From: Kristi

Pictures at bottom...

The evening of 07 December 1998 will be forever imprinted in my mind. The Goo's were playing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and I was going to be there! My best friend and I got our tickets way in advance (good thing!!) and we made the three-hour drive to OKC. We arrived at about 3:45 PM at The Diamond Ballroom, which was basically nothing more than a honky-tonk! (In fact, the walls inside were lined with pictures of country stars who had previously played there.) There were only about four other cars in the lot, so we parked and cranked up The Replacements. Well, not too long after that, the band started walking back and forth from the venue to their tour bus. Instead of seizing my opportunities, I froze. I literally could not move out of the car!!! A few minutes later, I regained my sanity and took my friend Misty's advice...I went and asked a bouncer if there was an inside restroom. To my surprise, he let me walk right in the venue and I got to hear a bit of their soundcheck. Then, at five, we started the wait in line to get in. We were the first ones in line which meant we could RUN right up front when they opened the doors!!! It was soooo cold outside but noone seemed to care....Then, seven o'clock finally came, and we were let in. After opening our coats and purses, we found out that *yay* I could use my disposable camera!!!!! So, we rushed up front. I positioned myself squarely between Johnny and Robby's microphone stands. I had to really dig in to keep that spot, though. There were some totally rude concertgoers who tried to maim those of us who were up front. But I'll gladly suffer a few bruised ribs again to be that close to the Goo's!!!!

The opening band was NOT Buffalo Tom (I still don't know what happened to them.) The band's name was Frogpond and they totally rocked!!! They have one album out now and a new one due in spring if you care....

I know, I know, get to the good stuff!!! OK, the opening band left the stage; it really didn't take too long to tear down their stuff. Then the lights went out and out came the Goo's! They opened with Dizzy, which totally ROCKED!!! I was front and center, snapping pictures, and singing every word when John walked over and pointed at me and gave me "thumbs-up." That, of course, was wonderful...Well, next was "Long Way Down," I believe, I was so in awe that I could be mixed up. Anyway, the set list was basically the same as for most other reviews I've read, so I won't waste space repeating it. The point is, they rocked!!! When he got to "Name," he told the "Dear So-And-So, eat a big bowl of sh*t!!! Love, John," story. Then, right before he gets to the last verse, I'm singing and looking up there and he points right at me and says, "You wanna come up here and sing with me?" Keep in mind I can't sing well at all....But I said "YES YES YES" so he had the security guards pull me over the barricades (no easy task since I was absolutely SQUISHED up against it)! So I get up there he asks me my name. I tell him that I'm Kristi and he says, "Now, you promise you're gonna sing with me?" I thought to myself "Johnny, you may not realize what you've just done...good thing you're wearing earplugs!" But I smiled and said, "I PROMISE!" No way was I going back on my word to him....so he tells the audience to give it up for me, they yelled, then he started playing and I sang with him right into the mike....

"I think about you all the time, but I don't need the same
It's lonely where you are, come back down, and I won't tell 'em your name...."

Then he had the audience clap for me again, and thanked me. Then he held out his arms and hugged me!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I hugged him back and kissed him on the cheek. Before I left the stage, I told him happy belated birthday (his was 05 December) and he said something into the mike like, "She knew it was my birthday...that was SO sweet, thank you!" That part is all so surreal...the only bad thing is that I was holding my camera, and didn't get any shots of being onstage with him. So if anyone reads this and took a pic of my moment of glory, please send me a copy!!!!!

Robby was so animated, all evening he ran around (barefoot of course) grinning and waving; Nathan was slinging his hair and playing his heart out, Mike was giving it hell back there all night long and so was Dave. John did the band intros, and claimed Robby as his "friend, lover, wife" etc. Then Robby intro'd John as my "former roommate and sometimes-I'd like to think all the time-friend Johnny Rzeznik!" They were so wonderful, they exuded so much energy and magnetism, Johnny was slapping hands of crowd-surfers that got pulled out and saying hi to fans! He just smiled and waved and really worked the crowd; he made sure we all felt important. The encore was great, the final song was just John and Robby together on stage. They played quite a good while, but noone seemed ready for the show to end. The security guards had to literally force the crowd out the doors. (By the way, the security did a GREAT job at this show, kudos to you all if you read this!) After the show, Nathan signed my Goo sticker and made the comment, "Hey, you sang with us...nicely done!" Then, to top it all, on our way back to the car, the DJ from KJ103 (an OKC radio station) came up and told me what a great job I did onstage and gave me a DUTG CD!!! (Of course I already had it but that was way cool of him to do...)

This was my first ever Goo show, but as hard as it will be to top last night's events, I will definitely go back to see them at every available opportunity!!! I'm sure portions of this review sound like they are coming from a lovesick teenager but I am 26 years old. The Goo's are just the most awesome live band I have ever seen in my life and anyone who reads this should check out the next available opportunity to see them play!!! You won't regret it, and you'll never forget it either!!! At least I know I won't...

Peace, Love, and More GOO!!!!