Mouthparts+Wings presents The Christmas Show (review)

It's no real big secret that I've been a bit out of the loop of the concert scene lately. But when think that I would have almost missed out on such a fantastic show if it hadn't been for my BFF coming home from Montreal for a visit and looking through the weekly papers to see what was going on, it makes me realize that I should really pay more attention!

The show is an annual Christmas concert presented by Mouthparts+Wings. It featured some of my favourite artists, including Hawksley Workman, Luke Doucet & Melissa McClelland, and some new folks that I hadn't heard before, but I must investigate: Justin Rutledge, Paul Linkletter, and John Southworth, just to name a few.

The evening, hosted by Mia Sheard started out with an a cappella choral song, sung by four of the ladies that would be appearing later in the show. One by one, artists were brought out to sing a Christmas song (with only a few exceptions). It was fantastic - especially since last week at the Andy Kim show, my only complaint was that the artists didn't play very many Christmas songs. They played a mix of original Christmas songs and traditional ones, in various arrangements.

The last performer of the night was one of my favourites - Hawksley Workman. A few years ago, he released a Christmas album called Almost A Full Moon that immediately became one of my favourite Christmas albums ever. He played two selections from the album last night - "A House Or Maybe A Boat" and "Merry Christmas (I Love You)" (which always makes me think of my grandfather, and how much I miss him, along with another one of his tunes from that same album, "Three Generations").

After Hawksley, all of the performers came out for one last song - a group sing-a-long to "Deck The Halls" - it was super fun!

I'm so glad an impromptu plan for a night out turned out to be one of the most festive things I've done all year. I'll have to keep this show on my radar again for next December.

Happy Holidays to all! For more photos, visit my flickr.

Andy Kim Christmas Show 2009

The Andy Kim Christmas Show is a newish tradition for me during the holidays. Five years ago, Andy Kim (who has written songs such as Sugar Sugar and Rock Me Gently) began putting on this show at the Mod Club in Toronto. I have gone to every show since then.

As mentioned last year - I was probably the youngest person in the audience that knew all the words to Andy Kim's songs... but that doesn't bother me much!

The acts this year were:

• The Beauties - They are a GREAT alt/rock band. They played a song of their own, plus, a fantastic version of Fairytale of New York, up on youtube here.
  
• Broken Social Scene - I liked them better than last year... the first song they played was a new one that reminded me a bit of Kings of Leon. I liked that one. The other ones, I didn't care for terribly, but they were tolerable.
  
• Kim Mitchell - always amazing to see a legend on stage - I only wish he had played Patio Lanterns, but I bet he's probably sick of playing that song!
  
• Gentleman Reg - he was okay. Not my favourite, but not bad either. I don't have much to say on this one...
  

Divine Brown was supposed to play, but she got sick at the last minute so there was an extra set by Andy Kim, which was great for me, since I mostly go to the shows to hear Andy's songs.

The only disappointing thing was that most of the bands on this years' show didn't bother to learn a Christmas song. It doesn't make much of a Christmas show if you're not playing a Christmas tune! Hopefully next year, the acts will bring it back to the feeling of the first Andy Kim Christmas Show (which was still my favourite one ever).

Photos from the show are up here!

The Hold Steady in Ybor City

I found out about a Hold Steady concert that was happening in Ybor City before we left - trouble was, it was billed as a re-scheduled free show, to which tickets had already been given away. I ended up emailing the band via their myspace, and they graciously respond, asking me for my contact details, and how many people I would be bringing to the show! I was very excited about this (though I hadn't received a confirmation email, so even up until the very day of the show, I wasn't sure that we would get in).

The show was on July 2, so after Amy and I watched some dolphins, and spent some time on the beach with Dollward and Sharkey, we went back to the house to get ready. Juan ended up coming with us to the show too. The three of us had a great time. The music was beyond fantastic - I don't think either Juan or Amy really knew the band before that day, but they both enjoyed the show as well.

For me, it was pretty awesome seeing The Hold Steady in Ybor, because I definitely connect the two together in my head - probably because so many of The Hold Steady's lyrics involve Ybor City. Here's the lyrics to my favourite song of theirs:

The Hold Steady - Killer Parties

if they ask about charlemagne. be polite and say something vague. like another lover lost to the restaurant raids. if they ask why we left in the first place. say we were young and we were so in love. i guess we just needed space. we heard about this place they called the united states. we found out virginia really is for the lovers. philly is full of friendly friends that will love you like a brother. pensacola parties hard with poppers pills and pepsi. ybor city is tres speedy but they throw such killer parties. killer parties almost killed me.

if she says we partied then i'm pretty sure we partied. i really don't remember. i remember we departed from our bodies. we woke up in ybor city.

More pics right this way

CMW Day 4: The Ting Tings are AMAZING.

Saturday was definitely the day I was most looking forward to of Canadian Music Week.  I was SO excited to see The Ting Tings, probably my favourite band that has emerged recently (thank you to my brother, Rick, for the initial recommendation, more than a year ago now!)

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get in, since the online listing said the show was sold out (though it did say all wristbands/passes were accepted).  I didn't want to chance it, so I ended up at the club super early.  Cute moment - I was driving down a side street looking for parking, blasting the Ting Tings on my stereo, and who is walking by on the sidewalk?  Katie and Jules (The Ting Tings, themselves!) 

My friend that I was supposed to go with ended up not being able to make it (sorry about your car, Catherine!), so I was on my own.  

The first band, Spirits, went on at around 7:30, as scheduled.  They were good.  It's a group of 3 guys, I think they said from Hamilton.  The frontman & drummer were very charismatic.  Fun to take pictures of.  The crowd seemed to be really into it too - they actually got a good chunk of the audience to move forward (tough to do in a Toronto, CM

W crowd!) without even having to ask.  Impressive!

The Ting Tings ended up going on 15 minutes later than they were scheduled to, and they played for exactly one hour.  

The set list was as follows (songs link to some videos I found on YouTube of the show!):

1. We Walk

2. Great DJ

3. Fruit Machine

4. Keep Your Head

5. Traffic Light 

6. Be The One

7. We Started Nothing

8. Shut Up and Let Me Go

(ENCORE)

9. Impacilla Carpisung

10. That's Not My Name

From the moment they took the stage, to the very end of the encore, both the band and the crowds energy remained high - even during their "slow" song, Traffic Light.  Katie and Jules are incredibly entertaining and fun to watch.  They look like they're having fun, unlike so many bands out there.  Though there are only two of them on stage, their presence could be felt all the way to the very back of the room.

This was probably my absolute favourite gig of CMW this year.  I would see them over and over again (and I've been listening to them on repeat for the last two days now).  I simply can't get enough of The Ting Tings! Pictures are here!

From there, I headed over to the Cadillac Lounge, where the lineup was much better than the night before!  It was a total rockabilly night, which definitely suits the venue more than the bands that played there on Friday night. When I got there, a band called Familiar Looking Strangers, from Liverpool, were playing.  Their set was almost done when I walked in, but I liked what I heard.  (And some guy handed me a little press kit with a promo cd in it afterwards, so I'm looking forward to checking them out!)

Next up was a friend of mine's band - George Westerholm and the Rowdymen.  (And my friend Harry showed up just as they hit the first chord!) They were amazing, and I don't just say that because George is a friend.  Google him and check them out sometime :)

I was going to leave right after George's set, because after two days of staying out until 3am, I was exhausted - however, the next band was intriguing to look at (I noticed a banjo, a double bass, and a guy who was wearing no socks or shoes!), so the guys convinced me to stay for a bit. The band was called Hey Negrita, from London England... and they were great!  I didn't stay for the whole set (but only because I was tired!), but they are definitely worth checking out as well.

That's a wrap on CMW!  I have hundreds of photos to sort through - they'll make their way onto Flickr hopefully sooner rather than later. Hope you've enjoyed the reviews and the preview pics! 

CMW Day 3: Good friends, good music, good times

Friday night's Canadian Music Week experience was good times all around.

Met up with one of my favourite new friends and we went on a photography adventure together.

We started out at the Mod Club.  Serius Satellite was putting on an acoustic show that will be broadcast on the radio next week. Saw the Arkells, who I was quite impressed with.  After them came Serena Ryder, who is one of my absolute favourites.  She played probably around 5 songs from her new album (Off the top of my head, I know she played Dark As The Black, Little Bit Of Red, Sweeping The Ashes, All For Love) and she closed with Sing Sing (and brought two members of the Arkells on stage with her to stomp and clap) ... it was great!

Afterwards, we decided to leave the Mod Club, and made our way over to Queen St.  Sat in the Gladstone for a bit, and there was this (non-CMW) band playing, that featured a sitar player as well as a trumpet player.  Super cool sound.  I didn't catch their name though, unfortunately.  Oh, but they also had dancers in cat suits.  Literally.  Cats.  It was kind of awesome.  I wish I had taken pictures.

From there, we headed over to the Cadillac Lounge.  The first two bands were kind of not impressive, for me anyway.  Chiwawa, a band that looked like they came directly out of the 80s, and a band from Australia called Casual Projects.  Neither were really my cup of tea.  At 11pm, Two Foot Falls played.  They were really good, actually.  

After they were done, we headed back over to the Gladstone for Josh Reichmann.  I don't know if we were late, or if they just played a really short set, but we only saw 3 or 4 songs.  I did like what I heard, though.  

Tonight: last day of CMW, and I am SOOOO looking forward to seeing The Ting Tings, and then later, my friend George Westerholm at the Cadillac Lounge.

CMW Day 2: Oh, to be 16 again...

Day 2 went considerably better than Day 1.  Picked up the media pass at around 3pm (for the record, they did not use any computers.  All they did was pick up a pass out of a box, hand me a Canadian Music Week guide, and have me sign beside my name... and the pass doesn't even have my name on it - it just says Media.  Fail, CMW Staff.  FAIL.)

I still had to line up for an hour outside the Rivoli, but that was my own fault for not getting there earlier (got there at around 8:30 - first band went on at 8, and the "special guest" that everyone was pumped about was scheduled to go on at midnight)

Who was that special guest, you ask?  Well, it was the band that my life revolved around from the ages of 13 to probably around 19 or so: Our Lady Peace.

When I was a teenager, everything I did, lived, breathed, etc... it was all about OLP for me.  I was known to all my friends as "olpphreak" 

I fell out of the scene shortly after their Gravity album was released, and guitarist Mike Turner announced that he was leaving the band.  After he left, nothing felt right about OLP for me anymore, and I closed the door on that chapter of my life.

I bought their "Live" cd which was released a year or two later, but it just wasn't the same.

I saw them at Live 8... and I thought it was the most horrible thing I had ever seen in my life.  I vowed to never see them again, because it was just ruining my youth at that point.  

So, fast forward to a few days ago.  It was leaked on facebook (via Jeremy Taggart, OLP's drummer - who is on my friends list... who, for the record, I had 3 drum lessons with, back in the obsession days.  One of the coolest things I've ever done) that they would be playing a small club show.  I started to think about it.

I still had no concrete CMW plans for Thursday night.  I decided what I would do is go to the Rivoli (where OLP was playing), and if the lineup was crazy long, I'd just go down to the Horseshoe (about 50 feet away) to see the ChartAttack showcase.

I got to the venue at around 8:30, and the line was only about 6-7 people deep.  I asked if they were still letting media in, but alas, no, and he sent me to the back of the line.  They were at capacity for wristbands/passes, but were saving room for guestlist, and people who had actually bought tickets to the show.  The line got longer behind me.  A few people dropped out in front of me.  I texted some friends of mine (who I actually met through the Our Lady Peace message board - the Clumsy Congress - and we've been very good friends ever since then, for more than 10 years now) and they were already inside, so I figured I might as well wait in line a little longer, even if just to see them.

Finally at around 10 minutes to 9pm, I got in.  (Did I mention it was absolutely FREEZING in Toronto last night?)

Saw two bands before OLP went on: Cure Gravity (they were okay, kind of generic, nothing really memorable, but not bad either) and Hail The Villain (reminded me a lot of Billy Talent, but not quite as good yet... WAY too loud - I was standing right by the speaker to get good pics) - and one band afterward: Inward Eye (very good rock, from Winnipeg)

OLP took the stage at midnight.  My inner 16-year-old could barely breathe :)  I remember looking at the pictures that the photographers took at those small clubs, when I was too young to get in, and thinking "some day... that will be me."

That day was last night.

It wasn't nearly as magical as it would have been when I was 16.  But I was still in awe of myself at that moment.  

They played one or two new songs.  A few songs that were on their last albums that I didn't recognize, and then some older songs like Innocent, Clumsy and Superman's Dead (can't help but think of Mike Turner, every time I hear the "ooo ooo ... ooo weee ooo" line in the background at the end of the song.  They closed with Starseed, a perennial favourite.

It was good.  

After the show, Jeremy remembered me... I met the new guitarist, Steve (who complimented my shirt)... and my heart did not skip a beat, as it would have if I were that 16-year-old, meeting her favourite band.

I'm over my hatred of them.

I just don't think I'll ever love them the same way again.

I leave you with a picture :)  (I took close to a million, it seems LOL... It'll take a while to actually get a photo set web-ready... but here's one I snapped of OLP with my wide angle lens)

The Weekend: DM Review, party!

Okay, so I skipped out on Ten Tune Fridays last week. I was just too busy. I thought about posting with my top ten Danny Michel songs, since the concert was on Saturday... but I just didn't have time.
Instead... you get my review of the show today.
Saturday ended up being a crazy busy day for me. I got my hair cut for the first time in months (just haven't had time until now!) and then at 5pm, I started heading downtown to meet Susan and her husband Bernard, for dinner and then the Danny Michel show. We decided to eat right at the Rivoli, where the show was taking place. I had an awesome burger, followed by an even more awesome slice of carrot cake. Mmm, indulgences.

We headed into the show fairly early, and got a table right up front. Total change for me, because I'm used to going to shows either right on time, or even sometimes a little late, to avoid lineups. It was super cool though - because they had tables set up, if we had gone late, I totally wouldn't have been able to see anything. So props to Susan and Bernard for that decision! It was rather interesting seeing a completely bare stage... no drums... no guitars set up... I could tell that we would be in for a good night.

The opening act was a girl named Jenn Grant. Super cute girl. I think the comparisons I drew were to Lindi Ortega (for her between-song banter) & Over The Rhine (for the sultry sound of her voice). Susan and Bernard also drew comparisons to Feist, which is about right, I'd say.

Not too long after Jenn's set finished, Danny Michel took the stage. I'm not sure if you've gathered this yet, but I'll say it again - Danny Michel is my absolute favourite musician ever. I think he is so completely talented in every way. He is definitely my musical crush.

He opened up with Bones, a song both Susan and I were hoping, but not really expecting to hear, so that definitely got things started off on the right foot - not that I expected any less.

Through the course of the evening, he played a LOT of older songs, which was a plus, for sure. Going to a lot of the bigger venue, full-band shows, it seems that he tends to concentrate his setlist on the newest release, but this was a tiny venue, and just Danny on stage. He did also play some new songs, including two of my favourites from the latest album - Tell Sally and Feather Fur and Fin.

Danny ended up playing for almost 2 hours, including the two encores that he was brought back for. Funniest moment - a fan towards the back of the room shouting: "PLAY SNOWGLOBE!" "COME ON, IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!" ..... .... "PLEASE!" LOL, it was just such a Canadian thing to do. Another bit in the encore that was also funny - Danny does this thing when he plays solo gigs where he records different instruments on stage to create a backup loop for his guitar. So he was doing this, and he gets to the xylophone, and the very first note he hits is wrong, and he exclaims "shit, there's a wrong note in there" ... but of course, it was still recording. So throughout the song, if you listened closely, in the loop, you could hear "shit, there's a wrong note in there!"

Hilarious :) It was such a great show.

More pics at my flickr (though I didn't take too many, because I was enchanted by the show!)

On Sunday, Amy hosted what will hopefully become the first of many holiday parties! There were lots of treats, lots of retro throwback movies (including He Man and She Ra's Christmas special!), and great friends! It was definitely good times all around. I baked chocolate cupcakes, and used a piping bag for the icing for the first time - definitely a hit! If you're on my facebook friends, you can view some more pictures there.

Here's me, Annie & Amy, at the beginning of the party.

I still have barely even started my Christmas shopping. I'm completely not in the mood this year - all I want is a vacation. LOL. Sadly, it doesn't seem like I'm going to get one. Is it January yet?

Brief Crafty Ramblings:

THIS is absolutely gorgeous, and I wish I had the time, patience and skill to make it.

THIS on the other hand, is still stylish and pretty, and I think I will make it!

Also a very cool project that I intend on doing when I have time and materials!

Review: Andy Kim Christmas Show @ the Mod Club

Last night, I went to the 4th annual Andy Kim Christmas Show at the Mod Club in Toronto, which has become a Christmas tradition of mine over the last 4 years, since it started.

Some of you might be wondering, "Who's Andy Kim?" ... I guarantee you know him. You might not recognize the name... but I bet you will as soon as I start humming: "sugar, da-da-da-dah-da-dah, aww, honey honey..." or "rock me gently, rock me slowly... take it easy don't you know...."
Was I right?

Anyway. In previous years, this show had been presented by Mix 99.9 (a contemporary rock-pop station). But since they changed formats (and name) to Virgin Radio, Andy Kim didn't really fit the demographic. This year it was presented by CFRB 1010 (a news-talk format on the AM dial).

The sponsor change may have affected the lineup. In previous years, it seemed like the acts skewed a lot younger. At previous years of the Andy Kim Christmas Show, I’ve seen acts like Danny Michel, Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace, Serena Ryder, Haydain Neale of Jacksoul, and so many more. This years’ lineup was rather different. There were a couple of younger-skewed acts like Emm Gryner (who had also performed previously) and two members of Broken Social Scene, but most of the acts were a lot more… legendary, if you will. Gowan, Alex Lifeson from Rush, and The Kings were among the performers that took the stage last night.

Because of this, I was possibly the youngest person in the audience. And I was definitely the youngest person in the audience who knew all the lyrics to Andy Kim’s songs. Hah. I’m kind of used to it now. When I was a teen, I often was the youngest person the audience at shows that I went to.

There were only two minor annoyances at the show last night, and they both came from audience members. One was the girl that kept talking to us about how much she loved Andy, and celebrities in general, and how she should become a journalist (they would never let her near a journalism school!) The other was the supposed photographer with the awful blonde extensions. I’ve had an official photography pass for concerts, and the unwritten etiquette of photographers is that sure, you can head to front row, center, to get your shot. BUT, you NEVER linger there for more than a song, blocking all the true fans views. This girl plopped herself right in front of me, and broke up two ladies that had gone together, by standing right in between them, and was TOTALLY annoying. If I was those ladies, I would have started cross-talking in front of her, so that she got the message and went away. I think they were probably too polite though.

But I tried not to let either of those two bother me too much. The show itself was absolutely FABULOUS. Andy Kim came out with his band – I’d give you their names, but the only people I knew were my friend, Derek Downham on guitar, Terrence Gowan on bass (Def Leppard’s bass, to be precise), and new addition to the band, Peter Elkas – just after 8pm, fairly close to schedule. They opened with Rainbow Ride, which I don’t think I’d ever heard them play live! Awesome. Another change from years previous was that they played Sugar Sugar in the first set! It was so, so good. Stellar, even.

Up next was an R&B singer named Dru. Not gonna lie, the music generally isn’t my cup of tea. This guy was pretty good though. I could definitely get into it. He played two songs, a Christmas song, and one of his own. For his own song, he brought out four backup dancers, who were absolutely mesmerizing.

Following Dru was one of my favourite female performers, Miss Emm Gryner. Her Christmas song was a cover of The Waitresses “Christmas Wrapping” – which she had blogged about recently. She did a wonderful job remembering all the lyrics! Her next song was a bass duet (duel?) with Terrence Gowan, harkening back to THIS Andy Kim Christmas Show that I attended with my (then) friend who wrote the article. It was indeed, a very sultry version of The Beatles’ Revolution.  I'm definitely glad I was there to witness that song, revisited.  It was amazing the first time, and amazing last night too.  Emm was probably the highlight of all the guest performers for me. I simply adore her.

The Kings followed Emm. I don't really have all that much to say about them. I thought they were kind of cool. They played their song called Switchin' to Glide - which I swear I had never heard before, but I do know the quote "Nothing matters but the weekend from a Tuesday point of view" ... I always wondered where it came from. Now I know.

Gowan was the next act up. I think he sang a Christmas song, and followed it with "Strange Animal" (which, I believe if memory serves me well, he played at last years show too). Very high energy. Super cool to watch. For one of his songs, he brought out a 16-year-old to play drums. I'm not sure if it was his son or his nephew (I couldn't tell if it was Terrence or Lawrence that spoke into the microphone saying "that's my nephew!" when they introduced him). Then Andy came out and they sang a duet together.

Andy did a few songs, and then Ron Sexsmith came out. He played a couple of Christmas songs - one that I think he did last year, and one new one that I can't quite recall. Then Andy joined him on stage, and they sang Baby, How'd We Ever Get This Way. Here's my clip of that song, as performed by Andy Kim & Ron Sexsmith (and the rest of the band) ... the audio is absolutely horrible (my camera is really not meant for video recording, especially at a very loud venue) but it'll give you an idea of just how close I was, and the high energy in the room!

Up next came Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene, supported by a band that they mentioned, but whose name escapes me right now. I know I will be hated by my Canadian indie-hipster friends... but I actually find Broken Social Scene to be kind of pretentious. I didn't really like their set last night (especially when dude was like, "okay keep talking, you need to talk..." to the audience. Umm, hello. You live in Toronto. And this is CLEARLY not your crowd. Just play your song and be nice. No need to be a downer at a Christmas show). I'm not sure who's idea it was to bring them on so late in the show (considering demographics, more than popularity), but I probably would have had them go on closer to Emm's set. The audience was kind of lost at this point.

Alex Lifeson of Rush was brought on next (after the most set change time of any act) . I'm not a Rush fan at all, but I must admit that he is a fabulous guitarist. It was very cool to see him play. One thing that I was disappointed in was that I had NO idea who his band was. They just didn't introduce them at all. I guess they figure it's just an honour to be playing with him - but I really would've liked to have known who they were!

After their set, all the performers that were left at the Mod Club came out on stage for the grand finale - Rock Me Gently.  Andy's most famous song.  He promised it would be unlike any version of it we'd ever heard, and boy was he right!  Awesome performances (there were a couple of missed notes/cues, but overall, that could be forgiven).  They didn't break into Lou Reed's Take A Walk on the Wild Side for the bridge, which they've done every other time I've seen them, so that was kinda neat, to hear a new arrangement.  

Click here to watch the Rock Me Gently finale from last night! Can't believe someone's already got it up on YouTube. I shot video of this, but my audio sucked, so I'm glad someone else got it. It's funny, because I can actually see myself holding up my camera, filming the song. (I was centre, about 2 people back)

I am slowly working on pictures, and will hopefully have them up on Flickr by the end of the night!  (Hah, when I look at the "post options" for this post, it tells me that I started typing it at 8:16am.  I don't think I've ever taken more than 12 hours to write a post before!)

Day 12: On the Drive By Truckers & The Hold Steady show!

Last night, Katy and I headed down to the Phoenix after work to see The Hold Steady & the Drive By Truckers in a co-headlining show. I was introduced to The Hold Steady by my friend Joel Stewart, who I worked with on the Canadian Country Music Awards, and have totally loved them ever since. The singer has a way of kind of speak-singing, which some people don't really get, but I definitely love. What I didn't realize, going into the show, is that they've released a new cd, and that the cd I have (Boys and Girls in America) is no longer the current one. So they didn't really play that many songs that I know. I was really hoping to hear Chillout Tent. Freaking love that song. But alas, no dice.

Super awesome set though - they opened with Stuck Between Stations, which I totally love, and was the last song I listened to in my car before the show, so I had it in my head. And it was kinda funny, I'd never seen a picture of The Hold Steady before - the lead singer was completely NOT what I expected him to look like. He's this kinda nerdy looking guy, older than I expected... completely "normal" looking - not like a frontman that would turn heads if you saw him walking down the street. And I guess I was expecting this totally hot, alt-country looking dude (like half the people in the audience last night... holy crap, smokin' crowd!). So that was amusing.

Short break between sets (or at least, it seemed short, because we kept hopping outside, meeting new people, etc), and then the Drive By Truckers came on. I'd never actually heard these guys before, but I remember Errol mentioning them to me ages ago. They are freaking AWESOME. Very cool alt-country sound (which I am very much into right now). I'm not sure how these guys have been off my radar for so long, when they have the exact sound that I love right now.

We ended up leaving sort-of early (around 11:30ish) because we both had to work today, so we missed any encore that might have happened. I wonder what it would've been like, because I'm sure the two bands would've taken the stage together. (I looked up some past show reviews, and saw that they played Keep On Rockin' In The Free World together... that would've been cool to see!)

On a final note - I haven't been to a sold-out concert at a large-ish venue in a long time. And I totally remember why. It was a great show... but it was SO annoying being in a crowd that big. We were near the back, and no matter where we stood, it seemed like people would be constantly walking by, and bumping into us with their beers. Annoying. I didn't take any pictures, because there was no point. But either way, it was super fun, and I would definitely go see both of these bands again!