I have to admit, I’d always dismissed Neil Young as a fast-fading, pseudo-rocker with a funny voice who sings pretty miserable songs. I’d never really listened to many of his songs, so when Monkey’s plan of buying tickets to the concert and selling them on for a profit backfired and we had to go to the concert or lose money, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to going. Monkey likes him though, and the folks at work all said they loved Neil Young because he was “pure Canadiana” and now I’m Canadian I should love him too (having said that I did turn down free Celine Dion tickets for the night before - I couldn’t subject myself to that, however Canadian I am).

When we got to the stadium the first warm-up band had just finished so we had to wait for about 20 minutes for Death Cab For Cutie to arrive on stage. I was really looking forward to hearing them play but I found them pretty disappointing overall. Apart from their biggest hits, all the songs were a bit boring. The music was pretty good but we didn’t like the singer much (he reminded me of a weird mix of Placebo singer Brian Molko, whom I like, and the Pet Shop Boys‘ Neil Tennant, whom I hate), and the acoustics weren’t great as the microphone wasn’t loud enough so you could barely hear the lyrics.

After that disappointment we waited for the main show, and wow! Neil Young can really rock! He started off with his heavier, electric guitar stuff, then went acoustic for the main portion of the gig, then back to his guitar-hero stuff for the last few songs. I loved all of it, except for a four-song stint towards the end. His voice is still pretty strange, but in an imperfectly beautiful way. I don’t know, perhaps your hearing changes as you get older much like your taste buds change?

He finished off with Rockin’ In The Free World, which was amazing and sent the proper fans in the building totally nuts, then he encored with the Beatles song A Day In The Life, which was a bit of a strange choice but very well done and allowed him to slowly dismantle his guitar.

All in all it was a great gig and to my surprise I knew more than a couple of the songs. His guitar work was absolutely magnificent throughout so I can now see why he is known as one of the greats, and he has definitely turned me into a fan.

Tuesday was Canada Day, a welcome day off in the middle of the week to celebrate Canada’s 141st birthday. I like Canada Day as everyone is in a really celebratory mood and it makes me proud to be a part of this beautiful country.

There were lots of things going on with the main hubs being Canada Place and Granville Island. Canada Place had bands, competitions, displays by the Canadian Forces and Port of Vancouver and a traditional citizenship ceremony (it would be really special to become a Canadian citizen on Canada Day at Canada Place - that’s what I’m aiming for in 2 years time). Granville Island had a parade and a ceremony along with lots of live jazz.

I took advantage of the emptier than normal shops to go shoe shopping. It’s a week until my wedding and I still hadn’t found the perfect pair! I’m pleased to report that I now have almost what I wanted, only more comfortable and less strappy. I can certainly live with that! Robson Street had a stage set up with bands playing as well, so that added something extra to the experience.

We spent the afternoon on Granville Island listening to the jazz and dining/drinking at the Dockside pub on the patio at the Granville Island Hotel - it really is one of my favourite places to hang out in Vancouver. Unfortunately, it was heaving and our servers were really stressed - they said that they normally have 200 people in an afternoon, but had served 1200. They’d run out of quite a few drinks.

We ended the day with a fireworks display set off from a barge in Burrard Inlet. The crowds were amazing, the fireworks not so. I think they are saving their fireworks money for BC Day (it’s BC’s 150th birthday on August 4th - yes, BC is older than Canada) and the International Fireworks Festival at the end of July/beginning of August (this year Canada will be competing with China and the US for supremacy).

It’s the biggest Critical Mass ride of the year tonight - the sunny weather is bound to bring people out in droves and the June event always gets the most riders, apparently. I’m still unsure as to whether or not I support these events - I like the idea of encouraging people to get out of their cars, but these rides happen about twice a month which, to me, is a bit too regular. Also the whole slogan of “We’re not holding up traffic, we ARE traffic” is all very well and good but normally traffic stops at a red light!

The cyclists really snarl up the roads for long periods of time and it’s not just car drivers that suffer; buses, ambulances and pedestrians get caught up in it all too. Sometimes you’ve just got to be somewhere at a specific time, whether you are in a car or on foot, and the Critical Mass riders don’t give a thought to that. If they actually planned out the route beforehand and gave people advance warning and the chance to avoid them, perhaps there would be fewer road-rage incidents and more people honking their horns in support? Just a thought.

Anyway, here’s a blog with more details…