August 10th, 1998 Review

This review is submitted by our own zindo! (Please keep in mind I wrote this when I was 15...)

Before arriving at Great Woods: I woke up at ten and ran around trying to get ready. I took a shower and all that crud. Around 3 my friend Marie came over and she helped me decorate the sign I had made...woohooo that sign...lol. On one side it said, "HAVE NO FEAR ZINDO and winnie...and lilactoga aka honeydew ARE HERE!" on the other side it said, "POOKIE BE MY SNOOKIE!" So my Mum brought up a camera to my room that I was gonna use and it had little music notes on it and it was so cute and I was kinda hyper so I ended up burning myself with my straightening iron; cause my hair's so curly and I like it better straight. So now I have a scar.

So at 4:30 we arrived at our meeting spot where we picked up Erin and Katie and we were off! My dad, being the super dad he is, drove us both ways and put up with our happy squeaking. I was in the front passenger seat cause I had to be in charge of the tape deck and I had to hide the surprise I had made for the other three: copies of the tape that Joan sent me.

So I gave the responsibility of decorating the sign over to my 3 friends...not a good idea. They went CRAZY! lol! I had outlined the letters on the, "have no fear" side with glow in the dark paint and I had found glue sticks that glowed in the dark and so. Wooo! My sign looked odd. On the side that said, 'pookie be my snookie' the two o's in pookie were made into eyes looking down at the word, "snookie" and the two o's in that had eyes lookin up at the word pookie. And between them was a heart with arrows from the eyes going to the heart. Of course Katie had to declare her love for Rob somewhere on the sign...then Adam...then Kyle... soon everyone was bein loved. Well anyhoo that kept them busy at least.

Then we arrived at Great Woods! At Great Woods we were freakin out. We went in and they searched our bags. It was funny. My friend was caught with food and the guy was like, 'eh' but this other guy said to me, "no food,cameras or alcohol?" as he was pokin through my bag. Sheesh! I don't look like a druggie.

So first thing we decided to do was find our seats. And they kicked ass! We were practically in the center and 2 rows back from the handicapped spots. The view was GREAT! Katie was squeaking with joy. So then we went and bought stuff. Marie didn't buy anything but Katie, Erin, and I each bought shirts. Mine is navy blue and has a blue and red stripe going across with the words matchbox 20 on top of the red stripe. Pretty cool.

So then we went and sat down again and waited for Semisonic to start. They did and they were ok; but they weren't who we were waiting for. Between Semisonic and Soul Asylum I told the guy who sat next to me that when matchbox 20 came out I was gonna go crazy and that I hoped I wouldn't scare him. But I think just by telling him that he was already a little frightened. He and his friend changed seats.

Soul Asylum sucked in my opinion. The lead singer was so obviously wasted, and the guitar player kept turning his back on the audience and once took his hands off the guitar while he was still playing so..ya know. But during Soul Asylum there was a Paul sighting. During the opening bands Katie had her binoculars on the backstage entrance, hoping for a glimpse of someone. Suddenly, she screamed, "IT'S PAUL!!" and forked the binoculars over to me and I looked and screamed, "I SEE RED HAIR!!!" lol. So we got strange looks. And those weren't the last. Wow, this is long. I apologize.

So then, the moment we had all been waiting for...MATCHBOX 20!!! I stood up and started screaming and luckily we had made friends with the people in front of us...a couple with two children...so they didn't mind as we went crazy and probably made them deaf. Well, Erin and Marie were just like, "yay." I held up my sign and I planned to hold it up during "Real World" but ended up holding it most of the show. Oh yeah, they opened with "Argue" and ended with "Long Day" and played all the song songs on the cd plus "Tired," "You And I And I," "Nothing Compares To You," and their new song, "Black And White People." Kicks ass I have to add.

We had a flashlight and because we were so far back I was worried they might not see the sign. But between songs, when it was completely dark, we shined the flashlight on the sign, so if they looked out into darkness they would see it. Even though I didn't see this (cause sometimes the sign blocked my view dammit) Katie swears she saw Rob go over to Brian and point to us! I saw Brian look in our direction once (I dunno for sure if he was lookin at us but it looked like it) and he shook his head vigorously 3 times!!! I was thinking, "Oh my, did he say no?" lol! I didn't expect him to say yes, but I didn't think he would be like THAT!

let's see what else... Oh yeah. When they came out Rob was wearing a white cowboy hat but he took it off after "Argue." damn. And then he was talkin bout Joey takin off his jacket. Then I saw him fiddle with his shirt like he was gonna take it off. But he didn't...damn...

Then some other time someone chucked a stuffed animal over Rob's head and behind him. He looked up at the rafters like, 'where did that come from?' Then another time he was talkin' 'bout Adam...Adam apparantly has been pretty sick that last week. And he had some growth on his neck or as Rob affectionately put it, "it's like he's growing another f*cking head!" So poor Adam. :( Brian was bopping all around the stage; going up behind Paul and Joey and around Kyle. Adam was bopping around too! He was boppin pretty good for a sick guy. lol.

There was this screen and it was pretty weird. They had a little video for each song and once I saw a satellite dish fly by. All too soon it was over. ::sigh:: So Erin, Katie and I broke down and bought the rediculously overpriced programs...$15!! I got totally ripped off and I know it but I don't care!(Anyone going to a future concert....get the program! There are 3 small pictures of Kyle shirtless! HELL-O!)

So after that it was about 10:30 (the concert started at 7) and we were there until eleven and thought maybe, just maybe we could meet the boys. So I was put in charge of getting us to the buses and Katie held on to my back pack and Marie was holding on to Katie's. So we were like a little train! Oh yeah WE LOOKED COOL! I dunno how, but I was getting by all these people and really moving! Go me!

So we got to where the buses should have been and wondered. 'where's the bus?' Then we saw a bus coming out from backstage and I couldn't see it well but I could tell it was a bus. And for a second I thought I really WOULD have to block it with my body. But looking inside, I didn't see anyone I knew and Erin said it was the Semisonic bus. So I took a pic of it. Then Katie and I decided to go ask the security guard when mb20 was gonna come out. Marie and Erin were too chicken. So as we were approaching him he said, "do you girls want to go somewhere else?" (How rude! the little meanie) So Katie stammered, (not out of fear but surprise of his rudeness) "we..we were just wondering when mb20 was gonna come out." And this guy,who was watching south park on a little tv might I add, how secure I would feel, said, (in a tone like he was talking to a five year old) "they left as soon as the concert was over in a limo with a police escort" damn! Katie and I thought he might be lying so we waited anyways. I used up all the rest of the film on my camera and sat down on the ground. We waited for about 10 minutes until this guy on a bike was shooing everone away; cause there were more people than just us waiting. He was all, 'ok move along now go away' and stuff like that. He looked at me and said, "you're probably going to have to get up for that" and in my mind I was really boiling, but I just looked at him as meanly as I could and said, "FINE!" I got up and Katie, who was also kinda ticked off, said, "well why did the Semisonic bus leave just now and matchbox 20 left before them?" I didn't hear his answer.

Then we found my dad and went home. My program hasn't been away from me for a second. I slept with it under my pillow. We came home kinda early and Katie's mum wouldn't be there for another hour, so my dad took me for a night driving lesson and Katie and Marie saw my *lovely* driving skills. So that's about it. When my dad asked where they were going next, I said Hartford. He said (this was while we were on the highway) "Oh, then they would be taking this highway." We were dying! argh. Oh well! I had such a groovtacular time and I sang all the songs I knew totally off tune and as loud as I could be and it was THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hehe Oko so...Sorry this is so long, but I had a lot to say. :)