We went to the Pearl Jam/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers concert last night. Pearl Jam sounded great as did Tom Petty, but the whole things had a schizoprehnic feeling to it. Pearl Jam’s set was mellow. They included a good mix of newer songs with the old favorites, but they went from fast to slow and back again, not keeping the audiences’ energy up. It was weird. I’ve seen them quite a few times and while they sounded great, it was not their best show. Mike McCready was having guitar difficulties, which may have contributed to the feelings of confusion. And they didn’t do an encore which I thought was kind of odd. Petty followed Pearl Jam. He had a good stage performance and the crowd was really into it until he brought Eddie Vedder back out. Eddie’s mic didn’t work and the sound crew couldn’t/didn’t do anything about it so he sang his heart out, but no one could hear him. Then he left the stage and the crowd booed and yelled which was crazy. Petty immediately jumped into another song and continued until the end. He and the Heartbreakers came out for a three song encore including American Girl with Eddie Vedder and a working mic. Of course, I always have this thing about arena shows. They are okay for some bands, but others are better in small venues. With that said, I have a hard time raving about seeing Pearl Jam in a large arena when I know how they are in smaller places. Overall a good show for what it was.

A few weeks ago, I bought tickets to see the Dixie Chicks when they come to Minneapolis in August. Jaycie is super excited. It will be our third time seeing them live. They have been in the media a lot lately because of what appear to be “sluggish” ticket sales in RED states and how some country music stations are refusing to play their music or promote their concerts. Crazy what happens when you practice free speech in this country. Anyway, I check my e-mail tonight and I get a survey from Ticketmaster. I begin the survey thinking it’s the normal customer satisfaction survey, but it turns out to be all about the Chicks. The survey asked me if I liked the Dixie Chicks, why I bought tickets to their concert, and how I heard about the show. Then it goes on to ask if I heard about their political statements, if I agreed, if I believe they have the right to speak out against the president (I can’t remember the statements verbatim, but you get the idea), and if I get my current events information from family and friends. It’s so odd. I’m not sure what the point of the survey is and who is behind it. Freaky!

You know you are old when you can no longer hear your ringtone. Yikes! This is the freakiest thing I have ever experienced. Can you hear it? I can’t, but Jaycie and Max can. I’m completely freaked.

It was a beautiful outside today and of course, the kids beg us to take them to the Minnesota History Center. They love the museum part. It was the first time I’ve been there since the Pawlenty Administration cut funding. See, it used to be free but now they have to charge admission and cut their operating hours. When I was last there, it was packed with people. Today, it was eerily quiet. They are hosting an exhibit on the Nazi Olympics plus they have a really cool exhibit called Open House, which traces the life of a real house from the time it was built to the present with all the families, etc. It’s just amazing. It was so sad that there weren’t any people there. We overheard one family lamenting about the cost and how it used to be free. I’m not sure if they paid admission or turned around when they realized they had to pay. The cost isn’t extraordinarily expensive about $24 for a family of four, but it definitely out prices some families. The guy working the admission booth said they are trying to figure out ways to get people in free, but they don’t have anything ready for the near future. See, our legislators are willing to increase taxes and pay for a stadium for the Twins, but they are not willing to fully fund the History Center. It’s so frustrating!