First time in T.O.

When we arrived at Pearson airport, we were met by Rob's best friend Rod who greeted me with a big hug and 2 dozen roses. : )

The Toronto welcome wagon brought us a half hour of shoveling snow out of Rob's parent's driveway before we could park our loaner sports car from Rod. Even though we were both exhausted from being up at 4 am to catch our flight, I was the only one who napped in the afternoon, after trying to convince Rob to postpone my surprise dinner for that evening until around 8:30 (which would have been dinner time in Calgary).

Rob maintained this was not an option, so around 7 we headed out the door for a laborious one hour drive to downtown Toronto, which found Rob somewhat stressed about the traffic and parking, and me agitated by the whole joyride. Rob had to keep me focussed by providing snippets of information regarding my surprise dinner without really giving anything away. "The surprise will be worth it," he said, his knuckles white against the steering wheel.

After walking several frigid blocks, we approached what I didn't know then was the Air Canada center. Clusters of women in cowboy boots surrounded us as we all headed indoors. By this time I knew I wasn't being treated to dinner, but still didn't know the full nature of what Rob had in store for me--until he placed the Rascal Flatts' concert tickets in my hand!

The stage was lit up from below, with a long panel screen running the length behind it, and huge picture cubes hung high over the floor seating area. A smaller circle stage was set up near the back of the floor seating, and a bridge was suspended up in the air which would later lower to temporarily join the two stages together while band members sang as they "crossed over".

Video played behind the band during the show, and the stage itself gyrated with color from song to song. Close to two hours of music rang out, with the pinnacle for me being, "He ain't the leaving kind", a song off their last album I kept wishing was performed during the previous album tour. As I stumbled through slush and snow, tired and grinning back to the car, I told Rob the rest of the trip could be absolute crap and it wouldn't matter because the concert was such a fabulous surprise.

Luckily the rest of the trip was not crap, although Rob did leave sick by the end with a cold bordering on bronchitis. The wedding itself was lovely (the reason for the trip to begin with), Rob's friends were wonderful, and our visit to the CN tower and the Hockey Hall of Fame proved entertaining--I was able to touch the original "lucky loonie" embedded at center ice during the 2002 Winter Olympic Ice Hockey games, and I also managed two goals out of five in the interactive shoot out, beating the young punks who cut in line ahead of us with a score of nil each who then complained about the "accuracy" of the game.

Did you know the CN tower gets struck by lightening an average of 75 times a year?


There were only a few stops we didn't make due to weather conditions and such, but I'm looking forward to covering more of T.O. when we head there for what will be part two of our wedding. :D

Van the Man comes through!

For me, anyway.

I have sympathy for the Brown Eyed Girl crowd (who may not be true Van Morrison fans), as the concert certainly wasn't geared towards you. What I mean by this is, I love Van Morrison's voice, not simply the odd hit single. : ) My concern prior to the concert was his voice might have significantly deteriorated with age, or might substantially differ from recorded. My fear was unnecessary; his voice rang true and clear for me. There were moments I closed my eyes and just listened--that's how much I love Van Morrison.
I was thrilled to simply hear the voice I fell in love with.

Some of my friends were quite disappointed with the concert (even angry), and I can't help but wonder how much of a fan they were to begin with (no criticism). What I heard from Van Morrison was exactly what I wanted and expected to hear. I could have cared less if Brown Eyed Girl was played, and yet found myself liking it for probably the first time when it was performed. Going into the concert, I knew Van wouldn't be a showman and there wouldn't be any bells or whistles (or even interaction with the audience, as a previous review indicated), so my expectations were in check.

Van Morrison was wonderful. The band was fantastic, and the only thing I would have done differently would be to hold out for better seats (the show actually would have been much better in a smaller venue as it seemed designed for an intimate setting). As for the cost of the tickets, they were expensive, but I believe Jerry Seinfeld tickets cost me more, and he may have performed for the same amount of time or less. It's all relative. A few years back, I was checking Van Morrison concert prices for New York, and they were over $300 a person, so I wasn't surprised the tickets cost as much as they did here.
My money was certainly well spent, and now I can happily scratch seeing Van off my "To Do Before I Die" list. : )

Rascal Flatts' Concert

What a night! What a concert!

I knew from the moment I heard the announcement, I had to see Rascal Flatts live--they did not disappoint! My sweet man came through in ordering the tickets, and we had great seats. Sharing a concert with someone you love is rather special (or maybe it's just because it was with Robert). : )

to the show... it opened with Where you are, and at one point fireworks rained down in front of the band, which was visually stunning. The stage itself was fabulous with a plethora of mini-tv screens adding a spectacular visual element.
Just about all my favorite songs were played; Broken Road was sung to a dome filled with twinkling lights as fans were encouraged to wave anything emitting a glow. Throughout the crowd women wore a range of homemade shirts from, "I humped Gary (the lead singer)", to "I'll be the rascal if you lie flat".

A better time could not have been had.