J. and I spent Saturday and yesterday doing some epic shopping. Got nearly everything I was looking for, including some clothes for work and some winter boots (the likes of which I have not worn - indeed, needed to wear - for a decade now). Christmas shopping now nearly complete.
Sunday was very eclectic. We went first for a magnificent brunch to the Mount Stephen Club, a beautiful, stately Victorian home downtown which is now a private club. Probably the best brunch I've ever had - we stayed almost three hours and sampled nearly everything the buffet had to offer, before having ourselves a little tour of the opulent premises. Then we went up the street to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, to see their current exhibition of paintings from Provence. Very very good, and it brought back memories of my holiday there last year - quite a few representations of landmarks such as the Fontaine de Vaucluse, and the Papal Palace in Avignon.
After that, we headed to a salon to be coiffed for the evening's event, before heading back to Jana's to get changed and made up. By 7.30, we were heading back downtown to the Bell Centre for the concert. The Bravery (who were the opening act) were due to play at 8 pm and we didn't want to miss that. They gave quite a good performance, and were pretty well-received by the crowd (it must be so hard to be the opening act at these things!). Then...J. and I headed to the sound booth where we were due to meet with The Bravery's tour manager. My friend C., who works in the music biz and who is mates with the band's manager, kindly made arrangements for us to meet the band, which was pretty freakin' cool. So we met up with 'Keith', who ushered us backstage (!). Quite surreal as neither of us had ever done the backstage thing before (very quiet and orderly back there). After hanging around for a little bit, we found ourselves in The Bravery's dressing room! Ack! A bit intimidating as we were the only fans there, and the band were obviously very tired, having just come off stage. But they were polite and chatted to us for a bit. J. and I took our leave after a couple minutes, though, as we didn't want to be intrusive. Totally surreal.
We went back out to our seats a few minutes before Depeche Mode took the stage. And what a show! I had never really been a huge DM fan in the 80s (though I did buy most of their albums - J. was probably a bigger fan than me), and lost touch with them completely in the 90s. But their latest album is pretty good, and as it turns out, they are amazing live! The set was like something out of a retro sci-fi film, with these consoles that looked like spaceships. To the left of the stage, there was a huge grey ball with slogans on it ('angel', 'sex', 'love', 'pain', 'enjoy') that lit up during different parts of the show. Rather odd at times, but far be it for me to question their artistic vision...J. christened it the 'Christmas Ball of Armageddon'. Heh.
Dave Gahan looked amazing - far better than a former heroin addict has any right to. He spent most of the show stripped to the waist and is quite...um...agile in his movements. Quite a revelation - who knew? I think J. had developed the hots for him by the end of the evening! And Martin Gore did not disappoint. He arrived on stage sporting a pair of small feathery black wings and what looked like a chicken's arse on his head. Sadly, the arse disappeared after the first few songs, but the wings remained.
The Bell Centre was packed out - 13,000 in attendance, apparently. And the crowd was insane. I've never seen anything like it. Sure, I've observed some hysteria at Duran Duran shows, but they always seem to have a considerable 'harassed boyfriend/husband' component, who stand around all evening with arms crossed, looking pained. Everyone at the Depeche show, by contrast, was totally into it. Dave Gahan had but to bat an eyelash, and the crowd would go apeshit. It was unbelieveable.
I've definitely developed a new appreciation for Depeche. Fantastic show.
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