Eeee!! We went to the concert last night, and I must say that I had a wonderful time! Despite having to stand for a few hours, I did amazingly well. The loudness bothered Joel's ears, so we stayed against the wall, which was actually just fine because at least then 1) we didn't get overheated (people were coming out of the mass of bodies sweating!) and 2) my shortness didn't (much) impede my viewing of the stage. A friend of ours showed up at the tail end of the first band's performance and since she hadn't eaten, we ended up heading out for most of the third band's performance. Then she and I (while both our husbands left for their place) waited in line (with a couple of her friends) to get autographs!! And there they are!! *enthusiastically points below*

So there are their delightful autographs!! I've never been all that excited about this sort of thing, but considering it was my very first signed-band concert...
I guess I was more excited than I thought! *grin*

The first band was called "Blue Ember" and I found them to be pretty good. After looking at their MySpace page (seen here), I was puzzled because the lead vocal for the night was a woman who is most obviously not listed on their page as a band member. Her name was Jackie, but beyond that, I know nothing about her. There was a very surprising moment when all of a sudden she burst into, well, "Screamo", for lack of a better term. There were two reasons this surprised me. 1) They hadn't had any singing like that up to that point and 2) usually women aren't the ones performing in that style. There, I said it. It wasn't overdone, and wasn't repeated, so I think I was able to handle it alright because of that. ("Screamo" isn't something I normally can listen to, to be honest.)

The second band's name is "Break As We Fall", and I quite liked most of their music, too. They had a guest vocal, and she has a good voice, and I think she did very well despite the fact that her style isn't one I normally would listen to. Their MySpace page is here, and their regular website is here. The trumpet really won me over, let me tell you!

Cloud 9 was the third band, and I'm a bit undecided about their music. I mean, to be honest, I only saw their first and last songs on account of leaving to get food for Jackie (not the lead vocal, but rather our friend) and a place for me to sit for a little while (my hips were starting to hurt a bit). Jackie wasn't fond, and I'm not sure that Joel was either, but I kind of liked their sound. I feel as if I should listen to a bit more before I make a decision. They came from NY (whereas the first two bands are local), and I wish I'd gotten in their lines to thank them for coming all this way to perform for us. I will say that I think they had a really good stage presence (what I saw). You can see them and their music here. One thing we did hear before we left was their pronunciation of our state. I commented on that and we chuckled a little when it was mispronounced a second time. Their blog about last night mentions it, and made me laugh out loud!! Oreg-IN not Oreg-ON.

It was presented by ASOSU, which is the student body for Oregon State University. The purpose behind the concert was to promote voting and voter registration, which certainly is a decent cause. (Despite the fact that I'm not one of those who pushes the "Vote Now!" movement, I can appreciate people making intelligent (and creative) presentations for people to get involved. And they're right--it's our futures and our choices, and most importantly, our voices.

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And in line with the whole voting thing, here is a video I thought was excellently executed. Perhaps some of you have seen it before; it's called "Don't Vote."And while I don't talk politics here, I did do a page using the most recent Virtual Crop on one of my Yahoo Groups. It was for the "no photos" challenge, I think. (Or maybe it was for the "blue as main color" challenge, which I think is more likely.)

I think I'll be adding some thoughts to the strips below, or perhaps on the blue above the strips, but I still have to think about what I really want to say, as I'm not really certain about it yet.


Sooo... that's it for now! I'll make a post later on tonight, but it will be on a different topic. (I'd meant to post it yesterday, but... that just didn't work out. Um... obviously.)