I'm not sure how to talk, really talk, about how much this concert meant to me.
Back in high school, my ears were opened to a whole new level of music. I've written about it a lot in the past, but it changed my life. I already liked alternative music a lot, but my life-long friend Ben had discovered some amazing sound, thanks as always, to the British.
Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush, Bauhaus, This Mortal Coil and Dead Can Dance.
I thought they'd broken up back in 1999. They've both put out solo albums, etc. Dead Can Dance was done, right?
Imagine knowing a band/musician that had moved you in amazing ways. Imagine that band/musician was never going to produce any more of that soul satisfying sound again. Terrible.
All the credit for knowing about the return and world tour of Dead Can Dance goes to my husband. He found out about it and said we could go together. What an offer! But...
But this music belongs to me and someone else I am eternally entwined with...my sister-in-law Alesha. I told Cameron that his offer was wonderful, more than generous, but I really had to go with Alesha.
And I did. We had to go together to experience something long hoped for and never to be realized, except now it could be realized.
The venue was the Red Butte Garden amphitheater and the concert was last Saturday. I thought a lot of my friend Ben, now passed away these eight years, and how he was the catalyst for my love for all this music that I still love so much (going on nineteen years).
It was a beautiful, dream-like concert, so much more about sound than noise, an amplification of the senses rather than the volume of an electric guitar (though that's awfully fun, too). Dead Can Dance are classified as "world music." Fair enough. They are Gothic cathedrals, rural Turkish villages, Greek churches and Irish fields.
Brendan Perry's voice is a rich, elevated baritone and Lisa Gerrard reminded me of a graceful marble statue that could sing like an angel.
I wished Ben could have see this concert. I wanted him to be there. Dead Can Dance have never made it to Salt Lake City before. At the third encore, an unfamiliar song introduction began and I puzzled it out in my brain and then came the utterly unexpected "Song to the Siren." Originally written by Tim Buckley, recorded by Pat Boone, then Tim Buckley, then This Mortal Coil (sung by Elizabeth Fraser from The Cocteau Twins). This Mortal Coil's version is the one I know best and when I was in high school with Ben, he expressed that he'd like me to sing it at his funeral.
When Ben's mom called to tell me that he had passed away, she said wanted me to sing but that she wasn't sure what yet. I related what Ben had told me ten years earlier and she said that's what she wanted me to do.
So here I am. Standing at this concert, with my sister-in-law and friend, who accompanied my singing at Ben's funeral, listening to the very song I sang that day, all the while thinking of him, wishing he could be there. Of course, I cried, but it was so awesome. Alesha and I clung to each other.
These musicians move me. I am so grateful for the effort they put into beauty and ethereal elevation.
The geese were friendly and the kids had a wonderful time running around.
Her favorite part was this huge tree that turned itself into a playground. The children swarmed over it like bees in a hive.
Taking a break until I can help with the next stage...
That night (or maybe it was the next? My days are blurring) we went to see the lights at Temple Square in downtown SLC.
We haven't been here for years. Long enough for Bryce and Ella to not even remember or know about the place. 
Ella was very excited! (this vid is a subdued Ella while we were there)
Lights everywhere!
We arrived Friday evening and had just enough time to check in, change and take the subway to here:
The cast was great, most making their Broadway debut. Tony was marvelous and Maria was lovely. The whole cast was full of energy and fun. My only complaint: they substituted a lot of the songs' regular lyrics with Spanish a LOT.
St. Patrick's Cathedral at night.
We went to the official (the original, right?) New York City Library. It was mostly covered up by renovations, but at least the lions were on display.
This is William Cullen Bryant for whom the park is named. He was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.
I missed the kids a lot here. There was so much that they would have loved.
Both of us were so moved by the performances. Even though we hadn't been familiar with the music, it was our favorite experience for this trip.
My trip to New York wouldn't be complete without another visit to the Metropolitian Museum of Art. Like Claudia from 
Seurat
There was an odd creation on the roof called The Big Bambú. We weren't too interested, but look at the view! A sea of Central Park with the sky-scraping mountains behind.
Only it wasn't a 'house' in her day. It was a bunch of 
She moved here shortly after her marriage to John Marsh into apartment number one, just to the left of the main door. This lion banister cap faced their door and it is said that she rubbed its nose each day for luck. 
Nothing in the actual apartment, which you'll pay $15 to enter, is authentically hers (though there are photos of her and her relatives). What you get for your money is to actually be in the place where Gone with the Wind was born and honestly, that was cool enough for me. They're even pretty sure where she wrote (believe me, there weren't a lot of options): the corner with the best windows and right under the radiator. You can see photos of the place 
Across the courtyard there is a space dedicated to the movie Gone with the Wind. There are two authentic props from the movie here. They have the painting of Scarlett that featured in Rhett's study in the Atlanta house.
The problem with going on tours such as this by yourself is that you have to take unflattering photos of yourself to prove you were there. Can you name the actress/character who wore this dress design and in what scene in Gone with the Wind?
The nice thing, the great thing about going solo is that you can take your own sweet time.
Since I had literal hours to kill til my mom came to find me somewhere in this city, population of approximately 4,917,717 people, I started walking north. I was not totally blind though, there were incredibly helpful visitor maps. 
There was a special Leonardo da Vinci exhibit here, but honestly, could I justify the entrance fee when this museum and hey, this whole vacation were not budgeted for one week before Christmas? I patted myself on my thrifty back and hung in the cool giftshop and bought myself a 
I passed the actual intersection where Margaret Mitchell was struck by a speeding car at the age of 48 while crossing Peachtree. She died days later.
