2001-03-28 - 2:46

We make a little history, baby

"Ah, Papa won't leave ya, Henry!"

Yes, I'm back from the latest California trip, which this time had a single purpose: the Nick Cave concert.

I realized tonight that it's disappointing to come home and not really have anybody to get excited about the details of the show. But I always put it down in writing. (Maybe that lack is why I do need to write.) I guess that the few people I know who would care or understand are scattered around, so I have to write down my thoughts if I want to communicate them, anyway.

The one exception is Flett. I know that he'll be psyched when I relate hearing "The Ship Song," which was the first song he ever taught me to play on guitar. (Actually, Colin would have appreciated that entire concert so much.)

Really, that's part of the reason that the Nick Cave concert meant so much to me: so many of the songs hold such importance. I clearly recall staying in my basement bedroom on a hot summer morning, being floored by The Boatman's Call. "Into My Arms" hit me particularly hard that day; and to hear it live and "Sad Waters" and "Loom of the Land" and . . .

It was certainly an intense experience. As usual, I'll fire off a real review after a night's sleep. I just wanted to sketch out my current thoughts. And I'll add that as long as there are girls out there wearing Einst�rzende Neubauten earrings, a man can cling to hope. Heh.

What else is there to say about the trip? Well, despite being delayed leaving Ottawa, I was able to speedwalk my way through the Philly airport and catch my connecting flight about 4 minutes before the scheduled departure. (I was the last one on the plane.)

That turned out to be a treat, since the guy next to me had some entertaining stories. The two highlights: (1) arriving at a Grateful Dead concert with no tickets, no money, and not enough gas to make it home; scaling the fence; and then selling spoiled sandwiches afterwards for gas money; and (2) taking a rental car for 5 laps around a race track somewhere in Europe, which included spinning it out in the dirt. The New England accent combined with liberal use of the word "dude" only added to these tales. I wanted to get the guy in touch with The Cobra (see my last Cali trip).

As for my weekend, I just chilled with Liam and Kirk. Joe was away and I didn't catch up with either Tayze or Mandeep. Ah well. Liam, Kirk, and I caught a decent comedy show on Saturday and hit the beach on Sunday. I'm happy to say that Liam and I were the only ones on the beach up for swimming, although there were a number of surfers. It was chilly; but I've definitely been in colder. My all-time Lewis Lake record (April 15) was certainly more of a shock . . . as long as you can control your breathing, the water isn't that cold.

So, I had some fun leading up to the reason for the trip, before having all my expectations met in concert. It was truly a unique show. When Cave tours with the Bad Seeds in September, I'll certainly be there.