From: Christy

July 31, 1999
Riverport Amphitheatre
St. Louis, MO

This was my second GOO show and it was absolutely great! I am in Illinois so we had a bit of a drive for this concert, but it was worth it. Fastball opened up and did their thing, they were pretty good actually, I knew a couple of songs at least. Then Sugar Ray came on. They were pretty good too. Mark McGrath brought a little girl up on stage for the song "Fly" with was really cute, she was singing and dancing with him. BUT even though the other bands were good, I wanted the GOOS! So after the set change after Sugar Ray , there was a bit of a wait, then.....

The Goos came bursting onto the stage with "Dizzy" and the magic began. I was so in awe, I had really good seats this time and they were so close I could have screamed (and I did!!). Johnny was looking simply gorgeous in his white Goo tank top and green cargo pants running around all over the stage. Robby looked great too in all black, and barefoot. Robby has lost some weight since the April concert I was at and is looking quite adorable (not that he hasn't always been adorable!). I had a really great view of Mike as well, dressed in shorts and a polo type shirt (sorry, couldn't tell the color because it always looked different with the colored lights). Nathan was in all black and Dave had a red shirt on, couldn't see the rest of him.

Johnny did a cute story before "Name", saying he got more shit for that song than Marilyn Manson got when he had his tits put in. LOL! Then he went on about that for a bit, saying it's bad enough when women do that, but if a guy was gonna get them put in, they should at least look nice. The he said how his little nieces and nephews always ask him if he knows the Backstreet Boys, then he pulled a dollar out of his pocket, as if gesturing to one of them and said "Here kid, go play in the street or something." , teasing about the Backstreet Boys comment. And he went on to talk about the "fame" issue and how you need to just believe in yourself and what you do and basically enjoy it while it lasts. He said something about how he smells one of those VH1 "Where Are They Now" specials in the future , where they'd be sitting around scratching and coughing and being asked what they did with all of their money they made. (Of course Johnny is doing the scratching and coughing demonstration which was hilarious, then he mumbles "spent it all on hookers"-LOL, about the money question.) It was really funny, he is quite the comedian. Even the couple next to me, which were mainly Sugar Ray fans, were busting up about it. Then they went into a really heartfelt rendition of Name, which almost made me cry it sounded so beautiful.

Let's see, other highlights... when Johnny introduced the band, he said something like "the guy who joined us when we still kinda stunk and made us better" when he introduced Mike, called him the guy who keeps the beat. When he introduced Nathan he said something about him wearing leather pants in this heat, which Nathan was quick to point out he had on black jeans this time, so Johnny said "oh you've got jeans on, f### that then", it was cute. But, Dave actually had on the leather pants that night and Johnny said "He's wearing leather pants in this 100 degree heat...I am glad I am not that man's underwear!" Then of course when John and Robby introduce each other and talk about how they have been partners all these years, you can just tell how special their friendship is to them, it's neat.

At this venue, they had two big screens, one on each side of the stage, mainly for the folks seated on the lawn to be able to see. It was so neat though, you could look up there and see them from a different angle then look back at the stage to see the real thing. Surrounded by the Goos!!! *sigh*

Not alot of interaction with the crowd this time, but none the less, a fantastic performance!!!! Someone flipped a condom onstage (may I point out they were passing these out as you walked in the venue,kinda strange I know, so like the whole crowd had one) and Johnny looks down and says "oh look, a condom"- I don't know why, but the way he said it just sounded so hilarious. Black Balloon sounded beautiful and when Johnny sang Acoustic #3, it was

so neat because they had this purple background and these lights on his chest that looked like streaks of lightning, it looked awesome on the big screens! He said he couldn't think of a name for that song, so he decided not to call it anything. Robby did a great job on his songs too and with the way he was jumping around, I'd say his leg is probably back to normal. Those faces he makes are so cute!!! (Also if anyone hasn't noticed, or hasn't been to a show yet, be sure to watch Nathan December, he rocks! Has a great smile too!) Mike's drum solo is fantastic too. Dave really gets into his playing as well, not to slight him in any way, I just couldn't see him much at all where I was sitting.

This time (new since my April concert), after the guys finished their regular set with Iris, they walked offstage and this movie clip about "Greed In Action" was displayed on a huge screen dropped down from the middle of the stage. The clip played for quite awhile then the guys burst back onstage for the four song encore, this time, complete with colored confetti stuff pouring down from the ceiling, very cool! It looked so pretty with all the lights and seemed to fall in slow motion (guess you had to be the to get the full effect). They do two of my favorites in the encore, since I have been a fan since the Hold Me Up era, "Just The Way You Are" and end with "Two Days In Februrary" which Johnny said was a song about "a guy, a girl, and a telephone bill", lol. On the screen behind them on this song, there was a clip of a woman's lips talking on a phone. Johnny and Robby do that great guitar jam thing in the middle of "Two Days...", that totally rocks! Then after the song was over, Johnny and Robby look at each other and throw their guitars into the huge movie screen, it busts, and they walk offstage. WOW! It was a neat ending. (The guitars were stuck in this mesh netting behind the screen to catch them, so it looked pretty cool.)

Well, sorry if I bored anyone or misquoted anything, forgive me, I'm just still very excited. Take care everyone!!