War - Band Long Beach Concert reviews
Underwhelmed
FirstMerit at Northerly Island is a cool venue, and the weather was beautiful (mosquitos were obnoxious though). It took thirty minutes to get from our seat to the parking lot and then another thirty minutes just to get out of the parking spot. Getting to, parking, and getting to our seat was painful, but not nearly as bad as everyone leaving all at once.
In my opinion, opening act Ted Alexandro was good. He made me laugh a few times, which surprised me. I am a tough critic when it comes to stand-up and usually focus on rhythm, style, segues, cohesion of the act, etc. Usually, I am surprised when I actually laugh out loud. Usually, I am surprised when I actually laugh out loud. Alexandro surprised me. He was better than War - Band, who came out to a video montage of him eating like a glutton on his tv show.
War - Band did try some new things that were ok, but it is tough to live up to his "hot pocket" routine. There seemed to be some feigned laughter, with a few genuine chuckles mixed in. The crowd was 99.9% white, mostly middle-aged and uninteresting. They went wild when he closed with "hot pockets"...I cringed. That routine has to be seven years old and people are still laughing. He may have pulled out the "hot pockets" in an effort to finish on a high note, given that stand-up in large venues is tough, especially an outdoor venue. He made me laugh a few times, which surprised me.