Simply put, this was the best "Goo night" of my life.
Riviera Theatre
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Awesome. Simply put, this was the best "Goo night" of my life. |
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| My friend Matt and I finally got to Chicago at about 5:15, and went to my friend Rudy's place. We went directly to the Riveria. While looking for someone who I had tickets for, I saw Chad and Steve "Big Daddy" in line. There I met Theresa and her husband Pat (Paul). Walking further up the line, I noticed someone was staring at me, and I realized it was the ever infamous Kat. |
 (L to R: Rudy, Matt, some kid, and me) |
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We finally got let in to the theatre, and while waiting in line for the guest list,
the girl in front of me said her name: "Collene Martelli". After recovering from the
initial shock, I introduced myself, and offered a bottle of Dundee's Honey Brown
(inside joke, sorry). So the pack of us (Kat, Matt, Rudy, Collene, and some other friends and fans) were waiting at the front of the stage, when Kat noticed Nathan December offstage behind a guitar rack. After two unsuccessful attempts by Kat and Rudy to yell and get his notice, I finally yelled at him that "your wife has a message for you". Now to preface, I've emailed with Nathan and his wife for a while now. So Nathan popped his head up with a half-amazed look, recognized Kat, and then the fearless stringed crusader swooped down off the stage, realized who I was, and gave me a huge "I haven't seen you in five years"-type hug. |
 (L to R: (back row) Me, Nathan, Frank, Rudy, (front) Aaron and Kat) |
| Finally, as you've all read before, the lights went dim and the fun-kay church music started. The guys launched into Dizzy with as much energy as I'd ever seen them before. The sound is great with the extra musicians (and Nathan and Dave are the coolest guys, anyway). We rocked through the show without much incident. At one point, the security guy tried to take Kat's camera away, but only succeeded in crushing two of my fingers. It was actually right during Burnin' Up, and I got them free right when Robby screamed "And you hurt me!". Fitting. |
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| Rudy, Matt, Kat, Aaron, Frank, Anna, and I were all around each other during the show, and we just had the greatest time. We rocked from start to finish, and my voice was hoarse for two days afterwards. |
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The best thing, however, was the aftershow. Mike came in first, but I was in the back by
Theresa, Pat, and their family, so it took him a while to get to us. Nathan came in next
and went to talk to his family. Finally, Dave came in, and we chatted up a storm. If you
haven't heard much about this guy, you should. He's really cool (as are his sister
and her husband). He's a great keyboardist and singer (from Iron Maiden to Styx), and just
the nicest guy. I'd emailed with him a couple times, so he already knew me and I had
a great time talking to him.
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 (L to R: Me, Matt, Mike, Rudy, Robby, Frank, Chad) |
| Then I went up and grabbed Nathan. He is just the coolest, most-laid back guy in the world. We talked for a long while. He really liked my shirt (see picture). We also talked about the December 19th show in Minneapolis (let me know if you are going, we'll hook up!). |
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Then I talked to Mike for a bit, but by this time, they really had to get going. My
friend Rudy got his backstage pass autographed by the guys, which was really cool.
Robby was quite cool as well. I introduced myself to both of them, and they both
were happy to meet me. Robby was especially excited about the opening slots they have lined
up.
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| All of them I met were great guys (Johnny didn't come out, for whatever reason). And as always, if you can go catch a Goo show, go do it! It was a great time, and great to see the Goo's and finally get to meet Nathan and Dave. Thanks to the Goo's, their families, and all the friends I finally got to met for definately making this the best Goo show I've ever been to. |
 (L to R: Me, Frank, Kat) |