The Moody Blues!!!

My parents are self-described "concert junkies." Music (especially Rock music) has always had a prevalent place in our home. While doing chores as kids, we'd be blasting Rod Stewart, AC/DC or The Rolling Stones over the stereo (according to Murray, this isn't really very normal... his family was washing dishes and vacuuming to the harmonious backdrop of the Rankin Family).

So it's not surprising that my first concert was years ago, when I was 10 - we saw the Moody Blues play at the outdoor stage in Deer Lake Park.

Fast forward 18 years, and there we were again, rockin' out to "Your Wildest Dreams", "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock And Roll Band)". And, yet again, they were live in concert.

A fan-freakin'-TASTIC concert!!

The back-up drummer (Gordon Marshall) is AMAZING. This guy clearly lives and breathes the music. His body rocks with the rhythms and he is in constant motion on stage. Beats flow through his muscles like they were born there. I've never been so blown away by a dude on a set of drums!

The keyboardist was likewise very entertaining. Jenn and I just couldn't help but laugh every time our attention was turned to him. He was just so... goofy! (Unexpected for this genre of music, I know). The guy, unlike every other clad-in-black band member, was sporting a white and orange t-shirt. Probably the least Rock 'n Roll shirt I have ever seen. And his hair was the product of a JustinBieber/BeachBoy mash-up. But he was fabulously charismatic and highly entertaining.

The Blues themselves were also great. Though the sound system left something to be desired, the words we could make out were at times funny and at others interesting. Graeme Edge, having recently turned 70, shared a few humorous anecdotes and danced a little jig (with better moves than the New Kids on the Block, I might add) before casting aside his tambourine with a flourish. Bear in mind, the Blues were old dudes even when I saw them as a kid... and, well, they haven't gotten any younger. But they've still got the moves, let me tell you!

From the first chord of the first number, I was brought back to my childhood again. Granted, we didn't watch tonight's concert from under an umbrella, and we didn't have to walk ten thousand miles back to the car afterward. But it still transported me back in time to that first concert experience with my Auntie Carol and Ray. I've always had a special little place in my heart for the Moody Blues, and tonight's concert just cemented it in.

HUGE thanks to my Mom and Alan for the last-minute idea and the ticket gift. You guys ROCK! (hahaha... I'm so punny!)