I was initially going to talk strictly about the first Dwight Yoakam concert I've had a chance to see since the last time he came through Phoenix, which was clear back in 2003, but instead I'm going to split my time and talk a little about the concert itself, then a lot more about the concert venue, The Celebrity Theatre, a central Phoenix institution for some thirty-odd years and the last of those places in between the stadium and the honky-tonk.
There's a lot of great things to say about the Celebrity Theatre. It's a bit of a relic, its early-60's architecture surrounded by a women's prison to the south, almost ramshackle homes to the north and west; that general, run-down air that categorizes the very old neighborhoods in a western city that spread out from its center and left the middle to fall into decay and ruin. That decay almost took down the Celebrity; it faded into near oblivion in the late 80's and early 90's, its small house (less than 3,000 seats) and slowly spinning in-the-round stage falling out of favor as big stadium shows became all the rage. Only faded "has-been" bands and sixties reunion shows tended to book the Celebrity (yes, I saw the Monkees there - four times!). Finally, it closed down and a lot of people just plain forgot about it. But then it was purchased by a new owner and given a thorough interior makeover, and it re-opened in 1995 to great fanfare and some pretty awesome performances. The Celebrity has hosted comedians, rock bands, country singers, blues bands, road shows, and a slew of other entertainments who appreciate the intimacy of the venue (no seat is further than 75 feet from the stage), and ticket prices are always reasonable.
Now, since the Celebrity re-opened its doors, I've been to several shows there. I like the new owners. On the whole, I like everything they've done for the old place. They've increased the intimacy of the venue with big screens on two sides so you can always see the "front" of the stage while it's rotating, they have a good bar downstairs in the Celebrity Club, and while the seats aren't exactly comfortable (there is NOT enough leg room, especially above the third row - and I am not a tall person), there is at least a cup holder for your beer. Now to the problems. The last two shows I've been to have not been in the hot part of the year in Arizona - there has been no reason at all for the air conditioner to be cranked down to about 60 degrees, although the folks around me who complained at the Merle Haggard show were all assured it was "for the comfort of the performer." Well, he's up there under the hot lights, I suppose. We're sitting still in the audience in the dark with freezing air blowing on us. The same was true of the Dwight Yoakam show. At least this time I brought a jacket (I learn). The women around me were buying t-shirts just to cover bare knees and shoulders (I couldn't decide if this was some kind of racket).
I was also extremely irritated by the sudden ban on cameras. I don't mind a rule, but it should be consistent, and Dwight Yoakam always allows pictures at his shows at the venues which permit photos. I know, I have dozens of pictures of Dwight in performance (36 of these come from his last performance at the Celebrity) - in fact, there are pictures in existence of Dwight actually yelling at security for trying to stop girls from taking his picture at concerts. So I can't really imagine that Dwight has suddenly changed his stance on that. No, it had to be the Celebrity; although I will say at least this time they trusted me to keep my camera in my purse, instead of sending me back to the car as they did at the John Hiatt show (I assumed at that show it was Hiatt's preference; a few months later at Merle's show cameras were allowed - again, I have many shots of Merle performing at the Celebrity). It was in fact the ban on photography that turned this from a review of the show into a review of the venue; I hate turning in a review of a show without a few pictures. Still... it was a Dwight Yoakam show, and the first I've seen since 2003. So...
