Three of the biggest shows of the year this past weekend and I made it to, well... none of them. I'm not losing interest folks, really. It's the holidays and on top of everything else, I'm under ridiculous deadline pressure from The Reader, and then there's the whole "buying presents" thing that still needs to be addressed (X-mas is one week from today, in case you were wondering). I would have loved to have seen Bright Eyes and Simon and The Faint and The Terminals this weekend, I even had passage worked out, but it just wasn't happening. That, of course, didn't stop you from going. I heard from a number of people that all the shows were nothing less than spectacular, but especially The Faint's back-to-back shows, the band having brought in even more equipment to beef up their sound and visuals. They are, it seems, destined to become an arena band, the type of act whose concerts are events, spectator sports, life-altering experiences. Both The Faint and Bright Eyes are expected to explode on '07, with new records and big tours in the making. We may not see them come through these parts again for a long time, which makes missing these shows all the more painful, but... you gotta do what you gotta do. I can almost guarantee I won't be missing The Good Life this week, and you shouldn't, either.

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