NIGHTWISH!!!
Finally awake after sleeping for most of yesterday. So, personal recap of our little jaunt.
Flight to Vancouver...
Airlines should make it mandatory that weight be part of the booking process (or at least seat allocation) so that they don't have all three seats in a row be occupied by large people. Morgan's not that big but she's not a twig either, and I'm definitely not small, the guy next to me was a little smaller than me but not by much. Spending 1.5 hours cramped into a row meant for at least half a person less was not comfortable.
Morgan's bondage pants didn't set off the security gate, but my belt did (note to self: make sure Morgan packs her collar in the checked luggage, don't let wear it).
Vancouver:
Learn to understand Asian-accented people so you don't end up agreeing to spend twice as much renting a car than you had planned (although the 2008 Ford Mustang convertible was almost enough to get me over my dislike of Fords).
Driving-wise Vancouver is must easier than Edmonton; the drivers were politer and the streets didn't seem to be designed by monkeys on crack. However, my street sign reading skills need improvement, we saw a lot more of south Vancouver than we had planned.
Spent most of the day driving around, shopping, admiring the pollen-producing greenery (thank you, Reactine). Figured out where the show was and kept a firm eye on the time. Stopped at one HMV store where they were giving away free Iron Maiden 'Somewhere Back In Time' iPod covers with the purchase of the CD. The clerk gave us 2 just because I was wearing my fanclub t-shirt, pity it doesn't fit our nanos.
It's a good thing I was a little paranoid about getting lost 'cause we headed to the Croatian Cultural Centre around five so we could freshen up a bit first. Got there at six only to find out the doors were now open and there was a massive line-up (so much for getting cleaned up). Got several compliments about the t-shirt. I'm betting that the majority of the people there will also be at the Maiden concert on June 3 judging by the number of t-shirts.
Definitely a good city for concerts (judging by this one), the crowd was so much more well-behaved. No pushing and shoving, no foul language, no stupidity.
Concert...
Sonic Syndicate was not bad. A little too 'thrashy' for my taste but listenable. btw, what's with women and metal bands? The only females I've seen in metal bands are either bassists or vocalists, nothing else. Why?
Nightwish is awesome!!! They opened with 'Bye, Bye, Beautiful' (which, the first time I heard it I thought it was Die, Die, Beautiful) and it only got better. I recognized all of the songs not from 'Dark Passion Play' even though I only have the two CDs, the other one is a greatest hits that I've only listened to once). Annette has a wonderful voice (don't really like Tarja's), and both she and Marco sound remarkably like their studio voices, although Marco's voice cracking at the beginning of the show was amusing.
They actually did 'The Poet and the Pendulum', a 14 minute epic, my favorite from DPP; definitely the highlight of the show from my perspective.
All-in-all, a wonderful show even discounting the fact that I swear that every person over 6ft in height was standing in front of me.
Got back to the airport around 11:30 and spent the next six and half hours napping and wandering outside to have a smoke. Nice airport. Uncomfortable benches.
I'm not sure it was worth the $800 or so I spent on this trip, but I enjoyed myself immensely. Yes, I know, lousy recap but I'm not very good at writing coherently.
Flight to Vancouver...
Airlines should make it mandatory that weight be part of the booking process (or at least seat allocation) so that they don't have all three seats in a row be occupied by large people. Morgan's not that big but she's not a twig either, and I'm definitely not small, the guy next to me was a little smaller than me but not by much. Spending 1.5 hours cramped into a row meant for at least half a person less was not comfortable.
Morgan's bondage pants didn't set off the security gate, but my belt did (note to self: make sure Morgan packs her collar in the checked luggage, don't let wear it).
Vancouver:
Learn to understand Asian-accented people so you don't end up agreeing to spend twice as much renting a car than you had planned (although the 2008 Ford Mustang convertible was almost enough to get me over my dislike of Fords).
Driving-wise Vancouver is must easier than Edmonton; the drivers were politer and the streets didn't seem to be designed by monkeys on crack. However, my street sign reading skills need improvement, we saw a lot more of south Vancouver than we had planned.
Spent most of the day driving around, shopping, admiring the pollen-producing greenery (thank you, Reactine). Figured out where the show was and kept a firm eye on the time. Stopped at one HMV store where they were giving away free Iron Maiden 'Somewhere Back In Time' iPod covers with the purchase of the CD. The clerk gave us 2 just because I was wearing my fanclub t-shirt, pity it doesn't fit our nanos.
It's a good thing I was a little paranoid about getting lost 'cause we headed to the Croatian Cultural Centre around five so we could freshen up a bit first. Got there at six only to find out the doors were now open and there was a massive line-up (so much for getting cleaned up). Got several compliments about the t-shirt. I'm betting that the majority of the people there will also be at the Maiden concert on June 3 judging by the number of t-shirts.
Definitely a good city for concerts (judging by this one), the crowd was so much more well-behaved. No pushing and shoving, no foul language, no stupidity.
Concert...
Sonic Syndicate was not bad. A little too 'thrashy' for my taste but listenable. btw, what's with women and metal bands? The only females I've seen in metal bands are either bassists or vocalists, nothing else. Why?
Nightwish is awesome!!! They opened with 'Bye, Bye, Beautiful' (which, the first time I heard it I thought it was Die, Die, Beautiful) and it only got better. I recognized all of the songs not from 'Dark Passion Play' even though I only have the two CDs, the other one is a greatest hits that I've only listened to once). Annette has a wonderful voice (don't really like Tarja's), and both she and Marco sound remarkably like their studio voices, although Marco's voice cracking at the beginning of the show was amusing.
They actually did 'The Poet and the Pendulum', a 14 minute epic, my favorite from DPP; definitely the highlight of the show from my perspective.
All-in-all, a wonderful show even discounting the fact that I swear that every person over 6ft in height was standing in front of me.
Got back to the airport around 11:30 and spent the next six and half hours napping and wandering outside to have a smoke. Nice airport. Uncomfortable benches.
I'm not sure it was worth the $800 or so I spent on this trip, but I enjoyed myself immensely. Yes, I know, lousy recap but I'm not very good at writing coherently.