My 'Wow' Moment

OK, I experienced a series of wows.

The first came as I sat crowded in the press seats above the dance floor before the Nokia Theater's stage. The DJ had just announced three men, members of the troupe Recycled Percussion, and they were taking the stage. Led by Extreme Drummer Justin Spencer, the troupe gave a romping performance by beating plastic and Tupperware containers with drumsticks. "Wow."

Below me I watched a sparse crowd of suits and geeks gathered before the stage, occasionally cheering—hopefully not jeering—as the extreme drummers performed. "Wow," I thought. "This has got to be the most uncool crowd imaginable."

When Recycled Percussion concluded its set, the audience missed all their cues. Spencer had to ask the audience for the encore. He held up his index finger and asked, "One more?" He had to cajole the audience a bit more, before a few geeks breathed in his coolness and yelled, "Yes!" I slumped back in my seat and exhaled, "Wow."

Please see eWEEK slide show on the Windows Vista launch in New York.

Behind the drummers, I had observed a real set of drums behind a curtain and wondered if a rock group might perform before Gates took the stage. Sure enough, silhouetted, a band came out. I vaguely recognized the darkened shapes but I couldn't place the singing group. The stage darkened, the curtain opened and the band tore into a rousing rendition of "What a Wonderful World." I sat back stunned, recognizing the lead singer and exhaling to myself, "Holy [expletive]" and then "Wow." Microsoft had hired Angels & Airwaves to play the Windows Vista launch celebration.

The one song finished, the band and its equipment disappeared, and I sighed, "Wow."

Gates took the stage and poured out geek speak that resonated much better with the now somewhat larger before-the-stage crowd than did the two ultra-cool musical performances. I uttered yet another "Wow," as a horrible anti-climatic feeling overwhelmed me. Geeks never look more uncool than when following two class acts. While Gates droned on about Vista being simple, safer and connected, I kept watch over the group of people before the stage. This was their man, yet they gave him no more adulation than Angels & Airwaves.

The big "Wow" came when Gates, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and PC partners left the stage and the band equipment returned. Angels & Airwaves was giving a concert!

I watched in stunned silence as people left for the theater's lobby area, where the crowd would eventually be four to five times larger than the audience left behind. I got on the dance floor and right up to the stage, before the feet of the band's lead singer and former member of the now disbanded Blink 182. I gulped, "Wow," and then immediately again, thinking how in any other venue the dance floor would be packed with screaming, adoring fans.

I wanted to rush out and scalp tickets to the concert. Microsoft should have seeded the audience with teenage girls. Surely, some employees' kids would all but kill to attend such a concert.

Please see eWEEK's slide show on IT's view of Windows Vista.

Unfortunately, I was at the event to report on the Vista launch, not take in a free Angels & Airwaves concert. So, I exited the theater proper after two songs. I recognized the first as "Valkyrie Missile." I would return a couple more times before heading off to Penn Station and the train back to suburban Washington, D.C.

On the way out of the event, I told one of the Vista organizers how much I liked the entertainment. But I confessed that it was the right band but the wrong audience.

On the train home, I took out my iPod and listened to Angels & Airwaves while I blogged. But I have to admit that I like other Blink 182 spinoff +44 better.

"Wow."