Animal Collective @ House Of Blues

Let’s keep this pretty brief. I’m old. I went to see Animal Collective with Moz, because he said how much he loved them (and tickets were half price). I was the oldest person there by about 10 years and the music / performance was not my cup of tea. It was just noise and button pushing to me – not a live performance. Having said that, a packed House Of Blues seemed to be into it. All I kept thinking was “I should have relived my youth by going to The Offspring instead”. Moz had a blast, as much as you can read from him, and got a good recording.

The Crap Facts
This is my 284th concert.
This is my 31st concert at House Of Blues
This is my 83rd concert in Las Vegas.

This is my 83rd concert in Nevada.

This is my 92nd concert in the USA.

Animal Collective are the 355th band I've seen.

Jane's Addicition & Nine Inch Nails @ Pearl

It seems like I’ve had these tickets for a while, so I was pretty pumped for tonight's show. (Going with Erik & Spoon). I’ve seen both before, on separate occasions, and had been disappointed. Hopefully tonight would change my opinion.

I was surprised to find Nine Inch Nails opening, as I thought this was their tour, but apparently the bands had been swapping slots. We waited patiently as a fog machine filled the Pearl – to such a point that it set off smoke alarms in the building – which nobody reacted to. Before long the lights went down, and out came Reznor and the gang. The show was rocking from the get go. The band was on, and looked like they were enjoying themselves. This is in complete contrast to when I’ve seen them in the past when Reznor had smashed something after every song. March Of The Pigs is a favorite NIN song of mine, so I was pretty happy when they played that early on. Head Like A Hole finished the main set, and Hurt was the one and only encore – but a fantastic end to a good hour-forty set. (Shame he didn’t play Closer though).

There was a quick turnaround and all of a sudden Jane’s Addiction was on stage, and Perry Farrell was ready to play. From the first notes of 3 Days, to the last chords of Jane Says, Jane’s put on a show that had me wondering “Who was that ordinary band I saw years ago at the Orleans?” Thanks for coming back Eric Avery. Ever the showman, Perry had an awesome stage presence, and great rapport with the crowd. I stood in front of Dave Navarro and you could tell he was having fun – and was mixing it up with the crowd. The best part – nothing older than Ritual de lo Habitual was on the set list – no breaking in new songs – no playing the Strays album. Just Jane’s at their best. Highlights were definitely Been Caught Stealing and Stop!

The Crap Facts
This is my 283rd concert.
This is my 7th concert at The Pearl
This is my 82nd concert in Las Vegas.

This is my 82nd concert in Nevada.

This is my 91st concert in the USA.

This is my 3rd Nine Inch Nails concert.
Nine Inch Nails are the 250th time I've seen an American band.
This is my 2nd Jane's Addiction concert.

St Pete Beach, FL

The morning started at The Cockney Rebel, a British pub, where I got a full English breakfast and to watch some football – and see ManU win another Championship (ARRRRGHHH!!!!).

Got back after A finished her morning session and again we took our last chance to sit out by the beach. It has been nice being here on the water and I do not want to leave. At dinner A and I met up with J(?), her colleague and we went to the Madfish for dinner. Great restaurant, a converted silver caravan. Good food and good company. A nice way to finish the trip.

Our story for the flight home on the Sunday comes courtesy of “We’re On A Plane, So Someone Will Do Something Stupid”. The guy in the aisle seat across from me thought it would be OK to serve himself and friends drinks. When a hostess finally caught him, he got shitty that he’d been cut off, so went back for more when she turned away. Then had the gall to act like nothing happened when he was escorted off the plane by the police. Dickhead!

St Pete Beach, FL

So I could either go back into St Petersburg today to see what I didn’t get to yesterday. I could take a bus up to Clearwater and have a look around. Or I could hang out at the beach and be a lazy vacation bum. Needless to say, after breakfast at Skidders, across the road from the hotel, option 3 was taken. Back under the cabana, in and out of the water, getting through “Executive Privilege" by Phillip Margolin, and listening to a ton of music on the ipod. Multi-slacker extraordinaire.

That evening I was going to go to the baseball, after missing out last night. Instead A wanted me to attend a reception related to her work (why we are in St Pete’s in the first place). I did, and had a fun night meeting tones of people. On a side note the Rays came back from 0-7 down against Cleveland to win 8-7 in the 9th innings.

St Pete Beach

With A at work all day, I caught a bus into St Petersburg to go and visit the Salvador Dali Museum.  This is my 2nd visit here, the last time 9 years ago with Reggae & Marbs.  I am the epitome of the saying "I don't know art, but I know what I like", and Dali speaks to me.  I spent hours in this museum, actually so long that I didn't eat lunch until closer to 3pm.  But I couldn't get enough. With 9 of his master art works here, the exhibit is amazing.  While I think it is hard to pick a favorite, I think The Hallucinogenic Toreador is the best.

I intended on going to see the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball on the way home, but I picked up a migraine and took the best option - just to get back to the hotel and try and sleep it off.

St Pete Beach, FL

A's only morning where we are going to get to hang out, so it's off to the beach to enjoy Florida's sun. We got a cabana with our cushions and I thought I was never going to move again. However the crystal clear gulf beckoned and it was great to be in the water again. The water was warm, and really salty - which I discovered after my first dive under - eyes ablaze and tongue a-spluttering.

St. Pete Beach, FL

We left for Florida this morning as A is attending a work conference at St. Pete Beach, and I don't want to be at work, so I will tag along.

Seems like A and I can't fly anywhere without it being plain and simple. Just before arriving in Tampa a storm kicked in and had us circling over the city until we ran low on fuel and were diverted to Fort Meyers. Once we'd refueled we took off into the storm and had the most terrifying 20 minutes of flying in my life before eventually landing in Tampa.

So much for an afternoon on the beach. We arrived as we watched the sun set in the Gulf of Mexico. We are staying at the Tradewinds Resort, which has one of my favorite hotel features, no road between the hotel and the beach. Bags were dumped in the room and dinner was downstairs in the hotels bar, Beef O'Bradys.

I know it's lazy, but I am looking forward to doing virtually nothing for the next few days.