Steve Miller Band concert was an adventure

Steve Miller, his band and Joe Cocker continue to rock after all these years.

They haven't changed much in their impressive musical skills. The songs are still the ones we are listening to decades after they faded from the charts. Who can resist singing along with Cocker as he belts out "With A Little Help From My Friends," or Miller's "The Joker?"

Saturday both musical legends performed at The Gorge Amphitheater. My wife, two friends and I were there. The evening was a mix of experiences, ranging from good to ugly, but overall we enjoyed the adventure and the night thoroughly.

The first "experience" started in line, waiting to reach parking. We heard an uncomfortable noise emanating from a nearby car. We voiced support for whoever was relying on the sick sounding vehicle. Too bad it turned out to be us.

A piece of the serpentine belt broke off and a remnant was flapping about the engine whenever I applied gas. Oh joy. Without the belt, bad, bad things happen to the engine of our car. We parked it immediately.

After the show, the "emergency" was rather enjoyable as we spent hours with our friends discussing the show, catching up with each other and offering each other humorous observations to keep our spirits up until the AAA-dispatched Vista Service Towing truck arrived.

Their truck was capable of carrying four passengers and the car, but the driver (Forgive me, I forgot your name.) was very professional, made towing it easy and was a joy to talk to all the way back to Moses Lake.

In between the breakdown and towing, we enjoyed the concert … well, mostly. It was great to see younger people excited to hear the same artists our parents enjoyed. The crowd was a diverse mix of folks.

But some people seem to forget that when they go out to entertainment - say a movie, concert or play - they are not sitting at home on a couch with friends. For example, a few people near us decided to talk very loudly about the mundane things taking place in their life.

The problem was, they decided to do it while Steve Miller was playing his most popular songs. It meant hearing things like, "Then on Thursday we went to lunch, but the food wasn't too good." in the middle of Miller's "Fly Like An Eagle." Then there was one lady with a shrill laugh, who found everything her friends said funny.

I should have asked why they spent money to attend a concert to hear music, only to make small talk and ignore the performance. Were they loud? Oh yes, so loud it was impossible to ignore them. They had to speak loud to each other, otherwise they wouldn't be heard over the pesky band playing on stage.

We wished they had stayed home and listened to CDs while they talked.

There were other small chapters to our adventure.

We weren't prepared for how cold it gets when the sun goes down.

We had to move so the dancing ladies weren't blocking our view of the stage. Well, we did it with a smile. They were at least enjoying the music.

Then there was the mixed feelings over listening to someone other than Steve Miller sing cover tunes from old R&B hits. It was great, but it wasn't who we came to see.

Miller and his band changed the sound of two of his biggest hits, which was a bit jarring but interesting takes on the classics. I'm whining because I was hoping for the sounds I have listened to for at least two decades.

But, all of these small irritations (except for the talking concertgoers) were balanced out and we enjoyed a great evening of music.

We spent hours with friends from another part of the state, we rarely get to see.

We enjoyed the fantastic view at The Gorge. It was a clean venue with the amazing ability to move a large number of people in and out of the amphitheater quickly.

We met some people who shared the same musical tastes and were a pleasure to talk with before and after the show.

And the music … it rocked.

Bill Stevenson is the Columbia Basin Herald managing editor. He may not be old enough to remember Steve Miller and Joe Cocker when they were at their height of popularity, but he does enjoy classic rock and can still sing all the lyrics to Miller's songs.