Kraftwerk @ Ovens Auditorium

So what do you do on a St Patrick's Day Monday?  Go and see the German pioneers of EDM, of course!

I don't know much about Kraftwerk, but if a band is doing a 50th anniversary tour, they've go to be doing something right.  Right?  I'm still not sure.

I bought a last minute ticket and headed over to Ovens because it had been over a month since I'd seen a show.  And I need live music - I can feel it.  I'm panicked because I have nothing for certain coming up until May.  Anyway at 8pm (on the dot), 4 guys walked on stage, stood behind what looked like 4 desks and proceeded to "play" for the next 2 hours.  I say "play" because, for all I know they pressed a button, and then everything was done for the night.  As for the music, it's not my thing, but I can see where this was revolutionary at the time.  I'm glad I was there, like when I saw Daft Punk, but I'm not sure I'll ever hear another Kraftwerk song again.  Visually, it was stunning.  A video choreographed to every song and Kraftwerk's suits blending in with said videos.

At first it felt like I was in a German Contemporary Art Museum watching a video.  Everyone around me seemed interested art students, and as if they knew what was happening.  I had no idea what was going on.  But I did grow into it.  The Man Machine was familiar to me.  I really liked Neon Lights.  Geiger Counter and Radioactivity were a good follow up and Robots near the end was a good song.

Again I had a good night, but maybe not a great night.  Not what I'd usually see, but glad I went to my one and only Kraftwerk show.

Kraftwerk, Ovens Auditorium

Kraftwerk, Ovens Auditorium

Kraftwerk, Ovens Auditorium

Kraftwerk Setlist

The Crap Facts
This is my 516th concert.
This is my 5th concert at Ovens Auditorium.
This is my 114th concert in Charlotte.
This is my 137th concert in North Carolina.
This is my 316th concert in the USA.
Kraftwerk are the 600th band I've seen.

Grand Cayman Island

A quick swim in the morning and then brunch at the hotel's Catalina restaurant proceeded our outing for the day.  We had booked a 3 hour tour with Captain Marvin's.  They picked us up from the hotel, we registered at their office, and then headed over to the harbor, where about 20 of us cruised out for the afternoon, and stopped in a shallow-ish (9ft deep) part of the harbor.  We then had 40 minutes to swim around and enjoy the coral and see the fish and the occasional sting ray.  I couldn't get comfortable breathing and was out of the water pretty quickly.  A, on the other had, who had never snorkeled before, was a pro.  She barely come up for breath and had to be dragged last back on the boat.  From there we went over to a sand bar known as Sting Ray City.  It's an area where sting rays have been coming for years, as fisherman used the shallow water to dispose of fish waste.  We got in the waist deep water, and were allowed to hold a sting ray that the guide caught for us.  Way out of my comfort zone, but amazed that I had the opportunity to do this.  Something I will remember for ever.  Onwards to the north-east point in the harbor, where, once anchored, we were able to sit in the water and hold starfish.  A half hour ride back to the dock, as A & I relived the experience of today, as the sun headed towards twilight.  Once we were back at the hotel, a quick change saw us walk up towards the Kimpton, and have dinner at Coccolobo.  Tacos right beside the ocean, in this unwalled restaurant was the perfect ending to our quick trip away.

The Snorkeler, Cayman Islands

Me & a Stingray, Cayman Islands

A & I, Stingray Bay, Cayman Islands

We got up early the next morning to get just a couple of more hours by the Caribbean Sea.  But mid day came and we were packed into a taxi back to the airport.  We gave ourselves a bunch of time, not knowing what customs and immigration would be like, but we were through so quick we were able to get on an earlier flight.  Making sure we were back in plenty of time to pick up the boys from their DC trip.

Cayman Islands!  I hope we'll be back.

Grand Cayman Island

The other great part of this trip is that it coincided with my birthday (a 2nd in the Caribbean for me). We spent day 2 on Seven Mile Beach after a morning walk at said beach. Lunch was sushi and cocktails bought to us at our lounge chairs, because it was too much effort to go the 50 feet to the restaurant and order there. A had dinner booked tonight at Aqua at Camana Bay. A quick cab ride and we were seated by the water and enjoyed a magnificent seafood meal. Our Italian waitress told us how easily it was to get a visa for the island, as the population can not keep up with the hospitality demand. We met people from England, Ireland, Kashmir and the Philippines as well. I wish I knew about that 25 years ago when we were travelling.

Seven Mile Beach, Cayman Islands

Grand Cayman Island

When the opportunity arose that the boys were headed for DC with their school trip, A & I booked a few days in the Cayman Islands, so that we could have our first vacation alone since the boys were born. We dropped them at school at around 6.30am, and were boarding our flight before 9am. We had been tossing up between Montreal (we'd been last summer, but wanted to see how amazing it might be in the winter) and Grand Cayman (to sit on the beach). Grand Cayman came out the winner, and I'm so glad.

We landed, went through customs, got a cab, pre-checked in to the beautiful Hotel Indigo, and were on the beach eating lunch before 1pm. While eating lunch, our room became ready, so we went up and unpacked, then headed back to the beach club to claim a spot by the ocean under a couple of umbrellas. Eventually we headed back to the room and then up to the hotel's 10th floor, to Pom-Pom, where we had a great dinner looking over the beach as the sunset.

View from our Hotel Indigo room

Charlotte FC v Atlanta United @ Bank Of America Stadium

 

So now for 3 out of 4 seasons, we have hit the home season opener for Charlotte FC.  This year it's a mid-afternoon kick off and the weather was hot, unlike last season when we were scrambling for anything to keep us warmer.

We are sitting in the lower deck, down by the corner flag, so to sit with the Martins, who have their season tickets there.  Although down one end, still a great view.  Atlanta must have won the toss, as Charlotte was attacking towards the supporter's end in the first half.  The first half was pretty quiet and evenly poised.  People were barely back in their seats when Biel opened the scoring 4 minutes into the 2nd half.  A long ball down the middle was headed into the path of Zaha.  He looked like he was winding up to shoot, but at the last second was blocked off ,but found Biel in space inside the box who slotted the ball past Guzan.  Within 5 minutes, another long clearance was poorly dealt with by Atlanta.  Agyeman took off down the right and blasted a ball at Guzman.  The keeper could only parry the ball up, and Zaha was following throughout.  He didn't hit the volley cleanly, but put in the corner past Guzan.  Charlotte 2-0.  For the rest of the game Charlotte matched Atlanta and chances were few and far between for both teams.   Charlotte held on for the win and left the fifty odd thousand fans going home happy.  Let's hope they can keep the momentum continuing all season long.

Charlotte FC 2 (P. Biel 49', W. Zaha 54') defeated Atlanta United 0
Paid Attendance: 51,002