Bucky's August Adventures

Good morning, everyone!

Just getting back into the swing of things after having a houseguest this weekend. I opened my home to a good friend from out of state, and we went to a few shows together. Always good to go new places and see and try new things.

I had this past Thursday and Friday off so that I could take my friend to see her favorite band Nickelback on the first day of the Minnesota State Fair. I'm not a big fair fan because of the sheer amount of people, but I bought our tickets back in December so that we could go to the show together. I found a parking spot within walking distance of the fairgrounds, and we spent a while exploring the booths before finding our grandstand seats.

Opener Daughtry took to the stage promptly at 7:30 pm, and entertained the large audience for about 45 minutes. This was my first time seeing the American Idol alum live in concert, and I thought he and his band put on a good opening set. Even their keyboard and vocal version of the Metallica hit "Nothing Else Matters" was well done.

An hour later, Nickelback's sound and light show started their set with the new song "Feed the Machine." I hadn't seen the band in 16 years (before they made it big), but they have an entertaining stage show. They ran through 15 songs, wrapping up their encore with the radio single "Burn It To The Ground" just before the nightly fireworks. I didn't know frontman Chad Kroeger was going to bring a couple of fans from the audience onstage to sing "Rockstar" with them, but I guess it's something they do on a regular basis.

Friday my friend and I went to a local BBQ restaurant for a late lunch and then went to the Red Carpet Nightclub in downtown St. Cloud for a free rock show on a rainy night. Live music was on the main stage from Furnace, Blurcurve and Fixated. While it was a good show, I was disappointed by the low turnout (maybe 25 people tops, including Red Carpet staff) and the fact that the show didn't start until 10:30 pm. By the time our friends in Fixated took to their headlining set at 1 am, they could only play for about 45 minutes because of the 2 pm bar close.

My friend was off to another show in southern MN yesterday before heading home, while I trekked to northwestern MN on a drizzly Saturday. It was good to see my friend again, and I hope she has a safe journey home.

Next live music experience for me is the Taste of Madison over Labor Day weekend. Until then, have a great weekend, everyone!