Night Ranger - Ottawa, IL

07/30/2008
Night Ranger
Ottawa Riverfest
Ottawa, IL

Opening band: Air Supply

Woo-hoo! It has been a long time since the last time that I saw Night Ranger perform as a group...about 8 years ago! We have seen Kelly each year at World Stage, and Jack and Kelly last year in South Bend. But that was nothing like seeing them all together...these guys still ROCK! As a bonus, Christian Cullen and Joel Hoekstra, who we have enjoyed over the years at World Stage are touring with Night Ranger. It was an awesome show!

We had to endure Air Supply first. Let's face it...they were okay way back when. I had no clue they were still around, and they are ancient! Normally at concerts, they have the main act's equipment set up already and when the opening band is done they just have to get that out of the way. Not so here. It took almost an hour for them to get the equipment straightened out and get down to rocking! It was well worth the wait.

Note to self...you are not as young as you used to be, and doing things like this on a "school night" isn't as easy as it used to be :) Oh well...it was so worth it!

As an extra special bonus, I am now the proud owner of a Jack Blades guitar pick (thanks to my wonderful friend!) I have wanted one of these for so long :)

A few pics of Jack Blades...

Joel Hoekstra...

Brad Gillis...

Kelly Keagy...

Joel and Brad...

Brad, Jack, and Joel...

Dave Matthews Band - Noblesville, IN

07/26/2008
Dave Matthews Band
Verizon Wireless Music Center
Noblesville, IN

Opening Band: Ingrid Michaelson

The opening act was pretty boring...so what...she sang the song that was used in the Old Navy sweater ad last Christmas...zzzzzzz! We spent most of that time wandering through the vendor booths, and put our names in the hat to try to win a DMB guitar. Like that will ever happen, but that's the only one that we *need* to round out the collection :) We are definitely looking forward to the Black Crowes opening at Alpine :)

Our seats weren't exactly the best, but they weren't too bad. The band is still working the kinks out from Butch Taylor dropping out of the tour at the last minute, and then having LeRoi laid up from his recent ATV accident. But, Tim Reynolds was playing with them and the show was awesome!

We had a great time, and spent the weekend in Indy. It was a bit of a challenge getting out of the place after the show, even though we got a head start up the hill when the band took a break before the encore. Not to mention that it was a NASCAR weekend in town. Other than that, it was an awesome time!

Set list:

Seek Up *
One Sweet World *
Granny
Grey Street *
Old Dirt Hill *
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
What Would You Say *
Rhyme And Reason *
Out Of My Hands +
Everyday *
Crash Into Me *
Lie In Our Graves *
Money *~
Money (Thats What I Want) *
Crush *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
(Too Much) *
Ants Marching *

Encore:
Sister Ä
Gravedigger *
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) *

Special Guests:
Send good thoughts for LeRoi
* Jeff Coffin
+ No Horns, Dave on piano
~ Without Rashawn
Ä Dave, Tim, Carter and Rashawn

Poison - Peoria, IL

07/15/2008
Poison
Peoria Civic Center
Peoria, IL

Opening Band: Sebastian Bach

I needed to be in the area for a week, so what better time to schedule that than when there was something else going on? That's what I thought :)

I had an awesome seat. It was right near the stage in the lower bowl, 2nd row. Wow! I was so close that I could feel the heat when they set off the pyrotechnics. The show was a lot of fun. I had never seen Sebastian Bach before, but really loved Skid Row way back when. He put on a great set.

I wish that I would have had a better camera...the pics were taken with my phone.

Poison put on a fun show. They pretty much played all of their biggest hits, and that was great. It was like a trip back in the time when they had the original videos playing on the big screen during each of the songs. My, oh my! It sure was cool back then, but I am sure glad that big hair has gone out of fashion :) At the end of the show, Bret had Big John bring out a Corona for him (what happened to Bret's Brew?). He toasted the crowd and thanked everyone for 22 years. Has it been that long already?