On With the Show

I've had a few people ask, so I'll tell you all a little bit about our Saturday night. My brother and his wife gave me tickets (for my birthday) to see Counting Crows at Hard Rock Live in Orlando. They're out on tour right now with Augustana and Michael Franti & Spearhead. They're calling this tour the "Traveling Circus and Medicine Show" and that's pretty much what it is! It's a crazy, circus-y show with accordions and marching bass drums and Real Pianos (That alone made my heart pitty-pat. I'm kind of an acoustic, real-instrument gal), but it was crazy good too. Is it okay to admit that I've never been a fan of Counting Crows or anything? I mean, it isn't that I don't like them, it's just that in the 90s, I was into other stuff. That said, I was really bowled over by the quality of musicianship and the camaraderie.
Yep, you heard me.
Camaraderie - as in good fellowship (look it up). The thing I loved most about this show was that the supporting bands and the headlining act all played together. At different times. In each other's sets. Unexpectedly popping in and out of songs and with random instruments.
That was great.
It gives some of the lesser-known guys a chance to be heard. Too often, people show up late to a show in order to skip the openers and catch who they really bought tickets to see. I think that's such a shame. Experience and friends-and-relations-in-bands all tell me that lots of really amazing bands never get that big break, but they're so worth finding and their songs are probably better than the stuff you hear on the radio anyway. Not that I have an opinion. Wink.
So, it was nearly four hours of raucous fun and incredible live music. The close of the show was this huge jam session - an on-the-spot mish-mosh of all the musicians, putting out some great tunes that everybody knows and loves. Three lead singers. Multiple lead guitarists. Zero visible ego. Sure, it's possible somebody up there was a diva, but they sure kept it to themselves, and every one of them looked like they were having such a great time.
Now, that's incredible!

In other on-with-the-show news, today was Emma's first day back to school. Andrew still has another week of summer, which is a little odd, so I sort of feel like we're limping into fall at this point. We got up early, but not early enough. We'd had something of a miscommunication about what time we needed to be out of bed - as in, I might not have actually told Chris when to wake us all up. He gets up early and I. Do. Not.
So, Emma donned her shiny new pink backpack and pink Nikes and her P.E. uniform, since they always have to wear those on Mondays, and Third Grade began.
(sorry this is so dark!)

She has the same teacher Andrew had for Third Grade, so we kind of know what to expect, which is good. For the first time ever, I didn't sob buckets of tears as I pulled out of the school. Maybe there are just too many good things in our lives right now for me to be bothered with my usual sentimentality. Maybe I'm too busy for tears.
Whichever one it is, I'm okay with it. For better or for worse, my wish for 2009 seems to have come true.

Daily Bliss: A phone call from my bestie - 15 minutes of laughing 'till I had tears over the most serious things in life. I know that doesn't sound quite right, but it works for us.