Blue Rodeo in Dublin

Went to see Blue Rodeo at Whelan's on Friday night with a Canadian friend of mine. Whelan's is a small bar that hosts a lot of live acts. It was a great show. The place was packed with Canadians. I knew a couple of other people there, and hung out with them for a bit. A band from Nova Scotia called El Torpedo opened and they were really good. They were on when I got there, and I thought at first that Blue Rodeo had started already. I soon realized that it wasn't them, but knew right away that I was listening to a Canadian band. They're quite Tragically Hip-influenced.

Blue Rodeo was, of course, great. Funny, it's the kind of band where you know so many of their songs, but you wouldn't necessarily buy an album or make the effort to see them live – unless you're away from home, then you go for some Canadian good times. Everyone there was belting out all the words, it was so much fun. They played for a really long time too and they included all the favourites like "Lost Together","I Don't Know What I'm Doing Here", "Rose-coloured Glasses", and "Hasn't Hit Me Yet", though they didn't play "Try". It sucked that I was on crutches, but I got a stool, which was lucky, as they usually empty the place of furniture during concerts.

As my friend kept going up to the bar to talk to her boyfriend who was standing up there, I actually felt a bit alone for much of the concert. The other guys that I knew there were with their girlfriends and you could tell they were sharing a part of where they came from with them. I felt like I had no one with whom to share the evening. If this were a night back home, I would have been there with a bunch of friends. It was that kind of show. It would have been better if I wasn't stuck sitting all night, and also if my friend hadn't brought along her boyfriend, who was quite honestly, not into it. As it was, I felt alone among my countrymen, which was weird. For a few hours on Friday night, I was home. But yet, I wasn't.