Get your back up off the wall, can't afford to miss the boat when they call

What a great day yesterday. Had a good run in the morning. Went to see I Heart Huckabees, which was even funnier than I expected. I had no idea what an "existential comedy" entailed, but that didn't matter. Mark Wahlberg was hilarious; we laughed almost EVERY time his face was on screen. And went to see...k-os!

Wendy & I got to the Opera House early, leaving us plenty of time to savour our greasy fish and chips (that's twice in one month!). While we were eating, the rest of the concert gang arrived. We got in line about 7:30 and depite being one of the first ones in, we were not able to secure our usual spot, front left of the stage :( So we settled for first row middle stage, which turned out to be a bad idea. There were some really annoying girls to the right of us who had really loud and horrible laughs (I dubbed them the Horrible Laugh Girls, HLGs) and who just wouldn't shut up. They were surprisingly of age. Hmm. Anyway, that got me irritated. In fact, I didn't know what to expect of the audience since I'd only been to rock concerts. One of the things that makes a really great concert is the audience and since the HLGs really put me off, I was already fearing disappointment. Thank goodness k-os wiped that impression from my mind...

k-os is the "coolest cat" (something he'd say). I was basically mesmorized by him and his band the entire night. The talent that this guy has just blows my mind. And his band & DJ it reminded me of why I love going to concerts...what true artists - watching them jam and transcend the studio-recorded tracks, was unbelievable. k-os did most of the songs from Joyful Rebellion and Exit and he did not disappoint. "Crabbuckit" was amazing, complete with a "Hit the Road Jack" sing-a-long. He actually had b-boys for "B-Boy Stance" and one b-boy made several re-appearances throughout the show. "Superstarr" was happening, and the audience was really into it. In the middle of "Heaven Only Knows," he switched gears and started doing covers of some songs...the only one I remember is "S.O.S." by The Police. He ended the encore with "Neutroniks," one of my favs.

Special guest: Nelly Furtado...she didn't sing much but she did some background vocals while k-os freestyled. And she's kinda freaky - she bends down and stares right into your eyes when she's singing.

What I love about k-os is he writes music that is genre-defying. I hate it when "artists" stick to the same formula or don't explore other forms of music because they believe their style is the only way to go and that "if it's not rap, it's crap." He is an actual musician whose music is full of hope and inspiration, not violence and superficiality. He doesn't conform to what is popular or to what hip hop is supposed to be. His appreciation for and influence from all styles of music are apparent in the music he writes. I love him because he's friends with Sam Roberts, listens to Sarah Slean and Radiohead, and sings about The Hip. For k-os, it really is about the music.

The Love Song

This is not a lovesong
It's a sonnett
Damn if feels good to have people up on it but
I'm just a fool playing with the masters tools
Learning how to break the rules of this record company pool
Hallucination - I see with my eyes
But my heart's telling me lies
Why do I fantisize?
Why am I telling lies to the people from the stage
Pretending it's all good when inside it's fire and rage
Cuz I can't understand how a man lives off the life of another man
Tryin to pimp the universe - that's a joke
I stay rockin the boat down on my last note
It's murder she wrote
Assassination vocabulary
I see your termination is heavily necessary
I should have known - they do it for funds alone
I do it to break the walls if I fell off then let me know people

CHORUS
It's funny how life can go
First you ride high then you might lay low
Don't get high off your own supply
Someone said first before a four comes five
This is my message to the world
Just tryin to reach every boy and girl
Not tryin to say if it's right or wrong
This is not a love song

Liberal optometrists with 20/20 vision
Are serving rounds like my granny used to serve provisions
Chaotical amneotical fluid
The rap joint is fluent with the art of onomatopoeia
Mans an invisible microscopic topic dropper
When I was a kid I wanted rollerskates and a bike chopper
But alas, pop, pop never thought to keep me in style
Thats why I'm schizophrenic now
So God bless the child that has his own
The harvest we reap is what we sow
Chrome microphone - shoot it
There was a dome of computer digital clones that could be mixed for lots of pistones
Sayin a style's their own when they bite like Mike Furounsville
The sounds ill
Relationship is a mirror
That you see yourself up in and the picture is clearer

CHORUS

It's easy not to care what people say
It's harder to pretend and try
Cuz they can only love you from yesterday
I'm looking at the now they pose high
I'm just a man who's walking
They stand around and keep talking
They tried to clip my wings
But wisdom fills so many things
Say it again
I'm just a man who's walking
They stand around and keep talking
They tried to clip my wings
But wisdom fills so many things

It's funny how life can go
Dont get high off your own supply
This is my message to the world...