This is edited quite a bit from the one I posted on my blog. Believe me, you wouldn't want to read all that, heh.
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT.
Absolutely amazing.
Not to mention Neil making hand gestures, nodding and smiling at me throughout the night.
Now before you say, "Oh, right. I'm *sure* he was looking *right* at *you,*" you've got to know about the hats. Oh, the hats.
He noticed them during Shadows, right after his guitar solo... I ummm, kinda cheered and pumped my fist in the air. He saw me and the hats, tapped his head and smiled.
Then a couple of songs later, he welcomed the audience, said a few other things and then I heard him say something about hats. I grinned, and he winked in my direction.
I've never felt so elated before. It was AWESOME. (Okay, reading a post on Pat's board... "Neil loved the hats you and your friends wore! That was great." So I guess the poster heard him better than I did. AHH!! Yes, that has now made the concert for me, heee.)
I'm not sure if not really hearing him had to do with how close we were, but it probably is. Because I heard perfectly last year. But I didn't really care about not hearing them talking between songs, because throughout the show, we were no more than 15 ft from them. HEEEE. And only a couple seats to the right of dead center. SO COOL.
Another awesome thing that happened was when I caught the *first* pick he threw into the audience. Okay, okay... that's not really *that* awesome. It's when I gave it to the girl sitting in front of me. She was probably 10 years old, all decked out in Pat/Neil merch. You should've seen her eyes light up. Made my night by seeing that. Was even more worth it when she thanked me.
Also caught one of Mick's (the bassist) picks, and scrambled for another Neil pick. Gave the Mick pick to one of my friends, and the Neil pick to a woman from Pat's Fan Club's son. Think that made his night, too. (Was just reading the boards, and his mom posted saying that he's treasuring it. And that he just started guitar lessons. How awesome.
)
I would've kept them, but I already have two and I don't use them - one is framed and the other is in my pick case. So if I kept those, I would've definitely used them. Figured it better to give them to kids who would really enjoy them. Especially the girl. I still can't get over how happy that made her.
Anyway. You're probably wondering about the music....
1 All Fired Up
2 Shadows of the Night
3 Sanctuary
4 Wide Awake in Dreamland
5 Invincible
6 We Live For Love (acoustic)
7 We Belong
8 True Love
9 Let's Stay Together
10 Hell is For Children
11 Hit Me With Your Best Shot
12 Heartbreaker
Encore:
13 Promises in the Dark
14 Love is a Battlefield
LOVED the new songs (err, old songs done for the first time in forever), and the newer versions of a couple of them. Other than that, though, it was pretty much the same, musically, as last year. Except for Neil's DRUM solo during Let's Stay Together. He was hitting them so hard and fast that one of the sticks splintered. SO COOL! Oh, and Pat actually played her tambourine. Yes!
All in all, it was an amazing show. If some pictures get posted, I'll for sure link to them. Didn't take a camera because that venue usually doesn't allow them. There was even a sign out front saying, "No cameras of any kind." Well, guess what. One of the security guards said they were allowed, as long as there was no flash. #@$%&*#@%!!!!
My friend took hers, but took it back to her car after seeing that sign. What a load of hooey. They shouldn't put the sign up if cameras really *are* allowed.
If no pics are posted, here's what P/N were wearing:
Neil was wearing the COOLEST PANTS EVER. Blackish with green and purple (I think) pinstripes. A dark grey blazer with white pinstripes and a white shirt that was pretty much completely unbuttoned (SIGH). Oh, and black tennis shoes, heh.
Pat was wearing black jeans, a black blouse and a long black jacket. She looked amazing - like she would kick some ass if she had to. And I LOVED her hair. MUCH better than last years (shudders).
Which reminds me... Neil cut his hair!! I guess I just didn't notice it in the pictures that have been posted throughout the tour. It's SHORT. NO length to it AT ALL. I don't like it. I want his longer hair back.
Once I get a picture of my friends and I in the hats, I might post it here. Maybe.
;D
)