I was browsing around the internet about a week before I bought this book (May 18) and I was intrigued by the idea of a reworking of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland that claimed that the classic was actually a book full of lies and misrepresentations.
Well in the grand scheme of things, it always works out that I miss the opening band thanks to the lovely merchandise lines. I would like to thank the rude people in that line who decided to push their way to the front and jab myself and my boyfriend in the backs with their bony little elbows and bodies. I would also like to send my concerns out to the family to my left who had two of their young children in the line who were fans trying to get some merch for themselves. I apologize for the same rude people behind us for pushing you as well. So we got down to the floor right at the end of The Bled’s set, but all we could hear was noise on the walk down the stairs, so I cannot comment more on the set. Suprisingly we were able to get pretty close to the front of the crowd roughly about 7ft away from the bar and by the end of the night less than 5ft.
Well to start off we arrived about halfway through Silversun Pickups‘ set, but we did get to hear their current/big single, Lazy Eye. Some of the banter from the lead singer, Brian to the crowd was at times what could be considered crude, it was funny nonetheless. “There are lots of girls here… I am buying a condo! (at least that is what I heard)… This *points to crowd of girls* is better than any masturbatory fantasy you have ever had”. While they were performing though, Tim Nordwind from Ok Go was doing a striptease backstage that was being broadcast to the crowd on the screen – we loved the gold underpants, they were shiny!
Well I had meant to post this much sooner, but real life gets in the way of online obligations. Please be warned that some of these reviews are long-winded while others are short and to the point.
The show last night was awesome, and that is through the fact that it was -40C outside with the wind-chill and a good foot of snow on the ground. The show was supposed to start up around 9PM as I was told by one of the bartenders and event organizers, but due to the snow storms in British Columbia and the bad weather, Jakalope was delayed. Some people were even saying that the show might be cancelled, we true fans stuck it out and waited until nearly 11PM! Katie B announced part way through the show that they had left Vancouver (where they are based) Monday at 1PM and it took them over 30hrs to get to Edmonton.
Let me just say first off, wow that is a lot of bands! Now getting to the venue was fun, at least the weather was nice enough to not have to wear a parka and long johns and big winter boots. Upon entering the venue, I was frisked mildly by a lovely female security guard who then asked to see in my purse (see the super purse from OokFest 2006 entry). I then picked up my floor level wristband (it was blue) and then made my way in and tried to look for my friend from work. We had been able to pick up tickets for her and her friend that day when ticketmaster released more tickets to the public.
So I got in and then decided to make my way to the merchandise table as per the notice in my email from last week. I spent 20+ minutes in the line and made it known that I was getting my merchandise and then getting out, and I was even nice enough to help a guy get to the front of the line (he didn”t want to push and be mean to get to the front of the line, so I told him to follow me and I even placed him in my spot after I got my merchandise).
Last night… okay Friday night I went to the Capital Ex grounds right after work and waited there for my mom, step-father, step-brother and his girlfriend to show up to meet me. We took in the Jakalope concert and my parents ran off not even halfway through along with my step-brother’s girlfriend. Later on she came back only to have my step-brother go with her leaving me alone to enjoy and appreciate the music myself. Which is exactly what I did 
I took lots of pictures of Katie B. and Dave and I was much closer this go around so the pictures should be of better quality. The set list was the same as their Calgary show and Dave was truly more awesome live than the studio version of Bad Dream *huge thumbs up*
Anthem 2
Instigator
Creeper
Go Away
Digging Deep
Screecher
Pretty Life
Throw It Away
Star 24
Get It Back
Feel It
Upside Down
Code 4
Tell Me Why
Don’t Cry
Bad Dream
Today I got up early (for a Saturday) and rode the bus for over an hour to get to the Sobey’s on the South side of the city to do a meet and greet with Dave and Katie. I got there just in time before they were shutting down to get an autograph from Katie B. herself and to chat a little bit with her. 
She really is just a sweetheart and so nice to all her fans. There was a woman in front of me from a dental office beside the Sobey’s who had no clue who they were but go their autograph anyways and Katie told her what their group name was and where they were based, etc. It was really sweet I have a full roll of just Jakalope on my ghetto cam #2 that will be processed this week and then posted.
To Sai: Katie is wearing the SONIC 102.9 Intern Army uniform. Dave told her to put it on and so she had to jump into it to get it on right
Edit August 07.2006: Ghetto camera #2 to the rescue!
Last night I went to K-days The Ex Capital Ex more specifically to Ed Fest the outdoor concert venue they were putting on this year. Now I left early from work to get there with enough time to get a good seat, and well I did I was sitting on the sound tech stage for the entire thing as well as for most of the Three Days Grace performance. Last night’’s crowd was the largest for the venue to date, even beating Our Lady Peace! Anyways, Tupelo Honey (Local Edmontonian band) was the first opener and they did not bad considering the humid and hot weather, following them was a group from York, Ontario called Oliver Black. They were not bad, but I would prolly not buy their album just from their live performance, a lot of it was just too much and it would have been better if the lead singer had gone less crazy and stopped screaming her lungs out off key.
Finally, at around 9:30 PM Three Days Grace came out! Adam looked really good, he was wearing a nice black shirt with a white silky tie and long black shorts. Think Anthony Kiedis from RHCP, but hotter and younger They started off with Just Like You and the crowd was into it immediately. Some of the other tracks they performed were Scared, Animal I Have Become, Riot (which I laughed when I saw security running around and hoping that we were not going to start one), Get Out Alive, Pain, Never Too Late and one other that I cannot remember for the life of me. Adam was awesome at keeping the crowd into the music and he got everyone to jump and throw up their hands for all of Animal I Have Become and to sing along to Riot. The light show was really well put together and the sound quality was great so kudos to the techs Finally at around 10:40 they ended with a long intro into I Hate Everything About You and the crowd sang/screamed along and let the groove take them. I picked up a tshirt at the merch station before the first group came on, so I could guarantee sizes. I have taken pictures, but the film has yet to be developed, so I will post them when I get the roll back 
Edit July 30.2006: I present my ghetto camera pictures of the performance. Click on the thumbnails for a bigger image.
Just first off let me say, wow. I am still processing what I saw, so allow me a moment to collect my thoughts. The lineup for this concert was crazy it went from the venue up two sets of stairs, outside onto the street, down the street, into the parking lot of the nearby Mariott hotel and around in the lot itself. Doors opened at 8PM and we were in by 8:30PM. The opening band was The Plain White T’s and I highly recommend them, they were pretty damn good and I have them on my list of albums to go out and purchase. Excellent harmonies and lovely lyrics.
Finally A.F.I. came on the stage at around 10:30PM or so and the stage show was amazing. The lights show was well set up and the matching white outfits for all of the guys were spectacular. Davey was on his mark tonight, his voice was hitting all the notes and all the grrs 
Hunter was running around the stage, jumping off Adam’s drum platform and kicking into the air. Adam was just sitting and keeping the time for the guys. Jade was just hillarious some times, just seeing him gyrate his hips a bit and grind into his guitar was gold. The crowd was feeling the guys tonight, and Davey even ventured out into the crowd letting them hold him up as he sang, and then letting him roll off and get back on stage. My camera that I borrowed is an old ghetto camera, so the picture quality will be horrible. Once I get them developed I will post them here in this entry, so stay tuned.
Edit July 30.2006: I present my ghetto camera pictures of the performance. Click on the thumbnails for a bigger image.
