: : : 2001-05-26 : : : 3:10 a.m. : : :

But who's gonna do it for you?
We are! We are! We are!
The Flashing Lights are on!

I am so deaf right now! But it was worth it. Well, except for the opening act....

I got downtown and I was so ready to rawk! I got to the venue early so I hung out outside for a bit because I didn't think the bouncers would let people go in early and catch part of the Fred Eaglesmith show. But after seeing a couple people go in and not get kicked out, I went inside. I caught the last song of the set and the encores. Fun to listen to and the lead singer (Fred?) had a few funny things to say. I felt like I should have had a beer in my hand during the songs. It felt a bit weird being in this bar with all these older people there.

Kinda funny. When I got to the bouncer, he said, "Hey how's it going?" and all this small talk. Then he asked me how old I was. It took me a couple seconds but then I remembered that I was 23. Geez, that's not a fair question to ask. I often forget how old I am! I think he should have either just let me in right away or asked to see my ID. None of this funny stuff.

Like I said, I was ready to rawk. However, during the Lily Frost set, I was ready for bed. I think she shouldn't have reinvented herself. She was a cute little folkster. Now, her stuff is just dull. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It all failed to invoke ANY emotion in me whatsoever. That kind of stuff is unnecessary. I think Lily was trying to be part sexy, part rockergirl, and part soulful folk girl. She should pick one and go with it full on...to at least get a reaction out of me.

I was getting worried during Lily's set, because I went to the merch area and all I saw was her stuff. I walked by a few times but no FL stuff. Finally during their last song, I saw Stephen setting up, so I rushed up the steps and snatched myself some Sweet Release. Yee haw. Then I went back down and stood in the middle of the bar. A little later on I noticed that I was standing right behind Nardwuar! I didn't talk to him because he was busy talking to some guy. Then my friend showed up. Gosh darn it, I had to go through the opening set by myself!

Just before the FL's went onto the stage, my friend and I wooshed our way to Gaven stage left...right at the front. I took plenty of pictures! They were so good them FL's. They totally rocked out, even when Matt was having problems with the do-ma-hicky thingy-ma-jiggy that he had to borrow from Lily Frost's guitarist, Chris. Hee hee, that Chris kinda looked like Coax Me era Murph! A highlight of their set. This Chris's glasses were doing that annoying halfway-down-the-nose thing that Murph's glasses do in Coax Me. And like the video, I did not possess the power to make the glasses go up where they belong....

Oh right, I was writing about the FL's. They played quite a bit from Sweet Release, but also Where the Change Is. Good times. I sang along to the WTCI songs. Unfortunately we didn't get to chant "Fla-shing Lights, Fla-shing Lights" during Elevature. =( I like that part. Overall, I give the FL's set 2 glorious thumbs aloft, even with Matt's problems. Oh yeah!! And of course Gaven was going CRAZY when he was playing the tambourine. Sweet, sweet tambourine. None got broken this time, though.

OK, I have to go to bed. I have to meet with my group so we can plan our presentation for next week. Night-night!

=)

Hey hey, this is my 40th entry. A milestone.