Happy Birthday America!
and to me! It's been a great week of celebration for me. On Monday night I saw this band:
along with this band:
and then I did it all again on Tuesday night!
That's Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, in case you didn't recognize them. It was so much fun! Monday night was the first time the two bands had performed together. It seems like a little bit of an odd match, but I think it works pretty well. Pearl Jam opened with a 90 minute set - heavy on the new stuff, but with a good mix of the old too. The crowd was really into it, singing along gustily. Then Tom Petty came on and sang for about 2 hours, mostly his many hit songs. As one reviewer wrote in the local paper, if you own a radio, you know Tom Petty's music. I had never been to back to back concerts of the same acts before, so I was really interested in seeing what that was like. Pearl Jam is one of my top five favorite bands and I know they mix up their setlist a lot, so I decided to just go for it.
Tuesday I was dead tired all day. Although the PJ fans were disappointed with a 90 minute set, I still think that's pretty close to a full concert, so it was like seeing 2 full concerts in one night and I was pretty spent. Plus I had worn cheap shoes that didn't have enough support so my feet were killing me and my legs and back hurt. I thought I made a terrible decision and wished I was just staying home on Tuesday night.
I'm so glad I didn't! Once the music started I was totally into it and I wasn't tired at all. I wore good, supportive sandals so I didn't have any breaking down old body problems either. In my opinion, the second night was even better than the first. It seemed like both bands had kind of worked things out and were in more of a groove. The first night, both bands had quite a few breaks in between songs where the band was consulting with each other, which sort of slowed things down. Both bands were more clicking and there weren't many breaks. The Pearl Jam set was fast and furious and energetic. I think the crowd was even more into it on the second night. Although my friend Michael thought it was a Tom Petty crowd, I thought both nights it was a Pearl Jam crowd. Things ran like clockwork. Both nights, PJ took the stage at exactly 7:30 (which I appreciated after having waited more than an hour for Bruce Springsteen a couple of weeks ago). They played almost exactly 90 minutes both time and Tom Petty took the stage almost exactly at 9:45 both nights. This rock n roll thing may look chaotic, but a lot of planning goes into it. Not too much, though. PJ's second set differed by about 1/3. And not one thing he said between songs was the same on both nights - I was so glad it wasn't all canned patter! TP's set was mostly the same, but he did vary a few songs here and there. On both nights he brought Eddie Vedder out for the last song, "American Girl", which was quite enjoyable both nights. On the second night he brought Ed out for another song too, but since Ed's mike didn't work, it wasn't quite as enjoyable. It was a couple of great concerts by two bands I really like and I would have gone a third night if there had been one!
I also wanted to share a couple of birthday presents I got from my lovely and talented friends. My friend Florence made me this gorgeous bracelet:
In my favorite color, purple! And very appropriate for Project Spectrum July!!
Kerry also made me this loveliness:
She spun it up herself, just for me! It's 100% silk, my favorite fiber. Isn't it a lovely color and so silky shiney? I've gotta come up with the perfect pattern to complement it.
Kerry took me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday and then we had coffee and knitted a bit. I am almost done with the leg of my blue sock:
It's the Conwy pattern from Knitting on the Road. I love the pattern and I love working with the Koigu!
To kick off the new Project Spectrum month, I also knit up a purple mitred square:
I'll be spending the holiday with my family, so I probably won't be posting again for a while. Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends and Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!
along with this band:
and then I did it all again on Tuesday night!
That's Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, in case you didn't recognize them. It was so much fun! Monday night was the first time the two bands had performed together. It seems like a little bit of an odd match, but I think it works pretty well. Pearl Jam opened with a 90 minute set - heavy on the new stuff, but with a good mix of the old too. The crowd was really into it, singing along gustily. Then Tom Petty came on and sang for about 2 hours, mostly his many hit songs. As one reviewer wrote in the local paper, if you own a radio, you know Tom Petty's music. I had never been to back to back concerts of the same acts before, so I was really interested in seeing what that was like. Pearl Jam is one of my top five favorite bands and I know they mix up their setlist a lot, so I decided to just go for it.
Tuesday I was dead tired all day. Although the PJ fans were disappointed with a 90 minute set, I still think that's pretty close to a full concert, so it was like seeing 2 full concerts in one night and I was pretty spent. Plus I had worn cheap shoes that didn't have enough support so my feet were killing me and my legs and back hurt. I thought I made a terrible decision and wished I was just staying home on Tuesday night.
I'm so glad I didn't! Once the music started I was totally into it and I wasn't tired at all. I wore good, supportive sandals so I didn't have any breaking down old body problems either. In my opinion, the second night was even better than the first. It seemed like both bands had kind of worked things out and were in more of a groove. The first night, both bands had quite a few breaks in between songs where the band was consulting with each other, which sort of slowed things down. Both bands were more clicking and there weren't many breaks. The Pearl Jam set was fast and furious and energetic. I think the crowd was even more into it on the second night. Although my friend Michael thought it was a Tom Petty crowd, I thought both nights it was a Pearl Jam crowd. Things ran like clockwork. Both nights, PJ took the stage at exactly 7:30 (which I appreciated after having waited more than an hour for Bruce Springsteen a couple of weeks ago). They played almost exactly 90 minutes both time and Tom Petty took the stage almost exactly at 9:45 both nights. This rock n roll thing may look chaotic, but a lot of planning goes into it. Not too much, though. PJ's second set differed by about 1/3. And not one thing he said between songs was the same on both nights - I was so glad it wasn't all canned patter! TP's set was mostly the same, but he did vary a few songs here and there. On both nights he brought Eddie Vedder out for the last song, "American Girl", which was quite enjoyable both nights. On the second night he brought Ed out for another song too, but since Ed's mike didn't work, it wasn't quite as enjoyable. It was a couple of great concerts by two bands I really like and I would have gone a third night if there had been one!
I also wanted to share a couple of birthday presents I got from my lovely and talented friends. My friend Florence made me this gorgeous bracelet:
In my favorite color, purple! And very appropriate for Project Spectrum July!!
Kerry also made me this loveliness:
She spun it up herself, just for me! It's 100% silk, my favorite fiber. Isn't it a lovely color and so silky shiney? I've gotta come up with the perfect pattern to complement it.
Kerry took me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday and then we had coffee and knitted a bit. I am almost done with the leg of my blue sock:
It's the Conwy pattern from Knitting on the Road. I love the pattern and I love working with the Koigu!
To kick off the new Project Spectrum month, I also knit up a purple mitred square:
I'll be spending the holiday with my family, so I probably won't be posting again for a while. Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends and Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!
rdladd@arnan.com
