A Wild, Crazy, Wonderful Week

This has been one of the busiest, craziest weeks ever - and it was a mostly self-induced sort of insanity. LOL

Wednesday, I had a ticket to see This Providence in Sandy. It had been more than a hear since I had seen them, and last time I promised Sean that I would cook dinner for the band the next time they came. I couldn't recall if anyone else was involved in the conversation or not, so I sent a message to ask if it was still on (since Sean left the band) and they said to bring food. LOL So, Lauralee and I set about to do just that. We fixed pot roast, salad, drop biscuits, brownies and fast fudge and made enough for a small army. Oh, and I brought grapes from my yard, too. We got there and set up inside at a round table, and the food was big hit (Phew!) We really didn't know how the timing would come together, but it all came together quite well. We did have to move the food outside for a short bit just before the show, but it went very well. Dan was in a fun mood, and the show was absolutely the best! :) I usually try to photograph without flash, but it was so dark I used flash, and felt kinda bad because I probably blinded everyone. I need an attachable flash that doesn't send out that horrible strobe and so it can be bounced anyway. This Providence went off tour and headlined at Solid Ground, and the openers were all pretty good. The main opener, Everybody Else, was pretty amazing as well. After the show, I took Lauralee home, and headed out myself. I got home quite late, and still had to unload the car and put things away. But it was all worth it!





The next day, I had a ticket to see This Providence on the Why So Serious tour in Pocatello, ID. I got to the venue about an hour before the ticket time, and there were guys putting up signs for a venue change. So I found the new venue, the Booth Barn, parked and looked for the entrance. Someone said they thought it was around the side, but the bands were unloading. I was bold and went back there, visited with This Providence, and a few others, and took some pics while I waited. Then the show started, and I didn't realize it, so I headed around as quickly as I could and got as close as I could to the stage. A few people did let me in front to take pics, which I thought was really nice. The first band to play was Mury. I had seen them twice before and they were pretty good. Hey Monday was next, and I really liked them quite a lot. Most of the people I talked with after the show loved them as well. Then A Rocket to the Moon played. I really loved their set. I felt kind of badly as I heard about their trailer being ripped off of about $5,000 (cash/posessions) including some camera equipment and lenses. So, you should check them out and support them if you can.
Then This Providence played and were, once again, awesome. :) The power cut out during a number of the sets, and it also happened during This Providence's set. Shane (who does merch) came up on stage and pretended to be a rock star. It was great! LOL Finally things got to working again, and they finished their set. Then set up started for The Cab. I was pretty sure I'd like them, and they were quite good. Trying to photograph the lead singer was a lot like trying to take a photo of a bullet. LOL They have a good stage presence.




I was able to get a copy of the set list for three of the bands, including This Providence, and I decided to get TP to autograph their set list. Then I visited for quite a long while before heading home. I think I arrived home around 2:25 a.m.

For concert no. 3, I had a ticket to see The Rocket Summer and Phantom Planet the next day. Normally I go around 1-2 on weekday concerts at In the Venue, and am often the first one there, but usually for TRS, there is a big group that shows up around 10. So, my original plan was to go at 10 a.m. I was just to exhausted, so I waited. I acutually got to the venue around 1 p.m. and was the first one there. It's funny, I had prayed about timing and resigned myself to possible staying in the back (don't think I'd survive the middle) and I should always remember that God works out the timing regardless of what I want. Things will be as they should be. It was a pretty amazing show, and I ended up on the barricade, dead center. I knew I was going to get killed. LOL Once again, the opening bands were good. Phantom Planet was absolutely incredible. I didn't see how Bryce could top that, but he set about to do his best. In fact, it was probably the best I'd seen Bryce. He was engaged with the audience, he sounded great, played a very good set (new and old.) At one point he left the stage, went into the middle of the crowd and sang two acoustic songs. At another point in the show, Bryce used the looping machine, or whatever the tech term is for that thing, and played drums, then keyboards, then guitar in a loop and sang. It really sounded good. Another highlight was my friend Lauralee telling Bryce that it was her birthday, and him telling her happy birthday from the stage. We set about to get her a set list, and someone was nice enough to give it to her.

Afterwards we bought merch, had photos taken with Bobby of The Morning Light (first opening band) and then went outside. I was walking back towards the bus as Bryce usually comes out after the show, and sometimes Phantom Planet plays an acoustic set afterwards. On the way out, I heard Bobby talking about God, and said something back and we ended up in this huge discussion for about 1/2 hour. Then I went back to where the buses were, and waited. Bryce finally came out and I waited until almost last, had photos taken with Bryce (our tradition) and talked for quite a long while. Then I said my goodbyes and headed for home.





The next morning I was leaving for Phoenix (Saturday) via Kanab, UT, and didn't even wake up until 11 a.m. We left around 4 p.m. Today we left Kanab and took our time getting to our final destination. I am now at my daughter's on my hubby's laptop.

Like I said, a long crazy, wonderful week. I wouldn't change much about it. I am grateful.

God is good. :)

Peace out,
Melanie

"Brighten"ed Saturday

For the month of September, I think I have more concerts and more trips than I can even imagine. It's really a guarantee that gas prices are going to go up. So, if you want to know when gas prices are on the rise, just check my travel calendar. LOL

Seriously, I had a ticket to see Brighten in Sandy, UT on Saturday, and I was really looking forward to it. Due to conflicts with my work schedule, and other issues, I wasn't able to go to their last two shows here, and I was disappointed. Saturday, I was very happy to be able to go.

I decided to head out to Pictureline to get a new camera lens (a fast wide-angle zoom) before heading over to the Solid Ground Cafe for the show. Solid Ground is a small, comfortable sort of venue. Bands and venue staff arrive late. In fact on Saturday, the venue staff didn't even show up until nearly 6 p.m. The show was to start at 7 p.m. Likewise, concert attendees show up rather late as well. However, I didn't want to make a trip to Salt Lake City just to get a camera lens, so I decided to go on the way. Pictureline closes at 2 p.m. I barely made it, arriving about 1:53 p.m. That's cutting it pretty close. LOL

I tried to kill as much time as I could - stopping at Arby's, etc., and ended up at the venue a little bit after 4 p.m. I played around with my new lens, read from Galatians 5, played with my new lens some more, walked across the street to the Texaco station and back again, and listened to music until the bands arrived.

At any rate, the concert was good. A few of the opening bands were especially good, including one from Colorado Springs. I will now have to look up their name because I am really forgetful, but I have a pic with two of the guys. :)

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed Brighten's set, although I couldn't hear the vocals quite as well as I usually can. It was still good. :) They have two new band members, and both were good and very personable. I talked to everyone, but I talked to Austin quite a bit, and to Justin a lot. Anyway, overall, I had a great time.


The venue is seriously dark, and the lighting is not real conducive to photos, so about 2 or 3 songs into Brighten's set, I just used the on camera flash, which I rarely do. I did get a few that turned out without flash, but I was shooting at 1/50th-1/6oth of a sec, and that was a tad underexposed! So, the pics could be better, but I did get some passable pics without flash as well. See if you can tell? LOL I still have miles to go editing before I can upload most of them. Here is a sampling of what I have so far.

Wednesday I head back to the same venue to see This Providence. I'm pretty excited about that as well.

--Melanie

Boom Boom Ain't it Great to be Crazy?

I made my first set list yesterday, which is a pretty good trick for someone who isn't in a band.

September 9, I was signed up to volunteer to work the Lost Children's booth at the State Fair from 12-3 p.m. and to report to volunteer for Veggietales at 4 p.m.
I got everything ready as best I could the night before, and headed off to sleep way too late, as usual around 3 a.m.

At 7:45 a.m., Mollie wanted to go out. She just goofed around. At 8:15, she was pretty insistent about going outside again, so I took her out and came in about 8:30 a.m. Just as I was ready to head back to sleep for a few more hours I got a phone call saying that the Lost Children's booth was covered, and they didn't need me. I checked my e-mail and got ready to go back to sleep again. The telephone rang once again. It was Calvary saying that they needed a volunteer for wardrobe. I said I'd go, but I wasn't dressed yet so it would be a little bit. So much for a shower. But I got ready as quickly as I could, stopped to get gas, and headed for Salt Lake City.

When I arrived at the fair, I went to the Media trailer (I knew where it was this time) and got a entry pass for the fair. Then I headed for the Grandstand. I met Karen (who co-wrote the script for Veggietales) and she said that the person I was supposed to work with was out doing laundry, so she found someone else. He had me do a small errand (plugging in all the battery packs) and then I followed him to the sound booth. He handed me a white binder with the script and asked me to make a list of all the songs - all of the song titles were underlined and in caps. I ended up making two, one for each side of the stage. The title of my blog was song #13, I believe. LOL

Then I was just told I could have something to eat if I wanted while I waited for Selina (I have no idea how she spells her name) to return. I spent some time talking to the bus driver and his son. The little guy is just about to turn four, and he was adorable. There was no doubt about what he wanted, either - to go on rides. LOL I think dad mostly wanted a nap.

I really can't recall where it fit in on the timeline, but somewhere in the schedule, I ended up in the tent with some of the cast/crew having lunch.
I met the stage director, Hunter, and we had a nice conversation. At one point I tried a little potato salad. At some point I did go back and have a little bit of the rice and refried beans with some salad, and a couple of cookies just as the caterer was putting things away.

Finally Selina and Lucy made it back from doing laundry and they sent me on an errand to get rubber bands. First, I had to get a Veggietales "Volunteer Crew" pass so I wouldn't have to pay to park again. Once that was accomplished, I made a quick trip and came back to the fairgrounds with the rubber bands. After my errand I went into the trailer and steamed shirts. I think ironing would have been easier. The steamer really spits. I told my daughter I wanted one for my birthday, and it rather does the same thing. It's a great concept, though. I finally did get finished steaming the shirts, and then was told I could break and look about the fair a bit until 5 p.m. It was about 3:30.

I started to walk out into the fairgrounds and "King of the Road" caught my attention. I still know most of the words to that song. It was being done in four part harmonies, including bass. Now, I rather enjoy that sort of thing live a whole lot, although for some reason I never like it quite as much in my cd player. I went over and sat down and listened for a bit and took a few pics with my point and shoot. I left my SLR back on stage mainly because I didn't feel like carting it around. In hindsight, I rather wished I'd taken it along.



Afterwards, I went over to see if the Tigers were still there. Not only were the tigers there, but they were just starting the show. I tried to get close enough to take a few photos, but it was difficult. I didn't want to push in front of kids. LOL
Finally the guy in front of me left, so I was able to get a bit closer. The tigers were all quite beautiful creatures. Three of the tigers were white tigers, one was golden, and one was the tiger colors we are all used to seeing. A couple of the white tigers were huge, dwarfing the trainer, the largest weighing about 450 lbs.





Once the show with the tigers was over, I went over to the photography building and went through it rather quickly. On the way in and out of the photography exhibit, I stopped and took photos of a clown making balloon animals for children.



Finally I headed back over to the Grandstand. I met up with Jim who is the one who called me about volunteering and chatted a bit. Then I found Selina and Lucy again and tried to figure out what I was going to do. I ended up stage right with Lucy and one other volunteer. I helped the cast get in and out of the Veggietales characters, and helped a few times with zippers, untying shoes, etc. It was quite an experience. I really enjoyed meeting Lucy and getting to talk to her a bit. Hunter was a total crack up during the show and I think he kept us all entertained. So was Wes (one of the dancers, who also played Larry a few times during the show.)
The cast knew their costume changes pretty well, so they made it seem rather easy. The first time I almost did the raise/lower thing backwards (I knew, I think it was tiredness setting in) but I did figure it out. LOL Sometimes I felt like I wasn't doing enough, but then it got a little busy towards the end. I was supposed to put a bowtie on Mr. Luntz and Larry, and couldn't get Larry's bowtie to stick. I barely got Mr. Luntz's. So Larry ended up bowtieless for the last number. Oops! But overall it went rather smoothly. Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. IT had been rather windy all day, so the show went without the usual backdrops, and the show managed to end before it started to sprinkle (the Veggietales costumes cannot get wet.) I stayed around and helped hang up costumes, and then I went to try and get a pic or two of the Larry/Bob characters (in smaller off-stage, non batttery operated costumes.) The flash didn't go off, so the pics were a tad dark, but when I used flash, my hat blocked it. LOL So I only got a couple.

Then I had my photo taken with Hunter, and one with Lucy & Selina, etc. I took a quick pic of Wes also. I took a photo of Karen, that didn't turn out real sharp, so I took a pic of Karen and friend (I think his name was Jordan?) who co-wrote the script. Then I ended up going out to look at Sheep with Selina and Lucy. Lucy had never seen sheep in person before and she was surprised at how big they were. Selina went back to the Grandstand and Lucy and I went and looked at the giant alligator. I paid for her to go in with me since she hadn't seen an alligator, either. I think the 13 ft. long alligator was real enough, but the eyes looked weird, so I was rather wondering if it was really alive. Inquiring minds want to know. Maybe it was stuffed - but it was in water.










Anyway, we walked back to the Grandstand, chatted a bit longer, and then I went off to have some Rice at the Gyro stand (best rice around) and a baklava before heading for home. To summarize the trip home, traffic was horrible and went to one lane. Then it wasn't clear where to go and I ended up on a freeway that leads to home, but rather the long way around. I tried exiting, and the entrance was closed, so I ended up taking the scenic route again. So a 1/2 hr. to 45 minute trip home only took an hour and a half. But I made it home.

Yet another adventure bites the dust. It was a fun time. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Peace out,
Melanie

Natalie Grant

Tonight I saw Natalie Grant at the Utah State Fairgrounds grandstand. The concert was free with a fair ticket, although you do have to get a reserved seat ticket at the box office. I was supposed to work the merch table, but the merch never arrived. Then I was all set to be an usher, and just about 1/2 before door time we found out there was a miscommunication, and they had to use the union staff ushers. I didn't have a ticket because I wasn't supposed to need one, so I was given a ticket in Section C, Row 2. I was basically dead center. God is too good to me sometimes. I also had free fair entry because I was a volunteer.

To back track just a little, I arrived at the fair a little after three, spent some time looking for the volunteer trailer, and was told I could wander about the fair until 6 p.m. I spent most of the time trying to help someone find her daughter, and taking pics of some white Tigers. They were gorgeous.

Natalie Grant was simply amazing. She truly has a beautiful voice. She was very personable and expressive on stage. She talked a bit about the songs, and about how we could come to Christ just as we are. We don't have to "clean ourselves" up first and about being free to be who we really are - imperfect.

At any rate, no one seemed to know that you should scream "one more song" and some were even starting to leave, so I said something to the gal next to me and we both started screaming encore. People joined us, of course. As a result, we did get a very beautiful encore by Natalie, who was already sans shoes.

Afterwards, I wandered about the fair, stopped and had a gyro with rice, and took photos at the Floriculture building before heading home.

Paul Coleman at Wheeler Farm

Wednesday also known as September 3, 2008, I had plans to go to a place called Wheeler Farm to see Paul Coleman at a free concert. A friend of mine who is the local Rep. for People for Christ Ministry had set it up for a new, local artist to open for Paul. I asked if she wanted to ride share since I have so many trips planned to Salt Lake, not to mention a trip to Phoenix, planned this month.

Eleanor picked me up around 3 p.m., and she had a few errands to do before we actually went to the venue. She made a pit stop by the dentist and had me take her car to Albertson's to get something to bring to the dinner part of the show. They were serving hamburgers, I think. I picked up a couple of desserts and some cut watermelon to take along. The watermelon looked yummy.

Finally we stopped to meet with the Dick of People for Christ who was coming to see Chrissy, as he is looking to be her manager. We all ended up riding in his little econo car to the Park. When we arrived, Chrissy was already starting to sing, which was a bit early, so we went right over. I took some photos. Chrissy is a very mellow artist with a quite beautiful voice and a cute personality. I waited to eat because I was a little out of sorts when I first arrived, so I just hung around by the stage and took photos. The Farm was really gorgeous.

After Chrissy played, Scott (of Pivitplex) took the mike and introduced Paul Coleman. Paul has a nice voice, (except for that one really painful screech which was rather on purpose to be funny) and Paul was pretty funny and engaging on stage, much as I remembered him in Boise when I saw the Newsboys. I took quite a few photos of Paul during his set and enjoyed his performance immensely. At one point he did a whole set of "Bob Dylan sings contemporary Christian music" numbers. I went over to Scott and mentioned that he sounded more like Bob Dylan than Bob Dylan did. He left out Bob Dylan does the Newsboys so someone shouted out that he should do Newsboys and he did Shine. It was hysterical. He really did sound like an old Dylan record, though. Paul has a gift for involving the audience, which he used quite readily at Wheeler Farm. It was very memorable - good worship, and good fun.



Afterwards, there was a speaker, and I went over to see if I could get some food. Much to my dismay, it was all pretty much put away and cleaned up except for cake - chocolate with chocolate icing and ice cream. I can't have either. I figured I was going to have to fix me something to eat after all. Then they brought out some white cake, and I figured I was in luck. I asked to have one without ice cream and guarded it so no one would put ice cream on it. I guess I was a little hungry by then. LOL

After cake, I went over and bought Paul's cd, got a photo, and chatted a little. I also took pics of Paul with other people I knew as I wanted them to have that also.
I promised Paul I would send him a message so he could tell me where to send pics. LOL Eleanor told him they should take me on tour to do photos. I about died. That would have so terrified me. LOL Let's just say it wouldn't have worked. LOL

Finally we loaded our gear in the car and headed back to the hotel. Then Eleanor dropped me off at home.

The next day, the plan was for Chrissy to play at a nice little Italian Restaurant here called, Rivoli's. Dick and Eleanor were there as well as some of the PFC volunteers. It all went really well - the food was good, and the atmosphere was quite relaxing. It wasn't a really busy night, but several people inquired about Chrissy and the owner of the restaurant introduced himself and made sure we were happy with everything. I took my camera but left it in the car until Eleanor asked me about photos, so I went and retrieved it.

Tomorrow I am volunteering to work at the Natalie Grant concert at the Fairgrounds, and I also volunteered to work Tuesday for Veggietales and the lost children's booth. That should keep me busy and in trouble. Hopefully I'll get to take some pics along the way. The very first show I ever used my DSLR on was Veggietales. LOL I didn't even know quite how it worked yet. Consequently, I had rather slow shutter speeds in a low light setting. I still got a few good ones. Nothing much has changed. LOL

Hope everyone is having a great week and your next week is a pleasant and memorable one.

Peace out,
Melanie