good morning, 2007

well, it looks like i slept in a little, but here i am. wide awake in 2007... or something like that. so far, it's been a good start to the year, if even a little lazy... errr... umm... or a lot lazy.

i rang in the new year with a nice little year-ending musical roadtrip (fitting), first down to plattsburgh, ny / burlington, vt to meet up with some friends and catch apollo sunshine opening up for grace potter and the nocturnals at higher ground in burlington on the 30th - apollo sunshine were pretty good, though their set was marred by sound problems and the blowing a bass amp. phyllis was definitely the highlight of the show, and it seemed to be the tune where they got to let off the most steam, hahah. grace potter and the nocturnals started out great... when it was just grace potter singing a sweet gospel/blues type number, acapella, and playing a bit of organ for the first 4 minutes or so... once the nocturnals kicked in, though, it was lights out. i didnt enjoy that band anymore than i would have enjoyed any of the other thousands of bands playing watered down white blues funk. there was no identity there, just a lot of predictability, a lot of cheese, and a lot of things i've already heard a thousand times before. too bad, cuz that lady's got some pipes! i dont think we gave them more than half a dozen songs before we hit the road.

on the 31st, i trekked from plattsburgh up to ottawa for a 3rd straight new years, and for the 2nd time to celebrate it with the burt neilson band. i had a great time at the show, and actually thought it was pretty good overall, 2nd set especially. the first set had a bit of a different feel to it, im not sure if it was the room energy, or what, but the bar didnt feel all that energized, even though i thought the band was playing well. 2nd set was a different story. a total monster, highlighted for me by the No Quarter cover, coming by surprise at the end of holes. the band certainly did their part to change the atmosphere in the 2nd set, coming out with a rage on and not really ever letting up throughout the long set right on through the near 20 minute chevron encore. well done, boys!

the afterparty was a great time, though it seemed to fly right by. always seems to be the way up there: never enough time to spend with everyone you want to. still a great way to ring in the new year, though - im glad i went!

after sleeping the day away on the 1st i made it back to london in record time (5hrs. 5mins!), and basically went back to bed for 2 weeks, waking only to bowl and for the occassional video game.

decompressing, destressing and trying to learn how to relax again. i started the yar unemployed, and not having a store to manage and a dozen people to be responsible for has taken some getting used to... that lack of responsibility... lack of a place to be in the morning.. a bus to catch, etc... it's weird. but i cant say i dont enjoy it. it's my time, and now that im starting to wake up, i think that 2007 is gonna be just fine.

and if last weekend's nero reunion shows were any indication, i think im right. could the year have started any better? more on that later....