My Today Show Excursion

[BlueGrass]

Well, my dad and I got to Rockefeller Plaza @ about 1 AM, LOL. There were 2 other people, but they didn't seem to be real FM fans. Just some dudes who alway come and take pics to sell. It was cold, but I came prepared. We sat down on some blankets as some more people came through and set up shop. 3 older ladies who were Stevie fanatics were behind us. Then 2 younger girls who didn't even know FM was playing that mourning. Then came 3 kids who escaped from their hotel to go see the Today Show, LOL.
Once we got their the stage was already being put up, and the first thing to go up was Mick's brand new gold drum set. That was cool, followed by everything else. The waiting game wasn't that bad, I talked to a lot of people and went in and out of this coffee house to keep from freezing my ass off. Around 4 AM you heard the sound of a guitar playing - it was the Rick Turner Model 1. I went over to see who it was, and sure enough it was Ray Lindsey, long time guitar tech of the band. His hair was longer than on the BTM show, so it was hard to recognize him. He even played a few licks of "Peacekeeper." That was cool.
We then started getting word that the sound check for the band would be @ about 6:00. That is when they would file us into the area closed off for the fans. When that time came I was getting more excited. I got to be one of the first to go as close as you can to these guys without being VIP. So I was about 15 feet from the stage. Pretty good huh? Yes, so 6:00 rolled around finally and I looked to my left, and inside saw Lindsey talking to someone as he was getting ready to head out. First Mick and John came out followed by Lindsey and then a very bundled up Stevie. I screamed Lindsey's name right as he passed up to the stage for him to release GOS, haha. Others joked and asked him if he was cold, he replied sarcastically by saying "No." To me he looked much shorter in person than I had thought. Now they were in front of my getting ready to sound check and I was just in a blank stair. The last time I saw these guys was when I was 11, and now I am able to appreciate it much more at 17. While Lindsey talked to Ray, he plucked and played around with his Model 1. He actually had 2 separate ones for different songs. Mindy and Sharona also came out along with a new backup keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist to the left right behind John. Also behind Mick was his percussionist and Carlos, Stevie's one time guitarist.
Well, just like that out of nowhere the band busted out with "Go Your Own Way." The amazing thing was it was about 35 degrees, @ 6 in the mourn and they played through their sound check like they were kicking off the new tour. Lindsey was into it, as well as Mick and the rest of the band. Following that was "Peacekeeper" which as just awesome. I took many pictures that I hope come out good. Then it was Stevie's turn as the crowd burst into cheers for "Rhiannon" and "Say You Will." After they headed right back indoors to warm up. John although stuck around, and just as I saw him get back inside I hollered his name and he looked up in response and put is hands up acknowledging me.
Now we had to play the waiting game once more, it would be another 2 hours before we would get to see them again. The biggest thing was enduring the cold. Finally though, after being apart of the Today Show the time went fast, and soon enough the fab four came back out. Lindsey went up to the mic and said they wanted to do another sound check. So they proceeded with "Peacekeeper." It was so awesome, LOL. By this time though the space in front of us was being filled by VIPS, press, band friends and NBC friends. So it was getting tougher to see.
Sure enough Lauer introduced them and they began to rock the whole dam plaza. So you guys know what happened here, it was simply great. Lindsey really played through the cold weather, it didn't seem to effect his finger picking. He kept blowing on his hands a lot though in between songs. After they headed off shaking hands with some people, and signing autographs and eventually going back inside.
I say this is one of the best experiences of my life. It was nuts, period. I couldn't help but think of how they must be getting the best adrenaline rush ever, playing like that. In the end I thought we did the right thing by coming out so early. I got to see them play 9 SONGS! How cool is that, although only 4 different ones. Plus it was all free! Man, I gotta go to bed now cause I haven't slepted for over a day.