Pass It Forward (the cool way of concert ticket upgrade)

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Alison Krauss and Robert Plant perform at a downtown Cleveland outdoor venue on a gorgeous summer night.  It was great running into friends and, in particular, two strangers.

About half way through the show as we stood in the rear general admission section, a couple approached us and said, "Hey, you want to sit in some amazing seats?  We have to leave."  I quickly said yes and took the tickets thanking them profusely. 

"Fifth row aisle seats" the woman said, "you know, pass it forward!" she concluded.  I smiled, knowing exactly what she meant. 

Years earlier, I had amazing seats to a Jimmy Buffet concert at Blossom Music Center.  Three songs into the show I was quite disappointed at the horrendous sound.  How can a band who makes their living on the road, playing in a space with beautiful acoustics manage to screw up this bad. 

As we walked up the hill and toward the exit I saw a couple on blankets and handed them the tickets.  They were as overjoyed as I was last night. 

Pass it forward.  Indeed.

Back to the show.  The band was top notch and featured T Bone Burnett who produced the album .  Recently on NPR's All Songs Considered  he stated that this band was the most fun he's ever had on the road.  That would include his stint with Dylan's Thundering Review from the 70's.

Also in the line up was a favorite of mine, multi-instrumentalist and singer, Buddy Miller. He even got to sing a little on one of the encores. 

The cool Cleveland fact was that, as Plant put it, "it was less than 1,000 days ago in this city at a Rock Hall tribute to Leadbelly that I first met and sang with this woman who's changed the course of my life".  And later on Burnett acknowledged it as a special night since the band was formed here on that night at Severance Hall. 

Here's some pix from The Plain Dealer.