Last night a few friends and I got together and had a fabulous dinner of butternut squash ravioli that I made and froze earlier this week (recipe to come). Then we put on our dancin’ shoes (winter boots actually, given the crazy snowfall) and headed to the Koolhaus for the much-anticipated Thievery show.

Anyone that knows me will tell you I’m a complete Thievery junky. I’ve been listening to these guys since I first discovered them about 12 years ago, back when I was still living with a certain ex-husband/DJ-cum-kitchen cook. I bought tickets to the show in Toronto as soon as they went on sale back in November, I think. I asked Chris if he wanted to go, even though our tastes in tunes are vastly different (thankfully we can agree on jazz and blues, and some indie rock), he said “sure,” the sweety that he is. However, I told him bluntly that I would have more fun if I knew he was enjoying himself, and if he wasn’t going to, he was entirely off the hook about it – no demerit points. I offered him an out, and he took it, which was entirely fine with me (and, I think, much appreciated by him).

So, given all my excitement, you can imagine how pissed off I was to be told by my friend Alice that my ex and his (new) wife were going to be going as well (Alice’s husband is a life-long friend of his, so they see each other regularly). I hadn’t seen the guy in easily several years, and while I’m quite over him and entirely happy with my life now, and my relationship with Chris, that doesn’t mean I want to see him again, or meet his wife. Ick. So it was kind of stressing me out that I’d likely run into the guy, at MY favourite DJ’s show.  It hadn’t occured to me at all that he would be going. He moved back to Stratford, our home town, a few years ago and so I just never considered it. I guess on the bright side however, I had some time to get used to the idea and at least consider how I might handle the situation. That said, I didn’t really know how I’d deal with it.

As we arrived in the cab and shuffled through the line and coat check, running into him pretty much left my mind, and I was having such a great time with my friends I just stopped thinking about it. And then out of no where, as Alice and I worked out what we wanted to order at the bar, there he was. He must have seen us and decided to say hi. I was caught off guard, but in the end I said virtually nothing (I may have muttered a hello back – I really don’t know). He rather nervously chatted a bit with Alice and then it was over, in about 30 seconds.  That was it. No meeting new wife, no awkward hanging out together because my friends used to also be his friends. Done. And it was a non-event.

And thank goodness it was. Because I had a BLAST. I danced my heart out. The show was amazing. The bass was so loud it rumbled through my chest, but at the same time was so perfectly balanced with the rest of the sound. I felt like I had an injection of musical soul-food, something I haven’t had in ages and ages.

I took some video and some photos with my blackberry (I didn’t want to risk having the DSLR taken away at security) but they all suck. I won’t subject you to the horrible shaky-cam or overpowered mic noise, or the blurry photos. But if you’re a beat junkie like me, and haven’t yet discovered Thievery Corporation, please open a tab right now and visit the ESL Music website and listen (BTW – if you buy music straight from their site it’s generally all DRM-free). And be sure to check out the other fantastic artists on their label. Because you do not know what you’re missing.