Before I get into too many details, I'd like to wish my readers a belated Merry Humbug and a Happy Hangover Day. I hope your last week has been filled with joy, fellowship, and lots of 'walking through the winter, drink in hand'.
The pillaging of the tree this year wasn't quite the cache as it has been in years past, though all I really asked for was clothes. I did however, brave the lineup at Visions on Boxing Day, and walked out with a 40" Samsung LCD high-definition television. I'll be feeling the pinch of that purchase when my January credit card bill arrives.
It has somewhat been a bit of a yearly tradition here at mcfro.blogspot.com that I take a few minutes on the first day of the new year to reflect what I accomplished this year, and what I would expect in the next 52 weeks to come.
Sifting through this year's posts, I have come to the early conclusion that I really didn't accomplish anything, given the astounding few number of posts there have been. I mean, there were at least three months were I didn't blog at all. Like I have said on here ad nauseum, I have been busy -- I've been lazy too, lethargic, exhausted, and unmotivated. It's all derived from worker burnout, and is a big reason why my New Year's resolution is to find a healthier work/life balance. Money can buy lots of things; but it can't buy sleep.
2007 got off to a very expensive start, as I quickly dropped four digits into a newer, faster, and larger iMac, which has, more or less, become a machine I use for audio production. Since the successful resurrection of my derelict iBook, I spend most of my web-surfing time on it instead of the desktop machine. Sure it's not the fastest, but it's good enough for most mundane tasks, and even runs a number of video games quite nicely. The laptop also keeps me out of the windowless basement, which ensures that I see more sunlight -- indispensable for someone like me who goes through mood wings and bouts of depression.
2007 continued with a string of large purchases, as in April I added a third drumset to my arsenal. Price is relative: though I got a great deal on the kit, I still paid a pretty penny for it. I have subsequently spent small sums over the course of the year for replacement parts and upgrades. The Canwoods have also seen a number of gigs already, so they are paying for themselves -- if they haven't already.
An expensive set of concert tickets allowed me to see the Police in concert in Edmonton. After paying for fuel, meals, accommodations, and toys, the trip escalated well into four digits, but it was worth every penny to see Stewart, Sting, And Summers together for the first time in nearly 25 years.
June also saw the most successful blog post on this site, ever. Skeet from medhatblog.com kindly linked to me from the website. Though it didn't elicit comments as I had hoped, it did generate scores of traffic -- over tenfold what I was accustomed to. It even increased my readership -- albeit temporarily. Had I continued blogging regularly, I may have managed to keep those readers, but they have since gone.
I guess this was where I really got lazy. Now that I was generating a great deal more traffic than I had been, I also felt increasing pressure to be delivering work of exceptional quality in order to maintain that readership. That was, to say the least a little daunting. In one hand, the site was beginning to become what I had wanted it to become (popular!). On the other hand, I didn't have the energy to invest the time and effort required to make this site what it was becoming. So I sat on my haunches and meditated on what I wanted to do with this site. The next thing I knew, nearly four months had passed, with nary a post on this site, and all my readers found other weblogs to be entertained by. Thus, the answer became clear -- I'll just write about my insignificant little life whenever I am inspired, and if readership increases, great. If they do not, that's still great too.
The first entry since my 'hiatus', was a review of Matthew Good's performance at Medicine Hat College this November. The posting also generated a fair amount of interest from readers across Canada, including a few views from Mr. Good himself. He didn't drop a note, but he left a trail of bread crumbs that said he had been here.
Musically, 2007 has been a year of transition and flux. The Savoys took an extra long vacation this year, and by the time the band got back together to prepare for this year, it became clear that the band would be falling apart. We have best intentions to continue in 2008, and we are currently auditioning a replacement for BG, which we should know in a week if he is the right guy -- or not.
Tung 'N' Groove also got out of our heads and onto the stage. It took a great deal of rehearsing, and a large number of hefty equipment purchases, but we are now gigging regularly, and continue to build a dedicated following. We have secured a number of dates for 2008, which will be posted on the band's website when I have both time and motivation.
I hope everyone's 2008 is a prosperous one. See you (hopefully) soon.
Showing posts with label Medicine Hat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicine Hat. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Matthew Good, Medicine Hat College Theatre - November 9, 2007
It's been nearly ten years since the Matthew Good Band achieved national success with mega-hits such as Apparitions and Everything is Automatic. Though his career spans back to 1995, the success of his independently released debut album Last of the Ghetto Astronauts, were limited to fan bases established in large Canadian centers and for the most part, limited to the west coast. In Matthew Good's thirteen-year tenure, while he has enjoyed Gold status of all his releases, only the albums Underdogs and Beautiful Midnight achieved sales of Platinum or greater.
That being said, thirteen years is an awful long time for fans in Medicine Hat to wait to see Matthew Good in concert.
I was one of a very, very fortunate few Medicine Hat natives who had the opportunity to see the original lineup of the Matthew Good Band in a University Pub in Lethbridge. That was January 1998, before the single Apparitions propelled Matt and his bandmates into Canadian super-stardom. Myself and a close friend parked ourselves front and center for the Matthew Good Band; a show which was as breathtaking as it was unforgettable. The rest of the sell-out crowd, oblivious
to the stage, unaware that Canada's next superstar was playing his heart out, felt their time would be better spent guzzling down jugs of cheap beer, while waiting for the main attraction, Wide Mouth Mason.
Even so, since that very day, I have been a rabid fan of Matthew Good's music, and I have waited very patiently for him to come my way. Ten years is a very long time.
But not as long as many of the fans in attendance at the Medicine Hat College Theatre had to wait. Matthew Good finally made his first public appearance in Medicine Hat to a near sell-out crowd last night. Myself and a half-dozen of my closest friends parked ourselves in the "best mix position" which was directly in front of the Front-of-House Engineer. Given the acoustic nature of the College Theatre, and the fact that there are slightly less than five-hundred seats, it can be argued that there isn't such a thing as a bad seat in the College Theater, we were nonetheless very happy with the sightlines.
The excitement should have been evident to Mr. Good, as the crowd was visibly restless and agitated. It took a good four or five songs for the crowd to settle down and fully appreciate the intimate nature of Matt's acoustic performance. There were times that Matt appeared visibly confused, as a number of his fans were trying to speak to him at once.
Matthew Good delivered passionate acoustic renditions of many of his hits throughout his career, though the focus of his performance centered around his latest album, Hospital Music, penned while Matt tried to cope with a bout of mental illness. Absent from his performance, was not one song from Last of the Ghetto Astronauts was performed. Having recorded over one hundred songs in his his career, it is understandable that an artist can't play everything.
In between songs, Matt took time to banter with the crowd, singing impromptu songs, and cracking jokes, while sipping red wine, much to the amusement of those in attendance.
Below is a (nearly) comprehensive list of songs Matt performed last night, though, not in any particular order:
Girl Wedged Under The Front of A Firebird / Champions of Nothing - Opening number
Avalanche
A Long Way Down
Metal Airplanes
99% of Us is Failure
Born Losers
Black Helicopter
I Am Not Safer Than A Bank
I'm A Window
She's In It For The Money
Empty Road
Sort of A Protest Song
Strange Days
Load Me Up
Surburbia
Apparitions
Bright End of Nowhere - Encore
Pledge of Allegiance - Encore
Opening for Matt Good was "NLX" a.k.a. Natasha Alexandra, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, now residing in New York. Adhering to the acoustic nature of the concert, she performed on a digital piano, singing her brand of "songs about vengeance". The most memorable moment of her performance, and most appreciated by the crowd, was her haunting rendition of Depeche Mode's Walking in My Shoes.
On behalf of everyone in the crowd last night, I want to personally thank Matt for finally coming to Medicine Hat. We sincerely hope you come back again on your next tour.
That being said, thirteen years is an awful long time for fans in Medicine Hat to wait to see Matthew Good in concert.
I was one of a very, very fortunate few Medicine Hat natives who had the opportunity to see the original lineup of the Matthew Good Band in a University Pub in Lethbridge. That was January 1998, before the single Apparitions propelled Matt and his bandmates into Canadian super-stardom. Myself and a close friend parked ourselves front and center for the Matthew Good Band; a show which was as breathtaking as it was unforgettable. The rest of the sell-out crowd, oblivious
to the stage, unaware that Canada's next superstar was playing his heart out, felt their time would be better spent guzzling down jugs of cheap beer, while waiting for the main attraction, Wide Mouth Mason.
Even so, since that very day, I have been a rabid fan of Matthew Good's music, and I have waited very patiently for him to come my way. Ten years is a very long time.
But not as long as many of the fans in attendance at the Medicine Hat College Theatre had to wait. Matthew Good finally made his first public appearance in Medicine Hat to a near sell-out crowd last night. Myself and a half-dozen of my closest friends parked ourselves in the "best mix position" which was directly in front of the Front-of-House Engineer. Given the acoustic nature of the College Theatre, and the fact that there are slightly less than five-hundred seats, it can be argued that there isn't such a thing as a bad seat in the College Theater, we were nonetheless very happy with the sightlines.The excitement should have been evident to Mr. Good, as the crowd was visibly restless and agitated. It took a good four or five songs for the crowd to settle down and fully appreciate the intimate nature of Matt's acoustic performance. There were times that Matt appeared visibly confused, as a number of his fans were trying to speak to him at once.
Matthew Good delivered passionate acoustic renditions of many of his hits throughout his career, though the focus of his performance centered around his latest album, Hospital Music, penned while Matt tried to cope with a bout of mental illness. Absent from his performance, was not one song from Last of the Ghetto Astronauts was performed. Having recorded over one hundred songs in his his career, it is understandable that an artist can't play everything.
In between songs, Matt took time to banter with the crowd, singing impromptu songs, and cracking jokes, while sipping red wine, much to the amusement of those in attendance.
Below is a (nearly) comprehensive list of songs Matt performed last night, though, not in any particular order:
Girl Wedged Under The Front of A Firebird / Champions of Nothing - Opening number
Avalanche
A Long Way Down
Metal Airplanes
99% of Us is Failure
Born Losers
Black Helicopter
I Am Not Safer Than A Bank
I'm A Window
She's In It For The Money
Empty Road
Sort of A Protest Song
Strange Days
Load Me Up
Surburbia
Apparitions
Bright End of Nowhere - Encore
Pledge of Allegiance - Encore
Opening for Matt Good was "NLX" a.k.a. Natasha Alexandra, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, now residing in New York. Adhering to the acoustic nature of the concert, she performed on a digital piano, singing her brand of "songs about vengeance". The most memorable moment of her performance, and most appreciated by the crowd, was her haunting rendition of Depeche Mode's Walking in My Shoes.
On behalf of everyone in the crowd last night, I want to personally thank Matt for finally coming to Medicine Hat. We sincerely hope you come back again on your next tour.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
