That young woman is taking off her shirt!

... or, tales from a Nickelback concert

so, Nickelback was in town last night. My brother is on tour with the band as security and to provide the lead singer (Chad... something?) with some personal training. Anyway... yours truly was able to get VIP passes for the concert and went back stage!

Seeing my brother for the first time in quite awhile was great. I miss him and wish we could have more time together. He's ma great man and I wish we had more chances to connect. So, I'd gotten backstage and was trying to find Chris. Everybody kept asking me if I was his cousin. They seemed quite surprised that I was his sister (they kept asking me why I was so small! excuse me, I had on my heels!)

and there he came down the hallway next to a very famous lead singer. He's gained some weight- but in a positive way. Less skinny and scary from his marathon moment. He now has a bolt in his ear (!) and is sporting some bizarre facial hair. But- I would still pick him out in a crowd!

I met Chad- very nice and unassuming. He introduced himself- no assumption that we would know who he was. He asked if he could borrow Chris for awhile. And - with that we were escorted to the VIP seating on the floor. Best seats in the house (which was very full).

The concert was great. I think that the music (and the band personalities) would probably be better suited to a smaller venue. But the amount of sound, fire (I could feel the heat where I was and worried about those onstage), fireworks and general shennigans were pretty great. and there in the corner of the stage was my (not so) little brother. dressed all in black he looked like a floating head!

I recognized some of the songs- sang along with them: Photograph is a lovely song and I think anyone who has grown up in a small town recognizes the quality of life they are singing about.

After the show, we were back stage (walking past the great Czech hockey player Dominic Hasek, just back from the Olympics to play for the Senators and taking in a Nickelback concert- guess he's a fan. It was fun to chat with Chris for a bit. But he had to get on a bus for the 16 hour drive to Green Bay. It was great to catch up with him and see him working at a job he truly loves!

... and now I have Nickelback songs caught in an endless loop.