From: Debbie

April 10, 1999
Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse
Peoria, IL

Well, it was the morning of april 10th. I was up at 7:00 A.M, and wondering "why in the world am I up so early? Why did I bother to volunteer to work this concert anyway?" Of course, it was just my sleepiness that was making me feel that way. I loved the Goo Goo Dolls, and had always wanted to get the chance to be a roadie, and I was getting both in one day. After I woke up a bit, I headed over to the Fieldhouse for our 7:50a.m. meeting with the crew. They told us what we were going to be doing, and gave us instructions on where to put everything. For the next hour and a half, we unloaded the two huge trucks that were loaded with the Goo's gear. Then setup started. For about three hours, the fieldhouse was a maze of wires, guitars, lights, and speakers. It was amazing how it all finally cmae together, though. Then we broke for lunch (which was a good thing, because by this time it was about 2:00, and I hadn't had anything yet all day.) After lunch came the sound and lighting check.

The Fieldhouse felt like it was just pulsing with electricity. Between the guitars wailing and the lights flashing, it was a really neat experience . . . and through the course of it all, I got to learn how most of it worked. Dean, Peter, Harry and the other roadies got done just in time for the Goos to show up. It was about 3:30 now, and we had to be back at 4:30 for another meeting as security, so we decided to stay and watch the soundcheck. That was one of the best parts of the entire day. We got to actually sit and look at all that we had accomplished that day. (Not to mention, it was like having our own private concert.) We had our meeting at 4:30, got set up, and were ready for the concert. Fans started trickling in at 6:00, and, right on schedule, the Gufs came on at 7:00. I was working Security in the crowd, but I was about 10th row in the center, so I had a pretty good view. Everything went right as planned. . .a half hour set change and the Goos came on at 8:15. The crowd went nuts.

The Goos played for a good two hours, and got the audience really involved. It was the first Goo concert I had ever been to, and I was impressed with their ability to connect with their fans. One particular moment I recall was when John started cracking jokes about bands like the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync . . . "That's not us," he said. Girls in the front row were hving perpetual heart attacks because he was actually talking to them. This concert was one of the best ones I've seen; and definitley better than the one Bradley University had last year. (But hey, that one only cost $3 because I'm a student here, so I can't really complain.)

After the concert, we reloaded everything back on to the trucks and got ready to leave. It was actually kind of sad, because it was all over, and I knew I probably wouldn't get another chance to do something like this again. All the student volunteers who had worked that day exchanged names and e-mail, and we said "goodbye" to the roadies. It was a great experience, and I will never hear the Goo's music in the same way again.