Finger Eleven and Die Mannequin concert

Luck has certainly been on our side lately. That’s never anything to complain about.

Recently I attended an Adecco job fair in Edmonton and won an iPod. Don’t tell anybody, but I traded the iPod Nano (one of the new ones) up to an 80 gig iPod. That’s even better!

My wife won concert tickets to see Sum 41 and Finger Eleven in Red Deer. She was entered into the grand prize draw, and won again! This time the package included a couple of cell phones, meet and greet with the band and I’m not sure what else.

I hate to complain, I really do, but I wasn’t impressed with how Z99 in Red Deer handled the whole thing. We went in to the radio station the morning it was announced my wife had won. I was not impressed with the lady handling the promotion. She really didn’t know what the hell was going on. Winning was great, but a little anti-climactic in the presentation.

If I did the promotions there, I would handle things a little differently. When somebody wins a big package like that, shouldn’t you make a big deal out of it and get some promotional mileage? Sure, it’s not the 6-49, but it’s still a big deal to the winner. And, the station can generate some excitement out of it too.

It was a good thing we brought our daughter’s digital camera (mine was too big) to the meet and greet with Finger Eleven. I was really surprised that the deejay (Zap who was there with his girlfriend Tash) didn’t bring one. I’m not going to fault him. I figured that’s up to the promotions coordinator to either be there, or make sure somebody has one there. You say the winner should bring one? Well, of course, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, and if you’re doing promotions for your company, you need to take responsibility and not rely on someone else to do it for you.

Things I’d do differently:

• Have all the details of the prize package ready to roll (before award date).
• Take pictures of the prize being awarded.
• Put the winner on the radio (saying how happy they are to go to X concert, etc).
• If the winner was good on the radio, replay it in other promos.
• At the concert: pictures of the winner with the band!
• Post pictures on the website.
• Make the winners feel special.
• Be organized!

Now, I don’t know what went on behind the scenes, and sometimes stuff happens, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

We also went to the station’s 20^th anniversary party at the Toad and Turtle Pub in Red Deer. The food was great! Good thing too, because we hadn’t eaten much up to that point.

I had to chuckle when we were going to meet the band. The PR woman asked us if we were big fans of the band. We kind of stuttered. I had heard some of their stuff and liked it, I said. My wife knew their stuff more than me. Hell, they could have pulled a bunch of bums off the street, said it was Finger Eleven and I wouldn’t have known the difference.

It was a little odd meeting the band. I wasn’t sure what to expect. What was shocking was how normal they were! They all looked like the kind of guys I’d hang out with. They looked to be not far off my age either. They were really cool though. They signed a few things, we talked for a while and we got some pictures. I hadn’t met anyone in a big band before, or at least don’t remember the occasion if I had, so maybe I had some preconceived notions that there’d be a mountain of coke on the coffee table, kegs of beer and loads of scantily clad women.

Nope, there was none of that. Deep down, I think I was kind of hoping there was, except for the drugs. : ) I saw some people with laptops, surfing, but no shenanigans. Shite! Hehe.

After that, we found our seats behind the sound guys: dead center and a bit above the crowd. The sound was great from that spot too.

I almost forgot to mention that Sum 41 couldn’t play that night because one of the band members apparently hurt his back. That sucked, because I wanted to see them. As it turned out, we didn’t care. Finger Eleven and Die Mannequin put on a great show. We didn’t miss Sum 41 at all.

Before the concert started we went and grabbed a t-shirt and some buttons for our daughter. We got some beer too. I was surprised that they served beer. It has been a long time since I saw a concert outside of a bar, but I pictured a drunken, rowdy crowd developing from this. No problems developed, except for a couple slightly rowdy fans ejected later on.

The first group, Die Mannequin, put on a good show. I’m not sure how to describe their sound, but sort of reminded me of Kurt Cobain’s widow, whatever the hell her name is. After their set, they went up to the schwag booth and were signing CDs. I grabbed one for my daughter and got it signed. I also got a picture with the lead singer, who hammed it up for the camera. Everyone in the band was cool. Give them a lot of credit for going up after their set and doing that. That really helps build a loyal following, I think. The fans appreciate that kind of thing.

Then, Finger Eleven started. The sound was great and so was their show. I got a kick out of the two guitarists, especially the guy with the long hair and beard. He is really into it! It was nice to be able to get onto the floor and take some pictures. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I didn’t bring my camera gear. I’m not even sure they’d have let me in with it either. I could have gotten much better shots had I had it, especially because I wasn’t using flash. My daughter’s camera did well, all things considered, especially for a digital point and shoot (Canon A460).

It made me think I should offer to do photos for the promoters or whoever just to get into the concerts. I do enjoy the challenge of low light, action photography.

Finger Eleven did a really nice job on their songs, and they’re good live. You know how some bands sing their hits and you hardly recognize them? Not with these guys. Their songs sounded pretty close to the CD, aside from some artistic license. Of course they saved the best song, Paralyzer, for last.

At the end of the concert, the guys in Finger 11 tossed out a bunch of shirts, and we got one. We also managed to catch one of the drumsticks. Cool.

I wasn’t a fan before the concert though I liked a few songs, but I certainly am after the concert. I would definitely go to another one. Sadly, it sounds like the Red Deer concert might have been the last one on that particular tour, due to the injury of the guy in Sum 41.

I realized just how long it had been since I’d been to a concert. I did go to the Fire on the Mountain one in Kamloops in 2003, but before that, it was about 1990! That doesn’t count the odd band I’d seen in the bar. Good god! Has it really been that long? Oh, growing up and having kids. I resolve to attend more concerts. Loads of fun. :)