Sweet city, come on and give me an eyeful of stars.
Now, the rest of the story!
On Friday night, my lovely friend Brenda took me to go see Sarah Slean.
I left my place at around 5:15, and I got into Union Station in downtown Toronto at about 6:30. After grabbing a quick hot dog, I called Brenda and asked where we were all going to meet. The evening started out fairly warm, but that soon changed, and it got real cold, real fast. I ended up waiting at the corner of Queen's Quay and Yonge for Brenda, Cherrie, Jordanna, Charlie, and his friend David. Due to some confusion and a lack of good directions, we didn't end up meeting up before the concert. They got to the Harbourfront Centre before I did. I had no idea where it was, so I was at a bit of a loss. Bren called me, though, and explained it to me. Before long, we met up and went inside. Brenda bought me my ticket a while ago, and I had no idea how I was going to give her something equally as good for Christmas. Luckily, Sarah's CD's were being sold in there. I bought her Blue Parade, which is the only CD that we don't have between the two of us. I thought it would be nice to get her a CD to show her how grateful I was for being there. I felt my gift was a little inadequate, though, when we found our seats. I had assumed that row EE would be somewhere in the back of the theatre, behind a girder or something. Turns out that we had fifth row seats!
The opening act, Royal Wood, came on stage, and the whole place went quiet. His set was about 45 minutes long, although it seemed to take a lot longer than that. He kind of reminded me of a younger Chris Issak, only not as cool. His music wasn't that bad, although it really dragged on and on. There were two songs, though, where he asked the audience to clap and stomp a beat throughout the song, and I didn't really like that. One song, I can understand. Two? That's just pushing it. I don't think I'd buy any of his CD's or go out of my way to see him live again. I'll be fair and link to his website, though, in case you want to check him out.
The whole place exploded in applause when Sarah came out. She was wearing this cute little black dress, this long strand of black beads around her neck, and some heels. She opened her set with a cover of Drive, by The Cars. It was unexpected, but so beautifully done. She played a lot of my favourites, including Pilgrim, Eliot, Narcolepsy Weed, Last Years War, and Wake Up. I actually cried during Wake Up, in case you're wondering. Well, maybe I didn't full out cry. I wept gently. Like a little girl. But I don't care! It was totally worth it! For a lot of the songs, Sarah was accompanied by a string quartet. The guy on the cello... man... he looked so sad all night long. Like someone just ran over his puppy. Brenda explained to me that he has to look sad, since he's playing a freakin' cello. It made sense somehow.
There's something about live music that makes you feel things a lot more than if you were just listening to a CD. The combination of the stings, the piano, and Sarah's voice... it was a little overwhelming to me. It was an amazing show, and I'm glad we got some amazing seats.
After the show, Sarah was in the lobby signing autographs. I knew then what I had to do: I had to get Sarah to sign Brenda's new CD. As I was waiting in line, I heard someone from behind me call out my name. I turned around, and it was Emily! It was so strange running into her, in Toronto of all places. It was really nice, though. We did some catching up, had a few laughs.
Anyway, I got back into line, and Sarah signed Brenda's CD.And thanks to Emily, I got a photo taken with her, too, as you've probably already seen! It was, by far, one of the most intense experiences of my life. I don't remember what I said to her. I don't remember what she said to me. I just remember being really nervous and afraid that I was going to pee myself or blurt out something to make me look stupid. I recommend going to see Sarah Slean if any of you get the chance. I promise it's an experience you'll never forget.
On Friday night, my lovely friend Brenda took me to go see Sarah Slean.
I left my place at around 5:15, and I got into Union Station in downtown Toronto at about 6:30. After grabbing a quick hot dog, I called Brenda and asked where we were all going to meet. The evening started out fairly warm, but that soon changed, and it got real cold, real fast. I ended up waiting at the corner of Queen's Quay and Yonge for Brenda, Cherrie, Jordanna, Charlie, and his friend David. Due to some confusion and a lack of good directions, we didn't end up meeting up before the concert. They got to the Harbourfront Centre before I did. I had no idea where it was, so I was at a bit of a loss. Bren called me, though, and explained it to me. Before long, we met up and went inside. Brenda bought me my ticket a while ago, and I had no idea how I was going to give her something equally as good for Christmas. Luckily, Sarah's CD's were being sold in there. I bought her Blue Parade, which is the only CD that we don't have between the two of us. I thought it would be nice to get her a CD to show her how grateful I was for being there. I felt my gift was a little inadequate, though, when we found our seats. I had assumed that row EE would be somewhere in the back of the theatre, behind a girder or something. Turns out that we had fifth row seats!
The opening act, Royal Wood, came on stage, and the whole place went quiet. His set was about 45 minutes long, although it seemed to take a lot longer than that. He kind of reminded me of a younger Chris Issak, only not as cool. His music wasn't that bad, although it really dragged on and on. There were two songs, though, where he asked the audience to clap and stomp a beat throughout the song, and I didn't really like that. One song, I can understand. Two? That's just pushing it. I don't think I'd buy any of his CD's or go out of my way to see him live again. I'll be fair and link to his website, though, in case you want to check him out.
The whole place exploded in applause when Sarah came out. She was wearing this cute little black dress, this long strand of black beads around her neck, and some heels. She opened her set with a cover of Drive, by The Cars. It was unexpected, but so beautifully done. She played a lot of my favourites, including Pilgrim, Eliot, Narcolepsy Weed, Last Years War, and Wake Up. I actually cried during Wake Up, in case you're wondering. Well, maybe I didn't full out cry. I wept gently. Like a little girl. But I don't care! It was totally worth it! For a lot of the songs, Sarah was accompanied by a string quartet. The guy on the cello... man... he looked so sad all night long. Like someone just ran over his puppy. Brenda explained to me that he has to look sad, since he's playing a freakin' cello. It made sense somehow.
There's something about live music that makes you feel things a lot more than if you were just listening to a CD. The combination of the stings, the piano, and Sarah's voice... it was a little overwhelming to me. It was an amazing show, and I'm glad we got some amazing seats.
After the show, Sarah was in the lobby signing autographs. I knew then what I had to do: I had to get Sarah to sign Brenda's new CD. As I was waiting in line, I heard someone from behind me call out my name. I turned around, and it was Emily! It was so strange running into her, in Toronto of all places. It was really nice, though. We did some catching up, had a few laughs.
Anyway, I got back into line, and Sarah signed Brenda's CD.And thanks to Emily, I got a photo taken with her, too, as you've probably already seen! It was, by far, one of the most intense experiences of my life. I don't remember what I said to her. I don't remember what she said to me. I just remember being really nervous and afraid that I was going to pee myself or blurt out something to make me look stupid. I recommend going to see Sarah Slean if any of you get the chance. I promise it's an experience you'll never forget.