I had breakfast with my parents this morning. I had eggs over-hard, which are my favourite.

Work seemed like the usual routine when I got there. Well, until I was asked to write urgent release notes. These took a bit of time to hammer out, but they were done ahead of schedule.

The sales guy from Macau had another annoying request. He asked for graphics of our various products. I wrote back, saying that they weren't in high resolution, for customers had taken them for us. I asked if he still wanted them. After hesitating a bit, he said yes. He was planning on making a poster for the trade show in Macau. When he says he's making something, it's just his way of saying that he's doing a copy-and-paste job.

After working like crazy all day, 17:00 had arrived. The president's son (PS) was at my desk. I left promptly, saying goodbye to everyone. I shocked a lot of people. It's rare that I leave when I'm supposed to.

I drove downtown, parking in my regular lot. We then went to Quizno's. It now sells flatbread pizza, which looked yummy. I had the chicken salad with bacon and cheese, with soup and a drink. PS went with the black angus steak. My salad was tasty. I wish that such establishments would use romaine lettuce, though.

After dinner, I had to take out some money at the local Royal Bank ATM. We then proceeded to the Air Canada Centre. I got a white Gwen Stefani t-shirt. We made our way onto the floor. We were 33 seats away from the stage. It was a pretty good view.

The following reviews sum up my evening nicely. I have a few notes to add, which I'll save till the end of these reviews.

The concert review from Jam is here:

Air Canada Centre, Toronto - May 30, 2007
By JANE STEVENSON -- Sun Media

Gwen Stefani took her fans on a really sweet escape last night at the Air Canada Centre.

The ultra-blond pop-dance star and stylemaker, who's on the road in support of her second solo album, The Sweet Escape, opened her hour-and-35-minute show with a prison-themed homage that saw Stefani emerge from a gold jail cell dressed in black-and-white-striped, sequined hotpants.

The evening actually began with Stefani's so-called Harajuku Girls, originally introduced on her first solo effort, Love.Angel. Music. Baby, running through the seats on the floor pursued by police officers while Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives blared.

They all later turned out to be Stefani's eight remarkable dancers, who joined her and opening act, rapper-singer Akon, on stage for the title track from The Sweet Escape, which provided a rousing start to the night.

That jail cell was later turned into a safe so that a robbery could be committed during Rich Girl, from L.A.M.B., and Stefani could update her outfit with a sequined black cape.

By the third song, Yummy, she was decked out in a silver sequined apron and white chef's hat perched on her ponytailed head, while she pranced on a moving sidewalk with two of her six backing musicians. (One of whom was David Bowie's exquisite bassist and backup singer, Gail Ann Dorsey.)

Stefani is nothing if not a fashion plate.

For example, she updated the kimono into a mini-dress with white tank top and black bra, for 4 In the Morning, Luxurious and Early Winter.

A bigger production also seemed to be a priority this time out with a large video screen as a backdrop that split into two, and onto which both sleek lights and images were projected.

Particularly effective was the geisha dancing in a snowstorm during Early Winter, even if it seemed like Stefani had ripped a major page out of Madonna's handbook, while Dorsey took over on lead vocals as the song came to a dramatic end.

Also good were the blue sky, clouds, pink sequined curtains and goats that accompanied Wind It Up, inspired by The Sound of Music, and another dazzling pair of sequined red shorts for the equally appealing Danger Zone , Wonderful Life and Hollaback Girl, the latter complete with a large gold "G" in bright lights hanging above the stage and two musicians forming a horn section.

Even more impressive was the mom-of-one's flat stomach, showed off to great effect in a midriff-baring shirt during Now That You Got It and Don't Get Twisted/Breakin' Up, and when Stefani ran back to a smaller B-stage and eventually into the upper seats with part of her band to perform Cool.

All those bells and whistles aside, Stefani also had a nice stripped down encore, beginning with The Real Thing, with Dorsey again on harmonies, before cranking up the energy, costumes — more hotpants! — and effects again for the show-ending crowdpleaser What You Waiting For?

Akon, the Senegal-born, Atlanta-based rapper, and former convict (on car theft charges), earlier opened his 35-minute-set with Shake Down from his breakout sophomore disc, Konvicted, with the help of two female dancers dressed as police officers.

Is it just me, or where is Wentworth Miller — Prison Break's hunk — when you need him?

Meanwhile, the screaming, mostly female fans in attendance seemed as psyched about seeing him as they were Stefani, as they sang along to hits like I Wanna Love You, Smack That, and Don't Matter.

In fact, they roared their approval when the muscled performer stripped down to just a white tank top and eventually discarded it later in his show.

"Where my ladies at?" said the married, father of three, who got into trouble earlier this month when he did some dirty dancing with an underage girl during a concert in Trinidad.

In fact, the incident led Verizon to pull out of the Stefani tour as a sponsor, but she stuck by Akon and didn't yank him off her road trip.

Maybe it's because his heart's in the right place?

When Akon, backed by a bassist, drummer and turntablist, discarded the yellow track suit jacket he was earlier wearing, he had a T-shirt on that said, "Believe in the future of Africa."

Also opening last night was brash but funny British MC Lady Sovereign, the self-proclaimed "biggest midget in the game," who is one of the biggest music stories of the last year in her native England.

The pigtailed singer rapped, burped and swore her way through a 20-minute set that highlighted songs from her 2006 debut, Public Warning, including the title track and her breakout out single, Love Me Or Hate Me, plus a cover of the Sex Pistols' Pretty Vacant.

Here's the review from the Toronto Star:

Stefani makes a clean getaway at the ACC TheStar.com - entertainment - Stefani makes a clean getaway at the ACC

May 31, 2007

Ashante Infantry
Pop & Jazz Critic

Don't know why Paris Hilton acolytes are petitioning the Guvernator to spare her a jail term for probation violations when time in the clink seems to be the in thing.

No less than style-maker Gwen Stefani opened her show at the Air Canada Centre last night locked inside an albeit gilded cell clad in albeit fetching prison stripes.

The tie-in was a frenetic rendition of "The Sweet Escape," for which her recent album and tour are named. Accompanying her on the song was opening act Akon, the Senegalese rapper who credits his three-year stint in the pokey (for running a car theft ring) as the catalyst to pursue a music career.

Who'd figure that the capacity crowd of screaming tweens and teens (and chaperones) who adore Stefani's whimsical girl-power shtick would also lap up the shirt-baring, profanity-laced routine of the Atlanta hip-hopper, whose second album is called Konvicted (with a smash R.Kelly-esque paean to a stripper) and boasts a logo of crossed forearms with handcuffed/bejewelled wrists?

The tour recently lost U.S. cellphone provider Verizon as a sponsor after Akon was videotaped simulating sex with an underaged girl at a club show in Trinidad.

But Stefani hasn't given him the boot and the pair do have a few things in common: his nasal, sing-a-long hooks and her penchant for nonsense refrains – na na na na na na ("Rich Girl") – and their hardscrabble origins. Hers, of course, was the punk version in suburban Orange County.

But Stefani is definitely more accessible than, say Madonna, to whom she's most often compared. They have similar chameleonic images, but Stefani seems more playful and sexy, rather than deliberate and sexed-up.

Weary-eyed in the close-ups more than halfway through a North America tour, the 37-year-old pop songstress and mom to a year-old son admitted to having an off day.

"I was grumpy, like, 10 minutes ago, for no reason; just being a bitch, basically," she said in a confessional aside.

However, as she noted, it's hard not to have a good time when scrambling across stage in bat wings for a cops and robbers scenario, or doffing a checked coatdress to reveal red sequined shorts.

There were plenty of costume changes from the fashion label boss, but she was rarely off stage, since layering facilitated most of them.

The low point of the 90-minute set was the three consecutive ballads in the first half that resulted in a run to the restroom and refreshment stand. It's not that her voice couldn't carry the tunes, but the overwhelming six-piece band didn't give it a chance. Besides, she's a lot less fun in slo-mo.

Stefani is at her best skipping saucily across stage with her Harajuku Girls sidekicks and showcasing her theatrical flair on uptempo songs such as "Wind It Up" and "Hollaback Girl," when she most resembles a fantasy land escapee.

Her character is a mashup of Alice in Wonderland naivete, Barbie's glam, Miss Piggy's irreverence and Nancy Drew's resourcefulness – simply entertaining.

My two cents? Here they are:

Lady Sovereign

• Ate what seemed to be a gum bracelet off her wrist between songs. Probably swore about two hundred times during her entire set.
• Odd to see her ask the crowd to flip the bird for an entire song. Kind of felt awkward about the kid next to me with her mom.

Akon

• His DJ, wearing a kilt, was the best. He got the entire crowd going. Loved his mohawk.
• Akon came out wearing a yellowish tracksuit. It soon became Akon in a white tank top. Pants remained the same. He then took his tank top off. Must admit he has a nice physique.
• "Smack that" and "Don't matter" were the most popular songs. The latter was about going out with a stripper. I'm not sure if he eventually married her, but the song was written for their dating relationship.
• Great crowd participation on the part of Akon and his DJ. Had lots of fun.

Gwen Stefani

• Think everything was covered in the two review. Had a blast -- didn't know what to expect, so her show was such a pleasant treat!
• I was a few feet away from Gwen when she walked down to where we were, by the small stage, and into the crowd. I kept snapping pictures like crazy!
• My favourite song performed was "Early winter." What seemed like confetti was falling down on the stage, but it was off the screens. The graphics were that amazing.

The show ended at 23:30. We walked to my car and I drove PS home. I then got home just after midnight.

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Song that's stuck in my head: Gwen Stefani's "Early winter"
Yummy food eaten today: Chicken salad with bacon
What I crave: Orange Crush

Recent thoughts:
Readings, lights, and random thoughts - 2009-03-15
Thoughts about work, school, and peeps - 2009-03-09
Working from home and a mini life update - 2008-12-19
The weekend is here! - 2008-01-06
A new year - 2008-01-01