The Fray Concert

My friend is the road manager for a rock band called The Fray.  The band was playing a show in Honolulu, and my friend asked if I needed any tickets.  Sure!!  All I had to do was pick them up at the box office prior to the concert.  The show was being held at the Waikiki Shell which is an outdoor theater at Kapiolani Park in Honolulu.  

Even though it was a Sunday night, I wasn't optimistic about finding a parking spot near the Waikiki Shell.  Just as I thought, traffic was heavy near the park and there was no hope of finding a parking spot.  I didn't feel like hunting all over Waikiki, so I pulled into the Marriott Hotel's parking lot, aware that I would be overcharged for parking.  Oh well.  The sun had dipped below the horizon and the sky was filled with sunset colors.   I'll never get tired of watching the sunset at Waikiki Beach.  Sunset On The Beach, an city event where they put up a big movie screen on the beach and show a movie to the public, was also taking place on Waikiki.  That explains why traffic sucked and parking was a problem.  

I stopped by the box office to pick up my tickets.  The clerk gave me an envelope.  Inside were the tickets and some passes for the after show party.  Cool.  I wasn't sure how good the seats would be since I told my friend that I needed the tickets only the day before.  There was only one way to find out!!  On the way to our seats I bought a t-shirt.  Gotta support the band, especially when I get free tickets :P  Okay, where are the seats?  Hey, not bad.  I sent Mark a text message to let him know we arrived.   I received a reply from him to meet him at the mixing board.   Aloha Mark!!  Aloha Keith!!!  Aloha Mrs Aloha_Keith!!  (Mark is married to my wife's cousin.  That's how we know each other).  Blah blah blah.  Get back to work and we'll see you after the show.

The concert began and we watched and listened.  Musically, the band was great.  I was impressed by their performance - full of energy and they worked the crowd.   They're not a band that I typically listen to, but I enjoyed the show.  The concert lasted an hour and a half.  It was over at 9:15pm.  The crowd trickled out of the theater but we stuck around for the reception.  Mark came over and brought us backstage.  Aloha Fray band members!!  Aloha Keith!!!  They band members were very gracious.   The drummer, Ben Wysocki, was especially nice and he spent a lot of time chatting with us.  It can't be easy to make small talk and take photos with complete strangers on a routine basis.  I'm very hesitant to take photos and bother celebrities.  I took a couple of photos but kept mainly the camera tucked away.  The band had to leave and catch a red-eye flight back to the mainland.  Goodbye Fray band members!!

We left the Waikiki Shell and went to the Marriott.  I knew parking would be expensive - $32 for a total of 4 hours!!!  Yikes.  Perhaps I should have looked a little harder for a parking spot on the street.