M.I.A.!

We got out to see M.I.A. last night. Once again, we benefited from living near the busy, downtown area of a relatively large city: The show wasn't even 20 minutes' walk from here, and was at a sensibly late hour – doors opened at 20:30, headliner came on at 22:00 – instead of when some of us are still working. (Rant: Why would you ever start an evening show at 19:00, or even earlier?)

The venue was Métropolis. With advance tickets, there was nothing to do but let the security guy frisk us for liquor and weapons (in that order), check our coats, and hit the floor. Our timing was pretty much perfect . . . we got there just after the opener (no offense to Rye Rye, but you were on way too early) and listened to M.I.A.'s DJ hype her for about 20 minutes. Good DJ! Then M.I.A. came on.
 
What's there to say after that? M.I.A. delivered a good set, and I could make out all the songs. I mean, I know her songs – I'm a fan. I'm just saying that the sound was good (Théâtre Telus could learn a thing or two here . . .). Man, this woman has energy! She got out there in one of her strange getups, probably one she designed, and jumped around and shouted and generally had a party. We were all invited. It was a blast!

Also, it was good to see that M.I.A. fans actually dance at shows. I was dancing like a fool the whole time, despite being 43 years old. But I remember another show where people young enough to call me "dad" were standing around like zombies. I'm happy to report that must have been an outlier or something.

Fun all around! I hope I'm in good enough shape to keep catching acts like this 10+ years down the road. (Although I'll have to wear a hat over the grey hair or the other people really will call me "dad" or something!) No crappy cell-phone photos, though – sorry.