tonight we went to see star wars in concert, featuring a live symphony orchestra and chorus playing the music from all six films along with specially edited footage on a giant led screen. the orchestra was awesome and hearing the familiar music played live just brought the scenes to life! anthony daniels (c3po) appeared in person and narrated throughout the night. there were also some displays out on the concourse...

i'm a huge fan of Rush drummer Neil Peart who has just recorded his own version of The Hockey Theme on TSN. check out the video below, which is also avialable on iTunes on january 19. his custom drum kit used to record "canada's second national anthem" will be donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

sunday night was my friend jo's cd release party, held at blackberry bistro in steveston. i had an assortment of beef jerky behind me, but managed to resist the temptation and concentrate on the songs. i did, however, enjoy my hainanese chicken rice dinner and strawberry slush bubble tea.

the american idols live tour came through town last night, and i was able to catch the show. it was great! band was hot, great variety of songs and performances, and each of the idols did their own thing with lots of energy. i think this was only their third concert in a long list of dates over the summer.

the highlight for me was probably adam's set, particularly his rendition of "mad world". it seemed like most of the teens and moms who were there came out to see adam, cuz the screaming was definitely louder whenever he took the stage or showed up the big screens (see the pic of the security guy in front of me who plugged his ears during adam's set!).

this was the set list from the show:

FIRST ACT

Michael Sarver
I Just Want a Girl, Gavin DeGraw
Closer, Ne-Yo

Megan Joy
Put Your Records On, Corrine Bailey Rae
Tears Dry on Their Own, Amy Winehouse

Scott MacIntyre
Bend & Break, Keane
A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton

Lil Rounds
Be Without You/Just Fine, Mary J. Blige
No One, Alicia Keys
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), Beyoncé

Anoop Desai
Always On My Mind, Willie Nelson/Elvis Presley
Mad, Ne-Yo
My Prerogative, Bobby Brown

Matt Giraud
Hard to Handle, Otis Redding/Black Crowes
Georgia on My Mind, Ray Charles/Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell
You Found Me, The Fray

Production Number
Megan & Lil: Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You, Four Seasons/Andy Williams
Scott & Matt: Tell Her About It, Billy Joel
Michael: Suspicious Minds, Elvis Presley
Anoop, Matt, Scott, Michael, Lil, Megan: Beggin’, Four Seasons/Madcon

SECOND ACT

Allison Iraheta
So What, Pink
Cry Baby, Garnet Mimms/Janis Joplin
Barracuda, Heart

Danny Gokey
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing), Michael Jackson
Maria Maria, Santana
What Hurts the Most, Rascal Flatts
My Wish, Rascal Flatts

Adam Lambert
Whole Lotta Love, Led Zeppelin
Starlight, Muse
Mad World, Tears for Fears/Gary Jules
Slow Ride, Foghat (with Allison Iraheta)
Life on Mars/Fame/Let’s Dance, David Bowie

Kris Allen
Heartless, Kanye West/The Fray
No Boundaries
Ain’t No Sunshine, Bill Withers
Bright Lights, Matchbox 20
Hey Jude, The Beatles (with several other Idols)

Group Idol Finale
Entire Group: Don’t Stop Believing, Journey (with a chorus of Steam’s Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye)

we were row 8 for the chris tomlin "hello love" tour in kent, wa this past sunday, featuring kristy nockels on bgv and isaiah houghton and new breed for the opening act. an incredible time of worship as usual with chris tomlin.

some of my first D40 shots, too, hee hee! i must have taken a million, but only a few turned out. how do you use this thing?!

catch the big game? i was out of breath just watching harrison's interception return, crazy! and how about that incredible national anthem? i think i'm gonna ask jennifer hudson to sing at my birthday party. great half-time show, too! man, the NFL sure knows how to put on an entertaining production.

here's some of the super bowl ads from spike...

so the madonna concert finally arrived into town last thursday, and it was insane! i heard on the radio it was sold out with 65,000 people in bc place. so that meant we spent close to an hour looking for parking and trying to get inside. the show itself was quite a production, with a huge stage and 2 hours of ms. ciccone non-stop dancing and doing aerobics on stage. acoustics were terrible, but we expected that with the venue. the girls sitting beside us were dancing so hard i thought they were going to fall over a few times!

this was our view onto the middle section of the floor, where we spotted multiple porta-potties next to the speaker and light towers. guess the techs didn't want to fight the line-ups to use the building washrooms with the huge crowd!

best song of the night? for me, probably "like a prayer" which included bible verses moving across the giant screens. interesting...

Rush was back in town last nite, and i took sheldon to see the concert at the garage. this was the snakes & arrows tour, and as always, neil peart's drum solo was worth the admission price alone! the master musicians are starting to show their age, but still know how to put on a rock concert. we changed seats at the intermission cuz i could barely see over the 6' something guy in front of me, and in our new location i almost got knocked over during one song (i think it was 'red barchetta'?) by the middle-aged guy on my left cuz he was playing air guitar and jumping around! funny thing too, i had the munchies about half way through the show. musta been something in the air... more pics follow.

last night we were invited by wendy & byron to see the second show of bon jovi's lost highway tour.. [thx guys!]. we were told it was going to be a 3 hour show! but we had to leave by 10pm to relieve a-ma who was kindly boo-sitting (again).

but it wasn't before we heard pretty much the whole new album (of which i only sorta recognized the "you want to make a memory" song), and then the big 80s hits, which was awesome! 15,000 people singing "ohhhh oh, livin on a prayer..."!

ah, the 80's. good times, good times.

the latest addition to my drum kit is a 14" sabian evolution mini chinese (no, i'm not trying to be racist. that's the type of cymbal it is). the wuhan trash (also the name of a cymbal, and not some kind of mainland slang) i have been using for a few years now always seems to scare people when hit. i think it's because it's just a heavier, louder sound.

anyway, this mini chinese fits in nicely with the rest of the zildjian remixes i'm using, and with the promark rattler chain it gives a nice effect that's not too overpowering. that and i don't have to worry about this one falling over and off the boom during a song as much! yes, that's happened twice now. very embarrasing.

you can actually listen to a sound sample of the new cymbal on sabian's website. first, close (at the bottom right of) the initial "Sound Check Help" window, and then just hover over the HHX option until you see "CHINA" highlighted along the top and you should see EVOLUTION MINI-CHINESE. click on the 14 and a new window should pop up that'll let you "hit" the cymbal with your mouse.