We finally got inside at 6:30 p.m., got our cool 'Dizzy tour' t- shirts and we were really excited to get fourth row center seats. Bad, bad idea. I don't think we quite understood what we were getting ourselves into. Even before the opening band came out we were packed like sardines. I'm a little claustrophobic, but I thought I'd be all right. Once the concert started so did the pushing and shoving. I thought I was going to suffocate. We couldn't stand it anymore so we tried making our way to the side. Most people were really nice and tried to help us get out. We met one really cool lady in the mosh pit who was in love with John and also loved my favorite song 'Stop The World.' She was obviously a real Goo fan. She let us stand in front of her because we were shorter, but with all the confusion she ended up in front of us again. Some girl decided that she wasn't going to let us out of the mosh pit. According to her, we could 'wait til the concert was over.' She started pushing us back to where we were. I was so mad. We bowled her over and one of her friends helped us through. Thank God, I thought I was going to suffocate and die. During the break between the two bands, the sound guy had the tell the people in the back of the crowd to stop pushing so much because it was getting so bad up front. So we ended up on the left side right in front of the speakers. We didn't mind too much because we could see, and we could also breathe.
In other reviews, people said that they didn't really like the New Radicals. Well, we're going to be a little more blunt. They sucked. Gregg Alexander can't sing worth crap, he was admittedly high and he really likes the 'F' word, the chic singer was wearing a see- through shirt, no bra, and spandex pants. (Gross) And they decided to throw their beer on our heads. Thanks a lot. We will never listen to them again. They suck!
During the set-up break we waited with nervous anticipation with the thought in our heads that in a few minutes our very favorite band would be live, on stage, playing our all-time favorite songs! We were so excited. Then, all of a sudden....darkness sweeps over. The crowd starts insanely screaming, the guitars blare off-stage, and then....POW! Johnny and Robby jump onto the stage blaring 'Dizzy' with Mike going crazy on the drums, Nathan on guitar, and Dave getting down with his tambourine. John was wearing black and white striped tear-away pants, a grey-ish tank top, Airwalks, and unfortunately, he had on a striped knit ski cap. We would've given anything to see his awesome hair flopping around when he head banged. We do have to admit that it was adorable when the hat went over his eyes during "Burnin' Up." Robby looked cool in a blue shirt and black pants-barefoot as usual. Mike had on black shorts and a grey Army tee, Nathan was wearing all black with 'Steel Erection' printed on his shirt, and Dave simply wore black jeans and a white tee. After 'Dizzy' they went right into 'Long Way Down.' When we heard the first few chords we looked at each other and started screaming. It was funny because we knew all the lyrics to all the songs and no one around us did. We would start singing and going crazy, and everyone would stare at us. We loved it.
The sound system there wasn't the greatest, so John and Robby sounded like they were on helium. Also, the fact that we were right next to the speakers didn't help much. They still sounded great. Johnny told a shortened version of the 'Name' story. He said when you get your first hit people who never talked to you start paying attention to you, student loan people start calling because they know you can pay them back, and nieces and nephews start asking questions like, "Do you know the Backstreet Boys?" (At the mention of the famed boy band, the crowd started adamantly booing) John sarcastically said, "I didn't know I would get such a sour response just by saying BACKSTREET BOYS." The crowd started booing louder and John then John said, "You know what's gonna happen now, the Backstreet Boys are gonna come and kick my ass!" Then John asked who we thought would win if they were to take on the "Dancin' Boys" in hand-to-hand combat. The crowd-and Robby-were positive the Goos would win, but John wasn't too sure. He thought the Boys would win because they know all those dance moves. He called it a 'choreographed ass-whoopin'.' He thought they would have to use weapons to defend themselves. It was very funny to listen to John and Robby making karate sound effect (Fuck you, hi-ya!) and sound effects. He finished the story by putting a twist on the letter from Punk Rock Dude. He said he wrote, "Hey dude, it's just a fucking song, get over it." They went directly into 'Name' and everyone flipped out! There must have been a thousand lighters in the air.
Even though 'Name', 'Slide' and 'Iris' got the biggest response from the general crowd, our favorites were much different. My favorite song is 'Stop The World' and I honestly didn't expect to hear it. When they did start playing it, I think I almost passed out. I was so happy I wanted to jump out of my body. Tiffany's favorite song is 'Flat Top' and I swear I thought she was going to cry when they played it. But we were really excited to hear all their songs. 'Lazy Eye', 'Naked', 'Just the Way You Are', and 'Another 2nd Time Around' were huge thrills for us too. (Robby swears that 'Another 2nd Time Around' is a true story. He said "If it's not, may God strike me dead.")
It was so hot with all the 3600 people they squeezed into the little gym. People were passing out and getting pulled out of the mosh pit left and right. I highly recommend wearing short sleeves and a lot of deodorant. Everyone, including the band, were soaked from sweat. John threw water into the crowd along with handfuls of guitar picks. We wanted one so bad, but didn't get any.
We would like to mention that Robby is an amazing performer. They all worked the crowd really well, and the band has such a great chemistry together. They seemed to be having so much fun. But Robby just has this incredible spark for performance. His mannerisms and facial expressions are awesome. Anyone who isn't a Robby fan before the show should be afterwards. (Our friend Abbi that we brought with us was so scared of Robby before the show and now she just loves him!)
When it came time to introduce the band, John comically introduced them by their faults. Nathan only wakes up to have a smoke and play gigs, Dave thinks he's the lead singer of Styx (he then went into a short song which John cut off by saying "that's enough."), Mike's biggest problem is John, and Robby's biggest problem is the fact that he's owed John $20 for 13 years! It was so cute when they started fighting on stage. Robby said that it's not like John can't collect, because he said, "You know where I am every single night of my life!" John said that his own problems were that he's paranoid and sometimes he can be a prick.
The play list as we remember was: Dizzy(which John sang the second verse twice), Long Way Down, Lazy Eye, Slide (when John said "I wanna wake up where you are" he added "As long as it's not before noon!" It was adorable), Black Balloon, Bullet Proof, Naked, Name, January Friend, Stop the World, Full Forever, Broadway, Another Second time Around, Flat Top, and Iris. When they started playing Iris we knew it was almost over, so we were sad. They finished the song-our favorite way-and left the stage. Some people started leaving cause they thought it was over. (Duh) We were just in the right spot to see the band off stage. John toweled his hair dry, and I wished he would have left his hat off. They came back on stage for the encore and played one of our absolute faves "Just the Way You Are" followed by "Burnin' Up," "Hate This Place," and the cool electric guitar version of "Two Days in February." They topped it off with the "ritual sacrifice" of the white guitar, and then...it was over. They were gone. By that point we were so exhausted that we could barely cheer for them when they walked off. We couldn't believe it was over. Actually, we couldn't believe it happened! We still don't.
We waited by the buses for a little over half an hour. Dave, Nathan, and Mike walked by several times (Just to tease us). Nathan signed a few autographs, though. A few of the girls standing in front of us didn't even know who Mike or Robby were! Luckily they left, so we were right up close. Mike came up to sign autographs and he signed our CD covers. He was even sweet enough to have his picture taken with us. Our friend Abbi is a big Mike fan and he put his arm around her in the picture. I don't think she will ever get over it. He is so incredibly sweet, and we were pleasantly surprised. I was really excited when Robby came and signed autographs. He signed our CD covers, too. He held my hand and said something to me, but I couldn't hear it. I was in total shock! (He is really short!) I always thought that we would never get a chance to meet them, and we did!
John came out, waved Good-bye, threw a whole bunch of artificial sweetener packets at us, and got on the bus. We were really disappointed that he didn't stop and talk or sign anything. A lot of people were waiting for just him. The cool lady we met in the mosh pit really wanted her picture taken with him, and she was pretty disappointed. Mike and Robby spent so much time signing autographs and taking pictures with us, we wish John would have. (The bus almost left without Robby cause he was still signing autographs!) We kinda had the pre-conception that all celebrities were inhuman jerks with big heads due to experiences we had with professional athletes. We felt really privileged and lucky that we were proven wrong by our absolute favorite band!! Not only are they awesome musicians, but they are cool people, too. I don't think any other band would have been as nice. It's amazing how genuinely real and down to earth they are. It's so obvious that Robby remembers when they were playing in front of twenty-five people in bars in Buffalo and you can tell that he appreciates the fan support that got them to where they are today. We're really glad that they are good to the people that love them. It almost seemed like they loved us as much as we love them. It's greatly appreciated. He was so awesome.
Our first concert was everything we hoped it would be and more. They did all of the little things we hoped they would do (Like ending certain songs a certain way, and oh my gosh! We saw the KISS guitar!!) Musically we were not let down or disappointed at all. In all honestly we were a little bit disappointed with John. We had this idea of how he was going to look, and act, and be, but well...we weren't really impressed by his behavior or appearance. He was great on stage; every time he looked in our direction we felt like he was staring right at us. (He's gorgeous. His smile rocks my world) But the hat was not attractive, we were really hoping for leather pants, and when he didn't sign autographs it made him seem like a pre- madonna. I guess our perception of him changed a little bit, and that was what we were most afraid of. We still love him, we are just hoping he was having an off day. We hear that he's usually very nice. Actually our perception of the whole band changed a little. We have a whole new respect for Mike and Robby, who are such sweethearts. We can probably never fully express what their kindness meant to us. We adored the concert and we can't wait to see them live again. They rocked!!! neither of us have totally regained our hearing yet, and we're both pretty banged up from the mosh pit, but that's ok! We are pros now, and next time we'll remember ear plugs.