September 10th, 2011 | Comments Off on so long, lonesome

I don’t know what it is about Explosions in the Sky—how do they manage to provoke such an emotional reaction in me without words? I teared up during one of the earlier songs (“First Breath After Coma,” perhaps “The Only Moment We Were Alone”) and definitely had damp eyes for most of “Your Hand in Mine.”

No encore, though, that was a little disappointing. 🙁 Apparently they played right up to curfew! Can’t ask for more than that.

Posted in general
June 15th, 2008 | Comments Off on vous ĂȘtes Ă  la bonne Ă©poque

Several notes from the concert last night:

  • I can see why the act at 7 has won FĂ©lix awards. He’s got a very rich voice; unfortunately, I wasn’t as able to appreciate him as fully since I was really waiting for those who’d be taking the stage at 9.
  • I think it’s also kind of amazing how any Francophone accent he has completely disappears when he’s singing in English.
  • Fifteen minutes of speeches before the main attraction is not a good idea. Especially when your first two speakers don’t speak French all that well. (The Francophones behind me were snickering–as was I, admittedly, having been caught at this very error once–at the pronunication of “qualitĂ©.” En français, on dit “ka”, pas “kwa”.) There was also his infamous “Dansons! Chassons! Mangeons!” (“Let’s drink! Hunt! Eat!”)
  • That being said, the third speaker was able to read the growing impatience, and said: “J’ai prĂ©parĂ© un long discours, mais devant cette foule, je n’ai plus de discours.” (Cue cheer from the crowd.)
  • Concerts are bad for me, as I tend to spend way too much money at them. Still, the tickets were cheap–$25–and I only picked up two CD’s and a shoulder bag (and a couple pins….) I suppose this does mean I don’t need to buy a bag anymore!
  • I admire the trust of the lead singer, who stage-dove and crowd-surfed in the middle of the set. This is a big man, too!
  • The bassist had good taste in shirts. It’s a takeoff of the old stick-in-rink Canucks logo, but with a guitar instead of a hockey stick. I can only assume he’s aware of the reference.
  • The kids to my left (and yeah, they were kids, no more than 13 or 14, if that) were a bit annoying. At one point a beach ball was being passed around, and they wanted to over to the side, where they were–so I kept hearing cries of “ici!” and “hĂ©, le ballon!” as well as near-misses as they tried for the ball which remained desperately out of reach.
  • Security was quick! Towards the end of the night, a guy jumped onto the stage and was immediately whisked away by two guards. I didn’t even see where they came from.
  • There was a bizarre call-and-response sequence which I think ended with us chanting “Roberto Luongo”.
  • This was an outdoor concert. I kind of wonder where the residents of the nearby retirement community were yesterday evening.
Posted in ramblings
May 14th, 2007 | Comments Off on a breaking of the ice

too busy to write anything about the trip or the concert and in any case I’d like to do it in French which will take a little bit of time time that I don’t have although time is money but hey I don’t have much of that either at the moment I’m dreading my credit card bill anyway I really should get back to my assignment I can’t very well write a letter to Joe Schmo the customer service representative can I?

Actually, the rumours are true: Vienna Teng is an incredibly lovely, gracious, and talented person.

Posted in snippet