Friday Night Madness

'Switchfoot' Concert

Friday night, about twenty of us met at church and headed down to paradise (the suburb), for the Switchfoot concert. Dr.B and i were already fairly tired... we'd actually worked that afternoon and then had had bible study, but, after the tiresome task of getting everyone into a car, we were good to go. PB, Dr.B and i had a quick pit stop to pick up a mum and her gorgeous baby and the rest of the car ride was an experience as i attempted to both feed and dress the baby in her car seat... interesting. For those who know of my somewhat lack of co-ordination, they would understand where the trouble arose here.

We arrived in one piece and found the others (me complete with baby in a pusher). While we made it through the crowds and past the ticket-collectors, we then somehow all split up... some upstairs, some in the chairs, some to the left, some up the front, some wandering around aimlessley... when the lights went down and music started, the best Dr.B and i could do was man our seats downstairs. The Youth Alive Band wasn't too bad, those guys are always funny to watch. Then came the dancing hip-hop dudes, who were cool. They could sing AND dance, all at the same time! I had the baby (her mum wanted to be up the front where the 'vibe' was), so, in between feeding her and trying to keep her from wriggling/crying/losing her hearing, i stood with her and bounced her to the music. She loved it, which was very cute - oh, and her mum said i was a natural! By the time Switchfoot came on, it was already 9pm and (after the long offering and routine alter call) the kiddies were getting restless. BUT, Switchfoot revived them and all was well.

Switchfoot were great - they were one of those bands who are as good live as they are on their cd. It's always a disapointment when the lead singer sounds worse in real life, so we were all very impressed. While they played the songs off their new album, i fed children, rocked a baby, had a kid shake up his solo and look surprised when it exploded all over the both of us and taken the bubba outside to try and get it to sleep (by this time it was half ten and she was getting cranky). Dr.B and i also were running around to try and find the others in our group, as some had to leave early... tricky stuff. But Switchfoot was great and some of the kids really loved it.

When the concert was over, a few hundred people tried to get out all at once and we lost one of our drivers, but somehow everyone managed to get a lift and we headed home. PB, myself, Violet and the mum and baby were in our car. By this time, baby was exhausted and crying hysterically. All the way home. Loudly. Incessantly. Nothing i could do would quiet her. So, the trip home was punctuated by my direction giving (i actually didn't know where we were for quite awhile, but managed to keep that from the others and get us home in one piece) and the wail of an over-tired baby. When we got to their house, we unloaded the baby-gear (and managed to wrangle out the babyseat, despite it's reluctance to leave it's metal fastenings) and finally the car was filled with a blissful silence.

Deciding that we needed a de-stress after the evening, we (PB, Angel, Dr.B, myself and a few others) headed to Maccas. After trying to get in - yes, we did spend far too long pulling at the handle of the door and hoping that it would miraculously unlock - we gave up and walked through the drive-through instead (!). That was definately the evening's highlight :P Also unable to get in to eat, we sat on the lawn out the front, with a blanket for warmth. This warranted calls from passerby's in cars, asking if we were 'blazed' (meaning smashed - love it). A random yelled out that picnics were usually held at 12pm, not 12am. BB and his best mate also came in (fresh from the 20th i'd surpassed that evening). After a drive-by 'annie smells', which was well recieved, they got out and we had a few minuted of awkward conversation, which was still lots of fun, seeing as i'd not seen those boys in quite awhile.

PB and Angel abandoned us for pizza, but eventually returned, to find the rest of us singing (in harmony of course) on our little patch of grass. We covered the various renditions of Amazing Grace, then songs from the Sound of Music and a few other random songs. Such fun. We definately got some strange looks though.

Come 1am, we realised that we'd better head off... sleep was long overdue (hence the musical picnic and 12am on the grass outside maccas...). Dr.B drove me to my car, i zoomed home and tumbled into bed. An interesting night. Switchfoot were good - check out their music -, the baby was adorable (but incredibly draining to look after - i have a newfound respect for mothers), the kids were ok and my direction giving wasn't too lacking... though it wasn't really a night that was relaxing or fun, per se, it was not a bad night overall. Got to love the randomness of it all.

Annie