Lindsey in Ithaca

[skcin]

Camchristo & I were at this show. Front row to LB's right. Very small historic old theater. I asked security if we would be allowed up to the stage & he said they'd prefer we didn't - they didn't want people from way in back to rush down & stand in front of people who paid more $ for better seats. I said I was cool with staying in my seat as long as he promised to make sure nobody stood in front of US! And it was fine - I actually enjoyed being able to sit, relax & concentrate on the music. We did stand for GYOW, and went to the stage for the encores.

The show was approx. 80-90 minutes - he started right @ 8:30pm. There were 2 front row seats that remained empty the entire show. Not sure what happened there - I thought at first maybe they were casual fans who thought there was an opener, or assumed he'd go on late. But nobody ever came.

A guy sat next to me, and he seemed like a pretty big fan - had a Rumours album & a mini-Turner guitar for LB to sign at M&G. However, I was pretty shocked that not only did he come in late - he LEFT in the middle of the set to get another beer. Even worse, during Trouble & SWS, he & this other chick were talking - TALKING - while standing right at LB's feet! I was distracted and annoyed. I actually heard the woman say "I don't even know the name of this song!" during Trouble. WTF. I thought it was terribly rude & disrespectful to have a loud casual conversation while one of your favorite artists plays 3 feet away from you. Anyway. Rant over.

Meet & greet was organized by Dan Smalls, the promoter. I'd say Cammie & I had about 5 minutes total - 2-3 minutes each. While some may think that's rushed, I thought it was adequate considering there were 20 people he had to meet. Cammie had a jacket that LB wore onstage during the Tusk tour signed (he DID recognize it!) I had him sign my BN album & told him that he has many fans who appreciate the "small machine" and that the fact that he's doing these intimate tours & continues to put out new music is awesome, because people ARE listening & DO give a ****. He smiled and said "thank you, I really appreciate you saying that."

As others noted, the lighting WAS terrible & our pic was very blurry too - to the point that we were unrecognizable. We just stuck around & asked for a retake. Which the promoter was cool with & LB did willingly. The nice thing was that LB came down into the venue seats to meet a gentleman in a wheelchair (the hallway for the M&G was not wheelchair accesible), so we benefited from better lighting & a second chance to chat with him, albeit very briefly.