So Sunday night we traveled over to Omaha to catch DMB. It was my first visit to Omaha since I was a wee lil chap and I don't really remember much of anything from then. But from this last experience, I'm fairly good with never going back.

We were a little early so we thought we'd start by grabbing a bite to eat at a McDonalds across from Creighton. Now I realize it's McDonalds and I wasn't expecting luxury by any means, but holy crap. The three employees didn't' seem to know how to turn off anything that beeped, it was a constant series of beeps coming from every damn corner of the restaurant. The tables weren't ever wiped down or cleaned. (When I say ever, I mean since the establishment opened) Chairs were everywhere around the floor, just not where you might actually need one. After waiting in line for a considerable amount of time, you are greeted by the pissed off troll behind the counter that doesn't actually look at you when you order or when they talk to you. And since they don't begin with a "Hello, how can I help you?" or something along this cordial lines, it's hard to determine when you're being spoken to. Since they yell at each other through the kitchen, when the troll says "What you want?" without looking at you, you just have to assume that it's obviously you they're talking to. Great hell. Don't go to McDonalds in Omaha.

The second event of fun was the great search for a Gas Station. We drove through the greater Omaha/Creighton area before happening across a gem of a store where we could finally fill up.

Let me dwell on Creighton for a second. I've heard of Creighton mostly because they seem to be the obvious upset choice every March. I must say though, If you've never seen their campus, or at least where their campus is, you're not missing much. I suppose I might have a slightly bias view considering my university is in the top three for most beautiful campuses in the country, but still. Creighton is in a dirty part of town with run down houses and buildings. There is no way I'd want to spend four years there.

After driving back through the Greater Omaha area, we arrive back at the Qwest center, an impressive looking building from the outside adorned with blue lights. Once you get inside however, I'm not so sure I'm impressed. Aside from the odd setup in the lobby area, getting to the floor is a little weird. I've never been to a place where you must walk through the back hallways past the locker rooms and dressing rooms to get to the floor. Weird. On top of this, the inside of the Qwest center resembles a penitentiary. All the seats are grey. All the walls are grey. It's just not an inviting, warm place to be. You might be thinking that it's an arena, what was I expecting? Well I've been to several arenas that actually used some sort of color, some sort of fabric some sort of anything that gave it character and life. For the $290 million it cost to build the place, I guess about $280 million was spent on lights for the outside.

Onto the most annoying thing about Omaha... Now I should preface this with a note from a few weeks ago. As I mentioned in a previous post, we saw OAR in Stephens on the 5th. That show followed a concert they did in Omaha, where the crowd was so bad that they actually walked off the stage during the set and didn't even come back out for an encore. The band actually thanked us for being a great crowd and that they needed a night like that after their last outing.

So now onto the DMB show, a show that sold out in 12 minutes mind you. For the first time in 27 DMB shows, my girlfriend and I were on the floor, 24th row. Pretty nice. Now I can tell you from Alpine that at most shows the crowd is into it. There was so much energy at Alpine in the Pavilion that I was very excited to be on the floor for this show. What a disappointment. The people on the floor (aside from very few) just stood there for most of the show. During "Stand Up", a song that is ok on the album but got the crowd rocking at Alpine, the Omaha crowd just stood there, didn't move a freakin muscle. Usually during the song Dave breaks out quite the little dance because the energy is overwhelming, not this night. Not when the crowd just stands there and doesn't sing along, doesn't move along doesn't do a damn thing. What an impressive disappointment. After Stand Up ended, the played Seek Up. No obvious if the crowd wasn't into Stand Up, they must be lifetime DMB fans who aren't fans of the new stuff. (Which is annoying, but whatever) Nope, they weren't. So many people sat down and talked through my favorite DMB song. People were asking was the name of the song was and all kinds of shit. Holy crap, I've never been so disappointed with a crowd in my life. A crowd that was so anxious to go that it sold out in 12 minutes, but really didn't care to be there. It'd been nine years since DMB had last been Omaha, I think it's obvious why. I'd be amazed if they went back, I know that won't be going back.

And one more thing about the Qwest Center. They need to lighten the hell up. If you were on your cell phone before the show, a large man would come and tell you that once the show starts, you'd better not think about busting it out or they'd take it. There were five cameras taken within the first 2 songs of the show. It's a concert, people are there to have fun. Perhaps this is why no one moves, they're scared of getting kicked out.

Ok, rant over. (For now) Just keep in mind that you probably shouldn't ever go to Omaha...

Opening Act:
Gavin Degraw

DMB Setlist 11-27-05, Omaha, NE

1 - Don't Drink The Water
2 - Dream Girl
3 - When The World Ends
4 - Stand Up
5 - Seek Up
6 - Hunger For the Great Light
7 - Where Are You Going?
8 - American Baby Intro
9 - American Baby
10 - Dancing Nancies
11 - Old Dirt Hill
12 - Louisiana Bayou
13 - What Would You Say?
14 - Pig
15 - Two Step
Encore:
16 - Christmas Song (Tease)
17 - Everyday
18 - Ants Marching

So apperently it's Thanksgiving Break, which as I understand it, should mean that I get a week off from school and stuff. Let's see... I worked Saturday, I worked Sunday, I worked Yesterday morning, then I came home and worked on school work for about 5 hours. Today I have no work, but I do get to spend the vast majority of the day doing homework. Where does the break come in? I'm just wondering.


Previous Lyric: "Are you tired of watching the rain hit the glass
all alone but aware of the places we've passed" - Black Car by July For Kings

The video depcits songs. Each scene could be a couple of things. According to the creator of the commercial, there are 75 songs depicted. You can post the ones you find here, please include the actual song name w/ artist. I'll post the 30 some I've found so far...


"I Shot the Sherif" - Eric Clapton
"Angel" - Sarah McLachlan
"Eye in the Sky" - Alan Parsons Project
"Tears in Heaven" - Eric Clapton
"Purple Rain" - Prince
"Message in a Bottle" - Police
"Blackbird" - Beatles
"Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" - Otis Redding
"Caged Bird" - Alicia Keys
"Freebird" - Lynard Skynard
"Willie the Pimp" - Frank Zappa
"Come Sail Away" - Styx
"Magic Carpet Ride" - Steppenwolf
"Genie in a Bottle" - Christina Aguilera
"Another Brick In the Wall" - Pink Floyd
"7 Nation Army" - White Stripes
"Where the Streets Have No Names" - U2
"Dancing Queen" - Abba
"God Save The Queen" - Sex Pistols
"Hotel California" - Eahles
"White Rabbit" - Jefferson Starship
"Smoke Two Joints" - Bob Marley
"Tiny Dancer" - Elton John
"Piano Man" - Billy Joel
"Blue Suede Shoes" - Elvis
"I am the Walrus" - Beatles
"Fat Bottom Girl" - Queen
"American Woman" - The Guess Who
"Whiskey Girl" - Toby Keith
"Video Killed the Radio Star" - Buggles
"Werewolves of London" - Warren Zevon
"We Are the Champions" - Queen
"Paint It Black" - Rolling Stones

So I'd been saving for mr. 360 for about a year. I put my name on a list in June. I'm number 86 on said list. Stupid gamestop is only gettin 26. They do however "almost" assure me that I'll have my Xbox 360 by christmas. Sheesh...

I'm guessing that most of you haven't seen this yet, as it's not yet running on TV. So unless you've stumbled across virgin digital lately, take a look at this commercial. It's pretty interesting, and tomorrow I'll tell you the trick behind the whole concept if you don't already know it...

Virgin Digital Brand Essence Commercial
(Courtesy Ad Age)

But my *explicative* Internet provider sucks. I hate them. I hate them with a passion. Underline passion. The "amusing" thing is that we get "free" internet with our rent. After 24 years of living, I know that "free" merely means "figured into rent without you knowing exactly how much we're charging you for your crappy internet." I'm sure there are plenty of you out there who share in my sorrow, and you should know that I will weep for you as well.

Consider it in your best interests to avoid Alliance Technologies at all costs. :)

Ok, rant over.....

As I mentioned yesterday, I read Whedonesque on a fairly regular basis. It's not so much a blog as it is a collection of news related to Jess Whedon. (He created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly a.k.a. Serenity, and has also done some writing for Toy Story, Roseanne and a far amount of other stuff) Anywho, Joss posted something on Whedonesque to let everyone know what's up. I personally was particularly amused by the third paragraph. That could be due to the fact that I'm used to living in Iowa, that state nobody knows about, and that those who do generally don't care about. Unless of course you live here, in which case you probably care about Iowa, but that could go either way. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Iowa. I like it here. Back yards, open country side, not overly populated... Aw hell, this wasn't supposed to be a post defending Iowa, it's more for the link, so here it is.

Post from Joss (via Whedonesque).

Here's a fun little poster that a company is placing on the back of chairs in dinners and restaurants. Kinda cool, and amusing as well.

So I read a far amount of other blogs through out the day and week. Most of which are advertising or marketing in nature. I like to see what's happening in the world of advertising, see the fun ideas and the cool rollouts, of which there are many. There are also a good number of misc. blogs I read, like Whedonesque and Dooce to name a couple. Wired.com also has a few blogs that I like to read. Occasionally any of these blogs have interesting links or amusing things that I like to share with anyone who happens across this loley site and not theirs. So that being said, here is the latest of my amusement.

Where Babies Come From
It's a German book for kids that explains where babies come from. The writing is in German, but the pictures are mostly what's amusing. Click on the image to advance to the next page of the book. When you get to the actual birth part, perhaps you will laugh as hard as I did.

Overall a great concert. The sound was amazing, I'm sure it has a good amount to do with the fairly good acoustics of the building itself. The crowd was awesome, very into the concert. I was actually surprised with how many people knew the lyrics to both the old and the new songs. The band took a few opportunities to thank the audience and even said they needed a night like this. It wasn't until after the concet that I read about the Omaha crowd. (Apperently the crowd was very inconsiderate and prompted many pauses during the show. I guess it so bad that the band didn't even come back out for an encore.) I'm glad that our crowd was very respectful and very entusiastic.


Openers:
Toby Lightman
Apperently Toby Lightman has actually been on the radio lately. As I never listen to the radio, I had never heard of her before. I wasn't expecting a great deal as was the first of two openers. I must tell you that I was plesantly surprised. Their sound was great and they had a great stage presence. You could definitely tell that the band was into the music and wasn't just there for the gig. I purchased her cd as soon as the band finished and my girlfriend and I both thoroughly enjoy her music. I would strongly suggest you give her a listen if you're into a strong voice with a R&B feel.


Michael Tolcher

Pretty good band, reminded me a bit of Depeche Mode. I don't have a great deal to say about them, other than if I had their cd I'd probably listen to them a fair amount. Their sound is unique as is their personality.







OAR Setlist

1 - About Mr. Brown
2 - The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) ->
3 - City On Down
4 - Dareh Meyod
5 - Lay Down
6 - Destination (Fire On The Mountain Tag)
7 - One Shot
8 - Mr. Moon
9 - Hey Girl (Date Intro)
10 - Old Man Time
11 - Heard The World *
12 - The Stranger *
13 - Whose Chariot?
14 - James
15 - That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker
Encore:
16 - I Feel Home**
17 - Love And Memories***
18 - Delicate Few

*W/ Toby Lightman
**Marc & Richard
***Pat Doyle (Drum tech) on Tambourine

I was reminded of one of my very first classes today as it was current event day in my marketing class. Once a week or so a few people must give a little presentation linking some news story with the things we've learned in class. It's not an overly involved presentation by any means. Of course I was still impressively amazed at just how bad some people are at speaking in front of a class. And it wasn't nervousness. Nervousness I can understand, I can have sympathy for them. These are the people that either don't care or just lacked he fundamental ability to speak convincingly on a subject. I've never heard so many "Uhm"s and "like"s in my entire existence. One girl stood at the front of the room, her leg crossed over the other, chewing non-chalantly on her gum and turning her head about to make her hair flow back and forth. It drove me insane. If you're presenting something to me, lose the gum and stand there like you know what the hell you're talking about.

The class this reminded me of was my very first speech com. class. I think it was 110 with Barbara Mack. This wasn't a class where we spoke to the class on anything or had to present things per se. It was actually a huge lecture hall of close to 400 people. Every class, however, she would ask questions and ask for input from people. The first few classes she'd listen to whatever you had to say and then politely tell you at the end how many times you said "like" or paused to say "uhm". After a week she'd actually stop you when you said one of these cursed words and make you begin again. The entire class caught on after awhile and so help a poor soul who decided to drop one of these words. The sad part is most people don't even realize they're doing it, and it's somewhat hard to stop. But for the sake of the professional world, if you're going to speak, try and at least make it seem as though you've visited a collegiate campus and perhaps have even heard someone of authority in a field speak about something, anything, once in your life.

The first time I saw Bon Jovi, it was an amphitheatre in Tinley Park. At the time I thought that was one of the best concerts I'd ever seen. Perhaps it was because I'd been singing their songs since I was 5 years old. Last night's show was very good, not quite up to the last time I saw them, and probably not quite as good as Paul McCartney, but most excellent and definitely worth the coin. They had a good mix of old and new and the crowd was definitely into the most well known songs. The concert had good variety and a good vibe, I would definitely encourage everyone to catch them if they come to your neck of the woods.

Opening Band : The Nadas

Last Night's Setlist

1 - Last Man Standing
2 - You Give Love A Bad Name
3 - Born To Be My Baby
4 - Story of my Life
5 - The Radio Saved my Life Tonight
6 - Have a Nice Day
7 - Last Cigarette
8 - It's My Life
9 - Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (Acoustic - Jon Only)
10 - Love For Sale (Acoustic)
11 - Bed of Roses (Acoustic)
12 - Blaze of Glory (Acoustic)
13 - Lay Your Hands On Me (Acoustic)
14 - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
15 - Bad Medicine
16 - Raise Your Hands
17 - Who Says You Can't Go Home
18 - Livin' On a Prayer
-Encore 1-
19 - Bells of Freedom
20 - Wanted Dead or Alive
-Encore 2-
21 - Treat Her Right



Previous Lyric - "Maybe tomorrow, I'll find my way home" - "Maybe Tomorrow" by Stereophonics