Matchbox Twenty Recap
1 Mar
I’m sure all three of my loyal readers are just itching to hear how the night out with P went. So I’ll put an end to your curiosity.
After the elevator adventure, the day took a less dramatic turn. My day at work was an average one, nothing too crazy happening, just a few meetings and the usual items to tend to. During the morning, I e-mailed P asking her where she would like to meet after work. She replied that where I had suggested was fine. Her e-mail went on to say that a local radio station was giving away front row tickets that afternoon and I should call for a chance to win. She even provided the radio station’s telephone number. This is what I like to call, Impatient P. I let her know I’d likely be in a meeting at the time the radio station would be seeking callers and we left it at that.
As the afternoon drew on, I felt less and less like going to the show. Maybe it was the PMS taking over my mood or maybe it was the fact that I don’t even like Matchbox Twenty. I knew P was excited about going and S wasn’t feeling that great herself, so I wouldn’t ask her to go in my place. I sucked it up and proceeded to meet P so we could get an early start to our evening.
“Guess what I blew this afternoon?!” P eagerly greeted me when we met after work. “Uh,” I began, “Your nose?” She went on to explain to me that she had gotten through to the radio station and was one question away from winning front row tickets. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t know what Rob Thomas’ full name was. I was relieved to hear she hadn’t won those tickets. At least with our initial tickets, I could sit in my seat and keep a low profile. But front row? I’d be surrounded by people who were way into the show, unlike me.
We met up with S and then cabbed it home together. We ended up in our local watering hole where we ordered some pub grub. I was a bit disappointed with my nachos and S was very disappointed with her risotto, so it wasn’t the greatest dining experience we’ve had there. P was in a hurry, she wanted to get over to the Air Canada Centre to catch the first opening act (I band I’d never even heard of.) I was hoping for a little more time but as S reminded me, “P likes to catch the entire show, from the opening act to the end.” We settled our dinner bill and P and I were off to the ACC.
Thankfully, we missed the first band (I think they were called New Math.) We got ourselves some beverages and made our way to our seats. We were to the right of the stage, about 35 rows up and were treated to a clear view of the entire stage. I was seated next to an older woman who was there with either her boyfriend or husband. P was next to a young blonde girl, who was very giddy and who looked like she’d had one too many collagen injections in her lips. P couldn’t resist the urge to buy a t-shirt so off she went. Within minutes of her getting up, the next opening act took to the stage; Alanis Morrissette. I hadn’t realized Alanis had been relegated to opening act status – especially for a band like Matchbox Twenty. Her set was really good; she played mostly stuff from Jagged Little Pill and was on for an hour. She was really energetic; I thought she did a great job of warming the crowd up.
During the break, we refreshed our drinks and emptied our bladders. On our way back to our seats, I noticed an empty bottle of Jack Daniels under the seats the blonde girl and her boyfriend occupied. That explains the big cups of Coke they were drinking, I thought. The couple returned shortly after, each of them carrying two of the largest size beers available for purchase. They were well on their way to being drunk and those beers would surely get them there.
Matchbox Twenty soon took to the stage. They were off to an energetic start and we were all our feet for the first few songs. They then slowed things down, so we sat down. About seven songs in, I was ready to leave. Dinner wasn’t sitting so well and I’d seen enough of the show. But P was having a blast, I couldn’t ask her to leave or to stay by herself.
As the set on stage progressed, the girl and her boyfriend got drunker. The girl was up on her feet dancing for every song; with her lid-less beer cup in her hand. With each frantic motion of her arms, the beer in the cup swirled wildly around. “That’s going to land on me, I can see it already,” P said to me. “Behave,” I replied, “you wouldn’t want to miss the rest of the show because of her.” Sure enough, the girl did end up spilling beer on P. She apologized profusely in her drunken state and said, “you should see my jeans, I’m all wet!” This piece of information didn’t make P any less mad. Thankfully, the girl and her boyfriend left shortly thereafter to go sit somewhere further down.
The show went on for a while longer and there was a quick encore. To my surprise, we were able to find a cab right away so we were home relatively quickly. “What should we go see next?!” P asked me while sipping some tea at our place. “I don’t know, who’s coming in the next little while?” She replied she didn’t know, but there was that One Night Live show taking place where Sarah McLachlan, Josh Groban and some others would be performing. I stayed quiet, hoping my lack of a response would be a cue to P that I had no interest in going to that either. Not long after finishing her tea, she collected her pup and said her good-night.
S and I retreated to bed where we quickly passed out. I awoke a few hours later when dinner insisted on making a special repeat appearance. A fitting end to a very long and hectic day, I thought.
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Alanis Morrissette an opening act? That surprised me too.
But I guess she hasn’t had a hit of any kind in a decade or so?
Too bad really, I like her.