Thursday, September 23, 2010
8:28 pm.
We are driving to see the PIXIES!!!! We just left Riverton, Wyoming (yes, at 8:28, don't you dare judge us) and the next time we see Riverton we will have seen Matt Wright’s favorite band!!! Matt never believed that this would happen. They broke up in 93, and their first reunion tour happened while Matt was on his mission. He has been heard saying that that was one of the biggest sacrifices of his entire mission, to not be able to go see them. So a few months ago he joined the official fan club, hoping against hope that someday they would reunite. When he got an email from them saying that there was a second world tour, he was beside himself, and bought 2 tickets immediately to the Las Vegas show!! So that’s where we’re headed right now. We will get to Utah at approximately 3 am, and stay with Matt's sister, Emily Pugh. Tomorrow we’ll relax in Cedar Hills, and Saturday morning we will drive to Vegas, spend approximately 9 hours waiting in whatever capacity it takes to be front and center, then scream our heads off for about 3 hours, etc. Emily Pugh and Amy Joy Garfield and Josh will be joining us for the concert, and Susan Rydman and Elinor Pugh will be awaiting our arrival back at our hotel. At least that’s what we have planned… So that’s what this is all about. The Adventures of Matt and B; Super Road Trip Pixies Extravaganza Fest Sauce 2010.
Friday, September 24, 2010
1:48 am.
Exactly 5 hours after leaving our driveway (8:20-1:20) we arrived in Cedar Hills. What speed limit? Trip was uneventfully good. I slept most of the way. Matt listened to Pixies, Stuff You Should Know podcast (Kleptomaniacs and Ninjas), and Peter, Bjorn and John. At one point, I’d dozed off after a brief conversation, and Matt started talking to me again, which made me startle awake, which scared him… It was funny, you had to be there. Also, when we got into Salt Lake, he told me that we were in Pepper Ocean, and in my sleep fog, I thought we were in Park City and couldn’t figure out what Parks and Pepper had to do with one another. Now we are hanging with Em and Lola the Great Dane and Chelsea the English Spaniel (?), and Matt is warming up peaches and bread pudding. YUM! Our favorite old lady snack!
Same Day
3:25 pm.
Fun afternoon. Slept until 11:30, so there wasn’t much of a morning, but I had a good time watching Scout (5) show off her ballet moves and listening to Elinor’s old man wheezes when she got excited. It’s literally just a sharp exhale that is completely adorable sounding. I did Scout’s hair and we played with some of her little animals, and then she got picked up to go to school at 12:20. Matt woke up shortly after that, and we hung out with Elle. She gets to play with Scout’s toys while Scout is at school, and that seemed to be the highlight of her day. Then we went to Draper and ate Café Rio (YUM) and went to the library, then drove back to be able to get Scout when she gets home. We’ll head back to Draper when she gets home, to get stuff for a wedding cake Em is making, and then Plato’s closet. So that’s all. Utah days are fun. Relaxing and fun-filled.
Still same day.
10:12 pm
Matt the trip Nazi is really cute. He’s pacing, and freaking out, and listening to Pixies really loud, and stressing. Worried they might cancel, worried about car trouble, you name it. He NEVER does this. Poor guy. He says that he’s going to fall over dead if they play U-Mass. He just can’t believe that this is actually happening.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
12:53 am Wyoming time.
So sweaty. So tired. So awesome. No time to spare to write, and we’re exhausted, but the concert was perfect. Matt didn’t float away, or fall over dead but he’s happier than he can express. Time for Smart Water, ice cream, showers and bed.
Same day.
8:38 am Vegas time.
So hungry, but the Matt Wright is still tuckered out from his adventures. Perfectly understandable. The concert was amazing. They played so well live. Frank could still scream. Joey was Joey, but happier and playing around with Frank more than I expected. Kim smiled the whole time, and David is just the most adorable nerd ever. The opening act was terrible, but just made the Pixies that much better. A fight almost broke out right next to us when this really really obnoxious drunk guy, who was trying to mosh with EVERYONE, started trying to mosh all the superfans in the front row, and it was super annoying and a lot of them got pissed. One in particular was going to fight him, but Matt and some other people got them separated and moved to a little farther away. I wished we could have just gotten that drunk guy kicked out, but if not, then I hope he really liked the concert, because he made it a little less perfect for the rest of us. Oh, and Matt Wright got screamed at by this really short little heavily intoxicated girl who we think confused him with the mosher. She was slamming elbows into his side, and he told her to cool out (or something cooler than that) and I turned around just in time to see her screaming at him that he shouldn’t go around trying to hurt people then. The funny part was right after that, and the almost fist fight, they played “La La Love You” and it was really awkward. But enough of that. The band played 2 encores, which was just perfect. I knew every song, except for the B-sides that they opened with. The crowd screamed and cheered the entire time, and sang along to so many songs. We couldn’t understand a word Kim said because everyone was just so excited to hear her talk. We get a free live concert download because Matt’s in the fan club, so we’ll get to hear what she said then. They opened with one of their two Manta Ray songs, and then played 3 other B sides. Part of what I heard Kim say was that some of these B sides were so unknown that they’d had to relearn them themselves. Then they started into the Doolittle album, and everyone went nuts "slicin' up eyeballs". It was so amazing. Everyone’s throats were raw from screaming. Matt says the only thing that would've made it more amazing is if his sister Catherine could've been there also (being a huge Pixies fan herself). More later. I need food…
P.S. One of my favorite parts of the concert was listening to Emily freak out and scream from behind me. Em's pretty mellow most of the time, and a mother of 2 small children, but she was up there throwing and bumping elbows and cheering along with everyone else!!
Here are some Matt Wright cell phone pictures of the show. Note: How awesomely close we are!
CHAINED!!! (Hey)
Pixies are back. Oh, how they are back.
