Monday, February 25, 2008

Steven Curtis Chapman, photo blog

It's late, so I will try to write about the Steven Curtis Chapman concert later, but for now, here are some photos from the evening:










Saturday, February 16, 2008

Colbie Caillat

I rather enjoy Colbie Caillat's voice, so when I saw that she was going to be in Salt Lake City, I purchased a ticket. The show was scheduled for Dec. 19 and I was rather hoping I would be furloughed before the date. I had already used much of my leave on my trip to California, as I wasn't expecting to be at work in November. As it happened, I was furloughed on the 18th and breathed a huge sigh of relief. As I prepared for the day of the concert, I double-checked everything online to find out that Colbie was sick, and the show had been post-poned. So, I just prayed for a time when I wouldn't be working, and that it would NOT be on a Friday. The concert was rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 15. Lucky me. ;)

As things worked out, I was only called back to work on the 13th, and when I mentioned that I had plans for Friday, I was told I could start on the 19th. So I was free to enjoy the show without worry (although the extra couple of days of income would have been nice.) The biggest issue, then, turned out to be what time to head for the venue on a Friday to a general admission, sold out show. I figured after noon was probably o.k., although sometimes people start showing up quite early. Sometimes hardly anyone shows until an hour before the show. I showed up at 1 p.m. Most people didn't. For the bigger part of the day I talked to someone I recognize that works a lot of the shows, when he was available (which wasn't often), listened to my Zune, occasionally answered questions about the concert and stood around. The big excitement was when in a moment of complete grace, I knocked some sort of blue light tube onto the ground and shattered it. Had my parents had been a tad more sarcastic, they could have named me "Grace".

At any rate, I made it to the show, barely made the front row because they had about 40 or so people in a meet and greet that beat me to the stage, but I asked someone and they let me in next to them. Phew! It was a pretty good spot and pretty much right in front of Colbie.

The biggest and nicest surprise of the night was looking up at the stage and seeing Jacob Luttrell in front of the mike. Sometimes I get excited over little things. Jacob used to sing backup for Clay Aiken, and I'd met him several times before. He is living in Utah now (which I knew), and he was opening for Colbie (which I definitely didn't know.) He has a rather bluesy sound and a gorgeous voice. I really enjoyed his set quite a lot, and it was well received. After the show, I met him at the merch table, picked up his cd and chatted. He did remember me, which was kinda cool. He looked very happy and relaxed and was very gracious when the camera wasn't co-operating for a photo. LOL



After Jacob performed the next artist to take the stage was Trevor Hall. Trevor has rather a Jamaican sound to his songs, which made them a little different and very fun. Turns out he isn't from Jamaica at all, but from South Carolina. I was standing next to probably one of his biggest fans. Apparently Trevor's biggest fan and I weren't the only ones that enjoyed his set. He neglected to tell us who he was, so everyone was yelling at him to tell them. They all wanted to know. He really played off the crowd and seemed to enjoy himself. It didn't hurt that he was adorable. I also had an opportunity to talk to Trevor and Chris a bit and get photos. I bought a cd/ep set because he made me an offer I had a hard time refusing. :)




After Trevor played it was time for Colbie Caillat. As is quite often the case, the crowd couldn't wait and started chanting for Colbie. It really wasn't all that long before she came to the stage. I was really struck by how pretty she really is. Her online photos don't do her justice. She didn't talk a lot during her set, although she did a few times. It was most fun when she interacted with the band, which she did well. The band was funny a few times. I saw one of the guitarists (I think his name's Justin toss something at the keyboardist who tossed it at the drummer. It was pretty funny. I'm not sure how many people noticed. At any rate, Colbie has an absolutely beautiful voice, and it was rather nice to be listening to her sing withoug being shoved into the railing. A good portion of the crowd had probably never been to that particular venue. There were people of all ages there including children, so it's obvious she has a very broad appeal. I can see why. I never felt at all cheated by Colbie's set. Not only was her voice gorgeous, the set seemed to be just about right length-wise. I thought I missed my chance at the set list, but then noticed that someone there was still unclaimed and was able to persuade some nice member of the stage crew to hand it to me. I know there is at least one encore song (a duet with Jacob Luttrell) that is not listed, but I love having it as it helps me to remember. I'm always excited when I can get a set list. LOL






After the show, I went to the merch tables and pretty much headed for home. As I was getting into my car, I saw Tim Fagan, one of Colbies' guitarists, (or his Twin? LOL) walk past me. I started to say that I enjoyed his music, but he was making a cell call, so it didn't seem appropriate, so I got situated for the drive home and headed out.




It took a while to get home as the wonderful folks at UDOT had the road closed at Hwy. 89 with signs to take the Park Lane (or Ave, or something) detour. I have no idea where that detour is as I sure never saw it. I ended up on 89. Luckily I knew how to get back from there, but it was a bit longer route. I stopped and got gas for my trip to Vegas and spent pretty much all night trying to make my computer work so I could put up some pics.

I hope you enjoy them.

God's blessings,
One Tired Melanie

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Local Talent, who knew?

James Belliston:

Spiral Diary:

Josh Rosenthal:

Benton Paul:

John Allred:


I just watched last night's American Idol through the magical and wonderful courtesy of DVR. I happen to notice that one of the better singer's was a 16 year old from Murray, UT. That's really not too far from here at all. So, thinking about our local talent scene, I am taken back to last Saturday night, February 9.

Saturday the plan was to head out to Sandy, UT (a hop, skip and a jump from Murray, pretty much) and attend John Allred's cd release party. I had received a note via myspace telling me that me and my camera were loved. Now how can you not go where you are loved? ;) At any rate, I was having second thoughts only because I wasn't feeling the best. I wasn't really sick, but I felt rather disconnected and spacey. However, I had said I was going to show so I figured I should. The drive out seemed inordinately long. I was paying attention the the road and traffic o.k., although I secretly hoped no one would do anything stupid right in front of me just in case. Gratefully no one did. I kept forgetting to pay attention to where I was, though, and I'm pretty happy that I did notice in time not to miss my exit. This time I found the Solid Ground Cafe pretty easily. Normally I'm at shows quite early. This time my camera and me arrived and I was there only a little more than a half hour before the show. I think there was another couple, but they didn't wait outside.
I had a nice visit with Rhet who lined up behind me about 23 mintues before things were to get going. Wow, he is a big Allred fan! We had a conversation about promoting bands, and who was up and coming. :)

Finally the doors opened, I purchased my ticket (and was asked who I had come for) and headed for a spot near the stage. I sat there for a minute or two and then took out some of my camera gear and began to figure out the lighting. The lighting at Solid Ground is interesting to say the least.The place began to slowly fill up and actually ended up being rather packed. It was good to see.

Then it was time for the show to start. There were five artists all playing acoustic sets. First up was James Belliston. I really enjoyed his set a bit and was impressed. I took pics as I usually do when allowed to. Spiral Diary (Dave) played next. As he finished setting up the stage, he brought out a disco ball and a couple of blue lights that he kept at the side of the stage. Then he jumped up and turned the light switch off with his guitar. So much for pics. I can do low light, but no light doesn't work well. I tried one with blue lights that was quite dark, and one with flash. Then I took out the point and shoot and took a few flash photos and put it away again. I took those just to have something. Dave's set was really good, and had I brought enough cash I would have purchased his cd, but I will be getting it soon. Next up was Josh Rosenthal. He started out singing a song he "wrote just last week" called Blackbird. And if you guessed it was the version of Blackbird that was originally performed by the Beatles, you get a gold star. I laughed. I did enjoy Josh's set. I've heard his EP, but he sounds much better live. He was also very personable onstage. After Josh played, it was time for Benton Paul to perform. Benton was also very personable on stage. At one point he called a couple of gals from the audience to come up and dance on stage and they did. It looked like they were having a great time. Benton had a very nice listening voice, and a great falsetto. I like falsetto, but it has to be good!

Finally it was time for John Allred to play. I took pictures and listened intently and it was good. :) John started off by having everyone sit down so everyone could see. It pretty much meant I wasn't going to be walking around taking pics. LOL At one point John turned out the lights by shimmying up the pole (wasn't quite ready for that one) and took a very bright, white, light bulb to the center of the room and played from there for a song. After the show, there was a clamour made for an encore, and there was indeed an encore. After giving due applause, I headed over to the merch table to by a cd or two, and ended up talking to Josh a bit and buying his ep. Then I went over and purchased John's new cd, "Parades".

I talked to a few people and left for home, making a brief pit stop at Wendy's.
I really enjoyed all of the artists and I'm so glad I went.

Peace out, Melanie

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Luck

I've always been told that I have a lot of Irish in me somewhere. But if the Irish have luck, this week it's rather hiding and not really the best 'o' luck, so to speak. Sorry to be so cryptic. I'm an open book, but it involves other people, so I can't say much.

Anyway, sometimes Thiessen says things that just mean a lot, and I don't think he realizes it. LOL

I love this. Just had repeat it because I needed to hear it this week.

"There is no bad luck... just trials traveling in packs. When it rains it pours, but after it pours it stops.
Matty"

I think my umbrella is about to collapse with the weight of all that rain. So, it can stop now. LOL

Still with everything, I know there are people that are so much worse off than I.
I can't decide if that's a comfort or not. I'm not overall unhappy, if that's how it seems. Just a lot is going on.

God's blessings to ya!
--Melanie

P.S. I was in the car listening to Jason Morant (very much under recognized Christian artist, imho) and feeling a tad spacy. Anyway, just composed something in the car on the fly... don't know if anything will come of it. I can't believe I remembered it. LOL

Draw out my soul
Bring me to life again
Intertwine me with you
Make me whole.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Silver State Helicopter Fiasco

The more I read, the more I think this should be a criminal investigation.

http://www.news10.net/video/player_news10.aspx?aid=51544&bw=

--Melanie

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Two of my favorite artists played for the Music Cafe at Park City during the Sundance Film Festival, Eisley & Melee. All of the artists were Warner Bros. artists. A small bit of the performances were made into a one hour special. You can see clips here. I believe it will be repeated on a few other dates. Anyway, I also rather liked Missy Higgins and Jeremy Lister on the show quite a bit. Check it out.. the clips aren't long, unfortunately. :(

http://fuse.tv/tv/thesauce/events/parkcity/videos/index.php

Hope you enjoy. :)

Melanie

Monday, February 04, 2008

Now what?

My son has been going to helicopter school. He was doing really well, scoring high on the tests. He had started flying already. Let me tell you that helicopter school is not inexpensive. He has some pretty sizeable student loans to cover the cost (this in addition to working his regular job.)

They closed the school.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_State_Helicopters

The worse thing is that they just disbursed a sizeable portion of funds 2 days ago.

So, he is back to less than square one and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am hoping there is another school out there that will help pick up the slack. Pray that the lending agency will be able to get back the most recent disbursement so he at least has some hope.

Apparently Silver State had a school in Ogden as well. The exact same story.. the student loan funds were disbursed 2 days before the bankruptcy. It would be pretty tough to convince me they didn't know about this before they took the money, which to me means they took the money out of false pretenses. This really is criminal, imho.

http://deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/0,5223,695251025,00.html
http://www.inergizedigitalmedia.com/story.aspx?content_id=B8
85CFC3-3F2D-484B-AFE6-934E11B33D76

I don't know how some people sleep at night. :(

Thanks,
Melanie

Friday, February 01, 2008

Depression, etc.

This is a repost from my myspace blog last night. First I'd like to preface it with a few things the most important of which is that I am feeling a bit better today. I do have bouts with depression, probably hormonal most of the time, but not always. Usually something will trigger it, and the physical part will just last a bit longer than the emotional. Fortunately I can usually tell the difference, and for that reason it usually doesn't last long. I consider that a real gift. Secondly, I love my husband. He is still my best friend, but I don't think any one person will be able to meet every need I have. In fact, only God can do that in reality. Some of us just want more intimacy with more people than others. The feelings that I mention here are real and I still struggle with them. I want to be someone who's transparent, warts and all, although sometimes it can get complicated. LOL I figure I'm not the only one muddling through this life, and I am muddling a lot lately. LOL

Oh, I made both phone calls. The first one I stuttered like crazy trying to say what I wanted to say, left out some key info., but still went well overall so far and since I was able to follow up via e-mail, I think it will work out just fine. The other I left a message because the person was out. --Melanie

"Wow, this is the second time this month I've felt kinda down and rather isolated. The feeling down isn't so great, but I'm sure that will quickly pass. It usually does. What is bugging me most, I think, is that I really don't have anyone close to me. I need that. I mean my spouse, of course, but there are some things that we don't share much - like my love of concerts or my faith. We talk about it, but it's not something he is as passionate about as I am.

He's not very socially oriented, and I am. So, we have no couple friends. No one comes to my house for dinner. I go out with friends after church for lunch sometimes, but then I don't see them again until next Sunday. I love most of them dearly, and I fit there better than I've ever fit anywhere else, but that's all there is.

I like a lot of the artists I meet, and some I've seen for years now. But I'm still just a fan. I understand that, I honestly do, but it still makes me a little sad. I guess if I didn't like any of them it would be different. But I do.

People elsewhere have their own lives and families. I do some volunteer stuff, but I am on the inside, but not on the inside, if that makes sense. So, I feel like I'm on the outskirts of every relationship I'm in now, and I want more than that. And I still feel like I'm mostly an anomoly that everyone just tolerates. I guess that's all selfish, huh? But I can't help feeling that way. I will talk myself out of this eventually, and prayer helps. I'm just tired.

Then there's other things I can't blog about publicly. It just kinda piled up on me tonight. Everytime I think things are about to fall into order, disorder is right there behind it to knock me down. I just want to catch up, but can't get started; or when I start I am only treading water. I'm not lazy. When I have a specific task to do, I work hard. But I am overwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong.. I am very, very grateful for what I've had, for the opportunities I have been given. If I had no sorrow, the joys would somehow probably just be taken for granted. But I'm feeling sorta lonely and isolated tonight, and buried. Pray that I come up for air.

God's blessings to all,

Melanie

P.S. I know it's not the most important thing out there, but would love to have some prayer for tomorrow if you are the praying sort. I need to make a couple of presentations over the phone, and I am horrible at that sort of thing. I am very nervous about it, and the depression isn't helping!"