“In This Dreamland The Kids Are Alright.”

Rich, Kathy, Sandy and I with Duncan, Jeremy, Steve and Raine of Our Lady Peace

One thing that I have loved longer than Supernatural and helping animals is music.  One of my favorite bands in the world is Our Lady Peace, a Canadian band (plus one Michigander!) that has been around for about 15 years.  When the opportunity came my way to see my this amazing band play two nights in a row in one of my favorite cities (Toronto) where one of my dearest friends (Kathy) lives, it was a given that Rich and I would be there in a heartbeat.

I knew these two nights of music would be special.  Our Lady Peace wasn’t just touring to promote their latest album Burn Burn.They were playing two full sets of music each night – starting with a full album (Clumsy the first night and Spiritual Machines the second night) and finishing with a mix of a bunch of their other incredible songs.  What I did not know is how refreshed the band would look on stage and that they would sound the BEST I’ve ever heard in the many years I’ve followed them.

Our balcony seats Friday night

We had front row center balcony seats Friday night show at Massey Hall in downtown Toronto. These seats provided us with a nice full view of the stage. It was simply amazing to be taken back in time to 1997 while the band performed Clumsy from start to finish.  Hands down “4 am” was the song highlight of the night for me personally.  Our Lady Peace’s music not only helps me feel close to my dad who passed away in 2003 (He LOVED the band and even owned their first album Naveed before I did!), but this song in particular always makes me think of him.  That night, it brought me to tears.

The crowd must have been in the same frame of mind as me because Massey Hall was on fire that night.  This was, after all, a home town show for Our Lady Peace!

Saturday night, Kathy and Sandy had front row center seats and Rich and I were sitting exactly two rows behind them.  I sat with Rich for the first set and then Sandy was kind enough to trade seats with me for the second set.  This was extra special for me because Kathy and I became friends thanks to Our Lady Peace.  To share the front row with her was a blast!  The best song this night hands down was “If You Believe” from Spiritual Machines.

It sounds cliche, but there was magic at Massey those two nights.

Raine Maida, Massey Hall, Saturday night

Saturday night was when we also had the perk of going backstage after the concert.  Included in the cost for the premium tickets was priceless merchandise from the band, autographs from the band…and the opportunity to have our picture taken with them!  It was so much fun to get a few moments to talk to the band members and thank them for two nights of amazingly good times.

I had a ‘fan girl moment’ too.  Steve, Our Lady Peace’s lead guitar player (the one from Michigan!) remembered me.  🙂 (And I even got a hug and a kiss on the cheek from him!)  While I do not know any of these guys personally, my impression of them is that they are good people.  The music they make, the philanthropic work they’ve done, the commitment to their families and way they treat their fans is all the proof I need.

It is awesome how life sometimes is just…lucky.  Thanks the wonderful new world of Twitter, I had some really good luck this past Monday.  I came home from a wonderful weekend to post a tweet reliving my “Our Lady Peace weekend.”  An acquaintance who knows what a big fan I am was kind enough to ask me if I was going to see the band perform a FREE acoustic show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit this past Thursday.  I had not even heard about it!  (Thank you, Janet!)

I had not purchased tickets to the concert that night in Detroit because I found out about that particular concert after I purchased tickets to see them in Toronto with Kathy, Sandy and Rich.  Through an AWESOME coincidence, Kathy had scheduled a trip to come visit me this past Wednesday because we were going to see Bon Jovi the very day before this acoustic show was happening…And she would still be in town when it was happening!

Kathy and I - can you tell we're excited?

Kathy is just as big an Our Lady Peace fan me so I had a feeling she *might* want to go to this acoustic show with me (wink, wink).  I sent her an e-mail with a link to the acoustic show with a subject line that simply said, “Any interest?”  You can bet what her response was!  🙂

This show was also a real treat for us.  In addition to playing four songs on acoustic guitar (incredible!), the band also took questions from the audience!

Kathy and I both were able to ask questions and Steve and Raine gave us thoughtful answers.  We were on Cloud Nine!  My question was: “What song off your latest album is the most meaningful to you?”  Raine’s answer was “Paper Moon.”  He and Steve performed it in their acoustic set!

But…it gets better!  With a little bit of luck (and some very kind people), we got on the guest list for the concert that evening at the Fillmore!!!!!!  We dashed back to my condo after the acoustic show ended and Kathy immediately changed her travel arrangements.  There was no way either of us were passing up free tickets to see our favorite band again!

Thanks to general admission floor tickets, we were able to stand right up against the railing in front of the stage and enjoy another amazing night of music.  The highlight of the Clumsy evening at the Fillmore was “Car Crash.”  It is such a powerful song and that night it was UNREAL.

Thursday night at the Fillmore

A great concert makes time stand still.  We were fortunate enough to experience this FOUR TIMES in the last week.

Thank you, Our Lady Peace.

Excerpt from “Dreamland” by Our Lady Peace:

“In this dreamland the kids are alright
And the sky is blue.
We all got wings,
And know how to fly.
I made it to the moon.

The sun on my face,
My head in the clouds,
Time on my side,
My feet off the ground.
I’m not comin’ down.
I’m not comin’ down.
I’m not comin’ down.
I’m not comin’ down.”