Amelia

I'm going to Vividcon today! OMG I'm so excited. Somewhat nervous as it will be my first time at the con, and also significantly less excited than before people started showing their asses about accessibility.

Tuesday D. and I went to Lilith Fair. I had gone twice during college, but not with D. It was so much fun! The vibe was lovely and laid back and I got wicked nostalgic for college, especially summers at Amarna, as well as for that time we went to Falcon Ridge Folk festival when we were living in MA.

We got there in the afternoon and hung out under a tree listening to Beth Orton and Missy Higgins, chatting and people watching. We had gotten seats (because I was worried about sun and I am old), but the lawn looked fantastic. It was super super humid until the end, everyone commented on sweating.

Sara Bareilles was freakin fantastic. Very impressive and lots of fun. It was nice to see a next generation singer-songwriter in the mix.

Cat Power, eh. It's not that it was bad, it just dropped the energy level to comatose. It would have been good for the post-party, or maybe even the post-post party (like when everyone else is passed out and there are like two of you left contemplating if you should start picking up the empty bottles.)

I had never heard of the Court Yard Hounds before, but they were so charming. And then they looked vaguely familiar. And then I realized that they were freaking brilliant and played a ton of instruments. And then I put everything together and realized that they are 2/3 of the Dixie Chicks (no shit they're proficient, I've seen that Behind the Music). They are a good time, I really enjoyed their set and would recommend their album.

The Indigo Girls were next and the emotional high point of the evening for me. I saw them play in college. The semester I spent in Italy I listened to a lot of Indigo Girls and Janis Joplin so they will also be tied to the memory of sitting on a bus during Friday field trips, looking at the Tuscan countryside, heading to some winery or monastery or something. Besides that they are just so brilliant and comfortable and wonderful. I have a weird singing in public thing (want to make me uncomfortable start singing or quoting poetry or some long soliloquy around me in public), but even early in our relationship D. and I would sing Indigo Girls songs together in the car. (D. would always harmonize :) ). So they were really lovely. I got a little teary at one point. At the end they pulled a bunch of other musicians on stage, the audience stood up, and we all had a sing along to Closer to Fine, like you do. *hearts*

Initially Sarah McLachlan felt a little like an afterthought for me. I listened to her *a lot* during highschool and early college, but haven't really at all since. She played some pieces off of Surfacing which no longer hits any emotional notes for me (as opposed to the Indigo Girls' stuff). Some of the new stuff was interesting although she kept doing this flippy thing with her hand which annoyed me (partially because it was bellydance-esque, but not the right thing, and I found it visually distracting). My favorite album of hers is Solace, but I wasn't surprised she didn't do anything off of it. Her last song was Fumbling Toward Ecstasy which tugged a little at me, and then for the callback she did Ice Cream which is one of my very favorite songs, and I got all "oooh" and handwavey and was so glad we didn't head out early.

And then because it's Lilith, and especially because it was the last night of the tour, everyone got on stage and did the final number and it was all lovely :) It was a great time, great music, great crowd, and a really wonderful night out with D.

Tuesday morning I handed in my dissertation proposal, had lunch with bayleaf and trixiesfic, and then headed to Philly for the My Chemical Romance concert.

See a few weeks ago I was in the mood for a loud, shouty concert (not my usual concert MO, but something about spring and adrenaline I guess). bayleaf said that she had a friend who had an extra ticket and so MCR fit the bill.

I drove down with trixiesfic. She was an excellent traveling partner and we had a nice mix of chatting and dozing (well I dozed since she was driving) on the way down. We didn't hit any traffic and made it to the Electric Company around 3:30. We found giddygeek and a big chunk of the internet and had a nice time hanging out in line. We got lucky with the weather, it started out really hot and sunny, but then cloudy, we had a little rain, but it didn't downpour and cloudy was much better than the sun. bayleaf and the other 4 people in her car arrived a couple hours after us (they did hit traffic).

Around 6:30 trixiesfic and I got into the venue. The Electric Company has a big open floor, then a second floor with bar and stools around the balcony. trixiesfic and I were seated in a raised section in the middle of the first floor. We were pretty close, had a great view of the stage (especially when the tall people standing in front of us moved), and I got to sit down!

The first band was Drive By and they were fine. Not bad, not great. The second I didn't recognize but they were phenomenal and I found out later that it was Taking Back Sunday. After that it began to get really cold, then they turned on a fan behind us, so even colder. And I started to get hungry and wondered if all the driving and waiting was worth it (this is why I don't go to concerts much I remembered.)

MCR came on and they were awesome!!! The show well exceeded my expectations, it had all the dancing, singing, and screaming I was looking forward to (although I actually didn't scream all that much). Oh and the lighting was fantastic. I had a few moments where I wanted to be on the floor, but then I would have sacrificed my view (not to mention the seat). Later we found out that the crowd was shoving a lot and it was very uncomfortable so I'm glad I stayed where I was. We left town around 11:30 (trixiesfic drove all the way back, bless her) and I got home around 2:30am exhausted and dehydrated.

I spent much of Wednesday brain dead but it was so worth it.