Tale of two Cities --- Concert 2
Calgary
...better than my Edmonton experience by far! (edit: guess popalock and I both chose, tale of cities, as a title... haha)
Late to the party with this very mini recap... but having very gracious, warm, engaging, humorous, wise, and talented concert guests, Viv and her BF, stay over three days, never allowed the ipad and computer to surface until after the concert.
Real live people were here in my home to talk Adam, Queen and life! And talk we did!
As mentioned in my Edmonton recap...wingsofbuttterflies and mirages did such an amazing job of recapping the Edmonton and Calgary performances, there is little in the way of adjectives that I could add. I will spend a few lines though talking about the fun that was had going with Viv and her BF and what I learned about venue positioning.
This concert was step into heaven...above any Adam concert I have been too!! Why? Positioning, sound, visual, and performance!
I still have a soft spot for London though!
Pre-concert:
After a late breakfast, eating lunch at 2pm ‘cause we talked too much, we ventured to our 4:30 reservation and had a salad (‘cause we had to order something!!!) Avoiding all traffic at that time of the day we walked the block to the venue site after supper, got ourselves settled, and set up a plan for finding each other after the concert. I gave up my two seats equal to the thrust, row 10 first tier to brother/wife.
On the advice of Q3 I decided to use my floor ticket purchase, which I only got as a back-up. Hubby had arranged through Ticketmaster for “good seats” and the lady was not allowed to tell us where they were until the general sale time. I was nervous, so bought the
floor ticket on pre-sale. And of course this was before knowing anything of the thrust concept.
Concert:Thank GOD I bought that floor ticket!!
And THANK GOD I took Q3’s advice.....she researched for me through connections and said... the best sound in the building would be where this floor seat was---and that is what I was there for ...right??? Yes, Q3 you were right!
So there I stood, about 8 rows back from the middle of the thrust, which allowed an awesome view of the stage and the thrust. BUT it was not just the sound ...the lighting took on a whole new meaning, and being able to truly see the performers.
It was as close as looking at a teacher at the front of the class (only I was actually riveted and not day dreaming...not for a second!!) As a group they were really schooling all of us...well, me for sure. Best singer in the world (haha) with amazing talented royalty graciously working together. Every facial twinge, raising of his eyebrows, smirks and smiles and finger movement. Expression not just a body...the instant looks and glances between each other, the smiles, the touching, the wiggles and movements.
THIS WAS PERSONAL...not off on some screen or too far to see exactly what the faces were sharing, or what the camera man was sharing. Even when on the stage, one could actually see fairly well. I was super glad I was not in the first rows with the backward views to the thrust, or even the side of the thrust 9as was my Edmonton view)
What I saw was the picture...the picture that they must have had in their mind for the audience to see.
The sound was incredibly wonderful, clear as a bell. No need for my ear plugs, pulled them out for the full effect, appreciating the riveting bombastic sounds; my usual chipmunk effect never happened...non-existent. And my ears were not fuzzy like after the Edmonton concert.(So glad I gave away my first tier seats in Calgary equal to the side of the thrust.)
Q3 was right...incredible sound.But above all, it was the visual. I saw the more complete vision. Of course at times my eyes could not resist and they followed Adam...leaving the others behind.
To see the interaction of the lights and the performer...I was awestruck. When Brian was doing his solo guitar...the laser lights made it appear as if he was in this amazing round bubble, a perfect circle in the universe. It took my breath away, and my focus was on the whole...the bubble with Brian enclosed. It was truly amazing how those lasers could create such an illusion. The creativity on the part of the production team to develop a Q and the positioning of lights on that structure, showed how much thought and pride people have in their musings of what could be. JUST WOW! (From the side in Edmonton it just looked like nice laser lights.) Who want to Live Forever with the glitter ball was a visual masterpiece, maybe better from the side than underneath it, so have to give the thumbs up to Edmonton on that one!
Kim by pure chance had tickets in the same row so we connected after the concert and
we agreed...no question, this was the place to be! No ear plugs needed, visually---so present and the energy of standing on the floor, made for a memory I shall not forget!
Every concert venue is different, but I am learning each vantage point is like a different concert...and you need two opportunities! One close, one a little further back (only a little further back haha ) to get the visual of the whole “show”.
After glow:
Viv, her Bf and I met with kim right after the show, then with some of my family. They truly enjoyed the show, and they go to a lot of concerts! On the drive back and once back at my place, we relived our memories and feelings about the concert. Again, I was in a mellow state, like after Edmonton, as were they.We weren't speechless but words flowed calmly, allowing ourselves time to assimilate the sensory overload we had experienced. Happy, Happy ladies---in a wonderful glow of feelings. No real thinking required.
I pulled out my ipad....proud for Adam and Queen to see the Sun review...ticked at the Herald review. The guy must have had some of it pre-written to come up with that math analogy nonsense; go figure that gobbledy gook was to be a B+.
Conclusion: A+ in our books! We all, independent of each other took some time to be able to fall asleep.
Enough said!
