by Tito » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:10 am
One more (last) time. 80% recall.
Cheap Trick was good. Rick Neilson was his goofy self despite having a cold, probably the bug that's been going around on the tour. This was a quasi-homecoming for the Rockford, Illinois natives so the crowd was into them especially on the hits. Cain played 3 songs with them with Deen jumping in a Dream Police.
Heart brought it. Ann Wilson sounds like she did 20 years ago, a total powerhouse. Nancy still has it too (if you know what I mean). The rest of the band was very good especially the keyboard player. During the set Saint John went backstage to meet Arnel and Jon Cain. I'm not in the in crowd yet, so I didn't go backstage but I did enjoy the Heart set. Saint John did drop the ball though as he failed to get my Windy City Breakdown CD signed. He claims he couldn't find it, I'm claiming he didn't have the balls to get it signed. Thanks!
Between the Heart and Journey we went out to the concession stand. Despite the early stages of what was to be a mass flooding, record rainfall not one fan was complaining or did it sap their energy even the ones (who had their head up their asses) who weren't prepared. There is no doubt in my mind the weather prevented the unthinkable - a sellout at the FMBT.
Now to Journey. An excellent show - Arnel is the man. After reading many reviews and watching even more youtubes of previous shows, you can tell the band is getting a little tired as the tour winds down. This is totally understandable this being a long tour and now the days are getting shorter. Don't get me wrong, this was a great show. Neal was solid as usual, Jon and Ross had fun, Deen is a monster and I love the new pimp look, and Arnel is a ball of energy on the stage. Arnel makes me nervous with all those drum riser jumps (especially with wet feet). He needed to be more careful when he was out on the sides of the stage, it was wet and slippery out there. Sure as shit, the first time he went out there and came back to the center of the stage he almost slipped. But he learned quick and then had fun with it. When he would come back to center stage after being off to the sides he would slide across the stage with the wet shoes - cocky little shit. Just kidding. Even though I like Keep On Runnin, it is definitely a crowd killer. If they are going to play less than familiar song, I think they should play a new one instead. As Saint John stated Arnel appeared tired at meet and greet, but when he is on stage you can not tell. That man is a ball of energy, he left it all on stage. A true pro. The only very, very minor criticism I have (and this is just me) is Arnel did way too many Sotoesque mic flips. I had bad flashbacks when he did that. Finally during the last song, Saint John and I went up to the front row to empty seats and this jagoff security guard threw us out for no reason. He seen us all show just 10 rows back. He bypassed all the people standing in the aisle and hassled us, who had at least had the courtesy of finding seats. This guy was a real stroke.
P.S. Before the show, Saint John and I were entertained by an impromptu comedy routine a the box office. This guy was a riot. You had to be there to appreciate it.
This is all I can remember from my initial post a couple of days ago.
) all night!!! Story when the pics arrive. 
)
)