So tonight I went to see Riverdance with my friend Julie. Not only was it a phenomenal show, but the performance took place in Rockford's recently refurbished Coronado Theater. My first time for both. General highlights: the fiddler and her blue violin, the uilleann piper -- I have seen/heard nothing NOTHING like him before, the "pools of the street lights" number, a sudden intense desire to learn to play the concertina, the Russians' no-way-did-that-just-happen tricks, and, as Sam would say, just smiling out loud for two hours straight. It was gorgeous. Visual highlights: