From: Cathy

Pictures at bottom...

My first Goo experience was the best experience I ever had in my life! I don't think that there are any words in the world that could describe the excitement and happiness they brought me at this concert.

Few weeks before the concert, the local radio stations started to advertise their coming constantly. SHE 93.1 in town even did this contest to win a backstage pass. Due to many of the goo concert being affiliated with USA Harvest, an organization that distributes non-perishable items to the needy, the contest was tied in to help this organization. The winner had to bring in the most canned goods by a specific date. I tried to bring in the most canned goods but I didn't win. The winner brought in 1500 canned goods! I wasn't even close to that number. I was so devastated when I knew I didn't win that I cried and had to go to sleep early to recover from temporary depression( Well, the best radio station in town (GO LRS102!) were giving away concert tickets. The winner's name were going to be put into this pool and on the day of the concert, they were going to pick two people from it to give them VIP passes to the sound check! They started this on Monday. The concert was Wednesday so I didn't have much time to win. I tried so hard to call in and win them. Wednesday came. I was going to work early everyday so I can leave work early on the day of the concert. The first thing I always do when I get to work is turn on the radio. I usually don't have it up that high, but since I was the only one, I thought, "What the heck" and turned it up. Otis, the DJ, just started to tell us the question to win the second to the last chance to win tickets. I listen and he said, "What is the name of first drummer of the Goo Goo Dolls." I thought to myself, "I KNOW! I KNOW!" I picked up the phone & I dialed & dialed. I was caller number 3, then 7 then the lucky number, 9! I told Otis, his name was "George Tttttsuka." Since I was so nervous that I couldn't even pronounce his last name! Otis said, "You know the first name, that's good enough." I was jumping up & down w/happiness inside! I just wanted to give him my info & get off the phone. Once I did that I jumped up & down. Then I called my friend, Terri. I told her about the tickets & about the contest. I told her that we had a chance to go to the sound check. This all happened @ 7:30 in the morning. 8:30 came. This was the time Otis was supposed to announce the winner of the VIP passes. I thought to myself that I would never win. I was just lucky that I won tickets. Otis came back on the radio & started to announce the name. The first name was Shawn something. I don't remember. Then he announced "Cathy Bates!" That's my name! I screamed at the top of my lungs & I was at work & everybody was there! I jumped up & down and I was about to cry! (Later, I actually did) I never had been this lucky in my life! I was going to the sound check! Yea! My friend, Terri, called me and she asked me if I was the Cathy Bates he was referring to and I was like "YES!" The day of the concert was going to be the first time me and Terri actually met, but I wanted her to come with me so I told her I was going to take her to the sound check with me. We were going to meet the Goos!

I left work @ 2pm. We picked up the tickets and went straight to the venue b/c it was only a few blocks away. There we met Stephanie and Richelle (Hi, Steph!). We just talked about the goos and we had a blast! It was about that time when we saw Mike & Robby go into the venue. We were in such a state of awe that we didn't even take a pic. Well, few minutes after that Robby came out. Terri gave Robby a basket of goodies and a bottle of Tequila. Robby saw that and he was so happy that he just screamed, "Ah, TEQUILA!" He was so cute. He hugged Terri and gave her a kiss on her cheek. I wished I took a pic of that. It was about 3:30 when Johnny arrived. He looked very tired and Dave, the tour manager, told us that he couldn't talk. I felt so sorry for him. I wanted to hug him and make him feel better. I was so nervous too that I didn't say much to him. I had a mission, so I needed to take care of that first. I wrote a letter to Johnny to tell him how much he & the whole band meant to me. I bought some Louisville Slugger baseball bat keychains to give them as momentos for their stay in Louisville. Plus I had a letter to give them from a friend of mine. I knew that even if I don't get a pic with him I had to give him these letters. I gave it to him and he thanked me. Then I asked Dave, if it was okay for him to take a pic with me. He said, "okay", and I got a pic with Johnny! That pic came out so good! That is my most prized possession to me right now.

The sound check started @ 4:30. We went in with the other winners and Craig, the rep from the record company, took us to be seated. The sound check was awesome. I never knew how tedious the sound check was. Johnny gave a lot of the direction to make the adjustment. He didn't sing much. Especially were the high notes were. You could just see that he wasn't feeling good. It just broke my heart to see him like that. Just being able to meet him was enough for me. I really wanted him to go home and rest. After the sound check we got to meet them and shake hands with them & take a few pics. This was for about 10 minutes. It wasn't long enough. I was the last person, I believe, to shake hands with him, so I took all the courage in my heart and asked him if I could hug him. He said, "yes", so I did and whispered to him, " I hope you feel better soon." He told me, "I hope so too." I don't know if my hug made him feel better, but I hope that by me saying that he knew his fans really wanted him to get better.

The concert started at 7:30. The mosh pit in the front was one crazy place. The first band that played was Frogpond. They were a great band. They really made the crowd hyped about the concert. I wished them luck! I know they will go places. The second band that played was Fastball. I've only heard three songs of theirs and they really impressed me. They were really good too.

Finally, Fastball was done (I didn't mean they were bad, but I did come to see the goos). It was a very long wait. Their set up took a long time, but since I was waiting in anticipation, it felt like eternity. When they came out Johnny was wearing a white tank top (the one many people refer to as the "wife-beater shirt"), greenish color cargo pants and his cream color cowboy hat (I like this cowboy(). Robby was wearing all black. I think his shirt had sparkly things on it b/c it sparkled sometimes. I'm sorry but I don't know what Mike was wearing. It may have been a blue t-shirt. Johnny was great! I couldn't believe that he wasn't feeling good before it started and now he looked like he did! For people who didn't meet him before the concert, they wouldn't of even known he was sick. But from what I heard from others, who went to previous concert, he didn't speak as much as the other concert. He did lower keys in some of the songs so he could sing it and he didn't interact with the crowd that much either. Robby was crazy just like I read from other reviews. He was so funny making funny faces and running and jumping on stage. I just adored him more and more I saw him. Mike's solo was awesome! I was like play more! At the end of the concert, Johnny tried to break the white guitar he was using during the encore. It must have been one tough guitar b/c it didn't break. The song list is as follows:

Dizzy, Long Way Down, Lazy Eyes, Slide, Black Balloon, Burnin' Up, Naked, Name (he didn't tell the name story), January Friend, Stop The World, Full Forever, Hate This Place, Another Second Time Around, Flat Top, Iris, Just The Way You Are, Broadway, and Two Days in February.

Johnny did an awesome job at the concert. He deserves a pat on the back for it. For me as a true fan, I felt really loved by these guys for doing this concert because in my opinion, he wasn't fully recovered. I just hope that the people there appreciated him like me, Terri, and Stephanie and anybody who knew about his condition appreciated him. The crowd there was out of control and they just surfed all over you and pushed and shoved from the beginning of the concert to the end. I didn't mind the surfing but when it comes to the point that you can't concentrate on the performance and have to worry about someone falling on you is were I draw the line. I'm so sorry that this is so long, but it was my first goo experience and I just had to let everybody know.