by cpriddims on 11 Jul 2007 13:40
Hello people of sc.net!
Words can not describe the power, thrill, happiness, energy, and pure performance I witnessed last night. That being said I will say a few words here but I have to make it short because I have to cruise back across to Naples in a few minutes.
It was a beautiful day in Ft Lauderdale. Stew saw the flag as soon as they came out on MIAB. He did a gracious smile and head nod when he saw it while playing the tune. After he saw it I hung it on the railing facing him so he could see it the whole show. He would look down a few times but was so busy kicking ass that he didn't have time to communicate. I was fine with that and just enjoyed the ride. Lots of tasty drum fills and so much power on the snare hits. It was so very loud in the front row and I enjoyed every mind-pounding second of it. He sure did pull out all the stops. They were filming the show and the camera crew had on shirts that said "Police Undercover."
We were on the railing the whole show just right of center so we got to witness Andy and what a wonderful night to see him! Andy was absolutely brilliant. He was on fire. He did this amazing sweep-picking lick at one time and I was just laughing and nodding my head. He was having a blast and so were we.
I have to go for now but let me sum it up. Bonnaroo was nothing compared to this show. Not ONE noticeable mistake last night. They were dead on. They sounded like a band again. It no longer sounds like they are still rehearsing the tunes. They are at the top of their game again. Sting was happy the whole show. He and Andy were burning the whole night. The did Invisible Sun and Don't stand and they were both great. CSLY/RDB rocked my world. I jumped and flailed about the whole song. It was a pure religious experience. Again, Stewart blew me away. His energy, groove, pure spirit, and rhythmic execution were perfect. It was a night that I will never forget.
My buddy took great pics and I will post some shots on flickr and provide a link later, but for now I need to travel back to the west coast and up to Tampa for tonight's show.
Last note: At the end, Stew kept bending over to pull up his pant leg, revealing his socks, smiling perhaps as if to give a 'tip of the hat' to all the tube sock avatars on sc.net and the tube sock madness in general. I cant think of any other reason why he did that. Can you?
I am still buzzing from such an amazing experience in the front. We kicked several bimbos out of the front who were trying to act like they were with us and scam the view. We quickly adopted a 'zero tolerance' policy and got rid of the unwanted scammers. It was amazing to be in that position to do that after years of trying to scam up to the front myself! It was a moment that was for we the lucky ones to cherish and no distractions were to be had.
Bon voyage...off to TAMPA!
Bonnaroo, Miami (front row), Tampa, Atlanta, SAVANNAH!