lobby happenings
The Landmark Theatre really is a beautiful venue. Everything is incredibly ornate--all the walls and ceilings were etched in goldish decoration, and old-style lamps hung from the ceiling... A mural here and there... Anyways, when we were let in, I went straight for the merchandise table and bought 2 tour books (one for me, one for Matt (Hatter), since the programs we got last time were blued and such... mine's taped together in a shadowbox--not really great for flipping through), plus Count Zero's Robots Anonymous, which I've been trying to get my hands on for a couple months now. Yay!
Since the show was starting late, everyone waited around in the lobby for a looong time. One little boy was telling his mother, "I see one! I see him, he's one of them! He has black hair." what? LOL.
While sitting on the steps near our designated entrance, I heard "Jen?" It turned out complexityisblue (Pam) and her husband (Malcolm) were sitting just a few stairs up from us. Pam immediately came down to talk. We gabbed and fluttered about the excitement of seeing the show again, and caught up on how each of us has seen them.. It was so nice to talk to another Blue Man fan after Jeff's mere tolerance of my giddiness earlier. It's so funny... both Pam and I were wide-eyed and restless and exuding these amazing "WE LOVE BLUE MAN GROUP" vibes. ;) Heeeeee. I told her about seeing Todd, and promised that I'd ask for a couple extra from whoever ended up delivering the passes. She was so psyched about the possibility, understandably.

Phew, almost there...
Finally the doors opened, and we went to "find" our seats. Jeff and I were the leftmost front row seats in the left center section... and so close to the stage that we could touch it. There was a short wall right in front of us, and the equipment lay beyond that... There was a smallish movable stage (where Tracy and Venus Hum performed) jutting out from the permanent one... (Matthew tripped over the connection of these a few times, but I couldn't tell if he meant to or not, lol.) Neither of the stages were set high, so our view was beautifully clear. We marveled at how truly CLOSE we were for a while, eheh. Pam and Malcolm were just 3 rows behind us, in the same area.

Show started with a bang (ie Tracy Bonham)! (in the meantime, a short visit from Todd...)
Finally, finally! (I have been waiting for this for 2 whole months, can you believe it? lol.) Tracy came onstage. Her set was different from the other two shows... She started with "Naked" (which gave me chills) and then played "Something Beautiful" and "All Thumbs." She followed those with "Eyes." And then, she's really funny.. she went on about how she was going to play her classical violin audition piece from college, and how we were in the place of her three white-haired German instructors, and how she was going to relive this awful experience. I totally fell for it and actually expected some classical piece, thinking it'd be interesting... and she launched into "Black Dog." The meat of the crowd went nuts, and ate up the whole piece bit by bit. She played it with a different level of kick-ass attitude, which was well-received after her weird introduction, lol... The humor of the "uhh uhh uhh.. the words are, uhh uhh uhh.." part was more appreciated this time (with the funny intro) than in other shows. She followed it by saying something like, "I got kicked out of music school, turned to the dark side, and wrote this song," which was "Mother, Mother." I really liked this change-up of the set--I think it made both of these "heavier" songs easier to swallow, and allowed the crowd to get into it after already warming up to her a bit. She also played a new song, "[And/why?] the World has the Nerve to Keep [on?] Turning," which I really liked. Although the line "why the sun has the balls to keep on burning" made Jeff and I giggle. Haha.
Once again I was blown away by Tracy's voice... It's so clear and powerful. It was great because she showed the softer sides of it in her opening songs and then completely belted it out later... incredibly impressive, the lungs in that woman. I just sat there and soaked it all up... One thing I love about the Complex show is that through the whole thing I'm loving the moment for itself--I can't help looking forward to my next favorite part, but so much of it is “favorite parts,” that I'm always enjoying it! Anyways, Peter's spoon-playing will never cease to amaze me. Although I couldn't see his face through the whole set (since Kip's keyboards blocked it)... and I actually missed the spoons solo. That’s when Todd came up next to me and handed me a couple passes with a smile. I thanked him again and before he made off I asked if he had any extras, for a couple other fans who were in the 4th row. (It was kinda funny, we had this mini-conversation, faces close, like we were part of some secret operation.. haha.) He stopped and said "I don't have any on me... I... I'll see what I can do. I might have to give them to you though, to give to them." I said that was fine, and thanked him again for his wonderful kindness, and he was off. Tracy got a healthy applause by the end of her set...

One step closer (Venus Hum)... (and another visit from Todd! hehe)
After Tracy left, all of the seats in our row were still empty (and since the show had started late, it didn't make sense that the people just hadn’t gotten there yet)... I invited Pam and Malcolm to sit next to us, at least until the real owners came by and kicked them out. As soon as they sat down, a bunch of other people took the remaining seats--we at first thought these were the ticket-holders, but then figured out that they just did what Pam and Malcolm did. So anyways, the ticket holders never came, so I got to sit next to the wildly enthusiastic Pam for the rest of the night.
Venus Hum was great, again. Annette was particularly soft-spoken (between songs) until they got to "Montana," and she seemed to loosen up a bit. She was wearing all green--a toile-ish skirt, sweater, and scarf; it looked very casual, but she can pull it off as being a show outfit. One thing though, is with the smallish temporary stage, Annette didn't have much room to dance and romp around the way she had before... too bad. The new guy (instead of Tony) seemed to fit right in with the group... what's his name again? I don't know... the introductions went too fast (and were spoken on a mic with an echo, so I got distracted). I've never gotten a good view of Kip, so watching him was fun... He really gets into that button-pressing and keyboard-playing, or whatever it is he does. When he introduced the band members, he said "and I'm Kip ____, and I play all this stuff" after specifying "keyboard/guitar/vocals" for the new guy... hahah... Can we say vague? Anyways, again, I found myself reveling in the music, wanting so badly for Blue Man to start, but at the same time loving the moment. I love watching Annette perform because she has so much damn fun. I mean, there are moments of deep passion and such, but in general she's dancing around and smiling and improvising the tunes to her lyrics. What a joy! At some point during Venus Hum's set, Todd came back and said "here's a few more..." with a smile, and I thanked him profusely, again, before he ran off. These passes had "Waetzig" written on them as well as the date. I felt special. Hehehe... He gave us four extras, so we ended up with two that we didn’t need, and might have given away… but after the show we had to hang out at a certain spot and the only people sticking around already had passes. Oh well... I feel a little bad for not giving them away... but oh well...

Show highlights...
At this point I was really curious who was performing, and I was trying to figure it out by the silhouettes (which sounds silly of me, but I can do it at the Tubes show, so hey it didn't hurt to try), but they were too distorted for me to figure out. I don't remember the curtain "falling" UP... I actually think the falling down was more effective (if it ever did fall down?), because that way you have those few moments of knowing the curtain's going away--but you still can't see yet. But either way I was all "eeeeeeee" for the show to finally start. Hehe... Oh and by the way, the blue men turned out to be Eric, Tom, and Matthew. I missed Kalen being there, but of course the 3 who performed were incredible!
Other highlights...
--Matthew's "loosen your pelvis" bit was priceless. Oh. my. goodness. The man just puts me in fits of laughter. His random bust-a-moves are too much for me to take. The other two blue men either jump up and down, or kinda test out a few moves, but Matthew just bursts into this impossible series of movements at any given time. Haha! I can't wait to see what tricks he pulls in this category on the DVD... Anyways, there was one time when he was randomly dancing right in front of our section, and again he cracked me up... Then he saw me and stopped completely (in an spaztic “whatsthat?” motion), staring at me for the few moments before he ran off to do the next bit. It was neat, because I had just been an observer, and in that moment I became part of the show--as with anyone who interacts with the blue men... also, at the very end he went crazy in the middle of the stage and I cheered for him, lol.
--During "Time to Start," the four of us did RCM #3 with much gusto, but only a few others did. hehehehe... In "What is Rock," more people participated, since they were already standing, but still, most of the front row anyways (since I couldn't see much else without turning around) were just standing there. Veggie-tables. ;) heheh =p It was fun to be one of the crazy people, for once... Usually I chicken out and sit back and absorb... But it was fun to get all into it like a silly person. (yes, a silly person.) Pam was especially rambunctious (or uh, rutaceous?), and said that during the meet and greet Tom spoke to her and said "now YOU were having fun out there!" LOL. She was, too--she was so excitable, clapping and cheering and jumping around like crazy. Always fun to have one of those around.
--Tracy kicked during "Up to the Roof"... I noticed a photo guy (whom I saw walking around earlier) sneak into the front row, and he looked completely awed by her... and then I realized he was mouthing the words to the song. I was like, "Hey, a fan! Woo baby!" (More on him later...)
--In "Singalong," the crowd was pretty good, and sang pretty well right away when prompted... there was a lot of silliness onstage during that piece, too... interaction between the blue men, and between them and Peter... While Tom was playing the airpole part, he noticed me singing along (I guess) and came in front of me, switched his hips a little, and waved the airpole AT me a few times, which was funny... I didn't know what to do though, I would've felt weird continuing to sing along, and I couldn't help giggling at him, but otherwise, what? LOL. He came to our area a few other times when he noticed us getting into the show... Jeff said Tom stared at him a few times, and he (Jeff) was like, "uh, what do I do now?" hehe. Guess that's a common reaction to a blue stare.
--The dancers for "Piano Smasher" were pretty decent--they were kinda clueless at first, but then the girl got into it and got the man to dance too. He did this cliche-ish fist move... like a gentle boxing? I guess you'd call it? After he left, Eric and Tom did the move again, for only a couple seconds so I don't know if most caught it, but it was cute. Matthew on the other hand—“dance patterns? What's a pattern?” =p
--No yay/boo airport wand thing... awwww... Eric had the honors of ordering everyone around, and Tom was the one to stop the fun. ;) But no one booed him for it, which is really too bad, because that was always fun. Haha. Must be those polite Canadians (Pam and Malcolm, ahahahahh just kidding).
--Peter was especially great during "The Current," using wide arm movements that really enhanced the effect. The "underground" lighting was intriguing as well--I don't know why I haven't really noticed it before. When he was done, I felt all proud--because I still think he tops Gavin Rossdale any day. ;) Also during "The Current"... From where I was sitting, I could see "behind" the wire men, and although I couldn't really tell you any great secrets, I noticed one blue man playing his PVC part with one hand and drinking a bottle of water with the other--it reminded me of the opening drumming skit in Tubes, lol.
--The transition from "The Complex" to "I Feel Love" was much more meaningful after reading that insightful article that someone wrote and posted on the board--the idea of "when does a human life have real purpose? When one feels love..." I found myself pretty mellow through both songs because of these deeper connections, and didn't hoop and holler despite how much the music rocked. I sat and ruminated, turned over those ideas in my mind and connected... That's one thing I love about Blue Man... you can have such a fun time and go nuts, but you can also find other ways to appreciate it all... other ways which may also seep into the rest of your thoughts, and your life. "The Complex" was so powerful--I could have sworn that at one point, Tom's eyes reflected some disturbed, captive feeling about to be released... after I noticed this, he went over to the piano smasher and NAILED it. Hm...
--Speaking of expression in Blue Man, I was so glad to be up close and really see this, once again. That's definitely something you miss out on when you're farther back... because they communicate with the slightest movements of their faces... the meaning comes across through body language, but in between those more basic shows-of-emotion come smaller changes of expression... For example, when Matthew was looking at his phone (while the bands' phones were going off), he must have shifted through 3 or 4 emotions/thoughts... That kind of thing is really neat--how they can express so much when changing so little.
--The crowd was quiet during "Exhibit 13," despite the CRAZY applause and hooting and hollering going on during the fake ending. (I think the one screen of text probably helped with that.) When the last blue man played the last note, there was a gap of silence before the crowd erupted into wild applause. At the end of the show I remember looking back at the crowd, just to see the looks on everyone's faces... It was such a happy moment--you could tell the audience had loved the show, and everyone was still on their feet. It was really a moment, as in... "wow, look what Blue Man can do..." Incredible.
--The girl who introduced the band seemed pretty happy to be up there… but she must have been a little nervous at first because she said, “On Percussion, it’s …Anna… ….nee-a!” The band kinda looked at each other and shrugged like, “all right, good enough.” And she was too quick for the “insert city here” joke, because she paused and actually said Syracuse. That’s no fun. ;)

Transition from show to backstage
After the show we gathered by the backstage entrance... Photo guy from earlier was talking to some people about how he's met the guys and knows who they are and such... He had the names right "Eric, Matt, and Tom," (although I can never call Matthew "Matt," lol) but his descriptions were off. I'm sorry dude, but Matthew's eyes are FAR from brown. The tall guy with brown eyes is Kalen... Amateur. LOL. Just kidding... haha. Anyways, I asked him how he knew about Blue Man (since he was obviously a fan—he mentioned at one point how he got the Complex CD on the day it came out), but I think he took it as meaning the tour blue men, not Blue Man in general, and he explained how his friend (also a photo guy) did some thing with Venus Hum and ended up getting passes for The Complex Tour (for 10/30 or 31 as well as 11/1). Neato. I told him how I noticed him during "Up to the Roof"... He was all excited and mentioned that all three blue men acknowledged him in the crowd during the show (Tom did the same airpole swat to him as he did to me)... I nodded and told about either the Tom or Matthew case, I don't remember which... I think the Matthew one. He asked if I knew them, and I said "well, sort of" and explained that I'd seen these particular guys at a couple other shows, and that I posted on the message board--so yeah, they "sort of" know me, I guess. I later asked his name--Danny, and introduced myself as eternallyblue. No, I'm kidding, I said I was Jen. Which I am.

Sketchy, anyone? and, the meet and greet begins...
We were led into an odd room for the meet-and-greet... All but one wall and a bit of each corner of it was curtained off, and there were a few tables... In general, it was pretty run-down and sketchy-looking. All the noise from the floor above carried through, very loudly. It was like the whole thing was going to fall on our heads and kill us all. LOL. This ended up coming into many conversations during the meet-and-greet, hehe. We (Pam, Malcolm, Jeff and I) ended up at the far end of the room, because we'd gotten in there first, and so when I noticed Josh (percussionist) come in, it didn't seem feasible to wade through the small throng of people--the "room" was basically like an aisle, and it was full (even though there were only maybe 30 people there)... Soon the blue men appeared, and as usual I could not take my eyes off of them. I wanted so badly to talk to them and such, but of course they were surrounded. I got a little closer to the crowd, but it was impossible to get much closer to the Blue Men without "budging," so I waited... Corky was the first to come on our side of the room, and ended up talking to a small group of people (a bunch of younger kids in there too) and getting pictures... It was like, Corky and 5 kids (of varying age), and Corky almost blended in because of his height, so he jokingly went on tiptoe for a second. Eric was nearby (and had just finished talking on someone's phone), so he got in the picture as well. One of the girls at front looked at him, and he gave her a wink before looking at the camera. Awwww. (I don't know where Eric ran off to after this... darn.)

Corky, the kit-man. Or set-man, or whatever you call him.
When Corky was finished with a conversation, I went up to him and said "Corky? I'm Jen... I post on the message board, and I was told to get a picture of you, if you don't mind..." He asked from who, and I uh... didn't tell him... right... I noticed his access pass picture, which was pretty funny, so I asked if I could get a picture of that too. Instead, he posed with it next to his face and gave a great smile. It was a pretty amusing moment.

Peter Moore and Tom
Corky was "handed over" to other people (maybe Pam, Malcolm, and Jeff, I don't know)... and I noticed Tom and Peter Moore settle into a niche by the curtain not too far away. I made my way to them and said hi, mostly to Peter since he was looking at me and smiling. He asked how I was, and I said "I'm good!" and he said "Hi good, I'm Peter." I laughed, got confused and said, "oh, you asked for my name?! oops, I thought you said 'how are you'." He assured me that he did indeed say what I thought he did, and that he was joking, since I said "I'm good." (OH, duh... I'm so slow.) He followed this with "it was something I thought was funny but it's really not" (I would have laughed at the joke and not myself if I wasn't so slow. lol.) and I told him "it's funny now that you say so." This whole time Tom was watching and listening and such, so I ended up talking to the both of them at once. I gave them their envelopes together, and they kinda looked at each other with a "huh?" look. Tom's face brightened and he smiled a little more, and he asked what it was. Peter echoed that, and I told them they could open and see. I didn't see Tom's immediate reaction because Peter took my attention by asking me where I got the picture I used, and I explained... He thanked me for it, as did Tom, who waited until Peter was done talking to me for the moment to give a very sincere "thank you for this." I said "oh, no problem" (meaning, "you guys are so wonderful, I just had to thank you somehow")... I asked Tom to deliver Kalen's art for me, since he was sadly nowhere to be found... Danny came over with his phone (I guess that was his that Eric used, because the phone now had blue on it) and asked Tom to say something into it. Tom looked at him almost blankly and said, "I can't hear" (and Peter helpfully repeated this--"he can't hear," lol)... Danny was like, "it's [so-and-so]" and Tom said, "who's [so-and-so]?" and then paused before saying "Hi, [so-and-so]" into the phone... he turned to Peter and asked, "was that awkward? I think that was awkward." hehehe... He ended up hiding behind the envelope I'd given him, hehehehe. ...Then (or at least I think this was after I presented the art), Tom asked "do I know you from somewhere...?" and I said eternallyblue on the message board, and that I met him in Saratoga two months ago. So then he said, "oh! I know you." (yay!)

And then just Peter...
Peter then looked at me almost suspiciously and asked, "wait... did I meet you there too? and we talked for a while, right? about something..." and I said yes, and added that the conversation had been about the thread on the message board about his tour journals (and then he remembered), and I joked about the "disclaimer" he made early on in the third leg. He looked confused and said, "I did that?" and I told him that it was one of the first entries of the third leg, and he still looked confused and remarked that he thought he told me to say that. Haha! I lamely complimented him on his performance--as he was so "on"... I say lamely because I definitely said something weak and generic, when the fact was that he'd really moved me with his voice. I mentioned how Singalong was a lot of fun--"it can be kinda "blah," but tonight it was great--the audience was pretty good." He commented how the success of that song relies on how the audience responds. I mentioned how I'd noticed that he'd turned his microphone to the audience and given an thumbs up at the end of the show, and he again looked a little lost. "I did that? I don't even know." I laughed and teased him that he doesn't know what he does or says anymore. And after that, the rest is lost. I think we probably shook hands, but I don't know. I don't even know if we actually said goodbye... But, oh my goodness. I can't believe this, and I just realized--I didn't give Peter a hug. I had resolved to. I wrote it in my art's info page that I would. And I didn't end up doing that. I don't think. Goddamn! I also didn't mention that I'd bought his Count Zero CD... gah. I should really write a list of goals on my hand or something. Sigh.

Matthew Banks. Need I say more? No? Too bad. Prepare for a long haul. ;)
After that, Matthew was finally free and turned in my direction. I jumped on this chance and immediately stepped closer to him. He seemed to know me--he gave a small smile and said (or at least I think this was the first thing he said), "How are you?" He might have offered his hand... Hell, I don't even remember my answer--I was in too much of a daze. My brain was just going "yaaaaaaaaaaaaay, it's Matthew!" so I really have no idea what nonsense I spilled out at this point. Knowing me in "I'm around the blue men" mode, my answer was probably "great" or "awesome" or "funny." Well OK, probably not "funny." But anyways, the first thing I remember saying to him was, of course, real dorky, as usual--"I love your dancing! It makes me laugh... makes me happy." (D'oh! Damn you, ineloquency! If that's a word...) He just smiled and chuckled in response as I gave him a half-hug, which was really just me pressing my head against his shoulder... One of these times I'm going to not bring any bags or anything so I can give him a reeeeeeal hug. Hm, usually I can remember the general order of things, but in this particular scene I have NO idea what happened when... So I'm just gonna guess. I offered him his envelope, and he looked at me with that ever-present smile and said "What is this?" and I told him it was an artwork--but different than the one he's seen (which is "Soul," in the isthisart section of my website). "Can I open it now?" he asked, looking tickled. He pulled it out, being obviously careful not to get blue on the image, as well as the picture I'd put in from the last show (with the two of us and Bob (debusk))... and then he looked at the art for a good long while. As he was looking at it, I felt myself shaking and then biting my lip to keep myself under control... in a good way though, it was just that I was so touched that I was able to watch him examine it (who knows what was going through his head, but his face and eyes were... deep, in a way). He seemed to be soaking it in, either trying to figure it out or interpreting it in his own way... which made my soul happy--I made those artworks straight from the heart, because as geeky as it sounds, Blue Man means so much to me. I don't remember Matthew's exact comment, but he expressed his appreciation for it (and did a large part of that with those great eyes of his). It might have been now that he asked me again, "how are you?" very sincerely (I don't know if this was because I didn't answer at all the first time, or because my answer was insufficient, or if he really didn't ask a "first time" to being with, or maybe this was how I answered in the first place... damn you, memory. work!), and I said I was good... that I'd been at college for a couple months, and that it was still weird... "but this is like home to me. Well, not here, with the, uh, ceiling..." and he said "yeah, it's like great-grandmother's basement in here." LOL... I went on to say, "I just love Blue Man... it's such an inspiration to me..." and then I went on to say how glad I was to see him, and that I had been really hoping he'd be performing. I said something like, "because last time I was just babbling and not making any sense..." and to this he said, "babbling... babbling is beautiful." That's right. Read it and weep, folks. ;) When he said that, I smiled and just kinda went "mm," and shyly looked at the floor, because it was like, "man, this guy is so wonderful." It almost felt like a personal compliment, because "babble" is often (like right now!) my middle name... heheh. I mentioned how I hadn't been sure if I was making any sense last time, since he was giving me that quizzical, focused look the entire time (I, very poorly, demonstrated, instead of trying to put it into words), and he said, "well half the time it's because I can't hear (pointing to his bald cap and such), but tonight I pulled this plug out (points to his left ear)." To which I said a very graceful "ohh." hehe. I forget how it came up, but I was going to take a picture of him, and was lining it up (and seeing Peter right behind him, so about to ask Peter to be in the picture too), when Matthew did what Kalen did last time and suggested "how about I just do this..." and took the camera for a long-arm shot.

Why I love Matthew so much (hehe)
I just feel like there's this connection I get with Matthew--there is something about him that just soothes me. From his hilarious antics on stage to the art in his writing, everything just "clicks," and I find myself drawn to his character. It's surreal being around him, because he is like so many of my hidden feelings or hopes personified. I don't mean that in a "crush" way... I admire him absolutely, but this is so far from a girly romantic attraction it's not even funny. LOL. OK that doesn't sound too good either. But what I'm trying to say is that... maybe this is it--he's like a role model for me. He reminds me of my inner self, or what I would like that to be. And he is probably like this with everyone, because he's a total sweetheart, but he seemed so involved with everything I said, and returned every smile and glance. That last moment where I watched him go said it all... It was like we were both sad that he had to go (I know I was sad, anyways! haha). I think I could end up listening to him for a long time, if there wasn't a schedule looming overhead. I would just love to hear his ideas about the world... I forget who said it, but one person commented to me that he seems like he's just full of amazing thoughts that are just under the surface waiting to be evoked... and I agree with that. There's just this impression of depth about him...
Phew! Now THAT was long. I went into it thinking I would only remember a couple things, but alas, babble never leaves me. But I don't mind--"babbling is beautiful." ;)

Corky again, and the great Todd Wait-zig
At this point I ended up back with my posse (ahah!) and Corky... Pam was sad that all the blue men had to go before she got a chance to say hi to them and get signatures, and Corky offered to bring her program up to them to sign. After we came up with two sharpies (one blue, and my black one), I got in on this deal and had Corky bring my program up too. So Corky left with the programs, and the remaining guests were left in the room with a couple staff and maybe Dave A (who was talking to some girl, if he was there at that time).
While waiting for Corky to get back (I think... man, why is my memory so fuzzy? It's kinda frustrating), Todd wandered into the room and I literally said "yay! It's Todd!" God, I'm such a dork. hehe, no but seriously, I wanted to thank him again for hooking us up, which I did... He asked how I liked the show, and I expressed the "great-as-usual" sentiment. He then kinda squinted at me and said "I thought you said you weren't going to make it to a third leg show..." and I laughed, feeling almost guilty (because goodness, I've seen BMG 15 times now... gosh), and explained that I hadn't known my orchestra schedule at that point--and that I quickly figured out that I don't do much work on the weekends anyways. And that I checked the presale, saw front-row seats, and instantly said to my brother "we have to go." So I pointed out Jeff, which got his attention, and Todd waved and said "hey Jeff!" across a group of people, haha. Then Todd asked me what I played in orchestra (2nd bassoon), and he said that was cool, or something... I showed Todd the funny picture of us from last time (which he enjoyed), along with the picture with Mike Datz, and he looked and gave the envelope back to me. Then a man next to us asked his daughter (who now had blue baseball lines under her eyes), "did you get Todd's signature?" and she went flipping through her little notebook to check. At the same time, both Todd and I remembered these two from the Saratoga meet-and-greet. I said, "Hey, I remember you from Saratoga! Actually, I think you took this picture!" and he said he probably did. Small world. Todd pointed out his signature in the girl's notebook... he said he remembered it because last time (when he came into the room later than the rest) he heard her say "I have everyone except the guy with the ponytail!" and he said "well I'm right here!" heheheh. I said, "speaking of the ponytail, I like your haircut!" and he said that he did too--that it felt good, and was a lot less of a hassle... that his ponytail was getting so long that he was getting sticks caught in it while drumming and such. lol.
Corky came back and gave Pam and I our programs, saying "I got things done!" He returned the sharpies as well, and I said, "actually, can you guys sign it too?" Corky did first, and then Todd (who ended up with the only black signature in my book)... I told Todd that he didn't have to worry about writing over anything, since he was searching for a spot. And he positioned the pen over Matthew's name and said "so right here is about good?" I laughed and told him definitely not. Hah! He ended up signing over the block of text on the page.

The aftermath
Walking back to the hotel was so strange... the streets were almost empty and the quiet stretches of cement were such a huge contrast from the sensory overload I'd just experienced. I'm not sure if it was a mental let-down... it was really just some sort of physical shock to be back in the "real world," so to speak. I mean, even as I type this I'm not feeling like I'm in a "real world," because letting the memories flood back so freely makes me feel like I'm still there--and man, do I wish I was. It's just such bliss, all of it--the anticipation, the opening acts, the show itself, the aftermath... I just love it. I bet it's an amazing feeling for the performers to be able to experience this rush every day... I had been so excited to go to the show, so incredibly psyched, that I likened it to looking forward to seeing someone I love for the first time in a long time, or on a more superficial level, anticipating a performance of my own. And the experience delivered... I had a beautiful time.

Wow, this may be a world record for longest show journal (over one show, not including the non-show related stuff) ever—in Word, with the font as Arial size 10, it goes on for nearly 8 pages singled-spaced (including paragraph breaks), and uh, the “paragraph” on Matthew takes up 1.5 of that… um. Holy god... ;) But remember folks, "babbling is beautiful"...