How to do a lot and not accomplish much?

It's been a good weekend, albeit a very long one.

Friday night I was grateful do have finished out another week at work. It just seemed like the longest week ever and I was getting pretty tired. I really am ready to furlough, although I hung on for hopefully a few more weeks worth of pay. I could have volunteered last week, and sometimes wonder why I didn't. I know why, it's just the way I feel. I have no idea how people do this job for an entire year, as it's pretty hard on the hands repetitive-motion-wise. The chairs need a serious overhaul, which isn't helping.

O.K. enough of the gripe session diversion. LOL

I got home Friday and got on facebook. The plan Saturday was to head out to Friendship Park in Ogden to see Josh Gracin in a free concert. I'd known about the free concert for more than a month, but really hadn't checked on anything about it for a while, and I find out that the concert is free, but you have to have a ticket. I figured I would have to just stay home (which is probably what I should do soon.) But I really didn't want to miss it. I'm bad that way. Then I remembered that my Zune had a radio on it so I tuned it to 104.3 "The Cowboy". I don't normally listen to a lot of country, so it was interesting to say the least. Some of the music they played was crossover and I actually liked it. Some of it was pretty corny, and I had a good chuckle over that. I stayed up a long time waiting for a ticket giveaway location thinking it was probably pointless as I would be too tired to drive anywhere to pick it up. So about 7:45ish, they finally say that tickets would be at Ogden Athletic Center at 10 a.m. My husband woke up and I mentioned the whole thing to him. I had said I might just stay home, but I really did want to go, and he said he was going to Sears (out that direction) and he would take me. So, I figured it was kismet, since he doesn't offer too often. (He usually will if I ask, but I didn't want to ask it of him.) So, I slept 30 mins. and we headed over to South Ogden, and I got my ticket. Then I came home and slept for about 3-1/2 hrs. before dragging myself out of bed and heading over to the park.

When I arrived at Friendship Park about 4:45 or so and "parked" the car. I got my things together and got in line. I couldn't believe how packed out some people were - multiple coolers on roller carts, blankets, things to do. I would never want to cart all that around. LOL We were standing under the Macey's tent (local grocery chain) and they were handing out salt water taffy and otter pops. I was good and resisted even though I love salt water taffy. I killed time by chatting some (not the chattiest bunch, much prefer younger people at an indie rock show, lol) and taking pics of various things.



Don't get me wrong, most people were pretty nice, just not chatty. Eventually, they moved us over into one straight line, and waited some more. I also found out that the 400-500 or so chairs were reserved seating, and it was all "VIP". You basically had to be lucky to work for the right employer or know someone. Us lowly general admission folks were way, way back behind two barricades, and dead center was blocked by the sound booth. I settled in at the front of the barricade to the left not too far from a Marine's booth.




Eventually, I was joined by a young man who took it upon himself to help out security when people stopped in front of us in the walk way between the two barricades. It was pretty funny. He would holler at people to move and if they ignored him, he'd jump over the barricade and get security. The security guys were all wearing jersey's and were from the Vipers team. I'm not sure they'd worked concert security before, but they did start clearing the area pretty good after the guy next to me hopped over the barricade a few times.

Finally the show started with a local band called Outrageous. They played old 60-70's style music. They weren't bad, not outstanding, but listenable. Good vocals for the most part, but something missing or maybe too much of something ... not quite sure what.


After Outrageous played, there was a bit of a time for Josh Gracin to set up. My heart sank when I watched them putting down set lists. I wonder if anyone got them or if they were just tossed.. so close, but so far away. Then Josh finally came on stage to raucous applause. I heard someone say there were about 7000 people. There might have been, but I doubt it, even though it was a good-sized crowd. It was a huge field, so I suppose it's possible.

Anyway, Josh came out and proceeded to put on an amazing show, and I did my best to take pics with my 200mm lens. I tried to use the barricade to steady the camera, but unfortunately there was a little boy who pretty much sat and and wiggled it all night, so mostly I couldn't do that. For some reason I have difficulty getting a long shot in focus either auto or manual. Some of the pics are pretty decent shots if you don't enlarge them too much. I really missed not being in the animated crowd at the stage. I like being more interactive, and Josh is very interactive in his live shows. I saw him a few years back at Teaser's in Ogden. Like I said, I'm not the hugest country fan, but I really like Josh, great performer and amazing voice.



Then there were fireworks! Utah is big on fireworks. :) So I took some snapshots of them. Suprisingly, some of them turned out decent.


After the concert, I was starting to leave and security was trying to direct me (kind of directing me with into oblivion since I would have run smack into the autograph table.) I didn't even know. LOL So I went back and got in line, bought a tee and photo and had the photo autographed. I told Josh it was a lot warmer than when he was here at Teaser's (it was freezing!) He laughed and said, "Yea" and then added, "That was a long time ago." I asked him if he ever got a fan scrapbook since I sent two pages in for it, and if he ever got it he doesn't remember. I left and stood to the side and blinded everyone with the stupid flash (strobe is annoying on the Canon 20D) and finally headed out, taking a few pics along the way.





I killed enough time that a lot of the traffic had cleared (which was my plan) and waited in my car a little longer before heading home. Somehow I made it. I was beat, but took a look a the pics before heading for bed.

***end of the longest weekend and blog, part 1 - part 2 tonight, stay tuned.) LOL

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Friday it snowed. It snowed, and it was very cold. At one point in the late afternoon, early evening, my husband reported that it was 24 deg. outside, but it felt like 11. (It was the internet;s conclusion, but this time I think he agreed with their assessment.) I know there are colder places, but suffice it to say that it was icy out. Saturday, I had plans. I hoped for clear roads and clear weather.

Saturday, the plan was to head for Provo to see John Allred's Christmas shows. The first started at 7:30 p.m., and the second was supposed to start 1t 9:30 p.m. The first was an acoustic set, while the second was with a full band. The name of the venue is The Velour. John has asked me to take photos. I was nervous because there is a difference between taking photos and hoping for good ones, and taking some for someone who would probably like a few good shots to come from the set.

Provo is about an hour and 18 mins. from me, if you believe Google Maps. But it was Saturday at around 4:37 p.m. when I left, and it was snowing lightly, and it was cold and icy. The roads were mostly clear, but not completely. People were driving like it was a sunny day, possibly in an attempt to finish up their Christmas preparations. For the most part the trip was rather uneventful, other than two traffic slowdowns, one of them most likely due to a few cars being cleared from the side of the road. But I made it to Provo and to the venue safely, in a little over an hour and a half.

It was cold outside the Velour when I arrived, and one of the guys was unloading their vehicle from the curbside, and I parked behind him trying to make sure there was plenty of room between us. There were a few kids already waiting outside, and I started a conversation with them. I finally caught someone's attention and left my camera inside. Down the street, I could see one of the lighted signs announcing the time and the fact that it was 26 degrees outside, then 25 degrees, then 3 degrees C. I know it gets colder sometimes, but I was plenty cold enough. I took out my cell phone and snapped a pic of the temperature, then went two doors down for some hot apple cider and to use the ladies room. I got a kick out of the bathroom I used because it was a cafe/music place called The Muse, and the bathroom was decorated with old 33-1/3 rpm records. I chuckled when I saw Peter & Gordon. I used to like them. I'm still a fan of vocal harmonies. Not long after I arrived back at the door of the Velour, John let me in to wait.

The Velour is an interesting place. When you enter the room you notice just how eclectic everything is. Someone was moving a small "buddah" to a new location and rearranging things to ready for the show. In some ways the decor reminded me of things you'd find at a 70's garage sale. At the far end was a stage decoraged with white Christmas lights. There was a curtain at the back of the stage. To the side, was one strange piece of artwork, which if I recall correctly, was on a yellow background. There were some strange charicatures on there that I would have difficulty describing without looking at it directly. However, the first character in the picure was shaped like the bottom of a hand, or probably more intended was another part of the anatomy that was less seemly. The place did have a certain charm, however, weird paintings and all.

Just around the corner from the front door, there was a very small "stage-like" area with a chair and mike. A green velour sofa was at the front and a burnt orange chair sat next to it. On the left wall were some "benches" of a sort, that look rather like steps. Behind the sofa were rows of metal folding chairs. On the wall behind the mike was a oval mirror, and on the right side in front, there was a plastic lighted santa. He definitely could have been 70's. There was a light on the left side of the stage, that was just a cirle light with colored lights. That was the stage lighting. I knew I was in trouble. LOL

Once it was about time for things to begin. I sat down in the orange chair on the right side. There was a group of teens already sitting on the couch, and people were filing in. As people entered, there was a sheet of paper where people could write their song requests and tally songs they wanted to here. It was to be an impromptu set list of sorts. The place filled up rather quickly. Once everyone was in, the show started. John was very engaging onstage and the vocals were good as always. Parades was very memorable with everyone singing along. Several times he made comments about people choosing the depressing songs. LOL It was a long set, although I didn't count how many songs, and when John asked what time it was, it was 9:40 p.m. People were lined up in the cold waiting for the 9:30 show. So he played one more song and the transition from show one to show 2 began. Chairs were quickly moved, people filed out, and the doors were opened once again.

I just happened to be standing pretty much dead center and started a conversation with a couple. People filled in around me, and I figured I'd let people know I needed to move about. I didn't think I'd get the best pictures where I was. IT worked. I moved several times, but never could make it to the right side of the stage. I don't like to disturb people too much. I planned to move between songs, but sometimes there wasn't much of a break between them. LOL For the second set there was a backup band and there was a good mix of band, acoustic, and piano driven songs, and John played Parades (a favorite of mine) with a cellist backing him up. At one point he mentioned that a lot of people thought the concert was going to be all Christmas songs at first, and that he was only going to play one and proceeded to sing a very nice rendition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. He also did a round of "cheesy 80's songs" using a looping machine, ala Jon Foreman style (well, Allred has his own stlye with it, but Jon Foreman is the first person I saw sing into a guitar.) John does it really well, and it's always amazing to listen to.




One thing funny I've noticed here is that occasionally a crowd will want an encore, but I think it just kind of gets lost at the end. I saw that happen at the fair with Natalie Grant. At Natalie's show, it seemed like most people didn't really expect an encore, and so they were tepid in asking for one. In John's case, I think the crowd knows him and rather expects an encore to just happen. There was a call for one more song, with someone in the back shouting 50 more songs, and then it just stopped. It's kind of awkward, but John did come back out and do an encore and everyone pretty much was waiting and expecting it. LOL

After the show, John had promised a song to 3 ladies, and it didn't make it to the set list, so he stayed after, sat on the side of the stage and played it for them. I thought that was pretty cool, and I know they really appreciated it. I talked to John and Shane (bass player, video, sometimes merch guy) for a while before saying my goodbyes and heading for home. I wasn't relishing the drive home. I managed to find the street that leads to the street the freeway was on (I thought the hard part) rather easily, but missed my turn, and had to come back around. I was starving, so I decided to stop at Arby's and get something to eat. I ended up parking in the Carl's Jr. lot to eat my Arby's meal. The funny thing is I would have stopped at Carl's, but it looked closed. It wasn't. So, I finally got back on the road, eventually found the street I'd missed and headed for home. I had to stop once to clean my glasses so I could see, but made it home safely with no major problems. I was tired, and glad to be home, but it was a great night. :)


I worked on pics a bit, and then finally went to bed around 6 a.m. I'm a glutton for punishment. I was up at 9:30 a.m., and I asked Ed to drive me to church as I really hadn't enough sleep for driving. He was gracious enough to give me a ride.
The service was about love, and I'm really glad I didn't sleep in. :)

At any rate, if you haven't checked Allred's music out, you should do so. I have a video clip on one of my blogs around here somewhere. LOL

Merry Christmas and a have a blessed and happy New Year!!

--Melanie

Sherwood and Rockband Live

I got the call back to work on October 6. They wanted me to come back on Oct. 15. I had concert tickets for October 15 for Sherwood and Oct. 16 (and plans for the 17th, but they decided that was pushing my luck a bit) so I am headed for work in a couple of hours. Pray for me, I'm not really well at the moment, but I will muddle through.

October 15, I headed down to Salt Lake City to see Sherwood (w/The Pink Spiders, The Summer Set, The Reign of Kindo and John Allred.) I didn't recall who was opening, so I was happy to hear that The Reign of Kindo and John Allred would be playing. I left late, which probably didn't matter, and arrived a little after 4:30 p.m. I was still the first ticketed concert-goer there. I parked right in front. :) I had a little bit of a delay getting there since I was thinking it was closer to the freeway, and by the time I cut across 4 lanes of traffic to get on the same side of the road as the venue, I would have been past it, or so I thought. As it turned out, I double checked my address and I was not going nearly far enough. Yes, sometimes I'm a total dork. Lauralee arrived not long before doors opened and we chatted in line until time to go in. At any rate, to make a long story a little shorter, John Allred was great, as always.



After the show, John and I talked and I had a photo taken as I missed that opportunity at the Yellowcard show. The Reign of Kindo was a little different, and I loved their set. Afterwards I went and bought their ep. The Summer Set was really a lot of fun, and I enjoyed them immensely. I also bought a cd from them and played it in the car yesterday. The Pink Spiders were pretty good as well, although where I was standing the vocals were a bit tough to make out. I did think it was an odd combo with Sherwood, but they weren't too bad at all. :) Finally Sherwood played and I just absolutely loved every minute of it!!! I took as many pics as I could, but was having a tough time getting a good focus, my continual problem. I still haven't checked pics out much yet, though. Contrary to popular belief, I did put the camera down enough to sing, jump up and down and clap. It's hard not to with Sherwood's music.


After the show I talked to David a little. I said I'd like to hear "The Other Side" and then realized when he gave me a puzzled look, that it had a different title (which I always forget), but I was going totally blank. So I went to the cd table and cheated (the title is Alive, actually.) I saw Mikey at the merch table and mentioned this to him (and razzed him a little for fun) and he made the comment that it was a good reason to name songs after a lyric in the song. LOL We talked a little. Oh, and I had a set list, so I had Joe and David sign it. Then it took a while to get everyone to autograph the set. I hung around for a bit and went back to where the bus was with friends. I was going to get a pic with Sherwood, but we couldn't get everyone together at the same time. Finally, Dan had to leave while we were trying to find Nate, so I have a fuzzy pic of me with Sherwood minus Dan. Next time... LOL Then I headed for the E-Center, while they finished up and headed for an after party.

I had a ticket for Rockband Live (The Cab, Plain White T's, Dashboard Confessional and Panic at the Disco) for the next day at the E-Center, so I just decided I'd spend the night in the lot - and I did. I was a little broke, and I wasn't sure I wanted to use credit (the check deposited, I could have gone to the hotel.) So, I was being cheap. LOL I also thought people might line up early (really unpredictable here.) I seriously thought about the hotels within walking distance, about 2 a.m., but I don't sleep that well in hotels either, so I stayed with the cheaper route. (Next day I saw one of the hotels that you couldn't see the sign for was an Extended Stay, and I would have probably gone if I had known.) Anyway, I woke up about 6:15 a.m. and tried to doze a little until around 7 a.m. when I ate breakfast and got out of the car to look around. At about 8:30 a.m. three people arrived. I found the bathroom in the venue that wasn't locked down yet, and was able to change clothes around 9 a.m. At about 10:30-11 a.m. another gal arrived to wait with us in line. In one of those "it's a small world" moments, she was at the after party with Sherwood. She hadn't even heard them before. She told me who she talked to and I told her their names. LOL Then I went down to my car and got my Zune so she could hear what they sounded like. She liked them, so that was cool. :) At 12:30 another gal from Ogden (you can tell I was remembering names well yesterday) who was a huge Dashboard fan showed up with her brother. So now there were 7 of us. We played the "millionaire" style music game she had with her for an hour or so, and I took a potty break at the local Cracker Barrel. While I was there I ordered a side of their fried okra. It was amazing! And so the day went. A few more people started to show between 3:30-4 p.m. At around 4:30 one of the Rockband gals handed out wristbands for a meet and greet (although it was more of a greet & leave) for all 4 bands. I snagged one and searched for something to be autographed. I ended up with a Plain White T's cd and a piece of binder paper. LOL At about 4:50 we all went into the E-Center and got instructions. I didn't get much in the way of photos there, but I have two autographed posters (Dashboard, Plain White T's) and a piece of binder paper with autographs from Panic at the Disco and The Cab.





We were promised our spot back in line, so I took my things to my car and got back in line. I was first in line, but when the doors opened the gal couldn't get the scanner to work (always, my line, always!) but I finally made it to the barricade
just left of center.

The show was really good. The Cab makes amazing use of the stage. I said before when I saw them on the Sept. 18th and I'll say it again -- photographing Alex is like trying to photograph a bullet. LOL But the sound was great, and so was their stage presentation.



Plain White T's played next and did a great set. Tom announced that Hey Delilah was first played in Salt Lake City, which was a bit of trivia I didn't know. The last song was "Hate is a Strong Word" (not sure if that's the proper title.)



Then it was time for Dashboard to set up. Between sets, Rockband had four group winners on stage (2 after Plain White T's and 2 after Dashboard) which was interesting. So we watched a couple of groups play Rockband and then it was time for Dashboard. I have to say, I liked Dashboard's set best. The sound was very good and very polished, and the vocals were outstanding and he made good use of the stage. The one song I really wanted to hear was Stolen, which they did play. It seemed a lot faster than the recorded version, though. I tried to get a set list for Dashboard, (the only band I saw with what appeared to be a set list), but the stage was just too far away, and the Rockbands and emcee were onstage, so it was near impossible to get anyone's attention. :(





Two more Rockband groups played (the last wasn't great, but they were fun) and it was time for Panic.

Panic's set was also very good, and energetic. It was a fairly long set, so the really big Panic fans had to be happy with that!! The stage set up was pretty incredible. They had two big round white daises with "Panic" emblazoned on one and "At the Disco" on the other. The drummer was atop the Panic dais, and the keyboardist was atop the other one. IT was quite the set up. :) One of the songs they performed was Northern Exposure and I thought it was actually quite pretty. (It's also the name of their fan club.)







Most of the night, I was next to a couple of young ladies and their mom. One of them had plans to marry three of the lead singers. ;) She ended up with a guitar pick and a bit of an acknowledgment from the stage, and I'm sure someone just made her whole year! It was sweet.

Anyway, the show did come to an end, as all shows must, and I went upstairs to the merch table. I ended up purchasing The Cab's cd, and also Dashboard's last cd. As I was getting ready to head downstairs and out the door, someone commented on my tee from The Myriad. As it turns out, she was one of the gals from the first Rockband band. She and I really liked a lot of the same music, as it turns out. We chatted, and then I headed outside. I took one look at the traffic and decided to kill some time. I walked around the building just to see if The Cab was around. I didn't expect to see anyone else. A couple of the guys did walk by quickly, but that was about it. A number of people were waiting for either Dashboard or Panic at the Disco. I ended up talking to someone for a really long time. Then Zach (Panic's bodyguard) came up and didn't seem really happy. He wasn't in the best of moods, so we talked about that. Then I finally introduced myself to him and he to me. He gathered everyone from both sides of the bus entrance and told them that the contract with Rockband didn't allow band members to hang out. Also, he said that they would be pulling out in about 40-50 minutes. There was some conversation, and he said that he probably wouldn't even tell Panic we were there because they were nice and might come out, and then Ryan would end up sick and it would be a domino effect. LOL He was kinda funny. I was going to leave, but I was chatting and ended up not leaving quite yet. Then Tom of Plain White T's was standing near us with a crowd, so I walked over just to see who it was, and then I realized who it was and it was friends (I remembered they said Plain White T's had family) so I felt kinda dumb and intrusive. Tom waved at me, I turned to walk away, and the security guy said not to stand in the middle of the street, which I thought was an odd thing to say. I think he just didn't want me bugging Tom, but I was already leaving because I didn't want to bug him, either. Anyway, I was going to leave then, and I was talked out of it. Finally, I did say, I am freezing and I need to leave, so I started back to my car. I should have left the first time so I didn't look like an idiot, and I wouldn't be so sick today. C'est la vie. LOL Live and learn... maybe.

I don't really like waiting by buses unless there is a specific reason (like wanting to get something to someone or seeing if Jon Foreman was going to do an acoustic set or something) even though sometimes I end up there. I never intended to wait strangely enough. It was supposed to be a walk by. LOL At least there was no traffic when I left.

I was a tad concerned about getting back out, but I ended up finding the exit for 215 right away and headed for home. IT was a long night, and even though I ended up sick again, it was mostly fun.

Peace out,
Melanie