Campfyre Stories

Ahh, Mother’s Day.  I’m meh on the topic as a whole, but the Tulip Fest really makes the holiday for me.  i appreciate my mother every day of the year and don’t feel like I need a designated day to appreciate her with the rest of the world.  Not that I don’t celebrate Mother’s Day, I do, but I don’t really need it.  So I didn’t write a tribute to my mother in my blog.  I’m sure she understands.

Girl got into town late Friday night, which meant that we were up til the wee hours of Saturday morning catching up and having girl talk.  it was Saturday, though, that she was really here for.  We got down there just before OK Go (who Girl was unfamiliar with) started playing, giving us some time to run into a couple people we knew and to find a decent place to start.

I say start because I am, and have been for most of my life, a seasoned concert goer - especially for outdoor concerts.  Outdoors or general admission, it is my abject purpose to get as close to the stage as possible, and I am GOOD at this.  I see every available opening and pretty much keep moving until I’m satisfied.  I’ve been doing this for as long as I’ve been going to concerts unchaperoned and can only assume that my parents taught me this, so I turned to Girl and said, "Have you ever been to an outdoor concert with me?"  She said no, to which i responded, "This is how I do.  Keep up and I’ll get us up close.  If I lose you, meet after this is over at the EQX tent."  She kept up.  I got us close.

And, my gods, do they give good show.  Well dressed with stage presence and really good…  shoot, really good EVERYTHING.  Vocals, backing vocals, insturmentation, lyrics, you name it.  They have a very "British Invasion" feel to them, but it doesn’t distract from what they give out.  Damian jumped down into the audience and basked in the love of the teenage girls and, of course, at the end of their set, we were treated to a live performance of their music video "A Million Ways."

Then it was off to the line.  The line to meet the band, get autographs, etc.  We two, at 30, were the oldest people in that line who were not designated camera-holding parents.  Of course, we were also not giddy in that fourteen year old EEEEEEEEEEE!  I’M MEETING THE BAND!!!!!  SIGN MY BOOBIES!!!!! kind of way…  we enjoyed them, Girl enjoying her first exposure, me enjoying my first live concert of theirs and we chatted a bit.  Damian suggested I check out a guy called MC Paul Barman, who was his roommate in college.  He’s pretty decent, check him out.  It felt good to chat with them, but the line made me feel rushed.  However, I intend to get another chance… that comes later.

TMBG played after OK Go.  i was less than impressed.  It wasn’t them, it was the sound, which was pretty insanely bad, and a shame, because I do like TMBG.  *sigh*  Oh well, it gave us a chance to wander about the Tulip Fest for a while before we decided it was just too chilly and headed on home to beat the rain.  Girl took off for a while and the Spawn and I had our time together, which was unexpected and very nice.  After Spawn went to bed and Girl had come back we again stayed up until the wee hours, just hanging out.  I think it was therapeutic for both of us, just having a chance to catch up and relax.

Sunday, Mother’s Day, Spawn gave me a t-shirt he made that says "Chocobo Power!", which has become an in-joke between the two of us after finding a Chocobo powered ship in Final Fantasy X, which i finally beat after some 50 hours of play.  He was very proud of it and I adore it

Anyway, Girl left early on Sunday, leaving Spawn and I to enjoy Mother’s Day and to take the Child of Chaos for long enough for my little brother, RC2 to take mom out to a movie.  All in all it was a wonderful weekend, and the upcoming week should prove to continue this trend.

I am currently  working on finding a way to see OK Go play at Northern Lights tomorrow night.  I know that most of you out there are not rockstars, but if anyone wants to come with me, let me know and we’ll figure it out.  However, be forewarned, I am on a mission.  That’s all I’m saying about it right now, we’ll see how things go at the actual show.

But no more writing for today, I can’t sit here any longer.