Last night, I enjoyed my birthday present from Andrew - tickets to see Nine Inch Nails in concert at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.  They are not Andrew's cup of tea, but he kindly agreed to come along.  We had excellent seats in an area of the venue I'd not previously been in - the upper balcony directly in line with the stage, so could see beautifully.  

We arrived just as the support band were finishing, and felt that lovely frisson of excitement when you are eagerly anticipating an event.  Happily, we were not disappointed, and I had one of the best evenings at a gig I can remember for ages.  

The thing that has to be mentioned is that the lighting was one of the best and most inventive I've ever seen, especially considering the set was rigged in a single day.  Every song brought the most dazzling and awesome effects, with amazing use of colour, and a really funky screen that fascinated Andrew, that was both opaque and transparent by turns, which had projected images on it.  Andrew said at the end of the gig, that for the lighting alone the evening had been worth going to.   

Musically, it was also amazing.  Kicking off with a song from "Hesitation Marks" they played a treasure chest of songs from their back catalogue along with stuff from the latest album.  I loved their live version of "Came back Haunted" - looser and more playful than the CD version.  It's hard to pick highlights from such a great night, but I particularly enjoyed listening to two of my favourite tracks back to back, "Sanctified" and "Closer" - both magnificent descriptions of sexual obsession, and both among my all time favourite songs. 

A pretty near perfect evening finished with their encore and they played "Hurt" - I really could not have asked for more.  I originally encountered the song as sung by Johnny Cash, and I still think his version, along with the amazing video, stands as the most eloquent and beautiful reflection on mortality.  However, the song can also be seen as a commentary on other sorts of pain and despair, whether the loneliness of bereavement or the isolation of depression, or even the pains of addiction.  Hearing Trent Reznor sing it will be one of my special memories.  

The only negatives I can possibly mention are not related to the band - it's more that we both loathe the Arena as a venue.  It has terrible accoustics and I am never happy with the sound quality when we hear groups there.  

One other observation - as we were leaving, I was astonished to see that some idiot had taken a child with them (aged about 8/9).  I've grudgingly learned to accept children at festivals and some concerts.  At Crowded House, for instance, it makes sense. The band look like geography teachers, and the songs are happy, family friendly singalongs.  NIN, with songs about angst, addiction, lots of sex, gloriously loud (as in belly-jiggling, ear-ringing loud) and a crowd gleefully singing along to lyrics like "You let me penetrate you, you let me violate you, I want to fuck you like an animal" ensure it is simply NOT a place that is appropriate for children.   Judgy pants hoiked, we then made our way home.  Fortunately, there's a large car park very near the venue and we were on our way home in minutes, and were greeted ecstatically by four very happy woofs on our return.  

Poor Andrew had to get up very early this morning to travel to St. Albans but I've enjoyed the day, with a head full of wonderful images and sounds from last night.  One of the other reasons I like the band is that Trent Reznor also has rescue greyhounds and I understand he works to support adoption programmes in the USA where he is based.  On our walk this morning, I discussed this with Callie and Sara and they were firmly of the view that he needs to write a really good song about squirrel obsessions but were very pleased that the family income was being spent on a fellow greyhound lover.   

It's been really busy lately.  I've been making regular trips down to Singleton to see my friend.  One of the most encouraging things is seeing his excellent progress, so much so that he'll soon be leaving hospital.  Of course, there will be a long haul of recovery after that, including further physio but he is definitely on his way.  This has eaten into my time though, as of course each visit is bookended by at least an hour and a quarter of driving, and then getting through the large hospital to his ward.  One of the things he asked me to do was to support him by attending a meeting, where his future treatment and discharge could be planned by a multi-disciplinary team including his social worker and medical team.  It's always useful to have a spare pair of ears at these sort of things to remember who said what.  It's also been really lovely to connect again with his sister and mum.  

Andrew has also been working away a lot and this has a big impact on my time during the week.  When he's away, it means doing two lots of dog walks (four is too many to walk singlehanded), and this really cuts into the day.  One of the things we've decided is in the future, not to go above three hounds as that's the magic number for walking by yourself.  Usually I take the boys to Tredegar House and the girls to Hendre Lake.  At the lake there is always so much to see - I love watching the heron, and now there are freshly hatched goslings and ducklings to admire.  Most of the dog walkers over there are very friendly and the fishing guys are too.  I haven't seen the red eared terrapin over the winter but am keeping my eyes peeled for it to resurface now the weather is warming up.  

Last weekend we had our first show of the season.  We were at the West Somerset Whippet Racing Club for their annual dog show at Taunton Vale Polo Club.  Lovely venue, and we had a really fabulous day.  Beautiful spring sunshine and a gentle breeze to stop it getting too hot really helped. It was so warm I was wearing a sleeveless top all day.  Andy and Mick stayed wiht Rita and Roger for the day, and we took the girls.  I entered them into a couple of classes though sadly they didn't win anything.  The show had a really relaxed, friendly vibe and we were lucky enough to also meet up with some friends.  Sue brought her lovely greyhound Mick and also a big tray of marzipan Chelsea Buns, so us, Sue, Jackie and Paul, and Jenny all got together for a slice and a natter.  Brilliant.  Once the show was over, they laid on some lure coursing/racing.  We were busy packing up the stall so didn't take part, but the girls were really excited, and we've decided to take them back for another go, when we are not encumbered by the stall.  

Subsequently, our lovely day was given extra poignancy.  One of Jenny's two beautiful dogs, called Shadie, aged 15 came along, and to our delight won in the Best Veteran class.  Sadly, Shadie had to be put to sleep at home on Friday, after a very short illness, but it's lovely to think of him enjoying his day and that he was so well virtually until the end.  These pics were taken by Jackie.  Her greyhound, Cat, is in the first one, along with Sue's Mick and our two girls.  The second one shows the stall - Andrew is the headless man and I'm obviously talking to Sara.  Sue is next to me with her head turned.