breakin' up the house

Steve and I had quite the musical weekend. In addition to catching the Barenaked Ladies on Friday night, we took in an excellent show by Colin James and the Little Big Band on Sunday night at Hamilton Place. I've seen Colin James doing his rock thing a few times and I'm a huge fan. He is an immensely talented singer, songwriter and guitarist. To see (and hear) him do the Little Big Band stuff live was fantastic! He captures the spirit of this great music perfectly. His band is fabulously talented and judging by the non-stop smiles on their faces, it's obvious that they were having a great time.

Opening for Colin, was the phenomenal Michael Kaeshammer. Holy crap can this guy play the piano! It was just him and a fantastic drummer but it sounded like there was a 10-piece band on stage. Sadly, they only played for half an hour. I could have easily listened to a full hour of him and then a 90 minute set from Colin. If you like the boogie-woogie, New Orleans, stride piano thing, check this guy out! He's just brilliant.

There was one unfortunate down side to our concert going experience that had absolutely nothing to do with the magic that was happening on stage. I'm always amazed by how people behave in public. In a public setting, most people seem to forget that there are other people around them. Let's talk specifically about the trailer-trash couple sitting next to me. Now they seemed nice enough but once the concert started so did the bizarre behaviour. Mr. Trailer seemed more interested in taking pictures then enjoying the music. Any time Colin came anywhere near us (which was quite often given the fact that we were in the 4th row), this guy was snapping away. Since he was using a digital camera, he immediately checked to make sure the photo was acceptable. At one point, Colin stood directly in front of us and played a wicked guitar solo. Mr. Trailer elbowed me and practically leaned over my lap to get a picture. I don't think he heard one note of the solo. And what the hell is he going to do with those pictures? He'll probably never look at them again. And even if he does, he won't remember how incredible the music was.

Even more fascinating was his companion, who we will call Mrs. Trailer. At one point during the concert, she left her seat with a CD and Sharpie in hand and worked her way up to the stage. She opened the CD case, placed it on the stage next to one of the speakers and placed the marker on top. I looked over at Steve who gave me the "WTF" look. Did this woman honestly thing that Colin would stop, mid-concert, to sign her freakin' CD?!? She patiently waited by the side of the stage for about half an hour. Either he didn't notice that the CD was there or he skillfully avoided it, but eventually, Mrs. Trailer gave up. She collected her CD and Sharpie and returned to her seat where she loudly talked at Mr. Trailer for about 5 minutes before finally shutting her trap and allowing the rest of us to enjoy the music.

Honestly, who are these people?!?

Luckily, these weirdos did not ruin our enjoyment of the show. We had a fantastic time and will definitely see Colin James again. But I do wish people would realize that they are not the only ones who paid to see the show.