Catching Up is Hard to DO

July has been a busy month. Now when I say it's been busy, it means I had a lot of things to do. It doesn't necessarily mean it has been a productive month.
For instance, I am quite behind on keeping up with my blog. Please don't ask about the house. ;)

Thursday, July 15, I did indeed have the day off work with plans to see James Taylor and Carole King's Troubador show. I have always loved both artists. I did see James Taylor a summer or two ago (the years are beginning to run together anymore), but I had never seen Carole King perform. In my younger days, I am certain I wore out the Tapestry album.

It was nice to have a reserved seat for the show as it meant that I didn't have to leave extra early for a good spot. In fact, I left later than usual even for a show with reserved seating. Usually I leave a little earlier so as not to run into traffic issues. I delayed a bit making sure I had both of my point and shoots in good working order, batteries charged with space on the memory cards. I hoped to get a few passable photos from row 5 as mementos.

When I arrived at the Energy Solutions arena, I saw a parking garage that was a little more convenient and inexpensive than where I usually parked, and the access was really simple. It was next to the light rail station and it was just across the street on a less busy side street. There were a lot of people waiting around but not in any sort of line. I lined up behind two ladies and chatted a bit.
Eventually, I was able to talk to someone with security with cameras and it looked like my larger point and shoot was allowed, so I went back to my car to retrieve it.
Not long after the doors opened. For the first time I had a ticket that was called "Fast tix" or something like that, and they scan your credit card or id (you enter your preference online) and that is your entry. Once my card was scanned, the scanner printed out a cool looking ticket with a photo of the venue and event info.
I loved it as it left me with a memento. I'm overly fond of mementos. ;)

The first order of business was to find a restroom. Unfortunately the first ladies room I saw was closed. Two mens room, and a closed ladies room did not seem like a smart plan to me. I finally decided to find my seat and come back to the bathroom search. So, I headed downstairs, got my wristband and was escorted to my seat. The stage was in the round. Floor 1 was on one side of the round stage, and Floor 2 was on the opposite side. I was seated in Flr. 2. The way the stage was set up was that there were three rows of small tables with two chairs going around the stage and beind the barricade. Row 1 had just a few seats, Row 2, had about 4 seats or so, etc. So, Row 5 didn't seem far back at all, and the way they lined up, my usual issue of too many heads in the way didn't seem to be a problem. In other words, my seat exceeded my expectations! :)

I left my jacket on the back of my seat and headed back upstairs. On the way up, I got directions for the nearest working restroom. There was a huge line. Fortunately, there was another line with far fewer people, and someone came out and
let people know, so I didn't have to wait too long.

After I finished my "business" (too much info? LOL), I headed over to the merch booth. There was quite a crowd already, but I thought I'd see if I could get through it before the show started. I did make it to the front of the line with some time to spare and decided to purchase a really cute white, fitted tee, a cap, a coffee mug and a key chain. Then I headed back to my seat. Yes, I spent way too much!

Once back at my seat, I was killing time by playing around with my camera, taking photos of my seat and attempting a self portrait. Someone offered to take my photo, so I let them. :) Before long, it was time for the show to start.

As I mentioned, the stage was in the round. It was actually a very large stage set up. The stage spun really slowly. On one side low to the ground was a tv screen. Overhead were two screens, on on the right, and one to the left of the stage. Over the stage was a huge round lighting set up and surrounding it in a large "strip" was another screen. Trying to describe it with words alone is a challenge. It was a very nice set up indeed.




Finally it was time for the show to begin.

(end, part 1 so I can take a break to do something productive, and you can too.)