Last night John traveled to the USA for the first time since 2005 to pick me up from the Bellingham Airport. With PR card in hand he had no troubles making the border crossing and met me inside the terminal with, “you’re right this is a small airport, Cedar Rapids, Iowa is even bigger than this.” I have to say it was a pleasure to end my journey in the Pacific Northwest. Aside from the evening at Matt’s I ran into nothing but rude people full of attitude who were always looking at you, and speaking to you as though you were out to get them. I guess this is why I don’t go to Vegas often.
Today we had our second official beach day of the year. I took it easy and applied 15 sunscreen, although I’m not showing much colour now for being out in the sun for 2 hours earlier in the day. I do however have one spot on my ankle that I must have missed when applying the lotion because it’s beet red.
Sitting at home now and chatting with Keira, about to enjoy some lovely Belgian beer (complete with sediment) John and I can finally sit back and relax for the first time this weekend.
We’re now moving out to the balcony (and bringing my laptop so I can publish this post). Someone a couple floors above just dumped some water (I hope it was water) off their balcony and just barely missed us sitting here… sheesh.
I really need to get to that sediment beer so I’ll polish off this post with a You Tube clip of a commercial I caught on TV shortly after my Muffin Top post last month.
I realized this morning that my return shuttle ticket for the airport states that I must book my pickup 24 hours in advance. D’oh! Looks like I’ll be cabbing it, and probably soon too. I’ll get some airport breakfast and enjoy the free wifi, which is SUCH a nice perk, thanks again McCarran.
Last night was really great, I think the best part was that people from all over America that have never seen Matt perform let alone up close and in person, had the chance to meet someone they’ve been a fan of for years. It’s hard to control your giddyness when you know he’s just ‘a real guy’, but one that makes incredible music and sang amazingly last night. I hope (and am certain) all the guests had a great time.
Unfortunately I got a headache halfway through the show, and no I wasn’t drinking excessively. But the fact about my headaches is that they usually make me really nauseous. So there I was… at a private show in Las Vegas and about 20 minutes after Matt called it and everyone was drinking and having some food, I had to run to the facilities and… yeah. Good news is that shortly after I felt pretty good, hungry actually, so when the house closed down for the night Duane and I hit the strip to get some food. We took some photos and he barely made it through a yard of margarita. We were both pretty partied out, the whirlwind travel combined with the sensory and heat overload of Las Vegas was getting to us.
Heading back, I’m super glad I came down. The travel wasn’t painful and I got to meet some really great people (like Tony!) The live blog was a success and it was fun chatting to Dale throughout the night as well. I really hope Matt had a happy birthday, surrounded by old friends, new friends and admirers. Just an FYI, you can still catch the new album, Hospital Music, that is being streamed in its entirety from Matt’s site.
Time to pack, make sure my liquids are all in check, and I’ll make another post here either from McCarran or SeaTac.
18:40 – I’m sitting in Matt’s Las Vegas getaway, chatting to Jennie Roth – long time Matt fan, while watching as his fans from around the continent try to take in this whole experience.
I met up with the other attendees at 3:00pm and it was nice to get to know people before all coming together this evening. The one thing we all have in common? We’re Matt Good fans. Over dinner I met people from the East coast of the US who have been fans for a decade and never seen a show, people from Vancouver, Calgary and San Francisco. They were discussing their first favourite song, concerts they’ve been to and breaking the ice before we all spend this evening together getting the first live taste of Hospital Music.
I will be blogging throughout the night and during Matt’s performance – stay tuned (just keep hitting refresh every couple mins) as I’ll be listing the songs he plays and posting photos.
19:00 – Duane Storey is holding up the ENTIRE night. Okay just kidding, folks are still arriving and in the meantime everyone is chilling with a nice frosty beverage. BIG THANKS to Dale over at MG.org for linking to this post (and he should really be here too eh)
19:07 – Still waiting on a couple of guests, but not worrying at all. Everyone’s sitting on the living room floor, relaxing, getting out of the heat, and talking guitars with Matt. Feel free to leave any questions for Matt in the comments section in case there’s a “Q&A” session after the performance.
I can’t wait til Duane gets here then I can stop posting camera phone pics.
19:23 – Duane is here. Pic quality will improve… until we get a couple beers in him. It’s beer o’clock.
20:02 – Just video chatted and shared the first song – Metal Airplanes with Dale.
20:07 – Being treated to I am Not Safer Than A Bank rolled into Champions of Nothing. At dinner someone commented on how this is the best album-opener of a song…. a 9 minute song at that. It’s truly epic.
20:16 – Third song is Suburbia… “going all the way back to 1999”.
20:19 – After teasing the Berkeley Student, Matt launches into I’m a Window. I feel like getting off the floor and dancing… or maybe doing the maid.
20:30 – After some chit chat and amusing tales of what it’s like to forget lyrics mid-song/mid-concert and making things up on the fly, Matt is playing Black Helicopter
20:34 – Special song for Tony is being played now… If I was a Tidal Wave and the video iChat I had with Dale is now up on YouTube.
20:42 – As you can see our little chat video is now up on YouTube. The next song was Odette… “do you wash your hands before you touch the heart?” Born Losers is up next followed by True Love Will Find You in the End.
Beer and food time for all.
For those wondering about the camera, Current TV (the network started by Al Gore) was here covering the event. Max Lugavere and Jason Silva were doing an exclusive spotlight on Matthew Good that will air nationally on Current TV in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, learn more about the network and how to watch at www.current.tv.
I am fully hotel’ed, sitting here in the Luxor looking down on the pool I’m going to go jump into. McCarran was awesome, I sat down at a food court table when my plane landed and about 5 people came up to talk to me…. just randomly. The best was this man from Washington, DC who walked over and said, “Can I join you Mac buddy?” Since there was a lack of seating I figured I could spare 1 of my 4 chairs. He sat down and told me about how he and his wife are new Mac converts and how they just got their heads around how *easy* it is to use a Mac.
I had to take off shortly after to grab my shuttle and everyone I met after that has been nothing but rude. This town is a business and when people ask questions or make someone deviate from their script, the attitudes come out. I’m not going to sweat it since I’m only here overnight.
This place smells like a steakhouse and the elevators (inclinators) go up sideways, that’s what happens when you have a pyramid-shaped hotel. I just wanted to log on and post a photo of Bourton – my sister and Tanya’s well-traveled sheep from Bourton-on-the-Water England. You can follow his adventures on his Facebook group.
I’m going to meet up (hopefully) with some other attendees of tonight’s shin dig in about 2 hours so I better get moving if I want to get in some pool time.
Update: Hospital Music started streaming at midnight on MatthewGood.org, and concert dates were announced on the FOX this morning as well – Happy Birthday Matt!. My sister sent me a text that I received here in Salt Lake – she was trying to win tickets by answering a trivia question: What high school did Matthew Good attend? She knew, but wasn’t the right caller. Ahh radio station contests.
My live blog will begin later tonight, hopefully I’ll have a couple posts up before then… maybe… the pool is calling. For Leg 1 of my trip, read below…
Update: Now in Vegas, 12:04pm (PS – McCarran rocks for having free wifi)
I fell asleep watching Harry Potter last night, I woke up around midnight and realized it was still on, checked my phone to make sure my alarm would wake me up at 3:30, and went back to sleep. When my sister picked me up there were no other cars on the road. We were post-bar crowd and pre-rush hour so we were able to get from North Surrey to the border in about 20 minutes.
Pulling up to the Pacific Highway truck crossing the border guard asked why I was going away, when I told her she lit up, “Oh cool!” then let us pass. About 20 more minutes down the I-5 we arrived at the Bellingham International Airport. I’ve been to my fair share of tiny airports but I have to say I think this one is the tiniest. About 10 feet from the entry doors are the ticket counters. Once I had my boarding passes I pivoted 180 degrees and walked about another 10 paces to the Security Area. Now I’m not sure if it was just the luck of the draw or the fact that I was using my BC Driver’s License as ID but I was chosen for one of their extra special Security Checks. I have to say though, that they were SUPER nice (and gentle) the woman who patted me down asked if I wanted a private screening, to which I replied “uh, will I be taking anything off?”, she said “no” and laughed. The two men checking my carry on bags were sifting through my unmentionables and swabbing every piece of electronics I had with me: a laptop, camera, cell phone, 2 ipods, and a microphone. I had thought ahead and placed my toothpaste and hair gel in ziploc bags, which they appreciated until they came across my mascara, lip gloss and foundation cream. It wasn’t a big deal, I was just told that “next time” I should include these items in the pouch as well and to make sure not to bring peanut butter or ranch dressing either.
I turned the corner, walked another 15 paces and was in the waiting area that had two signs, “Gate 1” and “Gate 2”. The woman who handed me my boarding pass earlier now donned a safety vest and was directing ground traffic. I thought to myself, for such a small mickey mouse airport they sure had some nice brand new leather seats in the waiting area, which I appreciated greatly. Completely ignoring the fact that a child passenger was running up and down the ramp on the other side of the security door that lead to the runway. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Last night John traveled to the USA for the first time since 2005 to pick me up from the Bellingham Airport. With PR card in hand he had no troubles making the border crossing and met me inside the terminal with, “you’re right this is a small airport, Cedar Rapids, Iowa is even bigger than this.” I have to say it was a pleasure to end my journey in the Pacific Northwest. Aside from the evening at Matt’s I ran into nothing but rude people full of attitude who were always looking at you, and speaking to you as though you were out to get them. I guess this is why I don’t go to Vegas often.
Today we had our second official beach day of the year. I took it easy and applied 15 sunscreen, although I’m not showing much colour now for being out in the sun for 2 hours earlier in the day. I do however have one spot on my ankle that I must have missed when applying the lotion because it’s beet red.
