Last night I went to the Mogwai show at The Regency Grand Ballroom. Hal (Paige’s b/f) emailed me this weekend, saying he had an extra ticket, so I decided to go for it. It seems he had purchased 2 tickets with the hope that the mere availability of the ticket would lure Paige to a show she wasn’t really interested in. Silly boys.

I was thankful that Hal had seen these guys before, though, and had the foresight to warn me that they were the loudest band he had ever encountered, which spurred me to finally buy some earplugs. Coincidentally, when I arrived to the show, I walked up alongside another AKQAer. Small world. The venue was gorgeous, but it was the first time (outside of Ozzfest) that I had to be patted down for entry. Now that I think about it, I imagine it was because it was all-ages. Anyway, with every swing open of the door, I could hear music blaring out. Even the openers, the Fuck Buttons, were incredibly loud.

We staked out a spot about halfway up, but regardless of where we stood, taller people found their way in front of us, which strangely worked out to be a good thing. We caught the final song of the opener, which was basically a 10-minute pulsating trance number.

I had no expectations for the show, as all I knew of this band was their 2003 album, Happy Songs for Happy People. I just knew there wouldn’t be much in the way of vocals, a new sort of rock concert for me.

Intense is the best way I can describe it. Extended mellow explorations that would suddenly explode in to the loudest, body rattling sensation you could imagine. My water bottle shook so hard that it stung my hand. I picked a “quiet” time to re-adjust my earplugs and was overwhelmed by the volume. It didn’t seem physically impossible to survive this show without the plugs, but I saw several doing so. And that was just the start of it. With the changes in the music, came different light combinations, so a misty dim-lit haze would erupt in to pulsating white lights at full intensity. I tried looking down but it didn’t help. I had to close my eyes, which didn’t help as much as I thought it should have. Anyway, that was the point I became glad to have a tall person ahead. They became my human shield.

But it got hot. Really hot. Who knew I would be weathering so many elements? Not me. Silly me expected a pretty chill instrumental evening. I practiced my Dalai Lama meditations to distract myself from the heat at least. Honestly, thinking back, it doesn’t even feel real. It was like an orchestrated dream.

These 5 guys created this epic sound that created all these moods and movements. I pretty much had my eyes closed the entire show, just moving with the sounds. The light show (aside from the blinding factor) was pretty incredible, a really nice complement to the music. Two-tone direct lights diffused with fog with tiny white lights cutting through at an angle and weaving shapes up & over us. I could understand the large amount of pot I was smelling, though between that & the cigarette smoke outside in line, my cough has started sneaking back.

It was a great show, not only for some incredible music that didn’t need vocals, but also, because it was a new kind of show for me and I appreciated that experience. And Hal was a great concert buddy as well. My favorite moment was probably when they broke in to at least a 5-minute relaxed jam, faded it out like the song was going to end, but then erupted to unbelievable levels, completely loud & distorted. I had to smile. I didn’t sense it coming and neither did anyone else. I did feel bad for the few who had slipped out their plugs while the music was at a more reasonable level. Imagine putting on your headphones, flipping on your ipod and it’s some heavy rock song at full blast times two. It had to hurt. Oh, and there was drama near the end when one man’s “Fuck yeah!!” exploded in to a series of echoer’s & shusher’s. To be honest, it got pretty awkward once it went on more than a few minutes. The band completely ignored it. How embarrassing. Side-effect of an all-ages show. Silly kids.

Anyway, cool night…nice to just sort of daze out and leave time & space for awhile. And thus, I only attempted 4 photos.

Today was rough, because I was really sleep-deprived but it has turned out okay. I found out the guy next to me at work is 40. I had no idea. Another girl who is 22-ish was like “yeah, I was telling my mom about going to your birthday party, and she asked how old you turned. She kind of freaked out when I said ‘40’.” We talked about how the thought of being at a 40-year-old man’s birthday party who wasn’t a relative used to be completely weird. And she noted of this guy, how she never imagined being friends with a 40-year-old man who kept up with project runway. Good times.

Tonight I attempted homemade Mexican for the first time ever. (Tacos/quesadillas don’t count.) It was after 8:30pm by the time I got back from Safeway, so I got a late start. I chopped peppers & onions, minced garlic, and shredded chicken. I was nervous. My stomach was depending on this meal, and it was 9:30pm by the time it was ready to eat. I have to say, upon the first bite of my chicken enchiladas & spanish rice, I was completely amazed. They weren’t just okay, they were fricken great. I love allrecipes.com. I depend on this site. I found two highly rated recipes and then read through a few reviews, because I have realized that’s where the best info lies. So yeah, I took a few suggestions here & there and made alterations. Perfection. I’ve never had either dish with such a spicy kick. It’s the perfect amount of flare. I’m so excited. I’ve been trying to expand my cooking repertoire, and sure, these aren’t hard dishes by any means, but I’m still excited (and full!).

And exhausted.

But, I need to mention that I found out Monday that Tyler had a brush with death over the weekend. He was out camping with some friends, got stung by a bee, and later, noticed some tightness in his chest, before completely breaking out in hives. Finally, they sought out a park ranger, where he collapsed. They had him in the ambulance for an hour. Paramedics said it could have been very bad if they had waited any longer. He had no idea he had an allergy and initially thought the tightness of breathing was from another ailment he suffers from. How scary. Just thankful he’s okay and was with people smart enough to get him help.

PS I spent a bit of my Saturday developing a new website on a complete whim. Bought the domain and launched it 3 hours later. I think I felt as if I hadn’t done anything creepy in a really long time, so this more than compensated.