Great Big Sea, tigers, and the Kat.
Last night was one of the more exciting pre-planned events on our Minnesota schedule -- a trip to see Great Big Sea's Uprooted tour as they stopped off at the Minnesota Zoo!
We left the house shortly before five-thirty, and stopped for dinner at a scary little Mexican place before hopping on the road. Chris had a migraine, and I was in a royal snit over that whole 'train' thing, so we weren't exactly good company at dinner; Mars and Jens were starting to look at us like we'd been body-snatched as we got into the little red rental car and followed them down the freeway towards the zoo.
Dar Williams can heal all ills. We bellowed along to selections from her 'Out There Live' album, and were almost human by the time we reached the zoo. Our tickets were waiting for us at the will-call, and the Kat was absolutely adorable in her over-sized Great Big Sea tour shirt.
Once inside the zoo, we wandered down to the amphitheater near the tiger pit, found our seats, and proceeded to spend the first two acts (The Young Dubliners and Seven Nations) wandering around amusing the toddler. The Kat was remarkably well-behaved, all things considered; her meltdowns were short if frequent, and usually quickly resolved. She liked the tigers, she liked running around, and she liked Bryson, an eighteen month old boy who had also accompanied his parents to the concert.
(She and Bryson liked each other, and liked running around; they did not like being separated before they had lost interest in one another. Much wailing followed any and all attempts.)
Eventually the opening bands finished, and Great Big Sea came on. Ooooooh, yeah.
Chris and I had never seen them playing in an area where they were a big-deal headliner before. It was...new. The energy in the amphitheater was sky-high, and the crowd was on its feet, screaming, for pretty much the entire show. The band wasn't just hot, they were white-hot, pulling out old favorites and new hits and throwing them at us at an incredible speed. Local sound restrictions meant that the show had to end at ten-thirty, and they packed as much as they could into that time.
Kat was finally quiet for the first half of the show, and listened to the music while the rest of us danced. Mars did eventually have to take her outside, but the band was loud enough that she could still hear just fine. (I know. I went out and joined her for a few numbers.)
When they started into 'No Consequences', I went down to the front and joined the dancers, assuming (correctly) that the show was going to end soon; I wanted a set-list to add to my collection.
Three encores later, the band exited and the security people came to look baleful. I just waited for the roadies, snagged a set list from one of them, and went to join Chris and head for the car. Multiple people asked where Kat was, only to be assured that she was with her mother, and hadn't been fed to the tigers. Honest.
Out in the parking lot, we spent about twenty minutes trying to jump some fellow GBS fans, and then let them use my cell phone to call home. This civic duty completed, we turned towards home.
More exciting adventures followed, including bad Dr Pepper, the discovery of County Midway, and a midnight dinner at Mickey's Diner, but in the end, we returned to the apartment, parked the car, wandered inside and fell into bed, sweat-soaked hair, shaky legs and all. Exhausted fans sleep really, really well, as a general rule.
Happy GBS fans.
Happy happy.
We left the house shortly before five-thirty, and stopped for dinner at a scary little Mexican place before hopping on the road. Chris had a migraine, and I was in a royal snit over that whole 'train' thing, so we weren't exactly good company at dinner; Mars and Jens were starting to look at us like we'd been body-snatched as we got into the little red rental car and followed them down the freeway towards the zoo.
Dar Williams can heal all ills. We bellowed along to selections from her 'Out There Live' album, and were almost human by the time we reached the zoo. Our tickets were waiting for us at the will-call, and the Kat was absolutely adorable in her over-sized Great Big Sea tour shirt.
Once inside the zoo, we wandered down to the amphitheater near the tiger pit, found our seats, and proceeded to spend the first two acts (The Young Dubliners and Seven Nations) wandering around amusing the toddler. The Kat was remarkably well-behaved, all things considered; her meltdowns were short if frequent, and usually quickly resolved. She liked the tigers, she liked running around, and she liked Bryson, an eighteen month old boy who had also accompanied his parents to the concert.
(She and Bryson liked each other, and liked running around; they did not like being separated before they had lost interest in one another. Much wailing followed any and all attempts.)
Eventually the opening bands finished, and Great Big Sea came on. Ooooooh, yeah.
Chris and I had never seen them playing in an area where they were a big-deal headliner before. It was...new. The energy in the amphitheater was sky-high, and the crowd was on its feet, screaming, for pretty much the entire show. The band wasn't just hot, they were white-hot, pulling out old favorites and new hits and throwing them at us at an incredible speed. Local sound restrictions meant that the show had to end at ten-thirty, and they packed as much as they could into that time.
Kat was finally quiet for the first half of the show, and listened to the music while the rest of us danced. Mars did eventually have to take her outside, but the band was loud enough that she could still hear just fine. (I know. I went out and joined her for a few numbers.)
When they started into 'No Consequences', I went down to the front and joined the dancers, assuming (correctly) that the show was going to end soon; I wanted a set-list to add to my collection.
Three encores later, the band exited and the security people came to look baleful. I just waited for the roadies, snagged a set list from one of them, and went to join Chris and head for the car. Multiple people asked where Kat was, only to be assured that she was with her mother, and hadn't been fed to the tigers. Honest.
Out in the parking lot, we spent about twenty minutes trying to jump some fellow GBS fans, and then let them use my cell phone to call home. This civic duty completed, we turned towards home.
More exciting adventures followed, including bad Dr Pepper, the discovery of County Midway, and a midnight dinner at Mickey's Diner, but in the end, we returned to the apartment, parked the car, wandered inside and fell into bed, sweat-soaked hair, shaky legs and all. Exhausted fans sleep really, really well, as a general rule.
Happy GBS fans.
Happy happy.