Willo's new job has transported him to India, leaving nothing but a Willo-shaped hole in our lives, and one fully paid for ticket to of Montreal. Fox and I Facebooked, Twittered, and generally asked everyone we knew if they fancied coming to see the band play on Willo’s unused ticket at the HiFi Bar last Thursday, March 5th but those who liked them already had tickets, and the rest weren't interested.
I asked Bart if he'd like to go. He's always introducing me to great and wonderful new (to me) music here in Melbourne; although he declined he did suggest his friend James might be interested. Bart gave James my mobile phone number and he contacted me to say that while he already had a ticket to of Montreal, therefore not needing our spare one, he might have a friend who would appreciate it.
[Note of little consequence: this is the situation as I understood it at the time, but it turns (because Bart just phoned me while I was typing this post and as we nattered for a while about Japanese restaurants on Smith Street, film vs. digital and of Montreal tickets, and he explained that I was on a mistaken track and James did not, in fact, have a ticket – my misunderstanding) out this was not the case - the correct details of who wanted a ticket and who already had a ticket make no bones to the following story so I'm not going to correct it.]
The day of the concert drew near. James, in the mean time, scored free tickets to Coldplay and decided to not attend the of Montreal gig. He texted me to make sure it was okay to give his friend Danielle, who wanted the of Montreal ticket, my mobile phone number so we could arrange the ticket pickup for the HiFi Bar. That, of course, was fine; and on the day of the event, Danielle texted me so I would have her number and we could find each other at the concert.
It's at this time that things in my world got a bit scrambled.
For some, still unfathomable reason, when I saved Danielle's mobile phone number in my phone (and therefore, my brain), I did so under the name "Natalie".
Fox and I moseyed along to the HiFi Bar on Swanston Street in Melbourne and joined the of Montreal queue. This, I thought, would be a fine time to call "Natalie" and let her know we were in the vicinity as we’d arranged. Danielle answered her phone and, of course, I was surprised because I was expecting "Natalie" to answer the phone.
"Hello," I said "Can I speak to Natalie?"
Of course, Danielle knew she was talking to Michelle, because she had saved my number correctly in her phone. She stammered, "Ah, this is Danielle, James' friend."
"Oh, right," I say, still not understanding why I wasn't talking to "Natalie" (god you know sometimes just getting through a whole day without hurting myself is a minor miracle) Does Natalie not want the ticket now?"
As you might expect, Danielle was (rightly) confused but kind of played along best she could. I said, "I just wanted to let her know that I'm in the of Montreal concert queue."
"Ah, I was going to use the ticket." Danielle replied: bless her.
This, of course, in my warped, convoluted brain told me that "Natalie" had decided not to come to the concert and told her friend Danielle she could have the ticket. She explained how her ride wasn't leaving when she had expected it to, so she would be in a little later than anticipated, so she'd give me a call later and I could come out and give her the ticket.
I said that was fine and hung up. Bewildered, I scrolled through to James' original text message to double-check the name his friend who needed the ticket and, of course, his friend was called Danielle. Why in the hell I had saved Danielle's number under the name "Natalie" is a mystery that will never be solved.
So Nat.. I mean, Danielle texted when she was outside the venue and we traded off the ticket and that was good and the concert was good and I have a sample of of Montreal for you:
(filmed with my Flip! in my unsteady hands - but you get the idea)
The morning after the concert, on my way to work, I had forgotten to lock the keypad of my phone before putting it into my bag and it activated - phoning the last person I had called: Danielle. I canceled the call right as she answered. So Lord only knows how nuts I am at this point.