"My old friend...I swear I never meant for this..." ~The Bravery

I've decided that I don't care for the venue formerly known as "Red's" or "Ed's" --what they now call The Edmonton Events Centre --it still really blows, and in a way that borders on comical. We went and saw Cake on Friday night...I was so excited, I have waited so long to see them live, let's just say I was stoked. I got there early, like keener early. I lined up outside the venue, then when I finally got into the venue there was no seating left. So basically we got there early to stand for 6 hours.

It was very "Grade 10 Hall party" drinking Stella from a can and although the music was great I really did not enjoy the experience all that much. I was there with good company and we had many, many beers, but really everything else was a big ole cluster fuck. The constant ringing of the fire alarm was hot.

When Cake *finally* took the stage they were better live than I could have imagined, we danced, we sang, we laughed, we sweated because it had to have been 120 degrees in there! Although I could not hear anything lead singer John McCrea said he did give away a tree at one point. A pretty little cedar...apparently they do that at each concert. They ask a "trivia" question to the audience and then give the tree to the winner to plant in their city. I thought that was pretty cool. War Pigs was my favorite song they performed which surprised me only because I have never been a fan of that song until Cake covered it. I loved Never There too.

The Best of the worse? The Bathroom attendant. They had a lady seated on a stool in the bathroom with crap laid out all over the place (taking up valuable sink, counter and mirror space). She had it all for sale: chocolate, chips, tissues...after you washed your hands she gave you a towel. It was all somewhat surreal. Mostly, it meant there was only one sink for every one to wash their hands in. So picture it...You had to wait in line to go to the bathroom (fire alarm blaring). Then wait in line to wash your hands. Then wait, hands dripping and people pushing, for the lady to sell the high chick in front of you a mini coffee crisp before she hands you your single towel. hmmm...Are you supposed to tip that lady?

It was just awesome! All in all the night could have been spectacular, but the venue managed to fuck it up by just being so retarded.

Song du Jour: An Honest Mistake by The Bravery
This song is very New Order-esque and Depeche Mode-like on the keyboards...sooo 1982.

Photo by Justin D. Renney/Getty Images: John McCrea of Cake performs at Lollapalooza on July 23, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois.