Muse:

December 12, 2004 - Tempe, AZ

Muse rocked the house last night!! Seeing them this time was faaar better than the experience we went through last time to see them... Last time we were at Coachella in the blistering heat. And though it did add that extra something when they played Sunburn, it was an excruciating experience!! This was the right way to see them for sure.... This time it was in the nice little marquee theatre, with good lighting and a longer set... and better sound!

I was especially impressed by their setlist. They mixed it up quite a bit. They did some older stuff, mid stuff, and newer stuff, which made me happy. The most memorable songs that they played were (of course) Sunburn, New Born, Citizen Erased, Bliss, and Time Is Running Out. I would have LOVED it if they would have played "Space Dimentia", but you cant have it all, right?? It was a good set nonetheless...

We also ran into Heaven last night, which was cool. I had no idea she was going, so that was a nice surprise. She inspired me to get a "rum with a splash of diet coke", and thats exactly what the bartender gave me. Nice!! All in all, it was a great evening.


The Faint:

November 17, 2004 - Tempe, AZ

the faint show last night was quite fun. there were a couple of ups and downs that really made it interesting....

the show itself was fun. i didnt know what to expect from them because i had never seen pictures of them or videos or anything else prior to this. i was shocked at their appearance at first. i expected them to be more hipster-ish, but they seemed pretty down to earth... they seemed a lot more aggressive live than on record. they were more rocking i would say... though they did play some good ass slapping, disco-ish songs as well. they played a few songs from danse macabre, so that made me happy. they had a really cool set up on their stage, with two screens displaying various images that corresponded with the songs... nice touch...

so after the show, we met up with cecilia (from myspace), which was cool. call me a nerd, but i quite like meeting people from the internet... as long as they are not scary freaks! haha. we also ran into yolonda, which was nice. i have missed her, especially in light of the way that she dissappeared... but the main event, if you will, was the confrontation with a big drunk guy. he came up to me and said "you look like you smoke, give me a cigarette". he was getting a little too aggressive, so i said, "i dont smoke, but if you dont mind, we were having a conversation, so back off please". he continued to bug us, but this time put his hands on yolonda! that pissed me off, so i told him to leave us alone in a very threatening voice, all rock bitch like... at that point, he purposely spilled his beer on me! i pushed him and started to curse, at the very moment that jon busted out and pushed him REALLY hard! jon went after him and the guy ran away! it was so great!! i love having a strong boyfriend to back me up! it was a crazy way to end the night!


Skinny Puppy:

Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre - October 16, 2004

We attended the SKINNY PUPPY concert in Phoenix on saturday. The show was fabulous! We were able to get so close to the stage with little hassle, because Phoenix sucks. Another great part about it is they played "Smothered Hope" this time. They played "Worlock" again as well, so i was a happy camper....

Otherwise, the show was pretty much the same as in LA. There was one main distinguishing characteristic this time that was lacking last time, and that was a simulation of a beheading!! I couldnt believe they pulled that out of their bag of tricks! Two men in those costumes like the al quieda (sp?) grabbed Nivek and simulated the beheading! I was in awe the whole time. I honestly couldnt believe my eyes!!

The best part about the show was that I got to meet CEVIN KEY!! This man is one of my musical idols! He was in Tear Garden, Skinny Puppy, Download, and of course his own brilliant solo stuff! I would have picked him over Nivek to meet anyday! So that was great... He was SOO nice! I was surprised at how normal he seemed. I got to shake his hand, and he signed my drumstick that I caught from their stage... I told him that I loved TEAR GARDEN, and he smiled all big and said "I love tear garden too... Ed was a brilliant man to work with. And the sweetest person youll ever meet..." I wanted to talk to him more, but there was about a half dozen other people waiting for him, so I let him go... It was wonderful to meet him...

Ive met another musical idol... aaah.... such a dream.... So now Ive met Robert Smith, Jim and Ali Shaw (from cranes), and now cEvin key... and ive also met Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth and also The Start, who arent necessarily idols, but fucking cool at any rate... Im a lucky girl...


The Cure - Curiosa Tour:

Summer 2004

DENVER, CO: the drive there was half the fun. the rocky mountains are so gorgeous! and so huge and go on forever! its fabulous!! JON and i had a terrific time just hanging out together. its nice to have no immediate responsibilities, except for seeing as much amazing stuff as you can cram into your brain... downtown denver is awesome! its loaded with old CHURCHES galore, many RECORD STORES, cool historic buildings, victorian houses, etc... we spent a little too much money at all of its charming downtown record stores... the denver cure show was full of pop songs, which wasnt that impressive, but it was great to see them on stage again. robert smiled at my "piggy in the mirror sign", which made me feel good. and we met up with THROWINGSHAPES, who is an absolute doll! oh, and i got roberts SETLIST from the stage... we tried to meet the band after the show, but we ended up getting kicked out by security and the police... JON was so funny with how tactfully, yet snobbishly he handled the "authorities". = )

SALT LAKE CITY, UT: the drive from denver to salt lake was rainy. it was hard to see any sky through the thick, gorgeous overcast skies... it set a great, comfy driving mood for us. we even stopped at a redneck fireworks shoppe on the way for some explosives! oh yes, the people in salt lake seem bizarre, though there was a few really good record stores... more frivolous spending on our part... that night we had another pop set from the cure. but this was one of the most fun and amazing cure shows just due to the interaction from roger and robert (and we were in the FRONT ROW). ROBERT actually bent down off of the stage and reached out to my sign and personally said they could not play my song and that he was sorry. roger was smiling at us during the show, and he threw me a SETLIST which i caught, so that was cool. we also met up with THROWINGSHAPES and her hubby again. its too bad we didnt have more time to hang out with them. maybe next time... so after the show, we scouted around after the show to meet them. we waited until 3:30am and followed the buses out of the venue. we stopped following them after we found out that they werent staying there that night... another unsuccessful attempt at meeting them.... but it was a funny, and silly occasion for both JON and i...

CHULA VISTA, CA: one of the worst road trips of my life. we left home that morning, went to the show, and came back the next day... but we got into a car accident on the way home! i could have killed JON! im a shitty driver apparently... but... ill back up by starting with the cure gig. it was boring and filled with more pop songs. but i got really DEPRESSED during the set, due to ROGER being a PRICK! roger saw my sign at the beginning of the set and made a really mean face and said "oh for fucks sake!" it made me so sad... i mean, how ungreatful of him! here i am spending over a thousand dollars to support their mediocre-selling tour, and he has to be a jerk! i used to adore roger, but not anymore... i was lucky to have jon there to comfort my sorrowing mind... the only good part about this show was the interaction we had and the people that we met. JON caught an INTERPOL drumstick, and we met some really nice girls who gave us an INTERPOL setlist, and an unsmoked INTERPOL cigarette. thank you ladies!! i got to meet CHANTSFORRAIN, SHARI, and NEVA again, and i got to meet MODERNDOLL for the first time... oh yeah, and i got another SETLIST, so that was good too...

PHOENIX, AZ: ironically, the BEST SET of the whole tour happened in our own back yard!! they played FOREVER and many other great songs! this is (amazingly) the second time now that JON and i have seen them play FOREVER lucky us... i also got ANOTHER SETLIST this time... ROBERT seemed very upset during this set, which made for a great gig! we tried to meet them again. this time we went to the hotel in town where most of the acts that play cricket pavilion stay... we called the desk, but they werent there. we gave up. another unsuccessful attempt. i thought i would never meet him!!

CARSON, CA: another great gig from the cure. they finally stopped the pop crap and moved on to more material with substance! not that the pop songs arent good, because i do love them, but it is nice to see the more emotive songs live... this marked the last show that we would be close to them. the remaining three shows were general admission, so we knew we didnt stand a chance at getting close, so we didnt even try. i was supposed to meet up with GRACE, but we didnt end up finding eachother. it sucks, because she could have gotten us back stage that night...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: this is where we FINALLY MET ROBERT SMITH!! we met up with SUSAN first, who had won a contest to interview robert on the radio. she got to take a plus one, which she selected to be me (THANK YOU THANK YOU). we ended up getting JON into the studio as well. ROBERT was a sweetie, so it made it that much better. i will detail this whole encounter on my Concert Cure page... so anyway, it was great to see SUSAN again. we also went to SO many record stores. its so fun to find things in the stores. its a rush!! the cure gig was terrific. i would say that it was the SECOND BEST SET of the whole tour! even though JON and i were pretty far on the back of the floor, it was fantastic! i was able to dance like i was alone and just go off. its like flying. i love dancing to live cure music... its a euphoric experience!

SACRAMENTO, CA: we were late for this show, because we stayed a little too long in san francisco. but it was okay, because we only missed 4 of the anchor songs that we had already seen a million times by that point anyway. they ended up playing FAITH in their encore, which was awesome because it was the first time JON and i had seen it on this tour... after the show, we left for washington. we spent a day in portland on the way, which was fun. that night though, we were in for a bad scare. we went to a days inn hotel, and SUSAN ended up getting a HAUNTED ROOM. all three of us felt this strange presence, and i even started bawling my head off! but JON took pics of the room with his digital camera, and later on we discovered two strange orbs floating in the picture! talk about creepy!!

EVERETT, WA: there was nothing special about the actual set itself. the encores was where we were blown away. the biggest standouts were THE DROWNING MAN and GRINDING HALT. its always awesome to see them dig out some really cool archive songs for the shows... this was a bittersweet show because it was the last time we would be seeing them on this tour. but after three weeks of following them, a car accident, and lots of money spent, we were both pretty exhausted!... another really memorable event was meeting CHANTSFORRAIN again (and hubby), THISTLEMOON (and boyfriend J!!), LISALOVECAT, and others (even though i made a big ass out of myself! haha). it was neat driving home. we felt so close and so bonded by this whole experience. we even got to drive through montana, where i got an over 100 mph speeding ticket! then in utah, jon got stopped by a highway patrolman. we actually bulled our way out of the ticket because we demanded to see the radar, which they had already erased. so we got right out of that one! it was such a rush seeing justice served to all the cops who bully the people... raar! so, we figured out that on this tour alone, we saw every state in the western united states from colorado over... not too shabby!!

i miss the tour already!! = (


Sonic Youth:

July 21, 2004 - Tempe, AZ

Last night we went to the Sonic Youth gig at the Marquee Theatre. They put on a great show that was totally true to their sound on record. They played "Schizophrenia", "Teenage Riot", "PCH", and "Bull In The Heather". It was crazy to hear those songs together in the same set. They haven't been playing their older stuff too much, so it was a great surprise... It was cool to watch a chick (Kim Gordon) play the bass, and the atmosphere that they created with their guitars was fabulous! Jon was lucky enough to bring his camcorder into the venue, so we got most of the show on tape too...

The show was cool in itself, but meeting them after the show was even better! They came out one by one, and each signed my "Confusion Is Sex" CD and Jon's "Sister" LP. Kim wasnt too sociable, but Thurston was great! At one point, he told the dozen or so people that were there to go pound on his friend's van. So everyone ran over there, including him, and started rocking the van with the driver in it. He was freaking out and cursing at Thurston for creating that scene... It was funny... Overall, it was a very memorable occasion that I feel glad to have been a part of...


Skinny Puppy:

July 3, 2004 - Los Angeles, CA

Skinny Puppy was just amazing, and as theatrical as i had always imagined!! It was crazy to actually see Nivek covered in "blood", singing Worlock... Among his other various stunts, he also had a gun where he shot out blood and/or mud all over the goths, which was hilarious!! I can imagine their horror, because I would have been the same way. haha!! During "Harsh Stone White", he had powder that he was puffing all over the crowd... Very symbolic of that song I think... Before the encore, he covered the stage in police tape, which was kind of funny too...

He came out in this crazy chicken suit, which kind of creeped me out. But he ended up taking it (and this creepy dead looking mask) off. He ended up in a wife beater, which he also ripped off during one of their songs... They had a screen behind the stage, which was cool. It kept things going as much as his crazy antics! I was very impressed with their performance all around. It was everything I had always dreamed it would be...

I only have one complaint about the show, and that was their set list... They played all of their more rabid, harder songs.. Whereas, I am more of a floaty Skinny Puppy fan. It was fabulous to hear them sing Worlock, Glass Houses, and Downsizer though... But other than that, I wish I would have been able to pick the set... I guess everyone would have said that... But if I were to pick their set, they would have definitely included: Amnesia, Past Present, Smothered Hope, Candle, Cult, Killing Game, Morpheus Laughing, First Aid, Addiction, and generally anything off of "Cleanse, Fold, Manipulate"... But again, it was a fabulous show... I can now die knowing that I saw Skinny Puppy live!!


No Doubt :

June 23, 2004 - Phoenix, AZ

No Doubt put on a cool show. We had 12th row seats, but they were all the way to one side, so the view wasn't all that great... But there was a huge benefit to it though... Gwen came out from the audience, and she walked like 1-2 feet from me (we were on the aisle). I'm not a teenybopper about them at all, but I must say, she looked way hot! She danced really well too. Lots of booty shakes and other sorts of sexual movement...

A real shocker of the show was how great she sounded live. She jumped/danced/moved around SO much, and still was able to carry a really nice tune. They played all of their singles, including: Its My Life, Just A Girl, Simple Life, Spiderwebs, Don't Speak, Hella Good, New, Bathwater, Sunday Morning, Hey Baby, Excuse Me Mister, Underneath It All, etc... Even though I'm not really nuts about them (except for Return of Saturn), I have to say it was a great experience!


Madonna :

May 24, 2004 - Los Angeles CA - Opening Night

Madonna performed really well for us. There was no mistakes at all in the performance, although it was a bit too short for my liking. I think the "Drowned World Tour was a much more enjoyable show personally, but that could have had to do with our crappy seats too. The production was really neat. There were lots of screens with images on them, and lots of different dancers with various skills. It was very entertaining.

She sang most of the songs live, which was awesome. She played lots of old stuff, including Vogue, Burning Up, Crazy For You, Papa Don't Preach, Like A Prayer, Material Girl, etc. She is so animated in everything she does. Her stage presence rocks! The high cost of tickets and gas and stuff was a really bad part about it too, but I can't say that I wouldn't do it again if given the opportunity. In fact, Im sure that I would, because I have loved Madonna my whole life!


Coachella :

May 02, 2004 - Indio, CA

Coachella rocked!! I had such a good time! The Cure's new material sounds really good. Robert and co were on really good behavior for us at the show. They sang a good mix of songs. This show (Cure-wise) was WAY better than Inland Invasion. So that must mean that good things are abound...

Muse rocked so much! His voice sounded excellent! If it werent so hot, I would have enjoyed it a million times more but it was still great... We mostly hid out in the shade for the majority of the day. We only came out for Muse and for food. I was able to meet up with Sarah later in the day. I havent seen her in forever, since the Dreamtour actually, so that was neat. We also saw Cindy walking around, which was cool too. We didnt bump into any mfc people, which was a bit disappointing, but we had a great time nonetheless...


David Bowie :

February 5, 2004 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre

All I have to say is, that man is a born superstar! He's got so much charisma, and his stage presence is fabulous! Much of the time during the show, I kept thinking "I'm seeing David Bowie live right now. How wierd is that?". It was surreal. He played a good mix of old and new songs... He played Ziggy Stardust, Ashes To Ashes, I'm Afraid of Americans, The Man Who Sold The World, Under Pressure, Fame, China Girl, Heroes, etc. And he looked GREAT!! This man is 57 years old, and has sooo much energy and vitality. It makes me wonder "How does he do it?" We had great seats, thanks to the wonderful darling Cindy! We were about 25 rows back, in one of the center sections. AND during the encore, we were able to sneak down to the front. We got to see Bowie sing Ziggy Stardust from about 20 feet away!! How cool is that?? The only songs he was missing in my eyes was Modern Love and The Hearts Filthy Lesson, but all in all, it was a terrific show! Good job Bowie! Thumbs up!

Explosions In The Sky :

December 4, 2003 - Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture

All i have to say about last night is INCREDIBLE!! Explosions In The Sky were so amazing that I was in disbelief the whole time!! When the show started, I got this giddy euphoric feeling as I was watching the main guitarist make beautiful noises with his guitar and delay pedal. They mostly played newer stuff. They only did two songs from "Those Who Tell The Truth.." but the new stuff sounded INCREDIBLE anyway!! Its awesome how they play a super powerful rip your heart out explosive song, then they will go into an epic, building beautifully sad mellow song. They are incredible!! At one point, the main guitarist and the bassist were going off on their instruments so hardcore that I thought that their stuff was going to fly out of their hands and hit us!! It looked like at a couple of points that they would hit eachother too... I thought the main guitarist was going to break down and ball his head off at a couple of points. He was really into it last night... This time was a million times more powerful and mind blowing than the last time we saw them... I was totally silenced by my euphoric amazement that they created with their sounds!!

Placebo :

December 2, 2003 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theatre

Placebo played great, except Brian's guitar kept going out, so they had to stop at a couple of points. He talked SO much, because half the time between songs he was having trouble with his guitar. They did a total jam out improv thing and also sang a Janis Joplin song! It was interesting. Its something that most people dont get to witness. One of the highlights of the night was when I got Brian's setlist! I was SOO happy!

Denali :

November 2, 2003 - Tucson, AZ - Plush

All I have to say about this experience is AMAZING!! It was so awesome and pretty and strong... and just fantastic!! The singer's voice is SO wonderful. I don't think she missed one note.. They are indie pretty music. They have a mellow yet explosive quality about them that just left me wanting more....

Click HERE to check them out on their official site.

Maserati :

November 9, 2003 - Tucson, AZ - Plush

This show was UNBELIEVABLE!! This time around was even more explosive and amazing than last time... From the first song to the last... Pure amazement!! I got their setlist on a napkin, I stole a "maserati on tour" poster from the wall, and i bought a shirt for ten bucks. I was so impressed with them. They kick so much ass.. They are totally up there with Explosions In The Sky... Especially live... Same quality. Same atmosphere. Just perfect!

Click HERE for more dates.

Modest Mouse :

November 11, 2003 - Tempe, AZ - Nita's Hideaway

The show itself was good. I was kind of bummed once again by the venue. Nita's Hideaway sucks!! It really narrow but goes far back, and the stage isn't high enough off of the ground. So all you get to see is the back of people's heads.. And with a really popular band like Modest Mouse, its packed all the way to the back wall... But they played quite well. I wanted to see "The Way Down" the most, but they didn't play it. Just as i had suspected. They did play "Trailer Trash", and that song rocks, so its okay... We had a good time.


Denali :

January, 2004 - Phoenix, AZ - Modified Arts

While out driving around town shopping on Saturday afternoon, we found out that Denali was playing at Modified that night!! It was totally meant to be that we would see them again, because we almost didnt go to the record store where I found the flyer! Even though Ive seen them before (which was amazing), I would have been sad to have missed them in my own town. I probably would have cried, in fact! So luckily, we got to witness their live splendor all over again!

I got the singer and the guitar players autographs on my "Instinct" cd after the show, which was great. The guitarist is a really nice guy. The singer is a little standoffish, but maybe its because shes shy.... At any rate, her voice is sooo incredible!! She does not miss even one note! They are such a great band! Especially live. Their sound is so emotional and explosive and pretty. I highly recommend them!!


Rasputina :

October 25, 2003 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress

Rasputina was pretty good last night. I wasnt as impressed as I was last time though. I think thats because they played mostly new songs and covers at this show. Last time, they did more old stuff. Lots from "How We Quit the Forest", which is my favorite one. And we were in the front row right in front of Melora too. This time we had a nasty sweaty beast lady all flailing about thinking she was sexy bumping into us all night. We ended up getting in like the 3rd-4th row inbetween the two girls. But there were tall people inbetween, so we saw a lot of the back of some frizzy guys hair. They played a cover of Hearts "Baracuda" which was pretty cool. They did a few classic rock type songs. I dont remember at the moment what they were though. They at least played "Things Im Gonna Do", "New Zero", "Signs of the Zodiac", "Remnants of Percy Bass", and "Thimble Island" so that was good...


Inland Invasion :

September 20, 2003 - San Bernardino, CA - Hyundai Pavilion

It was great to see The Cure, Interpol, Duran Duran, Psychadelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen, and even Hot Hot Heat. It was so great to see The Cure again. Its been too long (since the Trilogy and Hamburg in November 2002)!! Robert sounded fantastic!! It was amazing as any Cure show is... The only thing that I didnt like was the way they did their set. It didnt have the mystery that other Cure shows have... We guessed most of the songs they played before they started playing them. It was so predictable...But there were some great surprises... I also didnt like the atmosphere... to many surfacy fans. I guess im possessive, but its annoying when you have idiots jabbering in your ear the whole time when youre trying to get into it. It was a good show though. We had good seats and that added to the enjoyment of the whole time too.

Interpol was fabulous!! Even thought my whole section didnt seem too into them, I couldnt help flying around to their music as they were playing!! The Psychedelic Furs guy fell flat on his back when they were playing! It was so funny and sad. I felt so bad for him! Echo and the Bunnymen were pretty on too. I thought of my sweet Bunnycure the whole time! I wish she could have seen Maccie. She would have smiled!

All in all, it was a great show!! Thank God that Cindy gave us the vip passes, beucase we would have died otherwise. They gave us free food, water, and soda the whole day. And a shady place to sit when the bad bands were on. It was soo much nicer. We would have died without them im sure... We didnt meet Robert or any musicians for that matter. Maybe someday... but it was cool to go backstage and feel all special!! Plus, we had no waiting getting out of the venue, becuase we got to park soo close to the pavilion! We drove right our practically. It was nice getting the royal treatment... Thank you Cindy!


Delerium :

September 12, 2003 - Tucson, CA - City Limits

The was absolute amazement!! Delerium had two girls playing with them, and both of them had fantastic voices!! I didnt think it would be possible for them to re-create the wonder that thier records hold, but i can say now after seeing them live that its even better!! The girls dances around a lot, and the other band members were entertaining to watch. The bassist was totally cool. She was this hot blonde goth kinda chick with dread things. She was really cute... The show was spectacular!!


Cranes :

May 9, 2002 - Seattle, WA - Graceland

The perfect end to a wonderful evening. (That is until I found out that my car was locked in a parking garage, but thats another story.)

My first Cranes show ever in Seattle, a city over 1500 miles from my home in Phoenix. At 11:00 pm they finally took the stage. My heart was racing so fast that I thought I was going to have a panic attack. It was unreal to hear the first note come out of Ali's mouth. To have them standing in front of me was a dream.

To be honest, I think Ali was sick, because she could not stop coughing between lines and her voice seemed quite strained. As a result, the show did not take off until the evening's version of "To Be". After that point, she seemed to find her voice. One of the most intense moments of the show was the altered vocal patterns on "Lilies". Definitely much more passionate and aggressive, which presented the true mood of the song. Another high point was the intense version of "Adoration". Her voice was so sweet, and when the music kicks in toward the end, I was almost brought to tears.

Two encores made the crowd quite happy as well. Jim seemed to be in a little bit of an altered happy state (ie drunk). I could tell he was having fun up there. What I can say is that I was not at all disappointed with the setlist or their performance!

The best part came after the show, however. A guy from the club, Graceland, took my Jewel box set backstage to be signed by Jim and Ali. When he brought it back out, he said that they were shocked to see it. We waited around to see if they would come out, and before we knew it, out pops a drunken, happy Jim. I thanked him for signing my records, and he actually thanked me for having them. After exchanging nice words for a moment, he floated away to the next set of people that were waiting for him. A few minutes later, Ali came walking out, and I thanked her and got a picture with her. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. So again, it was the perfect conclusion to my first Cranes show. Now my dilemma is getting my car out of the garage in time to make it to Vancouver tomorrow!!!


Cranes :

May 17, 2002 - Phoenix, AZ - Big Fish Pub

When we arrived at the club, I was surprised at how small and run down it looked compared to the other venues that Cranes played on this tour. When we pulled into the parking lot, I had a scramble of feelings and emotions running through me. I was excited, nervous, scared, and sad all at the same time. Knowing that this would be my last stop on the tour with them made me want to ball my head off. However, we knew we were on the guest list and that we were going to hang out with the band afterwards, so it was a bittersweet kind of thing. Before the show, we had quite a nice chat with Jon (the drummer) and Jim even came up to us and shook our hands, telling us that this would be the best show that we've seen. Imagine this in his English accent: "Not the posh gig from last night, but more the exclusive club gig." I was already floating by that point.

The band took the stage after what seemed like an eternity. Once again, they opened their set with "Cloudless", which mesmerized the crowd from the start. This small area was definitely a more intimate setting. The crowd seemed more enthusiastic than the previous shows, but maybe that's just due to the enclosed area, which seemed extremely loud. Whatever the case, they were certainly excited to be seeing Cranes again.

The show took off after they played the noisy "To Be", and "Everywhere" was a nice treat for everyone as well. Once again, Ali's altered vocal patterns on "Lilies" was powerful and amazing, but even cute at the same time. The best part came when they played "Reverie" again, at our request. Ali even said, "Here it is again", as the other band members all made eye contact with us. They are so humble and genuinely happy to see the fans enjoying themselves.

By far, the most emotional part for me was when they played "Adoration". The combination of the music and the vocals brought me to tears, which made me feel like a baby, but oh well. The intention of the music is to have an impact anyway. After huddling together on stage, they decided to play an encore, which included the song "Jewel". All I could think about was the fact that the song was very true for what was going on in my head at that time. I did not want my Cranes experience to ever end, but I knew that it was approaching too fast, and that also made me cry.

The evening did end on a very positive note, however. After the show, Jim invited us back to his hotel room for drinks. I got to play Ali's guitar in front of Jim!! It was so amazing to be sitting in Jim Shaw's hotel room, playing songs for his listening ears. It was so surreal!! Jim is such a fun and hilarious guy, and he's super nice as well!

After exchanging emails with the band, we finally left the hotel room with hearts full of fond memories and stories to tell our friends. It was thee perfect way to end our Cranes tour. Jim was right, it was the most memorable night of the tour for us. I miss them already.