2011 Shows

2011 CONCERT BLOG

This is already shaping up to be a great year for concerts. It's costing me a fortune due to the following:

-My first concerts of the year were in WALES & ENGLAND!

-Tickets now come with unconscionable CONVENIENCE CHARGES!

-Tickets are unobtainable at the box office due to SCALPERS snatching them all up and wanting ridiculous prices for them.

-A 1-2-3 PUNCH in the rare occurence that Duran Duran plays a small venue, U2 plays a mile from my house, and Peter Gabriel plays Red Rocks within a THREE MONTH WINDOW.

I shall prevail...

-Peter Gabriel tickets in hand. I sucked it up for the inconvenience charges.

-U2 ticket sold at face value from a Chicago friend whose friend happens to be due that weekend. (I had a friend here in Denver in the 80's that went to see U2 on her due date!)

-Duran Duran tickets are nearly negotiated via craigslist for $5 above face value + fees.

4/15 Update: Duran negotiations fell through the full band show at the Ogden; however, I won a radio contest for the exclusive Mix Lounge acoustic performance at the Hard Rock Cafe on the following day. Still working on the "real" show tickets.

Sheesh!

1/27-29

The Alarm

Big Country

Glen Matlock & the Philistines

@Pontins Prestatyn Sands, Wales

1/30

Justin Currie w/ Heidi Spencer

The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton, England

2/18

The Wedding Singer starring Ben Dicke

Fox Theater, Aurora, CO

Surprise: During the show, I noticed that the last name of one of the cast was the same as Randy's mother's maiden name. When we went to karaoke with the cast after the show, Randy figured out that this guy is indeed his 2nd cousin from his Cedar Rapids branch of the family.

3/12

The Hollands & Katey Laurel

Edgewater Coffee, Edgewater, CO

4/5

Wanda Jackson & the Dusty 45's

The Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO

High points: Lots of high points..."Cool Love," because I used to sing it with This Train. Wanda giving her testimony--we should all be so graceful. Wanda singing one of her hits recorded in German acapella especially for a few Germans in the crowd.

4/20

Duran Duran

the Ogden Theater, Denver, CO

SETLIST:

Planet Earth, Hungry Like the Wolf, All You Need Is Now, Notorious, Misled, Leave a Light On, Friends of Mine, Blame the Machines, Ordinary World, Girl Panic, Careless Memories, Reach Up for the Sunrise, Rio (Encore: View to a Kill, Girls on Film w/ band intros and a bit of Lady Gaga's Poker Face).

High Points: Friends of Mine, and the dance moves Simon gets away with. Seeing Roger play!

Low Points: Too short, and opening with videos for about 7 of the songs on their new albums. Lame.

4/21

Duran Duran

Acoustic mini-show @ Hard Rock Cafe with Q&A

Leave a Light On

All You Need is Now

Hungry Like the Wolf

High Points: Seeing Dave Casillas (D2 security) again and finding out he got married to his girlfriend and has two kids! Hearing Simon answer a question about the lyrics to Box Full of Honey - "It's basically about the love of my life, Yasmin, and well, fucking up...and being forgiven."

Low Point: Simon wearing sunglasses inside and not saying hello to anyone on the way in or out...then again, maybe he's just trying to be a good boy.

Upcoming:

4/29 Able Archer & Yellow Second

This was a super fun show. My brother Josh plays in Yellow Second, loud catchy pop music that stays in your head. Scott Kerr has a real way with melody and phrase, and our friend Chris Callaway plays in Able Archer, but I think this show will be best remembered for the screamy metal bands that got booked on the same bill, one of whom was fronted by a former inmate who recognized Randy as the "coolest deputy in the joint," and then looked me up and down and asked "Who's the babe?"

Notable: First show with John Warne, who also plays bass in Relient K.

5/20 U2 Dress Rehearsal

An unexpected bonus! I was hired by a limo company who was shuttling the private jet company that supplies U2's jets while in the States to the U2 dress rehearsal open only to them and a few busloads of Special Olympics kids. In addition to being able to get in, eat, drink, and see all but the encore of U2's dress rehearsal, I also got my friend Melanie in! A serious blast.

Celeb sightings and near misses: Scott Hamilton was standing very near us at the show. When I went down to get Melanie in, I made arrangements for Tim Tebow's golf cart to the show but never saw him AND I missed Bono's appearance at the party upstairs. :(

Bono whizzes by Adam during dress rehearsal.

5/21 U2 & the Fray

It was U2. It was amazing, of course. Although I have never seen them in anything but a stadium, the big ones are always a little less "something." Bono has the incredible ability to create intimacy in a huge space, but 80,000 is a stretch. The music and video content was really fantastic though.

I was coordinating transportation for a group of Venezuelans who were in the US for an incentive trip and scheduled their Denver time around the U2 show. This gave me & my coworkers suite access to sodas and snacks, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the suite was only three rows away from where Randy and our friends Keith & Rebecca (who provided us with a free ticket for Randy) were seated!

Notable: To avoid parking issues, Randy, along with Keith & Rebecca walked the 1.5 miles each way to the stadium from our house. First big walk since total knee replacement on 2/23.

6/13 Peter Gabriel & the New Blood Orchestra

The day before this show, I had a job to do the airport greet for the "PG Orchestra" and my paperwork specifically said Passengers: PETER GABRIEL/JULIE GUERRON. I worked very hard to be composed when I went to the airport, only to find that there was no PG. Just the orchestra. The French tour manager Julie was unimpressed with everything so no love on the "guest list" aspect of things either. I was a little heartbroken, but I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and prepared for the next day.

After making an Asian salad and a pitcher of white sangria for the occasion, Randy had some knee troubles & I wound up going with Kathy.

As we cleaned up the picnic, my friend Ian who was the New Blood Orchestra's Denver driver, pulled up and offered us a ride.

I have mixed reactions. The show itself was punctuated with lightning storms and a short rainfall under a full moon at Red Rocks. That alone is worth the price of admission. Gorgeous. The orchestra was amazing, but I still think I would have preferred a band. So much of Peter Gabriel's stuff has such a great groove and I missed that.

Certain songs were magical with an orchestra though--highlights were Red Rain, Don't Give Up (though seriously, the Norwegian girl singing it just didn't do a thing for me. Despite my jealousy, I am just being honest when I say I can easily do better! Call me Peter!), Blood of Eden, and Mercy Street.

7/9/11 - LHS Volunteer

Avett Brothers

@Red Rocks

Didn't stay for the whole thing, but loved what I did stay for.

7/10/11 - LHS Volunteer

Sarah McLachlan with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra

@Red Rocks

Saw the second half of her set and enjoyed it a lot. Glad that Butterly was in the band but sad that she didn't get to open or do any of her stuff. She's coming in October w/ Sandra McCracken tho. Promising...

7/22/11

Christina Aguilera

Nickelback

@Red Rocks

Due to my work requirements for a Microsoft convention, I regret that I must include this if my concert calendar for 2011 is honest and complete. Transparency. Yikes.

8/5/11

Lee Ann Rimes

@Red Rocks

Another work requirement. She was really good though.

9/30/11

Colin Hay

w/ Chris Trapper

@L2 Events Center

So good!!! Love Colin Hay.

We thought Chris Trapper was really good too. He used to be in a band called the Pushstars who had the same college agent as us so we're pretty sure we were at the same Tulsa NACA showcase.

Made an idiot of myself talking about Pontins, but got a great story from Colin about how he won holidays for his family by winning diving competitions in freezing cold Scotland, and he even posed for pictures. Kathy had him sign her CD "Goats appear and fade away."

10/6/11

Duran Duran

Neon Trees

@1st Bank Events Center

Broomfield, CO

Melody & I scored last minute tickets under face value in a great spot.

Um, I could say how great they were but I'd just be repeating myself. Duran. Duran. Stunning.

10/15/11

Howard Jones

performs "Human's Lib" and "Dream Into Action"

@Summit Music Hall

Denver, CO

I had lots of fun going to this show and dancing and singing with my friends Fred & Tracy and their friend Steve. Still, it should have been better, and it didn't help being so close on the heels of a Duran Duran show. HoJo didn't seem to excited about doing his mid-80's hits 25 years later and his band members looked like they might have been just about as happy in a dentist's chair. Howard sounded good tho, and I still love those songs!

FEB 4-7 LONDON, ENGLAND

FEB 4-7 Last Stop: LONDON

Well, this has taken entirely too long to finish up, so I'll just sum up by saying I had a wonderful time in London with good friends Phil & Sarah and let the pictures do most of the talking. Phil at one time was our bassist, and his wife Sarah is from London. They are fantastic hosts!

They took me all over London...

First, Sarah & I went to Liberty Department Store where we played dress up with high priced jewelry, scarves, and sunglasses, prompting one or more clerks to ask if they could help us in that "Don't touch" kind of way.

Liberty has beautiful displays in a great old building. Since it was February, they were getting ready for Valentine's Day...

After shopping, we went for cake in the crypt--Phil & Sarah know I like to read gravestones so we had some cake & coffee and walked around reading the gravestones that covered the walls and the floor.

Sarah ponders whether her coffee is too beautiful to drink...

Our favorite gravestone discusses the piety and virtue of the late Edith Bilson but does not leave out mentioning her "conjugal affection." Way to go Edith!

Afterwards, we had a walk through Trafalgar Square and Chinatown on our way to a dinner splurge at a great little French restaurant. If I had been blogging about this in a timely manner, I might even remember the name of it.

Street performer in Chinatown:

I took this picture without looking, because contortionists really freak me out. This guy dislocated his shoulder to get his entire body through a tennis racket and I can still hear the sound it made. Ick.

The next day we went to Camden Town, which is possibly the greatest stop on the Tube, and the best people watching spot I've ever encountered.

You see all types there and it's crowded and there are all kinds of stalls of cheap t-shirts and cool bags and shoes and hippie dresses, and God knows what else. It's insane and at one point got to be a bit much so I decided that it was time to relax and try smoking the shisha for the first time.

It was Phil's first time too. We went with apple.

After a bit, we were pretty chilled out. If I lived in London, I might take the tube here every Saturday and watch the world go by. You can't see it, but from where we're sitting here, we heard the Grease soundtrack playing from the hot dog stand next door, saw punks, hipsters, tourists, business types, hippies, etc. walk by, with a view beyond them to a rave fashion store with bouncers and lots of metal fabrication on the outside. It was like several worlds colliding.

Later that day, we made our way to the Tate Modern, where Phil educated me on some modern art pieces and we both got really freaked out by a video installation that ultimately gave me a migraine.

This double-decker bus pulled up in front of St. Paul's Cathedral just in time for my perfect London photo:

The Sunflower Seed Exhibit at the Tate Modern.

(The artist has since been arrested by the Chinese government. Boo.)

Viewed from above:

And up close...

A look across the bridge...

And there you have it. Another great vacation. Planes, trains, and automobiles in the reverse order got me back to Denver where I was happy to see Randy & Diego.

FEB 1-3 BATH, ENGLAND

February 1-3-

BATH, England

Whenever I am traveling alone, I like to leave a few days free for whatever sounds good on the spur of the moment; however, I've learned that budget-wise planning ahead can really help, so a couple weeks before leaving, I decided to plan my "alone" days.

A travel director that I worked with this year told me that if she had three days to spend by herself anywhere in the UK, she would most definitely choose Bath. Known for its ancient Roman ruins and the only natural hot springs in the UK, there's a lot of history dating back to the Roman era in the first century AD. Who knew? Prior to this conversation, the only thing I knew about Bath was that Tears for Fears is from there.

It's also not far from Stonehenge, but going to Stonehenge without Randy seemed like going with Melanie to see the next Bourne Identity movie. Some things you gotta save for the "date."

I stayed at Pratt's Hotel which was pretty similar to the Britannia in lots of ways, except they had a better breakfast in a fancier room. For $28, the Britannia made me happy. For $100 per night (on a hotels.com "deal"), Pratt's was less than I had hoped for, but it was adequate and the location was amazing..a short walk from the train station, and right around the corner from the Abbey, the Roman Baths, and lots of shops.

Determined to be the ultimate tourist, I settled in when my delayed train arrived and went to the tourist information center, where I found out that there are free walking tours every day in Bath...truly free--no tipping allowed even.

After that, I walked into Bath Abbey, which is also free but suggests a donation for the very expensive upkeep of this 1611 building, whose floors and walls are lined with tombstones. I love to read the mini-obituaries carved into tombstones from the 1500-1800s. They had such a way with words.

Walking near all the shops, I heard beautiful opera singing from a street performer raising funds for animal welfare.

Dinner was simple. I went to M&S Simply Food to pick up some basic snacks & groceries for the room and stayed in watching tv once it got dark. This is budget travel, after all.

ROMAN BATHS, CROSS BATHS, & WALKING TOUR!

The next morning, I was up bright & early for breakfast and a walk around the corner where I was the first guest at the Roman Baths. This meant I couldn't really get any pictures that I was in until other tourists showed up...

It's amazing to me to see something that dates back to the first century and realize what a central religious and social site this was to the community. The museum inside had a lot of information. I found it very interesting and slightly disturbing to hear about how the names of gods were changed and personalities of gods merged into one god to suit the combined cultures in the city. There are probably long and intelligent articles that could be or have been written on that, but I don't think I'm the one to do it. Instead, I will show you a freaky picture of how they reconstructed what this guy looked like using his skeleton.

Floors were heated by raising them with stacked tiles and letting the hot springs flow through.

Cross Baths across the street from the Abbey, frequented by royalty in the 16th-18th century. Rebuilt in 1789 this is how they look now.

The Roman Baths took up most of my morning, and after a quick lunch at the hotel room and a visit to some shops, I walked back to the Baths to meet up with the free walking tour. Our tour guide Roger was hard to hear and a bit dry, but seriously knowledgeable about the history of Bath, and he walked us all around the city for 2+ hours. We saw the Royal Crescent

the Pultney Bridge, a 1773 bridge over the river Avon, which happens to also be the only bridge in the UK with shops in it.

and got a general feel for the city.

THE BATHS = NO PHOTOS PLEASE!

The Thermae Bath Spa is the modern hot springs spa, and despite my fear of swimsuits, and forgetting to pack one, I felt that I wouldn't really have "done" Bath without visiting. Over lunchtime, I had stopped into the major department stores to (ugh!) shop for a suit--swimsuits are sold year round in Bath. After several trips to the dressing room, I found a good one at M&S, so after dinner I grabbed my hotel towel and my suit and walked around in circles until I found the spa.

What a great decision! I was feeling pretty alone so I prayed for friends again, and when I walked out of the dressing room, someone said, "I almost bought that suit today." I made fast friends with Nathalie from Swindon and her husband's cousin Pervina - Sri Lankan, but from New Jersey these days. We explored the four scented steam rooms, the rain forest shower, the roof top pool, and the tidal pool in the lower level of the spa. I haven't felt that clean since the sauna at Jonathan Rundman's grandpa's UP cabin followed by a jump in a lake. I slept great that night.

After all this activity, I was beat and craving Indian food so I stopped in a local take away and the let the Indian on duty tell me what I wanted because although I like Indian food, I don't know my way around the menu well. This worked out great because they wound up giving me more than I paid for, and I had the spiciest vindaloo I've ever eaten over a long phone conversation with Randy.

DAY 3

FASHION MUSEUM

Ok, although there is a lot of talk about hot water in Bath, there is also the Fashion Museum, which I had to visit. My Day 3 mission was to find my way back to the Fashion Museum which Roger had pointed out on the walking tour, and see all the clothes.

About a 15-minute walk from Pratt's later, I arrived too early and thought I'd try to find some free wifi, which I found at Jika Jika. This was a GREAT FIND. The atmosphere was cool, and the smell of coffee was amazing. I take cream & sugar in my coffee but I ordered an Ethiopian blend that recommended it be taken black, so I rolled w/ the punches and was served personally by the barrista at my table who came out to thank me for not bastardizing this blend like so many of their casual customers. I could see it meant a lot to him, which I found heartwarming and a little disturbing all at once.

FASHION MUSEUM

Note: They had audio guides but they weren't really working on many of the displays as they were in transition. Worth asking ahead if that is a big deal to you. I just wanted to see the clothes.

The Fashion museum , known as the Museum of Costume until 2007, displays clothes from long ago, like this dress which would have been worn in the presence of royalty. That would definitely camouflage a big butt--or maybe it was meant to give the impression of wide child bearing hips! Perhaps there is a hidden drink holder somewhere in the hip section?

...to modern trends and iconic fashion. Remember the J-Lo dress? (Using the term loosely of course?) We all saw it, but did you really see it close enough to notice...

the bedazzled undies that keep it from showing everything? It's really hard for me to believe that anyone would wear this in public!

I tried a few of the more "old fashioned" accessories on, and quickly realized why this era of woman typically had someone help her get dressed!

On my way back, I spent some time talking to a street paper vendor whose dog Ike reminded me a lot of Diego.

and then I packed up my bags and got on a train to LONDON!