| Skyreach center On The Road With MaggieMay... I had a call from Angel who had gone on to Edmonton (not having tickets for Kelowna or Calgary) that she was "lonely", and she suggested I get over to Edmonton to keep her company. She made changing my flight to 6:20AM sound very reasonable and pointed out that I stay up all night writing anyway, so might as well just stay up and then head over to the airport and miss all the traffic. HAHA She's SO funny! 
I couldn't argue with her logic and though I was a bit loathe to leave my
elegant hotel and the club lounge full of movie stars and a staff who waited
on me cheerfully hand and foot, I impulsively changed my flight. It's
different staying up when you HAVE to stay up! My eyelids got heavy
and I risked a 2 hour nap, making it clear to the hotel operator that I HAD
to be up at 4am. And ready to go. I was the first person to arrive
at Calgary airport (oooh it was cold in Calgary, too!) and checked in with
a half dozen other early risers. I stood for sometime outside the airport
doors, shivering and having a smoke. It was one of those strange scenes
where you seem like the only person in the world and that everyone else has
disappeared. I was very surprised to see no police monitoring the airport
drop off and to see a car parked at the curb! It stood there unoccupied
and unattended for a full 20 minutes. That baby would have been towed
within 5 at my local airport. Better jump on that airport security,
Canadians! I was in pretty pathetic shape, tousled and rumpled and
on the edge, but made it on the plane to Edmonton. I sure don't know
how! I don't remember a thing about it. LOLEdmonton is the end of the world. We flew over plains to a place of nothing. The airport was small and nearly empty - in fact, only THREE of us deplaned at Edmonton. There were no cars, no taxis, no people. It was darn cold, too! I stood a moment, trying to get my bearings (difficult to do when you're half asleep) and hit the button for a taxi. 
There's NOTHING around the airport, not even the cows of Calgary.
We drove forever into town, which I thought looked nice enough and somehow
I checked in and made it to my room. It was another cute room in a
very nice hotel and it had the highest darn bed I've ever seen. I had
to LEAP up into it, like the lithe gazelle I am. HAHAHA. Of course,
it was impossible to sleep! I was much too tired. I made a pot
of coffee, drew the curtains and got into bed with the laptop. Red
keeps IMing me saying Where ARE you? LOL I'm where ever The Moody
Blues are playing that night. That's where I'm SUPPOSED to be!I woke up at 3pm feeling MUCH better, even sprightly, talked to the Lonely Angel and made the evening's plans. I had sent back some of my warmer clothes to Indiana and had to search for something warm for the evening. We got a taxi and arrived at Skyreach Centre in a light drizzle. I told the shivering Angel to go on in while I took the photographs of the venue that Ed demands and expects. There was a corral for the die-hard smokers and I chatted up a former Edmontonian who lives now in London. Angel was waiting for me inside with a policeman. A good-looking policeman, I might add, if you like "older" men and I DO. He wanted to take care of us and we let him. shrug It seemed only polite! 
He wanted to escort us everywhere - the ladies room, our seats, what have
you. I've never felt so safe. ; ) The darling was
there looking for us after the concert and when I coyly asked about taxis
he offered us a ride in a black and white, winking and saying that we would
have to be handcuffed, of course! It's been three weeks since I've
been home (if you know what I mean) and it sounded like a good idea to me,
but Angel said no. I guess that's why I call her Angel! LOL
We couldn't have been treated better at Edmonton, and while I don't ever
need to go back there, I'll think of it fondly. Two people I talked
to Saturday night both referred separately to Edmonton as a "dump".
Well...I don't know! Certainly the town isn't glamorous. Actually,
it reminded me a lot of home! HAHA I understand farmers and I
fit right in (I passed for Canadian in Edmonton as a fellow Midwesterner)
but that's *not* where I want to be! THE VENUE Skyreach Centre is the home of the Edmonton Oilers, a hockey team who owned the Stanley Cup during Wayne Gretzky's heyday. It's a bigger place than Kelowna and perhaps even bigger than the Saddledome at Calgary. There were at least two, perhaps three levels of club boxes and regular levels of seating in between. I heard two conflicting numbers from the guards - one said the concert bowl configuration seated 5500, one said it seated 4500. I was also told that 3400 tickets were sold, but it looked like (and sounded like) more than that. The stage setup was the same as at the other hockey rinks, this time a large OILERS sign was overhead. Nothing new was here. I was down a couple from Calgary and sat AT John. ; ) I can't complain! THE FASHION REPORT GE - White long-slvd shirt with multi-colored circles (classic Graeme Edge finery!) first half, the incredible hula shirt second half, black slacks JL - White long-slvd "bib" shirt with ruffle, first half, black one second half, leathers, boots JH - Pink long slvd pinstripe shirt first half, white thin long-slvd shirt second half, pants of some kind. I don't know! Gordon - White shirt with black design, white pants Paul - White long slvd shirt with cuffs rolled (do they know what that does to a woman?) Bernie - Black on black Norda - GRAY flowing hiphuggers, black camisole I wonder if people look at John in confusion during the second half. Wait! It's the same shirt...isn't it? THE CONCERT This was a very strange concert. It seemed to start in one direction and then change abruptly for the better. I would delicately 
say that the Jays did not come out Saturday night in the best of shape.
Justin "looked" grumpy and in a less than stellar mood and John just looked
tired. The concert started ok and Lovely to See You went on fine but
things completely fell apart during Gemini Dream. Oh, and I mean completely.
It was a disaster! GD has been going very well this tour and I had
forgotten that there were sometimes problems with it. VERY early in
the song, I was surprised to realize that JH and JL were singing DIFFERENT
verses. Oh, VERY different. Justin *tried* to clue JL, but it
didn't help. John looked down at his cue sheets, but was lost.
Justin stopped singing and so did JL and they went with an instrumental version.
I have to say it for them - they stayed cool, didn't react and didn't stop.
I had to look down - I couldn't watch. JL finally started back in,
Justin followed and they finished the song with their pride intact and an
audience none the wiser. I'm sure that won't happen again this tour!
LOL Poor guys. Good job of pulling it out!Tuesday Afternoon was fine despite the negative aura surrounding the lead singer, in fact, it might have lent something to TA. LOL We moved on to LoM and a obvious flub on the Strat solo. That was the luckiest moment of the concert. Justin got tickled by it and was looking over at Paul, smiling and even chuckling. He threw off whatever bad mood had been plaguing him and decided to enjoy himself. ; ) The concert was saved! Yay!!! Hey, it was my last one for an entire miserable week and I wanted to enjoy it. Just as the motto is in *my* house, so it is with The Moody Blues... If JUSTIN ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy. (And that includes the Band, the backups, the crew, the security guards, the parking lot attendants, the audience and the promoter! LOL) There's a little Gibson "hook" in ES that I've just noticed this tour. I've been up close and heard and watched English Sunset a hundred plus times and I've only noticed it this week. How had it escaped me? It's a twangy part in between the verses, but since I can't NOTE when it happens I can't recall it. Maybe I'll take a sharp stick and carve the moment into my forearm. (I'd take someone's PICK, but sigh! I don't have one! LOL) It's funny - JL said "Wales" and "Scotland" but didn't say Canada! Too many syllables, I guess. The Actor was a treat tonight and had the most amazing introduction. Ah, to have had a little tape recorder in my pocket! sigh 
Justin began his usual Rayless intro...This next song is an old one from
an album we brought with us on our first tour of Canada (it's the 51st state,
isn't it?) in 1968. A couple people yelled from the audience
that they were there or some such and JH veered off the usual path into something
resembling Wild Abandon. He *can* interact when he WANTS to, damn it,
and brilliantly at that! LOL He was absolutely great. He
started talking about Canned Heat and there was a ‘you know them, of course’
and then went ON to say that they had introduced him to an entirely new kind
of music and *introduced* him to a couple OTHER things as well!!! And what WERE those things, Mr Hayward??? LOL!!! Well, I'm too terrified to ask, but I'll betcha (I heard this over and over in Canada - No WAY and You betcha!) that one of them wasn't flower arranging. The second half began with a great version of YWD and a bouncy guitarist (always a portent of things to come). It got huge and sustained applause from those Moody-loving Canadians. They don't stand a lot that I could see, but they are wonderfully loud in their admiration. The Moodies BIGGEST Edmonton fan was sitting on my right in his 92 Tour of Canada t-shirt. He told me 15 times how much he LOVED TMB and started telling John the same thing. I think he was a small bit fueled before he came (and LATE at that) and he spent the evening alternately toasting The Moodies with his beer and bending my ear. He made the mistake of telling me he owned EVERYTHING they had ever done and I quickly inquired if he had Strange Times. LOL THAT stopped him! Nope, he sure didn't, but he promised me he'd go out and buy it tomorrow. Graeme alters the intro to H&H almost every night, and has lately been dedicating it to the American and Russian astronauts. H&H is a killer that just doesn't quit. Angel wanted to stand and dance, but I could TELL this audience wasn't of the standing variety. It didn't take much to talk the biggest Edmonton fan into joining us on our feet tho’ he laid over the fence most of the time yelling I LOVE you guys! Great version. There's nothing I personally enjoy more than a Graeme Edge dancing his heart out onstage. The Beginning of the Free you know! : ) I love to watch him go back to his kit and fling his tambourine behind him and get to work on those drums. It's a thrill! Nights was wonderful, that combination of sad and sweet and very strong tonight. JH had been adjusting his monitor in Calgary and missed the "fallback" but made up for it in Edmonton with a GREAT one. : ) I've noticed Graeme cueing Gordon for the drumroll this tour; it's another cool Moody Moment. Question went very well, and John threw his pick to their biggest Edmonton fan, thank GOD. It worked wonders in calming him down. While the beginning looked iffy, everything (and everyone) came together and produced an excellent concert. They hated to see it end! I hated to see it end since I was not crawling to Winter Peg (as other Canadians refer to it) and had to make my way Home from the frozen north back to Corn City. It was quite a trip, both in miles and in worlds, and I'm still walking unsteadily with one foot in the Gemini Dream. It's up to others to carry the flame this week. I wish both fans and The Band that magic combination of safe journey and wonderful music at journey's end and I hope that both await me at the Wisconsin Dells. Hey! Maybe they'll add "Highway" to the setlist! It could happen! LOL MaggieMay And at journey's end, You will find a friend In me! Photos courtesy of MaggieMay |
Wisconsin Dells