Featuring Joy & Geoff, Big Brother , Little Brother , Sis , and various household (and outdoor) critters...

Saturday, 21 November 2009

The Cranberries - 20 Years


We were there, in person, in Toronto! I thought I would never see the Cranberries in concert, but with the announcement of a "just for fun" 20-year tour this fall, we jumped at the chance. Such a great band - they've been our favourite for years (although this concert made me realize we have not been playing them as much as we used to...). Actually, I kept checking for ticket sales announcements, and somehow missed the date by a few days. By the time I tried to get tickets for November 21, they were sold out. I was momentarily dismayed, then noticed a second date - and we ended up with aisle seats for November 20 (near the back, but it is a small auditorium, so no problem with that). The day before, Geoff had flu symptoms and came home from work. Then on the day of the show, Gladwyn vomited up a rope toy and was under the weather, so I ended up taking her in for x-rays (to make sure there wasn't more in there causing an obstruction) only a couple hours before we planned to leave. In the end, we made it (and Geoff and Gladwyn are just fine), and had a great time!

The evening was not without the usual camera-related glitches. I always carry a camera, and have three to use for various purposes. So, after a few concert-type venue experiments, I have decided that my older Canon digital point and shoot is best (my Canon SLR would in theory be best, but it's more of a pain to carry, and I worry about confiscation at events like this). The old Canon takes a clear picture from a distance, and has great zoom. Biggest drawback is the multiple AA batteries that have to be charged and ready. On the way to the concert, I decided to ensure that all was in good working order. Two sets of batteries charged, and ready to go. Then I tried to take a picture. Nothing except light streaks bouncing across the display. Nothing. Playback worked just fine, but I could only take pictures of light streaks. When Geoff had a look, he noticed some marks inside the viewfinder, as if something has been chewed up (meaning, most likely melted). I think my lovely camera is dead. And what a time to find out. That is the big disappointment of the night. No clear shots of Dolores for the photo album. Everything from a distance...so sad. Thankfully, I had my trusty, go-everywhere Fuji with me. It's a decent, compact point and shoot, which takes ok shots in the dark, but it just doesn't have the zoom I need for these occasions, and has a bit more trouble with distance. Aaah! I did take a few pictures, for better or for worse. What ended up being most useful was the video feature. Since I couldn't really get good photos, I ended up taking a few videos. Of course, since I had not planned to use that camera, I kept having to delete pictures from the nearly-full memory card to get more space. Now I think I need to have two cameras at all events, with two charged batteries, and extra memory cards. *Sigh*

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