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Notice how the tambourine in Liam’s mouth makes it look like he’s smiling? I don’t know whether that was intentional or not. (A few moments later, he gave that same tambourine to a girl in the front row.)

Anyway, the whole thing went down here at GM Place in Vancouver. My fake ex-wife Ronda got tickets in the sixth row for a few of us, but couldn’t make it. Too bad. It was a fantastic show. Oasis rocked, slowing down for a ballad only twice, I think. Notable absences from the set: “Live Forever” and “Some Might Say.” But we did get “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Champagne Supernova,” “Cigarettes and Alcohol,” “Rock and Roll Star,” “Supersonic,” “Wonderwall,” and a smattering of new tunes. Click the links in that list to see either a clip or the full song.

Ryan Adams rocked too. Hard. He played an hour, and may have stolen the show, in my opinion. He was that good.

More Oasis pics, after the jump…

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I know this stock photograph (for BC’s “Set For Life” scratch-off lottery ticket) is meant to convey the joys of winning vast sums of $$$, but why is the woman clutching an armful of leaves? Is she going to smoke them?

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One of the early warm-up shots taken during my shoot with The Darcys. For this first series, I used my Fed 5 and Rollei Retro 400 film. (I don’t think Mike took his sunglasses off at any point during the shoot.)

By the way, this shot is not at all representative of the photograph I think is going in the book. Later on, the Holga made its first appearance, the slide film came out, and things got weird.

The Darcys play the McGill Open Air Pub in Montreal tomorrow. Click here to see additional tour dates.

Oh, and we had a medical emergency on board. An elderly gentleman two rows behind me collapsed mid-flight, falling into the arms of another passenger. He regained consciousness shortly afterward, received some oxygen, and eventually had a sleep. The flight crew were in constant contact with doctors on the ground, and paramedics boarded the plane as soon as we landed. Did I mention that this elderly gentleman spoke no English? In fact, it was difficult to determine exactly which language he spoke. Farsi was the best guess, and one of the other passengers was able to make some degree of contact with him and understand the symptoms he was experiencing.

In other news, I barely left town, and already The Darcys are taking it to the next level. They were interviewed today by CBC Radio 3! Way to go, guys!

I have a bunch of shots of The Darcys to scan in the next day or so, many of which I haven’t seen yet. I just have the negatives.

It all still feels like a dream! They were so wonderful to me during my stay.

The good news about returning home: my plants are still alive, I had cold alcohol Diet Pepsi waiting for me in the fridge, and I picked up tickets for Matt Mays & El Torpedo in October.

The bad news? I have no food. I need to go grocery shopping.

Tomorrow night: Oasis and Ryan Adams! 6th row! Got the tickets in the mail today. I’m very excited!

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Last day in Toronto. Had lunch in Kensington Market today with Wes and Jason from The Darcys [the first two gentlemen from the left]. I passed off some test proofs of the Holga photos I took of the band last week. Not sure if they’ll be any use to the band as press shots, but I like them. And now that those shots are in the can, I can start thinking about which one(s) might appear in my book. Oh, and I know that I’m going to get a 12″x12″ print done of one photograph in particular. It’s going on my wall!

Meeting and getting to know The Darcys a bit was a highlight of the trip. And so to them, I pull out the ABBA card and say “Thank you for the music”.

And who knows - maybe I’ll be seeing them again soon. They are beginning a tour after all.

And apart from The Darcys, I had a wonderful time in the city. Lots of eating, drinking, and general merriment. It definitely won’t be two years before I’m back again. I’m hoping December this year, or else April.

Those ubiquitous Jonas Brothers get no love in downtown T.O.  As seen earlier today near Bathurst & Bloor.

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