... etc. Copying Anita, I messed with a black & white setting for one of the photos and really wish I had tried more that way... it turned out really pretty, I think.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/...ll/San%20Jose/
Random notes:
The sound at HP Pavilion bites. Some of the speakers weren't even working for the first several songs and kicked in, like, right in the middle of one of Lindsey's solos. Thank you for making me deaf, Hewlett Packard. As Daniel noted in his review, the arena was painfully empty. There were nosebleed sections that literally only had 2 or 3 people in them. Even the first sections off the floor were dotted with empty seats. I noticed Lindsey and Mick eye the 200 sections once or twice and look dismayed. The crew had mentioned in Concord that recent shows were not selling too well, and they weren't kidding.
Stevie talked about this area being their old stomping grounds and dedicated Landslide to the many, many people in the audience who had been a part of their lives at one time or another. Lindsey gave a lengthy speech about the bay area holding a very special meaning for him. Then he said he had a beautiful wife and 3 children who were here tonight and that the next song [Say Goodbye] was dedicated to Kristen. She was standing at the side of the stage throughout the song. I think I get what he was going for with it -- the whole "now I finally found my way/now I know just what to do" parts were directed at Kristen, hence it was supposed to be sweet because he is publicly closing his chapter with Stevie, blah blah. But it still makes me laugh. Dedicating a song to your wife about a love you couldn't hold and saying goodbye is just awkward. He's not helping the rumors much ;)
Sara. Stevie has said for years that it doesn't transfer well to stage, but I completely disagree. I love the way the song swells and fades. It... breathes. Thanks to Anita for tapping me on the shoulder to point to the video screen. I FINALLY got to see the Tusk doc version playing behind Stevie as she sang. At all the other shows I had my eyes glued to her and always forgot to look. Whoever came up with that, it was brilliant.
At the end of Tusk someone came over and tried to make me erase my memory card and confiscate my camera. Arrrgh. I bargained with him and finally he said to just erase the pictures and give him the card, but he was a real schmuck about it. So I "erased" them (or pretended to, rather) and then popped out my battery and gave that to him instead. When I asked if I could get it back later he yelled "No! It will be turned in. That's the end of it." with a smirk on his face and left. Joke's on him. Thanks to a very nice young guy in the security office, I got my battery back. Along with all the flowers that Stevie had left behind in her dressing room.
Bob Aguirre was there again, so Anita asked him about the "Sincerely, San Jose" thing. He said he knew about the tracks and it was definitely Fritz, but he had no idea why they had gotten labeled that way. Then, just to tease us, he said he had acetates of more of that stuff, just "laying around."
We met Brett Tuggle backstage; extremely nice guy. He said "ah, some familiar faces" and walked over and introduced himself to all of us. Very charming... attentive, laidback, gives long handshakes. He joked that he hoped we weren't spending all our money on this band. Some other people I recognized were Richard Dashut & Judy Wong. Stevie was walking behind us holding her dog and talking to someone. By this time she had changed into pants and a casual shawl & looked as beautiful as ever. She got into her limo, but then got back out and walked away to take photos of it. It dawned on me that I was IN her photos so I jumped out of the way, and she was waving and laughing. Like Cory said, I don't think Stevie really knows how to use the digital camera, bless her heart. She got back in and drove off. We hung out for a little while longer with some of the band's crew -- really great people!
Amber, Nancy, Deborah, it was nice to see you guys again :)
