theme. The Bank robber led the cops on a merry chase along the ice, and the cops stumbled after him. At one point, the thief lost his pursuers, and the officers then created a manhunt. This was all portrayed with the use of a magic screen, a pre-filmed segment, and actual live action on the ice. My daughter suddenly noticed the robber standing right beside her in the darkened bleachers, and not realizing that he planned to sneak back onto the ice and continue the chase, she jumped up and hollered, "He's over here!" A nearby spotlight operator decided to adlib, and he caught the culprit in his halo. The cops then left the ice, and included a run through the audience. Performing the same routine night after night, the skaters seemed to like the spontaneity.