Canton OH Nov 26

[elle]

Originally Posted by bwboy

LOL it's here at last!

First off, I have to thank Hawkeye... he was unable to make it to the show due to inclement weather, so he graciously left his 2nd row ticket for me at the box office. What a nice thing to do! Although I was disappointed he couldn't make it, as I was looking forward to meeting him, it was so classy of him to let me use his ticket. Thank you so much, Hawkeye!

Second, I'm sorry I didn't get to meet elle or any other Ledgies who may have been there. Not having internet access the entire time, I was unable to get on the Ledge. I should have given my phone number in a PM, but I didn't think far enough in advance to do that.

The concert was incredible. I had such a great time. I was so close, I could have gone up and strummed Lindsey's guitar during Go Your Own Way, but I didn't Not sure why, I guess I was a little intimidated.

The band was stellar, especially the bassist. I forgot his name, I think it was Francisco Pol or something like that. He and the whole band provided fantastic support to Lindsey, with some great background vocals, too. Better than what I expected, really. But that bassist was really awesome.

I loved the simple stage- great lights with a fog machine; what can I say, I've always been a sucker for a fog machine! It really created a great mood, or as Lindsey might say, a great vibe!

Lindsey rocked the house. A lot of musical highlights, but my favorites were mostly songs I didn't think I would like so much live. I wasn't a big fan of Go Insane, but live, it sounded great! Slow Dancing I found creepy when it first came out, for some reason- maybe it was the video, I don't know. But live, it sounded perfect and not creepy at all! Another surprise was I Must Go- again, this song was so much better live. Don't Look Down, Surrender the Rain, Holiday Road, and Down on Rodeo were also highlights for me. As far as his performance, I was a little surprised at how stationary he was. When I had seen him with Fleetwood Mac, he roamed the stage, but on his own, he stayed planted for a majority of the show. My guess is, since he's singing lead on every song, he has to stay by the Mike, or maybe it's because the stage is smaller, or maybe he's just getting older. Whatever the reason, it wasn't a problem, just something that surprised me. I loved it when he came closer to the audience and encouraged folks to come up front. Very nice.

Lindsey was very gracious and seemed really pleased by the crowd. He even seemed surprised by our love and affection, almost overwhelmed. The crowd was great. I have to say, in a theater that size, I can understand both sides of the "standing vs sitting" controversy. I was in the second row, with a perfect view, but there were two people who stood up in the row ahead of me, and wouldn't you know it- the girl standing completely blocked my view of Lindsey. I mean, completely! And the guy 2 seats down from her who also stood was blocking the people behind him. Between songs, some people said something very loudly and the guy sat down. A difficult situation. Fortunately, the girl who blocked my view did so for just 2 songs- the other times, I was either standing along with most of the crowd, or she sat down.

The fans I spoke to were all really nice and friendly. The guy next to me was exceptionally nice, he was very enthusiastic and fun to talk to. It was nice to be able to geek out with other like-minded people! He was an experienced concert goer but had never seen Lindsey live before. In fact, everyone I spoke to said this was their first time seeing Lindsey, and judging from their reactions during the concert, it won't be their last time.

If you're on the fence about seeing Lindsey, here's my advice- GO SEE HIM! You will love it!

wow, so glad you had such a great experience - and how awesome from Hawkeye to leave you his 2nd row ticket!

i'm so relieved you didn't end up looking for us, because i felt so bad about missing you - you originally stipulated going in the first place by having some people you know there. so i'm taking all the creditr for you going and i'm loving this so much!!

re Lindsey being much more at his mic at solo shows - yeah, as you said since he sings the lead on every song, and cannot carery mic around since he needs his hands for playing, he's kinda stuck in place while he sings, and moves just in between. on OMS tour he was even more stationary, at least at first, since he was the only person on stage and had to do everything himself (other than Stan of course!). on the other hand, from videos i've seen of OOTC tour, he was completely all over the place and young, high and crazy then, so i'm sure however in shape he is being sober and older has to play some role too.

that stage was weird yesterday. apparently where that lower stage was originally a pit but then for this event got filled as a lower stage. normally at LB solo shows he's as close to the audience as the end of that lower pit was, so he interacts way more than he did yesterday, because he's closer and can see everyone. when he's this deep into the stage the lights are in his eyes too much to be able to catch people's eyes.

too bad you didn't go strum! it is something - always such incerdible experience. and that was another weird thing yesterday, with that lower stage, and then apparently LB's people gave the instructions to the seccurity that he will come down to that lower stage / covered pit for people to strum during GYOW but the message venue security somehow received was that he will go into the crowd during the encores. so they brought extra security and blocked the access to the stage during GYOW which was the weirest thing i've ever seen at LB show! and he had to make extra efforts to get people to actually approach the stage and strum - as you describe above. normally he covers the stage on all sides for people to be able to strum, but yesterday he couldn't... either way, he / his people can never get that messaging straight it seems!