"If you love me like I love you please won't you let me know "

It's rather amazing what drums and a guitar can produce. The Black Keys were incredible. The set list was stellar. From material they've produced since 2002 and up. I was glad to hear My Next Girl, The Breaks, 10 Cent Pistol...that song is incredible live. Strange Times was intense. You could feel it in your chest. Everybody was up dancing...and everybody seemed to be high...lots of pot smokers in that crowd, which was very young and mostly male.

The stage was stripped right down to almost nothing...it was a skeleton of lights and it was stellar. Just some white lights strung up...at times it was like being in a backyard or in your buddies basement. I loved it. But I'd love to see them in a more intimate setting.



The crowd was timid at first....but they warmed up quickly. It was a bit of a lovefest really, I felt the crowd really had a lot of respect for what they were seeing. It was incredible to watch the interaction between the drums and the sweet blues guitar...they added musicians for Tighten Up and the the bigger hits, they sounded great too. Still amazed by the guitar.

Cage The Elephant, the opener, was a lot more screamy than I had imagined they'd be. But they performed their hits well. Sans yelling.

It was a brilliant night. We realized that all of us, and there were 12 of us, had met through twitter. Also you should try Granville Island's Maple Cream Ale, it's delicious.

Song Du Jour:

"Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"

I've been trying to figure out this odd feeling that keeps washing over me this last month. It's like it builds up in my chest until I can't take it anymore and I feel like I might burst.

Last night I was in Save On Foods rushing about in my workout gear after getting my arse handed to me at kickboxing/punch dancing class and I found myself smiling away at the bulk organic soynuts cascading into the bag while a woman berated her child in the bulk foods aisle. She was an angry lady...poor kid. All of a sudden Mysterious Ways by U2 came on the speakers and I sang along happily while two men had a fight over soda near their cart. "No dude, you can make Cuba Libre's with fake pop..." "yeah but Coke is too expensive, ya jackass." "oh fuck you...just leave it in the cart" "You're already ruining next weekend dude!" Holy Drama! And Cuba Libre's? That uptight Dude needs a new cool beverage to drink.

Then a lady ran into me with her cart. "oh sorry" I said, like it was my fault, then I helped her pick up the stuff she knocked over and she looked at me and said thanks, she had a bad day. She thought I was going to yell at her. I said, well it can only get better now. I smiled at her. And she smiled back then rushed off with a look of exhaustion in her eyes.
I stopped there for a moment and watched people rush around like mad, fight and skulk about and even though I had about a 1000 things still to do and it was already 8 p.m. I felt this calm sort of serene feeling...what is that, I wondered.

And I am startled to discover it is happiness. and contentment. I know that sounds silly, and it's not like I haven't been happy before, don't get me wrong, but a sustained period of elation can really catch you off guard. And this time it's different because everything in my life happens to be coming at me all at once and I should be cowering in a corner in a panic...but I'm not. I blame this on all the things I have to look forward to in the upcoming month and the really incredible year unfolding around me. I had an epiphany...I can't control life so now I am just so excited for what's next. It's a Castaway moment for sure (yay pop culture)...Tom Hanks in the middle of that 4 way stop...You never know what the next wave will bring. All I know is how fucking grateful I am for all the things in my life. How happy I feel right now, in this moment.
Tomorrow is a huge day for me. I plan to celebrate it by going with my #yegmusicclub to see Black Keys, who I have been dying to see live. Nothing like live music to elevate you even higher. Then next week (next week!) I am going to see U2 again with the most incredible people from around the globe. I've never been this excited to go stand and wait in a huge queue.


"Oh, it’s my road and it’s my war..."

I have Young The Giant stuck in my head today so that will be the Song Du Jour:

"It's not what you're dreaming, but what you're gonna do"

I got to take public transit this week! My car decided (in the pouring rain, on the Henday) that the Wiper Blade motor Linkage should break and then the check engine light came on. It was one of those moments...I could not pull over and needed to make it to the nearest mechanic. So I did my best to stay calm...got off on 87 Avenue and took the back roads, stopping every couple of blocks to manually clean the windshield. This must have looked hilarious. After that my whole day was derailed, but I managed to get through without freaking out at all. I mean what can you do right?

It has been a long time since I took the bus, and it wasn't half bad. I mean sure I had to transfer twice and run for both connections, but it only took me 40 minutes to get to work. For ETS, that's impressive. I like having all that time to listen to music and think. I have lots to think about right now. Lots. Do you ever find yourself having to make giant decisions and you just can't? I feel oddly contradictory this week. I have to find a new car, a process I am dreading and although I really want a more reliable car, but I sure don't want to have to pay for it. It's a weird feeling. I know I need a car...really my whole life is organized around being able to get places that have no transit service...but I have really, just recently, considered not buying a new one. Think of all the money I could save each month and I could go travelling more. But is that worth months of no car in a city that you need one? hmmm....
It's a giant decision. I thought once I was forced into it...well I thought making this decision would be easier. Turns out it's not. I need more time.

I am also working on a series of blog posts from my U2 week, including the gig bit of the Edgemonton show and my first hardcore GA and front row experience...oh and all of Seattle which was seriously so much fun. I will get around to posting them soon. I did something a bit different and took a journal with me on my trips, then actually wrote my adventures down in it. I know. So 1990's. I kinda really enjoyed it.
It's also not a public blog so I put a lot of good stuff in there. Which none of you get to read. Sorry. But because it is all written down I feel very lazy about blogging it, actually. It's lovely to have things to look forward too, I can't believe how lucky I am...well you know relatively speaking, the car business is just a blip on the screen, I hope.

Song Du Jour Summer Rain by U2

"It's not why you're running
It's where you're going
It's not what you're dreaming
But what you're gonna do
It's not where you're born
It's where you belong
It's not how weak
But what will make you strong..."

U2360 Edgemonton "Begging to get back to my heart, to the rthym of my soul.."

From the GA:

I fell asleep under a make shift lean to supplied by my mates in line, and got about 5 minutes of sleep. I kept dreaming I was trying to sleep under the chairs in a medicentre waiting room. Surrounded by fans chatting and visiting their conversations were creeping into my subconscious.
After 3 hours of trying to sleep I heard someone ask for hj from the atU2 boards. I heard my line mates tell her that I was sleeping and could she come back later. She said she was Garden Tart and I poked my head up...I really wanted to meet her, she drove up from Calgary and we'd been friends on the boards for years. I think it was 8:30 a.m.

I gathered myself up, ran my brush through my hair and brushed my teeth, camping style. It was next to impossible to be worried about how I looked so I thought, screw it, and just got on with it. Who needs sleep when there is all this excitement going on. It was gig day! I had waited 581 days to see this concert!! Everybody was excited!

The day FLEW by. I can barely remember meeting all the people who came to introduce themselves. We organized and got our red and white balloons ready to distribute.

By 10:30 I was taking my first break, home to shower, pack some stuff back with me from GA and get lunch. I got back in line at 11:30. I felt like a new person after that shower.I was ready for the gig. We took turns numbering the rest of the fans. We stopped at 850.

By 2:30 the security folks were already passing out mixed info. They gave us 5 minutes to pack up our stuff and many fans missed it. Some of the top 50 in line lost their spots. It was very disorganized and a huge let down after all we had done to try to communicate with Commonwealth. They moved us into a short line, side by side, and we waited. And waited. It was the most anxious time. But we tried to keep our spirits up and we took a group photo:

Then a lady came out and told us very specific instructions. They would open 3 gates and we would proceed down aisle M. Then she came out and told us something different. We were all very concerned because it seemed like they had no idea what they were doing.

And they didn't have any idea what they were doing, it was clear. When the gates opened, many fans tickets would not scan. People from the back pushed forward in a surge, once we got in we headed for M like we'd been told only to be yelled at for that...and told we were going the wrong way. Massive confusion and it caused a panic. I looped back to the end zone stairs and ran down them. No one stopped me, it could have been very dangerous. We ran across the field. I pretended to be Calvin McCarty and ran that 110 yards for a touchdown faster than I think I have ever run in my life. It was a giant loop to get into the inner circle, my heart pounding, my adrenaline pumping. One usher, she tried to tell me I could not enter the turn style, she was wrong and had been given the WRONG information, so I pushed past her and carried on. (I felt really bad about that and went back to apologize later) I rounded the corner only to see all my line mates, panic on their faces, running towards me, Commonwealth had closed the gates on Adam Side so they all had to run around to Edge Side.

Commonwealth managed to make it the WORST GA I have ever been a part of. They are just lucky no one got hurt. When it all stopped...I realized I had grabbed a rail and just sat down­. We all took a moment. WHEW! I was inner circle, front row, between The Edge and Bono. HOLY SHIT!

I needed a beer.