It's the memory that dies

On a recent episode of Criminal Minds, Reid said that the music you hear when you're 14 is what sticks with you the most later in life. When I was 14, I listened to a lot of Live's "Secret Samadhi". I saw the band once when they opened for Nickelback (trust me, I wasn't there for Nickelback), and when I found out that Ed Kowalczyk was returning to the 'Peg, I was super excited. What I couldn't figure out was why he was playing at Cowboys. Touring bands rarely play CanadInns bars anymore!

Ed was fantastic. He started the set with "The Distance", and went on to play through some solo tunes. The set was mostly comprised of Live singles, which was awesome! Sadly, tunes from "Secret Samadhi" were totally absent, as were other songs from "The Distance to Here". However, I'm not complaining. Ed's voice was spot on and he was clearly having a good time despite the small crowd (he could barely keep the smile off his face). I hope he comes back, and plays somewhere like The Pyramid.

My real beef with this concert was the opening act. Nothing against Marc Labossiere; he's a good performer and kept the crowd entertained throughout his set of cover songs. However, I find it hard to believe that CanadInns couldn't find an available original band to open the night. In fact, I don't believe they tried (feel free to comment, person who books CanadClubs). All I could think about all through Marc's set was how many bands there are in this city, and which ones would have been better choices. I wasn't even being picky with my choices. The thing is, and maybe this is a crazy old-fashioned idea, it's a big deal for opening acts to get gigs with more established artists. Isn't it?

So WTF to CanadInns for an epic fail in putting any effort into this show.

I'm all for having fun, but...

Why is it that every time I go to a concert, I end up with the widest, tallest, drunkest guy in the bar standing in front of me?

I always go to concerts early, and stand at the front of the stage. I do this so that a) I'm not standing alone at the back of the bar and b) I have a prime spot when the headliner comes on and c) lots of times the opening act is pretty good. Such was the case last night when I went to Silverado's to see Bif Naked. I was standing there, with only one shorter girl in front of me, ready to rock out and let the stress of the past week melt away when SUDDENLY this massive man tried to push past me and squeeze to the front. First off, what are you doing, guy? If you wanted to stand at the front, where were you 15 minutes ago when there was no one else here? Secondly, where do you think you're going to go? We're all sandwiched as it is and you're HUGE. There's nowhere for you to go! And thirdly, no one else is going to see anything if you stand in the front. You take up the space of four people! Grr Argh.

The above scenario happens ot me pretty much every time I go to shows. It gets old pretty fast.

So, to all you tall and or large people, please be considerate of the short people who arrive early in order to see the concert, and not the backs of your heads. Or just your backs.