The Killers....well...killed

I've been to a number of concerts in the past few months and they've all been pretty great. But The Killers at Massey Hall on Tuesday were absolutely fantastic.

First of all, Massey Hall is one of my favourite venues to see a concert. It's relatively small (capacity is under 3000) and feels intimate, the acoustics are great and I just love walking into the old building. Mind you, I've been fortunate to have floor seats for most of my events which undoubtably improves on the experience. The wooden gallery seats offer little in the way of comfort or leg room and practically require hiring a sherpa to make the climb up the stairs...though still offer a better concert experience than the 300 level at the ACC or other large venue.

Now, the only thing that Massey Hall doesn't have going for it is that the crowds are often on the "polite" side. I have spent pretty much entire concerts sitting in my seat (which I decided to stick to after an unfortunate incident involving gum being thrown in my hair for having the audacity to actually be on my feet at a concert). That was not an issue on Tuesday. About 95% of the crowd were on their feet from the moment the band took the stage until the final bow.

The Killers new album (Day & Age) hits the shelves next week and world tour kicks off in the new year. In preparation for the tour, the band has played a number of smaller venues in a few major cities around the world, likely to work out the kinks performing the new material. From where I was standing, I really didn't see any. And I had a pretty good vantage point. Fourth row tickets on the aisle became 2nd row centre about 2/3 of the way through the concert when security detail managed to efficiently and quietly shuffle people around to fill in the area in front of the stage. The show itself was paced well combining the new material with better known hits (and they really have more of them than I had catalogued in my mind before the show) and Flowers is an endearingly dorky rock star with an impressive live voice.

They're back in Toronto to play the ACC in January and I'd recommend going if you were on the fence. As for me? As tempted as I am to see them again, I know that there's no way I'm going to top this experience so I'm better off with my memories....and all the vidoes on YouTube...

Don't screw up this election m'kay?

I really hope you folks south of the 49th parallel don't screw this thing up today.

I lamented in my facebook status a few weeks ago that I would gladly exchange my just cast vote in the Canadian election for one in the election happening south of us today. I am admittedly (and a bit sadly) more informed about the political situation in the U.S. than I am in my own damn country, though frankly, I do believe that the policies of the States end up having a larger impact on my day to day life than those here. Also, the entire Canadian political spectrum seems to be about half as wide and exist entirely to the left of that in the U.S. to begin with. My TV hubby put it best the day after the Canadian election when he said that the Conservatives were elected in Canada...which is roughly equivalent to the "Ralph Nader lovers for Peace" party in the U.S.

Frankly, part of me is just going to be happy that the election is over no matter what the outcome. It strikes me as highly amusing that Canadians were able to call an election, campaign, vote (and actually determine a winner) all in the span of the final 10% of the time that McCain and Obama have been on the campaign trail.

A larger part of me has been watching the debates, enjoying my daily 'Daily Show' time more than usual, reading the blogs and wanting to shout at the screen half the time Palin opens her mouth and will be sitting in front of the television tonight waiting to see if Barack Obama will make history.

And check out this link to log your own vote in the American election...wouldn't it be funny (and again sad) if more Canadians actually registered their vote on this site than actually voted in the election we held last month?