Jane Stays The Course

Last night, I went to see Jane Lynch perform at our local theatre in her show "See Jane Sing".  It was definitely a fun evening and made even better for Jane bringing her pal Kate Flannery (Meredith from the US version of The Office) along for the ride.  They played off each other beautifully and the jazz quintet backing them up did a great job too.

I went with my friend Jane who also enjoyed it.  While I was able to mostly focus on the show, I remained on alert as well.  I've often said that in an emergency, I can pretty much be counted on to simply walk away or step over you and pretend I don't know you.  As it happens, that's an idle threat on my part.  Thankfully, nothing happened that tested me for a third time.

My event going history can be interesting, depending on what interests you.  If medical emergencies are your thing, this might be just what you've been waiting for.

Last week, I was very excited to go see John Grant in concert with Villagers opening up.  It was a stellar show at a good, smallish venue and friend Jane, her husband and a friend of his were all on hand.  After a stunning set by Villagers, Jane's husband and friend decided they wanted to be closer to the stage for the main course.  It was blisteringly hot in the club so she and I stayed more toward the back.  We got to chat for a minute with Conor O'Brien of Villagers after their set and he was lovely and charming.

Both acts sounded as good or better than their recordings which is always exciting.  As anyone who loves live music knows, there's magic that can't always be captured by a recording.

Mr. Grant started with several songs from his new album all of which translated beautifully and kept the crowd enthralled.  Midway through, he sang one of my favourites "Queen of Denmark" and all was really right with the world.  Just as he was finishing that song and ahead of another of my favourite songs "GMF" (I'd already bought the GMF t-shirt!), it happened.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jane step to the side and I thought she must be vying for a better view.  The lurch forward following that side step signalled something was wrong.  She fell into the guy standing in front of us and hit the deck!  She'd fainted and hit the floor pretty hard but somehow didn't hit her head.  Somebody helped me get her upright and as I was trying to walk her out, she slumped again.  I managed to half drag and carry her  out of the throng toward the back where there were paramedics.

We got her out into the air and after sitting for a short time and getting checked over, she was much better.  The paramedic didn't want her standing back in the heat however as she was the fourth person to have fainted that night (how hot was it?!).  The chair was moved to just outside the (open) venue doors so we could finish watching the show.  I stayed with her while her husband and his friend remained blissfully unaware from their prime positions stage-side.

While my memories from the first half of the concert are brilliant and vivid, the second half was not quite what I'd envisioned.  Jane is fine now and feels terrible about having imposed but I'm just glad it wasn't more serious.  I may have to follow Mr. Grant on tour to properly see the second half of the show however.

When things like this happen, it leads to a certain amount of reflection.  If you're me, that reflection is directly back to another concert several years ago that I'd looked forward to for a long time.  Bjork was midway through a stellar set on a warm summer night on Toronto Island.  I felt the show was pretty magical, that is, until my friend Lorena fainted.  The second half of that show was spent making sure she was okay and tamping down the urge to dump her body into the water and go back to the show.  I'm still waiting for a make up date with Bjork.  And Lorena?  Where have you been?  I haven't heard from you in ages!

To be clear, none of these situations involved copious amounts of alcohol, sometimes things just happen.  The take away (but not so far as to a hospital) from a night of fun with me is that if anyone is going down, it's more likely to be you than me!  My role is simply to help and to leave with half a dream fulfilled.  Apparently, it's what I do.