She Makes the Best of What's Around

So you might have noticed that Q & I attended a concert on Saturday! :D

Q & her nephew Dylan came with me, Bryan & Ganon to Dallas this weekend. Much fun was had (Ganon thinks Dylan is the coolest & Dylan thinks Matthew is the coolest) by everyone. On Saturday, Q & I left a bit early so we could go hit Northpark Mall before the show.

We opted out of the Apple Store. Apple Stores are always crowded, but the one at Northpark Mall in Dallas is beyond crazy. It's always packed to the gills. I don't think I've ever been in it when I didn't physically bump into half a dozen people. I would have liked to play with a new iPod touch but holy cow. 

Instead, we hit the MAC Pro Store instead! (No Macs...just MAC!) I have been on the hunt for a good liquid eyeliner. I wanted something waterproof & extremely long wearing that didn't flake off the way the L'Oreal stuff does. Well, I found it. It's called "Eye Slicks" and it's all the above. I got it in 2 colors: a shiny pewter & a stark carbon black. I wanted to buy another tube of Liquid Lurex lipstick, but they were out. I'm pretty sure our MAC counter in Jonesboro will have it.

Next up, LUSH! I'd been wanting a cleanser, specifically Angels on Bare Skin. The only container they had was a BIG one, but I figured I'd use it. I also got some Tea Tree Oil (the single best toner I have ever used, bar none) and some "Color Supplement". This stuff is GREAT! This is what I've always wanted to make my moisturizer (Imperialis is my fave) tinted. Regular makeup doesn't work very well because of the formulation. This stuff is meant to mix with a moisturizer. I got it in "light yellow" even though my skin leans pink, because they didn't have "light pink". It works just fine; the "light" colors are so light that they're practically interchangable.

We still had a bit of time to kill, so we got frozen yogurt at Red Mango! Q got madagascar vanilla with mochi & dark chocolate, and I got original with bananas & mango. The original yogurt is so amazing, so delicate & tangy & surprising on my tongue, that I just can't bring myself to try any of the actual flavored yogurts. I just get original with whatever fruit tickles my fancy that day. It was GREAT with blueberries in Little Rock; I might get them to smash the blueberries next time. :)

Then we were off to the show! We drank up a lot of water, went to the bathroom (Q went into a gas station that had a skeezy bathroom, then warned me so we went to McDonald's across the street), then cut ourselves off because we knew we'd be standing in the pit from the time we got in until the time the show was over--5:30 to 11pm. And we did just that.

At 5:30pm we went through the gates, then into the reserved seating area, and then into the pit--where they took our tickets in exchange for pit bracelets! O_O!!! They were Warehouse Pit tickets; I wanted to keep those! Several of us Warehouse members began protesting, and the pit security supervisor told us to make sure & come out his exit at the end of the show & he'd give us the tickets back. We didn't get our own tix back, obviously, but whatever. I still have a Warehouse pit stub for my Box of Live Music Events Memorabilia. I need to make a shadow box or something. :)

Then we were in the pit & it was time to stake out a spot. We chose right up front (one row of people between us & the railing!) slightly to the right. We wanted to be able to get good pics of Dave, but I have a mad Jeff Coffin obsession obviously and Q is a true Rashawn Ross fangirl. They stand on stage left...so we stood toward stage left. :) We made friends with the Awesome People™ around us, who included someone I later found on Twitter via the #dmb hashtag! I actually spent most of the concert thinking she was utterly cute & how jealous I was of her haircut. Hi, @julianathursday! By virtue of it being the pit, most of the people around us were hardcore DMB fans. They new all the rare songs, all had opinions on what they wanted to hear, all knew what had been played a lot & what might get played that night. When I revealed my wish for "Rhyme & Reason" they all empathized, but also agreed with me that it was a long shot. :)

I didn't have my DSLR. I've never been in a concert pit before, and by all accounts they can get a little rowdy. That camera is worth a great deal of money & even more in emotional value, but MAN I wanted some pics worthy of our pit tickets! The problem was solved when Walter offered me his point & shoot Sony 10 megapixel camera. I played with it for a while; learned it had quite a nice zoom, tap to focus on your desired area, the ability to play with the exposure within reason...lots of decent features. Best of all it was very pocket-sized, not at all like my Hulking Behemoth (it's named Dozer after the Matrix character). So I took it. Just to test how it would do, I got a picture of Carter's Percussion Command Center™ when we first came in.

It did all right. :)

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears opened. They aren't quite my style, but they didn't bore me. Well, no. I'll say it this way: their MUSIC is my style, but the vocals are not. Mr. Lewis himself is very James Brown-inspired, and I'm not into that vocal style. The rest of the band, however, was great. The horn section was particularly amusing, as they had the tendency to dance like 50s Motown girl backup singers. They were all men; 1 dignified looking older black gentleman & 2 younger, geeky white dudes. Dancing like the Supremes! The drummer kept losing his glasses. 

And then the band came out. They nonchalantly got their instruments ready, took their places...and then MADE MY FREAKING WORLD by opening with The Last Stop. I shrieked. Q screamed (and Q yells, she NEVER screams). The two Awesome Girls beside us screamed, one of them in a rather ear-piercing fashion. ^o^ The guy in the couple behind us roared "LAST STOP!!!" Basically, the whole pit instantly turned from a simmering pool of anticipation to a full-on boil of uncontained elation. Fans of live music will get this; it's the moment you get exactly the surprise at the show that you wanted...and they opened with it!