Home For The Holidays

It's been a very busy week. I wrote three exams in three days this week (Monday-Wednesday). Hopefully they went as well as I think they did!

Yesterday was my first day of academic freedom. I was up early for a doctor's appointment and then hung out with my friend Jacki for a few hours. We had lunch at my place and baked cupcakes while I did laundry. (exciting eh?) Later that evening I was off to Buffalo with my friend Leslie, my roommate Ang and her friend Nick for Kiss 98.5 FM's "Kissmas Bash". Five popular bands in one venue. Seemed like a good deal. I vaguely knew of the performers other than Lifehouse and Gavin DeGraw - The Click 5, Pussycat Dolls, and Ryan Cabrera. I'm embarraressed to say that the average age of our fellow concert goers must have been around 13 (that is if you don't count their parents). Here's my quick review of the evening...

The Click 5: Trying too hard to be something they're not (other than good). Couldn't tell if they were trying to be punk or pop or I don't even know. The lead vocalist was weak and kept doing this signature point-to-a-random-person-in-the-audience move which I didn't understand. The other band members didn't add much to the performance either.

Lifehouse: They put on an excellent live performance. Vocals were dead on last night. They lacked a bit of personality and spunk on stage but maybe just standing at their mics is their style. Ending with the ever so popular "Hanging By A Moment" was a smart move.

Gavin Degraw: Excellent. He knows has to work the audience and put on a great show. He was amazing live - vocals, guitar, and piano. My one quame was his choice to do an extended version of his song "Chemical Party" which refers to using drugs. I don't think he made a wise choice to spend so much time emphasizing that one song (it's not one of his better known songs anyway), especially with the age group he was performing for.

Pussycat Dolls: The next Spice Girls? I don't know about that. They dressed like... uh... they danced and pranced and posed around the stage provocatively. The lead vocalist was good, actually too good to be in that group considering the others were pretty much just her back up dancers (though they're not).

Finally, Ryan Cabrera: Super tall hair. Ha ha. Decent voice. Poor choice of opening song. We decided to leave just as he was starting his second number.

The Intermissions: The stage changes/intermissions took way too long. We're talking over 15 minutes for some. It was ridiculous. Granted, the concert was put on by a radio station so there was time devoted to listener appreciation type things but much more time was spent just waiting. In my opinion, it took away from the ambience of the evening. Start, stop, start, stop.

Final Verdict: Despite the lack of good bands and the long breaks, it was a fun evening spent in good company. I wouldn't go to another "Kissmas Bash" but I would definitely go out of my way to see Lifehouse or Gavin DeGraw again in concert.

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I'm home for almost two weeks. My Christmas plans are still up in the air but at least they should be entertaining!

The Aussies are arriving in Toronto a day earlier than previously expected!

Christmas Countdown:
3 days until the INVASION from DOWNUNDER!
9 days until Christmas!