Did the wedding on Saturday and it went really good. Played a lot of good old tunes and country and per requests. But early in the day, got some bad news. Lyle Madge, and old friend from the 911 and my old days of Studio, passed away as a result of a stabbing and beating in Magrath. Seriously, what the fuck is going on with people nowadays?! Anyways, I am saddened by it and may you find a calm my friend. RIP Lyle....

Had a wedding to dj on Saturday last weekend, Opi's sister's to be exact. It was at the Italian hall and I thought it went over fantastically great. They danced, and had a lot of fun. I even knew some people there. :)

Rest of the week went by pretty decently. Had lunch with my cousin Kevin on Tuesday. I haven't seen him in about 7 years or so. He lives out in Burnaby, BC as a graphic designer doing government and union contracts. Nicely done mate. Met with him and his girlfriend/common law wife, as they have been together for so long. Very friendly, down to earth girl.

Blarney Stone on Wednesday was great. Slow start but got stupidly busy. Met the alternate dj for Sundays, Paul Wittle from B93. Strong British accented fellow, he asked a lot of questions and we connected well about 'dj' related things. Studio 54 was about the same, with a slow start but Josh had the dance floor smokin' .

And now for some sad news. First off I guess Ed McMahon of the Tonight Show fame, passed away on Tuesday or so. But I got the news from Brad my roommate that on Thursday, Michael Jackson AND Farrah Fawcett both passed away. Michael Jackson died from cardiac failure and Farrah Fawcett died from cancer. What a horrible week for the entertainment industry.

Observation: A lot of people criticized Michael Jackson for being this and that, but from a musician and entertainer point, he was simply and truly an amazing phenomenon. From his private point of view, he was messed up. He will be missed and his music will endure the test of time.

Been a semi busy week for me. Worked on Wednesday at Blarney and man was it busy. And it was fight night. Apparently one of them involved Shane at the front door and some kid sucker punched him. needless to say he proceeded to pummel the kid into the pavement, from what I heard, and then there's Dave Brown, who apparently kicked some kid out (why he was is beyond me seeing as he's not a bouncer or doorman) and at the end of the night, the kid was back in. So instead of asking the kid to leave, he reached from behind and grabbed the kid by the throat and started dragging him out. *sigh*

Thursday was a good day. Got my rental vehicle from Enterprise and was on the road by 12:00 which is what I wanted. Drove up to Edmonton to see Coldplay. Got to E-town in about 4.5 hrs which was great time. Missed one turn off in town to get to Rexall Place but quickly recovered and pulled into the parking lot 30 minutes prior to the doors opening. Got my ticket from the Will Call booth with 10 min to the doors opening. Finally 6 PM rolls around and the doors are open. I make my way to the merchandise stand and get myself a shirt. Seeing as I didn't eat anything before I left, I grabbed some food at the concession stand and made my way to my seat. Found it and anxiously awaited the opening acts.

7:00 - 7:30 PM 1st band was a band from Australia called Howling Bells. A female vocalist fronted band, the had a very soothing, and a nice rich sound with echoing (<----- love that word !!) guitar riffs. For an opening act, I'd give it a solid 8.5 out of 10. A break until 8:00 PM for the 2nd band.

8:00 - 8:40 PM Snow Patrol came on and performed. I'm not a big fan of their music but they played well and thanked the crowd a lot. Overall I'd give them an 8 out of 10. They almost seemed to try too hard. But they, along with Howling Bells, knew that everyone was there for Coldplay. The transition from each opening act to the headliner was good though. Each bringing slightly more of that stadium sound.

Just before Coldplay cam on, the intermission music got really loud for 3 songs. Probably were checking the limits of the frequency ranges for when Coldplay was to play. 1st song was a U2 track off the new album, 2nd was Jay-Z - I'm a Hustler and 3rd was the Blue Danube waltz. 3 very different styles. At the playing of the last note of the waltz, the lights went out, and the crowd roared. Showtime !!

9:00 PM Coldplay did their intro song off the Viva La Vida album, Life in Technicolor, and came out waving sparklers and twirling fire batons or something of that nature. Then they kicked it into high gear playing 2 very recognizable songs, Clocks and Yellow right off the hop ! For Yellow, giant balloons came down and the lighting was all in yellow. Then the intermixed new tracks from their most recent album with others off their older ones. They performed a couple sort of acoustic tracks just off stage but the best was yet to come. Nearly 2/3 of the way through their night, they left the main stage, walked all the way to the back of the arena, and performed on a set stage IN the stands. Amazing ! Just enough room for the 4 of them, and a few guitars and such. 3 song acoustic jam. The last being a Monkees cover of I'm A Believer. Then when they finished, the audio tech, played a dance remix of Viva La Vida as the band made their way back to the main stage to finish off the night. The last song had the confetti machines blowing confetti, in the shape of butterflies, all over the place. Of course there was an encore of 2 songs which concluded a phenomenal evening. To wrap it all off they handed out a special 9 song Live EP of some of their favorites. Truly an honor to attend this show. I can't wait until the next one, where I will get a better seat. Got back in my vehicle and left Edmonton to drive all the way back to Lethbridge. At one point, I was tailing a guy, and was doing 160 KM/hr. Fastest I have ever driven. I did see 3 RCMP over the course of the drive home, but made sure to be cautious.

Going to Green Day in about 2 weeks, followed by No Doubt, 2 weeks from then. Best to get some rest. :)

Well it's been WAY too long since my last blog but seeing as not much has changed since the last one, I'd say it's ok.

Where to start. The bar scene has been decent over this past week. With the nice weather this weekend, seems everyone skipped out of town. But it was decent all the same.

No weddings fro me over the past 2 weeks but got Opi's sister's next weekend and a referral one the following weekend. Also got the Coldplay concert on Thursday in Edmonton. Gonna be a long day then, seeing as I have to leave about noon to be up there by 5 ish. Doors open at 6 I believe, so I wanna get there early and soak up the atmosphere. Then 2 weeks later it's Green Day, also in Edmonton, and 2 weeks after that it's No Doubt in Calgary. Wooooo !!

So Chris at the Blarney Stone is making me upset now. I went from not working at all on Sundays, to working every 3rd Sunday or so, to now every 2nd week. As long as I get my raise that was promised, I'll be alright with it. But, he does need to understand he can't keep changing his mind like that. I almsot think he's afraid at the consequences if I did leave. I think he's convering his ass is all. Boy, I'm about to drops da bomb !! :)

Comment: Not sure if I mentioned this before but a few weeks ago I had a guy come up to the booth at Studio to congratulate me. I said for what, to which he replied that he was finishing his schooling and won't be returning to Lethbridge anytime soon. He also said thanks for all the great nights he spent partying it up to my tunes and the copious amounts of fun he had during that time. He ended up by saying how much I meant to him in his life during his school years as well. I was totally taken back by this. All I could reply was "You're most welcome". That truly is one of the most incredible compliments I have EVER received in this industry and has truly touched me deep inside.

Today I felt like garbage. And not the kind that's fresh, like you just pitched it 1 minute ago. No, I'm talking like the kind that's been sitting out in the hot sun for days. Went to Sheree's BBQ/pool party. Well the weather was terrible at a balmy 11 C so not exactly swimming weather. The BBQ was great. Shawna was half drunk and cooking up up tasty burgers and hot dogs. mmmmm. I felt quite ill, and without energy. I left then came back still feeling like ass. I think I might need to go to the doctor's if this doesn't clear up soon.

Worked my last Sunday night for at least 3 months. Walked in tonight at about 10ish thinking that B93 would be starting. Well, I guess I didn't hear or they (the owners) didn't tell me that the new promotion starts on next Sunday. So I ripped home, grabbed my stuff and started up at 10:30 PM. By the time it got busy, around 12:30, and by the time I got a solid dance floor, which was about 1 AM, I only had one hour to go. Pretty much anti-climactic though. I still and seem to always have fun. Wednesday should be ok, but it'll be hard to handle not working on a day that Opi, Paul and myself made and kept busy for over 8 years. Two thumbs down to you Blarney Stone for letting me go on Sundays.

Wow it was actually quite busy last night at Studio. A LOT of promo though, but still hopefully it's a cascade effect and people start coming and realize it's a good place to be.

Tonight I am NOT working at Blarney. They start their silly 'live to air' B93 remote. A lot of people I talked to are quite upset that I'm not there. Well, I'm gonna go for a bit to check it out then leave. Again, I say, if I'm not getting paid to be there, I'm not gonna spend my hard earned money there.

Blarney Stone was busy tonight. Typical summer slow start but got good later. Although people wouldn't dance to anything earlier. Oh well. A really nice day today overall. Should be a good one until the weekend which the forecast calls for rain Friday through to Sunday.

So I'm thinking I need to find me a girl. Not sure still who, but I have a few prospects. My roommate Brad said he's gonna help. He also told me I could get some action anytime I want. LOL. Um, women or girls in this case, look at me as a sanctuary, as somebody who won't hit on them and such. More as a comfort zone. They don't see me as a sexual partner or animal for that matter. One of these days, one, or many, will take a chance on me and will not be disappointed. :)

Wedding on Saturday went really good. Slow start but got them whipped up in a frenzy and basically they didn't want to stop. But alas the university made them. Plus it was 2 AM already. LOL. Sunday was again a slow start then got decent. Think it'll be like that for the rest of summer.

Monday was a sad, somber day overall. First off, went to a funeral of a dear old friend. More about that in a bit. Then went to get my money from the boys at Blarney and they informed me that they were doing a live to air from the Blarney, on Sundays. They have a 3 month trial , and if they decide to go with it after 3 months, then it goes til December. But here's the catch, B93 must supply their own djs for it, so no worky for me anymore. They aren't that smart apparently. One it's summer time. There isn't gonna be a lot of people coming out on Sundays anyways. Two, they are probably paying them (the radio station) probably a lot more than they would've paid me to get them in. Three, they should've done what Lonny did in the first place and gone out to the different establishments and businesses, do the P.R. work and talk with industry people, had out gift certificates, and promote the Blarney Stone as "the place to be". Maybe their new tactic of bringing in the radio station will work, but personally speaking and from my experience, I doubt it. Might be time for me to look for something else :) At least I still have Wednesdays.... for now.

And now a truly sad note. A long time friend of mine, had funeral services today. Les "Taco" Higa passed away last week at the young age of 53 after losing his battle with Cancer. I knew him back in the Karaoke days of the Baypoint and always had a smile on his face and had a ton of fun. I still recall hearing him sing his rendition of Mack the Knife. Incredible realtor as well and founder of Coldwell Banker here in Lethbridge. I met the acquaintance of his son Raiden, while working at Spin together. Every time I talked with Raiden I always made sure to tell him to say hi to his dad for me. I will truly miss Les and will never forget him.