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I finally saw Bjork. She was the last artist on my list of "CONCERTS I MUST GO TO BEFORE DEAAATH" which pretty much means I could die now and have fulfilled my life's worth. ....okay, maybe not. But there's no way that Bjork's concert couldn't have been good, no matter the obstacles.

And there were a few obstacles. The concert was August 23rd at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, NY and concerts at baseball stadiums are definitely different than concerts are regular concerts halls. First off, the smell of burning rancid oil is everywhere. (shudders) But I'm getting ahead of myself. Since Bjork played a show on the 22nd in Keyspan Park also, I checked out people's comments about the show so get an idea of what to expect (crappy obstructed view seats very far away from the stage) and what the security would be like (somewhat lax). And both parts ended up being somewhat wrong.

About the seats, Diana and I actually did get obstructed view seats. First off, we were very far away from the stage (the stage was set up at the end of the baseball field) and since we were sitting in the middle (behind a net, woo) we were right in line with the soundboard, which was under a white tent. While the tent was later taken down, it probably didn't help much still being situated right in the middle of the stage behind the whole general admission section. While we were sitting there as the first opener, Bonnie Prince Billy, was playing, a very nice guy who had been to the concert the previous day told us we could exchange our tickets for seats on the far right or left side. ! Him and his friend, two people next to us, and Diana and I left our seats to find a security guard to give us new tickets. He had a big stack of them too! Our new seats were on the far left side bleaches and thankfully were not obstructed by soundboards or nets. Woohoo!

As for the security, I think they must have beefed it up a bit since yesterday was pretty dismal. From what I heard, the guard almost didn't care what you brought in; if you looked harmless enough, you could probably have packed a gun and no one would have cared. I knew I was in trouble when I got new the bag check and saw a box in the table with cameras and batteries inside. Crap. I had wrapped my camera in Always packaging (yup, that was as creative as I could get) but the secutiry guards were going through the bags really well, taking stuff out and rummaging around. Needless to say, I obviously had a camera in my bag and the guard said I had to put it somewhere, but not in my bag.

I got worried since I obviously couldn't leave a $200+ camera lying around. We thought we'd have to go back to her house and leave it there. However, I was extremely, EXTREMELY lucky because Diana was wearing cargo pants (while I was wearing a pocket-less skirt) and the camera fit perfectly on one of her pockets. She happened to hit a snag going in (she went through security again first, then I went later); they told her she had to get rid of her combination lock! She uses it for her locker in school...honestly, what kind of stupid rule is that? Their reason was that she could throw it at someone and cause injury...wha-? You can say the same thing for lots of other objects! Maybe it will get to the point where they ban all objects that can act as projectiles, and then we'd all have to go in NAKED.

So that was stupid. Grr. After that we got to the stinky seats, and then changed to slightly better seats. The seats weren't as far away from the stage as I thought they would be (Radiohead...now that was far) but there was a disconnected feeling from the general admission area as from where we were sitting you could barely hear their cheering and screams. It was like being in a totally different realm of Bjork-ness....the spectators area. Of course, it was still fun, and we got to see Sigur Ros as well (which would make it the fourth time I've seen them...yikes).

When Bjork came out onstage, it felt strange to me. She's...right...there! A mile away, but still, right there! Using my binoculars I could see her extremely cute white dress adorned with what looked like big blue and turquoise pom poms (I can't find a photo of it). Her hair was super-straight and had an unnatural flow, but not in a bad way, more like...surreal, as though it were as light as a feather. It was floating and fwishing around with such ease. I couldn't see everyone that was on the stage, but there was a string group (how many people, I don't remember), Matmos, and a harpist. I was writing down the setlist during the show, but I missed some things, so here's a complete one:

hunter
unravel
I’ve seen it all
joga (fireworks)
aurora
cocoon
all is full
desired constellation
palmstroke
an echo a stain
5 years
pagan poetry
bachelorette
hyperballad (fireworks)
it’s in our hands
pluto (fireworks)
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scary
human behaviour (fireworks)

Anything labeled "fireworks" had...fireworks! I didn't know there would be SO many fireworks, but it was a really nice show. Visually, along with the fireworks there was also a screen (set waaaay back behind the stage) and another screen that was part of the stadium showing close ups of the stage (but it wasn't a very big screen). The big screen behind the stage didn't play movie clips the whole time, but my favorite clip was during Unraveled, whcih was a really cool video of Bjork looking as through she were floating in a black slace as white threads unraveled out of her. While Bjork mainly stood in the center of the stage, sometimes she would dance around and do fun little steps in place; she appeared to be really happy. :D Her voice, as far as I could tell, was flawless. It was really a beautiful, somewhat surreal sight, and I was almost brought to tears (the moment for me was at the end of Joga).

During Bachelorette I called Cristen so she could hear some of the concert. Loads of people were holding up their cellphones, probably so other friends could listen to the concert. Hey, gotta use those unlimited night time and weekend minutes somehow! That makes me wonder if they'll ever ban cell phones at concerts (some cell phones are cameras too, you know), but I doubt it. I wanted to call home and leave a message of the concert, but my mum picked up and that didn't really work out. :) Besides, I got some decent short audio/video clips using my camera (which I'm trying to compress right now...what a pain in the butt!).

While I didn't feel that far away at first, a sea of people materialized in front of the stage and I felt like I was watching her perform on a little island as I sat on the mainland. The sound of her voice carried everywhere though, which made it feel better. And what is the overall Bjork concert feeling? Happy, surreal, and full of awe (I could say "awesome" but I don't really mean it in that way...yeah?). Was it worth the money? I'll say yes, because if I never get the chance to see Bjork again, it was definitely worth it. And if I do...it was still worth it. It could have been better, but I wasn't disappointed; I was just happy to be there in the first place!

- concert page w/ video clips | photos

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And that was the concert review portion of this entry. What else did I do? I slept over Diana's house and woke up at around 8 AM to go home...except that was later than I told my mum I'd wake up and she wasn't very happy. :( But she should be happy since she'll get to have the entire house to herself soon! Anyhoo, I was really tired when I went home so I took a nap. My mum took a nap too, and then at some point we were both conscious and we had to start PACKING FOR COLLEGE! Yeah, we did most of that today. I had started to pack my clothes a few days ago, but everything else we got together today and went on a labeling spree to make sure everyone knows that each item belongs to "Robyn Lee" and I guess it's useful if I forget my own name. Also, I had a weird bout of diarrhea...no, of course you didn't need to know that, but it was weird. Could it have been stress induced? Yesterday I was perfect fine, but the day before I was also have tummy troubles. Maybe the Bjork concert appeased my digestive system for a while, and then it all went back to hell when I realized I still had to pack for college because I am going to start college and I won't be at home and I'll be in a new place and I'm freaked out. :(

And my grammar is horrible.

I talked to my roommate Kathryn on the phone for a while, talking about being freaked out and how much junk we're bringing. It's a lot of junk, apparently. My mum and I fit everything in the car, but the car is a Jeep Cherokee and we folded down the back seats, sooo...that's quite a lot of room. Cristen came over my house as a last farewell and she watched my mum and I pile everything into the car. :D We also talked about random junk and thought about how WE ARE LEAVING WAAAH and all that poo. She even gave me a new Sigur Ros single! I was completely surprised. It's cute too, one of those little cds. The only problem is that I can't find it. Yeah, where could it have gone in a few hours? I looked all over the house and I don't see it anywhere. I only remember picking it up at one point, thus transporting it to another location, presumable still in the house and not in another dimension where people named Robyn are banned from finding Sigur Ros CDs.

...really, I can't find it. My memory is such crap. :(

And now I'm just sad since I'm going to college. I know I should be excited, but...erm. Moo. I'm expecting that I'll enjoy the freshman orientation, I really am. Or ....um. Yes. (sigh)