I recently attended the Guns ‘n Roses concert in Kansas City.  They are not a group I’m all that fond of, but the show was great.  The ending (“Paradise City” as the third song of a three song encore) was amazing!  The lights, flames shooting out of the stage, confetti everywhere, Slash playing a guitar solo while appearing to be oblivious to everything that was going on around him AND the fireworks.  Oh yeah, there were fireworks.  When it all ended they couldn’t have possibly played another song because there was literally nowhere left to go.

Then, a few days later, I was up on Markley Road for Salina’s Skyfire.  It was, simply put, lame.  There I said it.  If you were there, you probably said it also.

It lasted all of 14 minutes (it took twice as long to get out after it was over as the whole show took), the music didn’t seem to have anything to do with what was being shot off and the finale (I use the word loosely) was the absolute worst fireworks finale I’ve ever witnessed.  My wife said to me when it was over, “Is that it?”  I’m sure many felt the same way.  There’s an old show biz saying—“Always leave them wanting more”—-well, they certainly succeed at that.

But, here’s the deal.  I don’t blame anybody who worked on this.  I’m sure they tried hard.  I’m sure they want to put on a better show.  I’m sure the sponsors want to sponsor a better show.  The problem is MONEY.  As is many times the case, not enough of it.

Now, I’m old school enough to believe if you are going to complain about something, you need to offer a solution.  Here’s mine:

Move Skyfire to Salina Stadium.  Charge a buck or two to get in.  Sell concessions.  Shoot off the fireworks in the practice field near the stadium.  Use the field in the stadium for some special effects that never leave the ground.  Blast the music from the stadium’s speaker system.

I don’t know if this is doable or not.  Maybe it is too close to a residential area.  I don’t know.  If you can’t do it there, at least do it at Dean Evans Stadium.  You’ve got to get in a situation where you can charge just a little bit of money to help pay for next year’s show.

My daughter texted me about the show she and her family saw at Bern, Kansas and how great it was.  Bern!  I don’t even know where that is, but surely we can do as well as Bern, Kansas.