Just Imagine.

Just imagine. Seeing my favourite band in my favourite city in the world. What a whirlwind this past week has been. I only get a limited amount of time off each year, so when I had the chance to see Guided By Voices in New York City, I just had to make it happen. Our trip started by driving to Hamilton to pick up our other travellers, Natasha and Alan. After trying to sleep, we awoke for 7am and made the trek to Buffalo, where we flew to JFK Airport. We arranged to rent a condo in the heart of Manhatten, instead of renting a hotel for twice the cost. It really was within blocks of Times Square and at the heart of the entertainment district. The day we arrived, we checked into our condo, only to find the cleaning lady still there around 3pm. We shrugged it off, and headed out to get pizza, and see the surrounding area. Within minutes we found ourselves looking at the larger than life billboards in the centre of Times Square. I had been here ten years earlier, but it was still pretty amazing to look up and see Puff Daddy looking down at you from the side of a building. After walking for a while, we came across what was certain to be our saviour for the day, if not the entire trip. Let me introduce you to 2 Bros. Pizza. This tiny spot is home to the $1.00 slice of pizza, and truly was the tastiest and cheapest slice I've ever had. I ordered 3 at a time on the Tuesday before we left, but upon first finding it, I had only spent a couple of bucks before finding myself full, and happy to have eaten a real NY tradition. These guys must be millionaires. Each time we walked by, there was a minimum of 30 people in line. Alan said that one morning when he went out to get breakfast, there were people lined up at 9am.

After eating, and seeing some sights, we decided to get beer, and head back to the condo for the pre-game ritual. Now let me explain something here. Natasha and Alan weren't coming to the concert, but my beautiful wife Karlie is the first person to accept and understand my passion for not just music and concerts, but this particular music, and this particular concert. Guided By Voices have easily been my favourite band for more than a decade. There has always been a small window of time before a GBV show that I consider one of the best feelings I've ever felt. Ice cold cheap beer, and lots of it, and a playlist on my Ipod of my favourite songs from the band I'm about to see. This ritual usually happens in a hotel room, and consists of Karlie getting ready, and me dancing around getting drunk enough to save money at the show, but sing my heart out throughout. After this show, I've seen them 15 times, and counting. What's cool about this lineup is that it's the original lineup from way back in the day.... well kind of. I won't go into detail, but let's say that this band has come in many different forms, with the exception of front man Robert Pollard. Now though I've seen them so many times, this one was special because the band was focused on the songs that made them popular so long ago. The setlist was comprised of the classic songs from the classic albums, and it was a beautiful feeling to have thousands of people around you singing note for note to the songs we all love so much. Chris Murphy of Sloan was there too. Hell, my friend from Toronto, Craig Laskey even made the trip to this show! By the way, you can thank Craig for bringing GBV to the Horseshoe for a double header back in July of 2002. Yes, I was at both shows. Anyhow, the band sounded amazing, and the crowd sang along note for note. The setlist was amazing, and the night flew by in a flash of rock n' roll perfection. In retrospect it makes me feel so lucky to have been at this show. There's been talk of more dates next year, but this was hands down the best of the tour and a show I'll never forget.

I have lots of other cool stuff to talk about, and more pictures that I'll get to in the next few days. In the meantime, please head over here to read more about the show. There's some video and some great pictures of the gig thanks to Brooklyn Vegan, an amazing NYC based rock blog.

Here's the setlist:

Guided by Voices Concert at Terminal 5, New York, NY, USA
Setlist on November 7, 201
Tractor Rape Chain
Game of Pricks
I Am A Scientist
Shocker in Gloomtown
The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory
Gold Star for Robot Boy
My Valuable Hunting Knife
Motor Away
A Good Flying Bird
Cut-Out Witch
Matter Eater Lad
Watch Me Jumpstart
Striped White Jets
My Impression Now
Awful Bliss
14 Cheerleader Coldfront
Lethargy
Break Even
Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
Exit Flagger
Hot Freaks
Closer You Are
Gleemer (The Deeds of Fertile Jim)
Quality of Armor
Queen of Cans and Jars
Echos Myron
Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Boy
A Salty Salute
Smothered in Hugs

Encore:
Postal Blowfish
Hey Aardvark
Pimple Zoo
Bright Paper Werewolves
Some Drilling Implied

Encore 2:
Dodging Invisible Rays
My Son Cool
Don't Stop Now

Encore 3:
Johnny Appleseed
Weed King