Then There Was......

On Thursday, April 11,  2013 I stood in the midst of 80's alternative rock greatness. The venue was the rooftop Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan on the strip. The headliner was the esteemed New Order, but first to go on was the awe inspiring, Johnny Marr.....

Johnny Marr:

The co-genius of my music obsession: The Smiths.  Marr's flawless melodies mixed with Morrissey's lyrical wit combined to create the finest band in history....(it's true, so don't even try to dispute it with me). The crushingly depressing part of being enamored with The Smiths, is that the band suffered a horrible break up in 1987, just a year before they began to exist in my life. The bright side is that Morrissey continued on with a solo career, allowing me to see him in concert several times. He often satisfies the crowd with classics from The Smiths, however I failed to realize that something was missing.... until now.

That something is Johnny Marr. What Morrissey's voice gives to the lyrics, Marr's guitar playing gives to the music. It was a deliberate match, their music was made for them to perform together. Hearing Johnny Marr live on his guitar for the first time made me accept that I have never really heard a true Smith's song performed live. I have heard Morrissey sing them and now I have heard Johnny Marr play them but I will never be completely whole until the put their stubbornness behind them and reunite- for at least one concert anyway.... (and yes I will be there!)

Johnny Marr, dressed in his three button english tweed jacket, serenaded the crowd with his new original music and a few classics. From The Smiths discography he performed: "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before," " There is a Light That Never Goes Out" and "How Soon is Now?." He also threw in "Getting Away With It" from Electronic- a band that combined Johnny Marr, Pet Shop Boys, and Bernard Sumner of New Order from 1989 into the 90's.

                          

New Order

Seems hard to believe, but this is the first time I have been to a New Order concert. I have always been a fan- I mean who didn't have the black and white Substance album?? They just never came to town when I was younger, then didn't tour much when I was older. Their name was scratched upon my list of must see bands and now I can draw a line through it. 

Their setlist was a mix of classic and new. Of course the crowd loved the favorites like "Blue Monday," "Bizarre Love Triangle," and "True Faith." The encore was dedicated to Joy Division and they performed three songs including the famous "Love Will Tear Us Apart." 

It was pretty late when the concert ended and as we were driving home at 1:23am I received this text from Jace.(3 middle bubbles) Guess somebody has to keep tabs on us!!!

May the Fourth be With You....

On May 4th, Jason and I celebrated our 17th anniversary. We kept it simple with a night out and dinner at Brio. This picture is when we were young and engaged.... time sure does fly!!

Mother's Day!!

(The one day a year my kids do everything I ask)

We had dinner with my side of the family. The guys cooked and cleaned up the mess. My mom brought some silly stick on mustaches so we took some photos with our new props.....

aren't we lovely ??

At church all of the women received some yummy cookies.....

My mom got all the girls a cake plate and cake mix.....

                               and the kids gave me a corsage and chocolate dipped strawberries.