Post by HereIsGone on Jul 26, 2010 3:46:04 GMT -5
Sometimes you just got to let it go.
The sole thing I neglected to write in my Darien Lake review was that I was disappointed with the very standard set list. Nicole had told me that it would be something I’d have to get used to with them. The reason why I didn’t mention it in that review was because I thought about it a lot on the way home. And I was no longer disappointed so I didn’t want to write that part in because I wasn’t anymore. A key realization made me change my mind.
It dawned on me when I was thinking about how awesome Switchfoot was. Sure, I knew about how Jon tends to disappearing into the crowd from Esther’s review when they played in the Netherlands but I still found it cool that he did that. I also knew that they played a short set and started with Needle and Haystack Life and I easily predicted that they’d play their two biggest hits towards the end. Hell, I already jotted down Meant to Live on my piece of note paper I kept for their set list before Jon had even finished introducing it. But I still enjoyed it.
Now, I thought to myself, why did I get so happy over Switchfoot and be slightly disappointed with Goo even though they were more or less playing on a level field with set lists covering most bases?
I knew too much about Goo. And it did me in.
When I’d seen Three Days Grace in my first concert, they were heavy on their new record and anything else they played that night was their past singles — quite literally. And yet, I was happy then too. With the Our Lady Peace show, I knew it would be the Spiritual Machines album in the first set and essentially a greatest hits set list for the second half. Didn’t know which ones they would play or in what order. Didn’t look up the prior shows or search YouTube for their performances in general. Came out happy with what they picked.
Had I not known so much about their concert set lists and known what their performances were like from YouTube videos, I probably would have walked out of Darien extremely happy. But I didn’t. I expected things. Small things, but those add up in your head. It was a bad idea and I lost sight of the more important things. Like them being extremely good at what they do.
So, because of that, I simply chalked Darien up as a learning curve with them. I also decided that I wouldn’t take the set list down because there would no point. I’d remember if they played anything different and I could have even recorded it too if it was an interesting substitution. Not that I would assume it would happen. I made sure I didn’t. It would be a pleasant surprise and nothing more.
And you know what? Rolling with it worked. They played exactly the same set as Darien but nixed All Eyes on Me. And I didn’t fucking care (though I suspect it was because of tech problems as I noticed John doing those hand gestures telling the crew that something wasn’t coming in right whereas it didn’t happen at Darien...but that’s besides the point). Hell, I had fun anticipating every telegraphed song choice. Even yelled out, ‘Here Is Gone!’ just before John played any the beginning notes (sure enough, he played Here Is Gone better here than at Darien. Oh well, recorders can’t be choosers). Oddly enough, I’m getting good at associating songs with guitars other than the ones that use acoustics (for obvious reasons, of course).
Backpedalling a bit, getting to the venue was fine albeit a little congestion as I got closer to Toronto. LIB Name played early on and Naked played right before I veered off the highway so me and my brother could pick up something to eat midway through the trip (yep, took him with me on my other ticket) so that got me all excited again though I knew I wouldn’t hear the latter.
After killing an hour by aimlessly walking around Ontario Place, we got in line and at 7:00, they let us in. First order of business for me in there was hitting up the merch booth for what I didn’t get to pick up at Buffalo. Second was seating myself. And third was tweeting the following,
‘Seated at show and THEY DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING EP! $%#@#$#@@@!!!!’
And this,
‘Either that or the merch lady is fucking retarded which is highly likely...’
Plus this,
‘And to add insult to injury they don't have any of the shirts in my size. Grr.... Goo, please cheer me up.
’
Soooo...needless to say, the first order of business was a bust, though I did think ‘screw it!’ later on and got a shirt after 54-40’s set and it was the black one with the ruby-red cursive lettering.
That stuff aside, the Molson Amphitheatre had a way nicer set up than Darien with a lower stage. The weather was nice and sunny today without the humidity we had in spades in Buffalo so that was great too.
Once again, The Spill Canvas promptly and unceremoniously walked on stage at 7:30 to begin their set. This time I could hear what the fuck the singer was singing this time around and see their drummer as well. That guy just looked happy to be playing there as he whacked that drum kit silly. Glad I could see that this time and, no, that wasn’t sarcasm either (and yes, I assume that you guys always take anything I write like this is as sarcastic...for my own amusement just so I can write that line). The fact that I could see this dude be all happy as he beat up his drum kit also gave me high hopes for Operation Mike (I’ll explain later).
After they did their set and 54-40’s people set up their stuff, 54-40 came out to play with everyone in the band holding red drink cups as they walked on stage. It was awesome.
Unfortunately, the awesomeness ran out fast because their music ain’t my thing. Sedate stuff for the most part and I think they have an agenda. And yes, I’m woefully, and shamelessly, uninformed about them but I gave them a chance so that’s all that counts in my books. At least I wasn’t the only one who didn’t care for them, not by a long shot. It was rather amusing to hear and see the scattered fans among my general area being all enthusiastic about them though. The guy behind me was a definite fan — my metaphorically bleeding ears told me so. An older man in the row in front of me towards the right was definitely a fan as well with his devil horns and general flailing and stuff. I know, I know, I’m being cruel but...they just stuck out like sore thumbs. This was made more obvious by 54-40’s attempts to get people to sing along. They were painful and awkward when those said scattered fans were the only ones for the most part to really get into it. Just like during The Spill Canvas’s set, we were seated for theirs too and they wanted us to get up for an ‘experiment’ where the singer asked, ‘How many people went to church today? How many are in choir? Well, this (the Molson Amphitheatre) is the church and you are the choir,’ and he got some to sing stuff back at him but as soon as that song was done most sat back down except for the die-hards.
On a closing note about them, I get why they stuck them there instead of Switchfoot but seriously, and I will own up to what’s probably bias, it just feels kind of patronizing to merely stick A Canadian band in there just because this happens to be the only Canadian venue they’re playing this summer. You’d think they’d pick one that makes more sense musically with the Dolls and The Spill Canvas. I mean, Switchfoot worked in Darien. I can see the logic. This...not so much. Okay, I’ll stop my ranting there.
As for the Dolls, they did indeed cheer me up. And it was awesome that the crowd was very into them. I'd say more so than Darien, but that could just be the view I had this time around so I won't say that.
Still not very chatty but I smirked when Robby made a reference to the fact that they tend to say, ahem, Toronto slightly differently when he said something I can’t quite remember and added, ‘...or however we end up pronouncing it.’ On that note, I waved to Robby early on during one of John’s songs and he gave me a purposely funny face so that’s always amusing. I was also glad to see Mike this time around and Operation Mike, which was to snap of few photos of him, was a huge success right off the bat — the first picture from Toronto was of him and it was a neat little action shot.
Now I realize that I didn’t get quite into detail in my Darien review about the songs themselves. This was mainly because I frittered away time by fiddling with the camera and jotting down the set list. Without doing the latter here, it made it easier to notice some things. Although they were still in top form here, I have to say that it was Robby’s night in Toronto. He was on fire, especially during Now I Hear and Tucked Away. I wish I had recorded them instead of leaving space on my memory card just in case they pulled something or started bantering. John had a little more spark in Buffalo overall, I think. Even still, he had a good night here too. I really like the way my videos turned out so he did have his moments here too.
And before I forget, Brad is now Brad and he is now from some small town in Western Canada instead of Paris, France. John assures us that this is no lie.
So yeah, that’s about it for Toronto. Not sad that it’s all done, because honestly, this was just perfect the way it happened for me and, even in spite of what I said, I think I would drive myself mad comparing more than two shows on the same tour leg. I’m more than happy to let someone else get their turn. And God help me if they pick 54-40 on that alleged winter Canadian theatre tour. I will ax-murder the person who hypothetically set that up.
And with that business done, here is the link to my Photobucket Toronto album:
s477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/Emerald-Latias/Goo%20Goo%20Dolls%20Molson%20Amphitheatre%207%2025%2010/
And here are my three videos – Name, As I Am and Notbroken:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkC_Ixf04S8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKIUFn4Vt84
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgsnfACIws
The sole thing I neglected to write in my Darien Lake review was that I was disappointed with the very standard set list. Nicole had told me that it would be something I’d have to get used to with them. The reason why I didn’t mention it in that review was because I thought about it a lot on the way home. And I was no longer disappointed so I didn’t want to write that part in because I wasn’t anymore. A key realization made me change my mind.
It dawned on me when I was thinking about how awesome Switchfoot was. Sure, I knew about how Jon tends to disappearing into the crowd from Esther’s review when they played in the Netherlands but I still found it cool that he did that. I also knew that they played a short set and started with Needle and Haystack Life and I easily predicted that they’d play their two biggest hits towards the end. Hell, I already jotted down Meant to Live on my piece of note paper I kept for their set list before Jon had even finished introducing it. But I still enjoyed it.
Now, I thought to myself, why did I get so happy over Switchfoot and be slightly disappointed with Goo even though they were more or less playing on a level field with set lists covering most bases?
I knew too much about Goo. And it did me in.
When I’d seen Three Days Grace in my first concert, they were heavy on their new record and anything else they played that night was their past singles — quite literally. And yet, I was happy then too. With the Our Lady Peace show, I knew it would be the Spiritual Machines album in the first set and essentially a greatest hits set list for the second half. Didn’t know which ones they would play or in what order. Didn’t look up the prior shows or search YouTube for their performances in general. Came out happy with what they picked.
Had I not known so much about their concert set lists and known what their performances were like from YouTube videos, I probably would have walked out of Darien extremely happy. But I didn’t. I expected things. Small things, but those add up in your head. It was a bad idea and I lost sight of the more important things. Like them being extremely good at what they do.
So, because of that, I simply chalked Darien up as a learning curve with them. I also decided that I wouldn’t take the set list down because there would no point. I’d remember if they played anything different and I could have even recorded it too if it was an interesting substitution. Not that I would assume it would happen. I made sure I didn’t. It would be a pleasant surprise and nothing more.
And you know what? Rolling with it worked. They played exactly the same set as Darien but nixed All Eyes on Me. And I didn’t fucking care (though I suspect it was because of tech problems as I noticed John doing those hand gestures telling the crew that something wasn’t coming in right whereas it didn’t happen at Darien...but that’s besides the point). Hell, I had fun anticipating every telegraphed song choice. Even yelled out, ‘Here Is Gone!’ just before John played any the beginning notes (sure enough, he played Here Is Gone better here than at Darien. Oh well, recorders can’t be choosers). Oddly enough, I’m getting good at associating songs with guitars other than the ones that use acoustics (for obvious reasons, of course).
Backpedalling a bit, getting to the venue was fine albeit a little congestion as I got closer to Toronto. LIB Name played early on and Naked played right before I veered off the highway so me and my brother could pick up something to eat midway through the trip (yep, took him with me on my other ticket) so that got me all excited again though I knew I wouldn’t hear the latter.
After killing an hour by aimlessly walking around Ontario Place, we got in line and at 7:00, they let us in. First order of business for me in there was hitting up the merch booth for what I didn’t get to pick up at Buffalo. Second was seating myself. And third was tweeting the following,
‘Seated at show and THEY DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING EP! $%#@#$#@@@!!!!’
And this,
‘Either that or the merch lady is fucking retarded which is highly likely...’
Plus this,
‘And to add insult to injury they don't have any of the shirts in my size. Grr.... Goo, please cheer me up.
’Soooo...needless to say, the first order of business was a bust, though I did think ‘screw it!’ later on and got a shirt after 54-40’s set and it was the black one with the ruby-red cursive lettering.
That stuff aside, the Molson Amphitheatre had a way nicer set up than Darien with a lower stage. The weather was nice and sunny today without the humidity we had in spades in Buffalo so that was great too.
Once again, The Spill Canvas promptly and unceremoniously walked on stage at 7:30 to begin their set. This time I could hear what the fuck the singer was singing this time around and see their drummer as well. That guy just looked happy to be playing there as he whacked that drum kit silly. Glad I could see that this time and, no, that wasn’t sarcasm either (and yes, I assume that you guys always take anything I write like this is as sarcastic...for my own amusement just so I can write that line). The fact that I could see this dude be all happy as he beat up his drum kit also gave me high hopes for Operation Mike (I’ll explain later).
After they did their set and 54-40’s people set up their stuff, 54-40 came out to play with everyone in the band holding red drink cups as they walked on stage. It was awesome.
Unfortunately, the awesomeness ran out fast because their music ain’t my thing. Sedate stuff for the most part and I think they have an agenda. And yes, I’m woefully, and shamelessly, uninformed about them but I gave them a chance so that’s all that counts in my books. At least I wasn’t the only one who didn’t care for them, not by a long shot. It was rather amusing to hear and see the scattered fans among my general area being all enthusiastic about them though. The guy behind me was a definite fan — my metaphorically bleeding ears told me so. An older man in the row in front of me towards the right was definitely a fan as well with his devil horns and general flailing and stuff. I know, I know, I’m being cruel but...they just stuck out like sore thumbs. This was made more obvious by 54-40’s attempts to get people to sing along. They were painful and awkward when those said scattered fans were the only ones for the most part to really get into it. Just like during The Spill Canvas’s set, we were seated for theirs too and they wanted us to get up for an ‘experiment’ where the singer asked, ‘How many people went to church today? How many are in choir? Well, this (the Molson Amphitheatre) is the church and you are the choir,’ and he got some to sing stuff back at him but as soon as that song was done most sat back down except for the die-hards.
On a closing note about them, I get why they stuck them there instead of Switchfoot but seriously, and I will own up to what’s probably bias, it just feels kind of patronizing to merely stick A Canadian band in there just because this happens to be the only Canadian venue they’re playing this summer. You’d think they’d pick one that makes more sense musically with the Dolls and The Spill Canvas. I mean, Switchfoot worked in Darien. I can see the logic. This...not so much. Okay, I’ll stop my ranting there.
As for the Dolls, they did indeed cheer me up. And it was awesome that the crowd was very into them. I'd say more so than Darien, but that could just be the view I had this time around so I won't say that.
Still not very chatty but I smirked when Robby made a reference to the fact that they tend to say, ahem, Toronto slightly differently when he said something I can’t quite remember and added, ‘...or however we end up pronouncing it.’ On that note, I waved to Robby early on during one of John’s songs and he gave me a purposely funny face so that’s always amusing. I was also glad to see Mike this time around and Operation Mike, which was to snap of few photos of him, was a huge success right off the bat — the first picture from Toronto was of him and it was a neat little action shot.
Now I realize that I didn’t get quite into detail in my Darien review about the songs themselves. This was mainly because I frittered away time by fiddling with the camera and jotting down the set list. Without doing the latter here, it made it easier to notice some things. Although they were still in top form here, I have to say that it was Robby’s night in Toronto. He was on fire, especially during Now I Hear and Tucked Away. I wish I had recorded them instead of leaving space on my memory card just in case they pulled something or started bantering. John had a little more spark in Buffalo overall, I think. Even still, he had a good night here too. I really like the way my videos turned out so he did have his moments here too.
And before I forget, Brad is now Brad and he is now from some small town in Western Canada instead of Paris, France. John assures us that this is no lie.
So yeah, that’s about it for Toronto. Not sad that it’s all done, because honestly, this was just perfect the way it happened for me and, even in spite of what I said, I think I would drive myself mad comparing more than two shows on the same tour leg. I’m more than happy to let someone else get their turn. And God help me if they pick 54-40 on that alleged winter Canadian theatre tour. I will ax-murder the person who hypothetically set that up.
And with that business done, here is the link to my Photobucket Toronto album:
s477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/Emerald-Latias/Goo%20Goo%20Dolls%20Molson%20Amphitheatre%207%2025%2010/
And here are my three videos – Name, As I Am and Notbroken:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkC_Ixf04S8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKIUFn4Vt84
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgsnfACIws
