I went to this show, not knowing what to expect...and it was definitely one of the most interesting experiences of my life. I was originally supposed to go with my friend Crissy, but she had some other stuff to do, so i called up my aunt, and went with her, and another one of her friends. So, we went downtown, and we got to Church and Wood, where the stage was set up, but there were gates surrounding the area, and we couldn't figure out how to get in (we figured it out later, but decided not to go in), so we decided to watch the show from the sidewalk. (it was actually quite a good view, because we were higher up than the people in the middle, so there were no heads in my way!)
A dj was playing when we first got there, and at about 8:25, a guy in a sparkly silver shirt and orange shorts took the stage. He was the announcer for the evening, but before introducing Hawksley, he sang his own little song, which was a parody of the Backstreet Boys' "backstreet's back." (He called it "backsides back") It was the most hilarious thing i have *ever* heard. he somehow incorporated the words "homo, faeries, cowboys" etc. into that song, and it was quite hilarious. At that point i realized that one of the guys dancing in the audience was Mathieu from The Lofters (i'd seen him in the audience, and he looked SO familiar, but i couldn't figure out where i saw him before...then all at once it hit me!) So anyway, then the guy in silver announced Hawksley (and he didn't even pronounce his name correctly!)
Hawksley came out wearing a new shirt that he had apparently bought that day at Goodwill, that he cut the sleeves off, (He said this in between songs), with a blue tie, and his signature "pin-stripe/safety pin" pants...and he actually un-did a safety pin in honour of pride :) He played a variety of songs from both albums, including (in no particular order): No Sissies, Tarantulove, Bullets, Stop Joking Around, Striptease, Jealous of your Cigarette, Your Beauty Must be Rubbing Off, Clever Not Beautiful, Dirty and True (this was *so* awesome) and he did a different version of Lethal and Young that was much faster than it is on the cd, and it sounded awesome. He may have played Little Tragedies, All of us Kids and Paper Shoes...but i can't really remember right now :)
After the show, we went over to the side of the stage, where they were selling merchandise. My aunt bought me a cute little tank top and Hawksley's book, Hawksley Burns for Isadora. Then, my aunt and her friend were trying to get Hawksley to come over and sign some stuff for me (and were repeatedly saying *loudly* that he should come over here). So finally, the guy who was selling stuff kinda directed Hawksley's attention to us, and hawksley was like "oh hey! i visited your website, it's great!" (or something like that) So then, he was coming over to talk to us, and some other guy was talking to him/kissing him (i think it might have been Robin Black, but i'm not positive) Then finally, Hawksley came over to talk to us, and my aunt's friend got my cd and my book signed for me, cause she was holding them. Then I was talking to Hawksley, and i asked him to sign a copy of an article that i'd written about him in my school newspaper. He seemed kinda impressed that i wrote an article about him, so i gave him a copy of it. Then he asked me what school i went to, and i said "Father Bressani" and he's like "where's that?" and i said "in woodbridge" and he said "is that a Catholic school?" and i said "yes" and he's like "well then what are you doing here?!" and my aunt's friend pipes up and says "she's here with her aunt and her mother!" (cause she didn't know what else to say!) it was *so* hilarious, but i guess you'd have to have been there to appreciate the sheer absurdity of the moment. :) (especially since Hawksley has already met my *real* mother!) So then my aunt and her friend were like "okay! now we can finally go to dinner!" and hawksley asked us where we were gonna go, and then we discussed restaurants for a bit...and we were off! :)
it was quite the interesting event. :)