An evening with Seal and friends
If you are an avid reader of this blog, which you should be, you will remember how many pixels I spilled on the story of how Seal posted on a certain photography-themed Internet discussion board where many members thought the postings were a hoax but I correctly concluded they were genuine.
I didn't mention the small detail that in the course of the discussion, Seal invited me to attend his upcoming Seattle concert as his guest. He told me he would leave tickets and backstage passes for me at the door. Cool.
The event was yesterday. My friend tp_gal was kind enough to join me and has a nice write-up of it in her blog. Several people wondered whether the tickets would actually be there (including tp_gal, who stopped by the "will call" window on her way to meet me, then called to announce that they were). Being a credulous sort, I hadn't really doubted that Seal had the apparatus in place to deliver the goods, but I did let someone I phoned at the venue convince me that no cameras would be allowed inside. Consequently, I only took two small cameras (needlessly hidden on my person) instead of one that would have been a more natural choice for concert photography. Of course there was no bag check of any kind, and all sorts of people had cameras. I felt a little naïve, but I got over it and was able to struggle through with just the two cameras.
The seats were, as they say in the "fountainhead of our values", way above my pay grade (dead-center floor, row 7). The evening was the grand opening of the concert venue at the Seahawks' facility, Qwest Field. Paul Allen, the richest owner in professional sports, has put together some very talented musicians in his vanity band, "The Predicament" (all other abstract nouns having, evidently, already been taken), which opened with several covers and at least one Paul Allen composition. Allen himself was MIA, compound-bound with an illness.
The main event, Seal, was excellent. A group just behind us felt comfortable having a loud conversation during the opening act and the first few Seal numbers. Rather than a finger-to-mouth gesture, I opted for the more dramatic "out of air" sign from scuba diving (a throat-cutting gesture). I don't think the male offender was too pleased, but they did ultimately pipe down.
Afterward, we went backstage and joined maybe 20 others visiting with Seal. I got the obligatory digicam "photo op" shots and, I hope, a few better ones on b/w film. Paraphrasing one of the web-forum doubters, I swept my arms and congratulated Seal on pulling off a "really well-researched hoax." He was amused. We had a nice substantive chat about photography, mostly some of the serious digital choices available now. He said "I've had all the toys," either because he's bought them or because manufacturers have given him stuff. His bottom line on the new Leica M8, which he had raved about on the photo forum, was that the real reason to get one is to use your existing Leica rangefinder lenses for digital. I judged that he would choose the Canon 5D over the M8. He said the M8 has a relatively high level of sensor noise, compared to the 5D and even the Nikon D200.
Seal seems like a genuinely nice guy with a lot of enthusiasm and intensity—gregarious, but also the kind of person who can seem to ignore you until he is talking to you, when he seems to be ignoring everyone else. He's very down-to-earth about everything, it seemed to me, including the perks of celebrity. 
Oh, we also met Shaun Alexander, who seems like a totally sweet, unspoiled guy with no attitude or "airs" at all.
posted at 9:25 PM
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