August 18, 2001 Review

Hartford, CT

We got to Meadows Music Theatre (or whatever the hell it’s called) pretty late, about 5:30. (lol, that’s late for us!) Parking was a pain and we finally got to the front gates. Let me tell you, our friend Lisa described this place well when she compared it to Fort Knox! We had taken my mom’s good camera and wrapped it up in our Matchbox sweatshirt and put that in the backpack. They pulled everything out of the backpack and unravelled the sweatshirt. So, they found the camera. Bastards. So I volunteered to walk it back to the car. Muhahahaha! We had successfully gotten our one time use cameras in. But I wanted the good one, dammit! So I walked back to the car and, using the camera cord and my GD pass cord, I tied the camera around my ankle. Then I asked some nice people if they could tell that I had a camera hidden under my jeans. They said no and I continued on my merry but slightly ticked off way.

I walked up to the gates and the guy just glanced in my bag and waved me on because he knew I had been there before. Zindo and my mom were waiting there for me with a couple of our friends (Jerin and Eremy! lol). I had a huge smile on my face when I walked in, so Zindo knew I had somehow managed to get the camera. It was the principle of it! (The camera ended up not working. Ran out of batteries. Oh well, I got it in. That’s all that matters. lol)

We high-tailed it for the Ladies room because the camera was starting to fall off my ankle. I was so pleased with myself. I wanted to go out and a do a little jig in front of those nasty search people. I know they were just doing their job. But, still!

We found our seats without much hassle. There were three of us, so we couldn’t get fan club seats. But our seats weren’t too bad. They were section 800 (Kyle’s side), row KK. We sat through Seven Mary Three, but of course applauded loudly (gotta show friends of Matchbox love). When Train came on we stood up, of course. They rock so much live. But there happened to be a few bitchy individuals behind us who did not see the need for standing. They started screaming (I’m not kidding), telling us to sit down or move. Honey, I paid $50 for my seat. I will stand and you can kiss my ass! I refused to sit down and told them so. They continued to bitch, really loudly. Our friends down in section 2 could hear them. So we decided to move. Which they thought was wonderful. Well! Indeed it was! For US!

We went down to the end of our section and talked to the very nice security lady and told her our problem. She pointed us in the direction of another security guy. So we went over to him and repeated our problem, asking if we could just stand down there for Train and then go back up when everyone was standing for Matchbox. He said we could sit in the row of folding chairs behind the front section. Oh, SCORE!

So we got to stand up for all of Train. And, more importantly, we got to move down about ten rows! This certain stage had a little walkway that extended to the right and left sides of the venue. So the people to the very right and the very left (us) could interact with the boys when they walked over to us. They walked over all night long! Probably because our sections were the craziest.

Anyway, Train! They guys were awesome, as usual. The crowd was not as pepped as they were in Boston. (Boston was an unbelievable show!) But they showed some love for Train. For one song (I’m sorry, I don’t remember which one) Kyle came out and helped them out on guitars. It was so funny. I was looking at the stage thinking, "Wow, that man looks a lot like Kyle….MY GOD!" (lol) I was yanking on Zindo’s arm and pointing wildly. Then of course we had to make some noise for our Kylie. Not many people noticed that he was up there, except for the fan club people. Can I just say that getting fan club tickets is like sitting in an entirely different world. Everyone is there because they love the music, not just because they think it might be a fun thing to do on a Saturday night.

I thought that was the coolest thing that was going to happen during Train. But on the song where Pat plays the drums, (I should have written down which song it was. You forget so easily!) he went over to the left hand side of the stage. I assumed he was getting a guitar or a drink or something. But he came back pulling a small human being with him! (lol) Honestly, my first reaction was, "Oh, how sweet. He’s bringing a kid out. Wait a minute…..THAT’S MY PAULIE!" (lol) I was so thrilled. My buddy Schmerin got pictures of that for me! Yay! Paul rocked the house, baby!

Then my boys, Train, were over. (Bye-bye Charlie!) And we made lots of noise for them as they went off. Then began the great wait for the MATCHBOX! I went over to the security guard and thanked him again and asked if I could bring my mother down. He said sure! So I went and got her and brought her back. Do you realize how satisfying it is to be able to say, "Come on. Get your stuff. We’re moving up!" (lol) Unfortunately, those women weren’t there, so I couldn’t wave to them as I moved up.

So, then we heard it: Michael Jackson! You know who the real fans are, because they are the only ones who scream and dance for that song. Everyone else just thinks you’re insane. Except for that other nice security guard who was dancin’ to Michael, too.

The boys burst on the scene with their usual energy. But, I am sorry to say, the crowd was just not as into it. I looked behind me multiple times during the show. The majority of the people in the second row of sections weren’t even standing. I just don’t understand that. Why do you pay that kind of money to see a band when you won’t even exert the energy to freaking stand up!? I was really ticked off. But then I realized I had better things to do. (lol) Like take pictures for you fine people!

Rob and Kyle, hell, the WHOLE band seemed to be paying particular attention to our side of the audience. We were pretty hyped the whole time. Arms in the air, screaming. That was fun. But Rob and Kyle were turned towards us almost the whole time. So it wasn’t like we felt as though we were squished away somewhere in a corner. They came over onto the walkway quite a few times and sang to us all. It was awesome!
BR> They played basically the same set list as they did for Boston. They played a few less songs, though. They went through all the songs on the albums and also played "Remedy" (although this time they didn’t dedicate it to anyone), "Don’t Let Me Down." For that song….we got KYLE SHIRTLESS! SCORE! It is so funny to read Zindo’s notes on the show. She listed all of the songs, but then over "Don’t Let Me Down" she drew an arrow and the word "nekkid." Really funny! He remained "nekkid" for the rest of the concert, much to our delight. Ben, the keyboardist was wearing a wife beater. My GOODNESS that man has a beautiful body! He is delicious, just in case anyone cares. (lol)

This time around we knew that we had to save our film for certain parts of the concert, like when Rob jumps on top of his piano. Every time he does that I am afraid something is going to break; whether it’s him or the piano. (lol) But he was safe, don’t worry. He did tell us we all could, "Forget about your jobs. Forget about school and focus on the music." That was great to hear. And again, after a few songs, he announced that, "If you’re not having fun at this point, there’s nothing much we can do for you."

Rob loves shaking his head from side to side and letting his hair go crazy. Pookie does this really cute thing with his hands during "Leave." It’s hard to describe. It’s almost like a patting motion. He does it when he isn’t playing. He must really like that song. I love it when he shuffles around. He is EVERYWHERE. But I think his favorite place to be is up on the platform with Paulie. He stands to his right and jams with him. How anyone can jam with Paulie, I don’t know. (lol) He does the head shaking thing, too. I hope he doesn’t get whiplash.

I love watching Adam during the show, because he is the one walking around and answering people when they hold up signs or yell something. You always see him doing his little nod and smiling. I love his smile! He was really working the crowds tonight. He even came all the way over to our side and played and smiled at us. What a sweetie! Kyle was all over the place. Normally he is pretty much in "Kyle world" when he’s playing, and he got really into it tonight, but he walked over to us and played quite a few times. Man, that guy can play that guitar. Really talented.

So for an encore they did "DLMD," "If You’re Gone," "Stop" (which everyone loves to do the hand signs for), and "Push." Everyone of course sang along to "Push" and finished the show with a big bang! Paulie threw out his drumsticks and then you knew it was all over. ::sighs:: It was great. The boys were wonderful. I am still not talking to the crowd. They just don’t know good music when they hear it. What do you expect from CT? (I’m just kidding anyone from CT =)) We had a wonderful time.

We tried to get the set list from the lighting guys, but they wouldn’t give it. Durn. But we did manage to get the V.I.P. programs. We grabbed the left over ones that people left on their seats. I don’t even think we’ve looked at them yet. (lol) I just know that I had a great time and I NEED SLEEP!

It was way too complicated to wait out for the boys. We didn’t know if they would close the parking lots or exactly which way the buses would leave. So we decided to call it a night at the ungodly early hour of 11:45! Can you imagine!? (lol)

We did manage to get two unofficial t-shirts for $10. They were selling them in the parking lot, so we figured what the hell. They’re cool. Except the front has Everclear on it and the back has the dates for this tour. But, whatever. Zindo traded hers for another shirt that has the blue curtain from Mad Season and some freaky looking clown face and dates on the back. It’s cool, but instead of being really long, it’s really wide. So I call it her moo-moo shirt. Hell, if she gained about 200 pounds and decided she wanted a mid-drift, she would have one. (lol) I think she’s gonna use it as pajamas. (I hope she wouldn’t even consider going out in public like that!)

We had a great time. Met up with MrsIsaac and Lisa again. They’re awesome, really sweet. We waved to Ev and his dad. They were way up front. (lol) But we weren’t able to find Alix or anyone else. Plah! Well, we’ll see her in New Jersey. Until then! I hope you all enjoyed this! =)