Thomas and Friends Live on Stage

Adelaide Entertainment Centre
20 October 2009 - 1pm



Ok - I know my trend for loving all the kiddy shows is becoming quite alarming, but honestly when you go to a show and watch the innocent faces of children, and see how truly fascinated they are with what is before their eyes it is hard to not enjoy it with them.
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That is what I was faced with today - a four year old who got to see one of his most favourite characters coming to life before him. Honestly when Thomas the Tank first made his 'peep peep' whistle sound, a light was triggered in my little boys face.
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Thomas And Friends Live on Stage was a relatively simple production with a few background screen changes, sound effects, songs and dance - and most importantly TRAINS :-) The favourites were all there, Thomas, Percy, Gordon and James. The crew sang the songs from the Thomas television series so the children all related well to what was going on stage.
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The story was typical 'Thomas' with the little engines ignoring the Fat Controllers (or Sir Topham Hat) instructions and therefore creating confusion on the island of Sodor. Of course as per usual, even though Thomas was generally the cause of the problems, it is he that saves the day and once again becomes a 'very useful engine'.
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Despite the simplicity of the script, this show was extremely entertaining, for young and old and well worth seeing. If you have a child who loves trains then I would recommend without a doubt this show.
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The merchandise available was generally reasonable and actually the range was very limited, which when you have children is a definate benefit so they don't spent hours umming and ahhhhing over what they want to waste their money on.
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We ended up wasting our money on a spinning light that cost $20 - a bit rich and as with all these shows, the production know that all the kids want them when they see the other kids inside in the dark with them.

Black Eyed Peas

Adelaide Entertainment Centre

October 10 2009 - 7:30pm

Another big event for the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and how exciting that over 8000 people packed in considering the 'Parklife 09' concert was being held at the same time in Botanic Park.

I was in the General Admission section, and perhaps should have got to the venue a little earlier, because I was probably about 10 people back from the stage. Those who know me well know that I generally like to be as close to the stage as possible - just figure I want to get my moneys worth and see the bands up close.

Well there always have to be a support act, and I guess you play to lottery to see if they are any good. 'LMFAO', was the support, I have never heard of them before and hope to never see them again - what a load of rubbish, maybe I am just getting old, but I honestly could not get into this group. Maybe it was the pants around the knees or really bad lyrics to their songs - I am not sure, but wont waste anymore blog space talking about them.

The Black Eyed Peas came on around about 8:30pm and from the moment they stepped out on stage, everyone knew this was going to be something special. With Laser lights, costumes, dancers and a terrific stage set up to keep the audience intrigued and ready to party.

The Peas started with 'Get Retarded' and played all their big hits like 'Where is the Love', 'This Generation' and 'My Hump' and of course ending the night in encore with 'Boom Boom Pow' and 'I got a feeling'. One highlight was that Fergie, Will i am, Taboo and Apl.de.ap while performing great as a group, all had a chance to perform some of their solo ventures.

While I enjoyed it all some highlights was Fergie performing her huge hits such as 'Big Girls Don't Cry' and mixed up version of all her songs from her 'Duchess' Album including 'Glamorous' and 'Fergalicious'.

Another highlight was Will.i.am playing the role of D.J. and doing music mixes with songs from artists such as Nirvana, Michael Jackson and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. He performed for probably about 20 minutes alone and I can honestly say that from where I was standing that everyone was dancing and enjoying every minute.

The Peas were fantastic, they even had all the people in the seated seats up stairs standing in their seats, dancing and enjoying every minute of the show - (I went to the Pink concert and that didn't even happen for her)!

I left the concert feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, course in the throat - I think all indicative of what you should feel after a good rock/Dance concert. Well done guys come back to Australia again soon