Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Winnipeg Day 2 & 3


Okay, so it's been a busy week since I returned from Winnipeg. I figure that I should at least finish what I started with a day two rundown of the trip, you know.

Most of day two in Winnipeg was spent dodging drunken Indian folk waiting at bus stops (again) and acquiring Canadian stuff. I bought a "Canada" Starbucks mug, a shit ton of Canadian goodies that you can't find here (Ketchup and All Dressed chips, a Cadbury Halloween assortment, Aero Bars) and ate some Boston's. Yes, I broke my trip rule and ate at a chain restaurant we have in the U.S. But at least I ordered a Molson "M"...which was like a boozier, skunkier version of Canadian. It was wonderful.

The whole draw of the trip was seeing Pearl Jam. And holy shit, they did not dissapoint. We ended up sitting 4th row, and at one point I was like ten feet from Eddie Vedder. I've been close at concerts to artists before, but never someone of the magnitude of Mister Vedder. I have a weird quirk where I don't really view celebrities or musicians as real people, they kind of exist as a cross between a demigod and a robot in my odd mind. So being that close to one of my favorite artists of all time blew my cranium up in ways I can't really put into words other than "fucking rad".

The set list was nowhere near as mind blowing as the two nights in Alpine Valley, but it was solid. I never much cared for the song 'Present Tense' but PJ was on some chhhuuuuuuch shit doing it live. It was my second favorite live moment by the band (numero uno was 'In My Tree' live at the PJ20 shows). And they closed with 'Indifference', which meant over the course of two weeks I pretty much got to see all of Ten and .vs done live.

Checkout time from the shit hole known as the Marlborough Hotel was probably the biggest buzzkill I have ever experienced. My friends driver side window was smashed in (probably by the awesomely named Winnipeg gang "Money Over Bitches"). Since the city is closed on Sundays, we had to drive 7 hours home with an open window. Not even the awesomeness of Tim Horton's could save the return.

Overall, the trip to the great white north was pretty so-so. Canada has it's own social problems (that I didn't ever expect to and never have come across up there) but at least Pearl Jam rocked. Maybe if they play Toronto or Thunder Bay or something next time, I'd be more pumped. Winnipeg is going to be on the "do not visit" list for the forseeable future though.

1 comment:

dottie hinson said...

let me add thunder bay to your 'do not visit' list. stick with toronto, and squeeze in the blue jays.