If you’ve ever read my reviews, you know they can be well, um… LONG! Go to the show now to skip the pre-show musings.

The 2000 holiday season was a fun one. Tim’s ‘rents and mine are in Columbus, OH, so we spent Christmas there. I miss that town. It was a good visit with family and friends… When we booked the flight home, I made sure we allowed for time to get to Mt. Pleasant for the show…

The drive up was kinda sucky. There was just enough snow to be a pain in the butt. Good thing we left kind of early – there wasn’t much traffic until we got on the clearer Michigan roads. Despite the weather, we made good time and rolled into the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort a little before 1 pm. It was much bigger than I’d imagined. Just the parking lot was HUGE! Fortunately there was free covered parking in the garage.

Tim and I figured out where and when to meet up later in the afternoon as our agendas were very different. Tim was in this trip for blackjack and I just wanted to catch up with friends and see the show. As I roamed around looking for Kim G., I scoped out the venue.

There were several sets of doors with windows that allowed you to peek in. Like the casino, the auditorium was much bigger than I’d imagined. It seats 3000+ and had 2 huge video screens on either side of the stage. Most seating was at tables – making for an atmosphere that felt more like dinner theatre than a rock concert. I would definitely advise against seats on the sides. They felt like they were a zillion miles away from the stage. Yech.

Fortunately for me, I was quick enough on the phone to get in the front row of tables. A very friendly, patient woman in the box office gave me the run down as to which doors would open, when they’d open as well as specific directions to the table. :) Hey, when seats at the table are GA, ya gotta have a game plan to get a spot in front!

Around 3 pm, I found my buds Kim G. and Samantha. They were with Mari (a fan from Japan) who was wearing a tres cool red leather suit. When I complimented it, she told me she’d bought it in Vancouver while she was there for the show this summer. We agreed that CT had a great opener then - Nash Kato. Like most of us who saw them this summer, she thought Nash was very funny and King Richard was another Keith Moon.

Mari helped me out by verifying that the embroidery on Rick’s (belated) b-day present was correct. I’d had a black b-ball cap embroidered with his name in Japanese and hoped to get a chance to give it to him before sound check…

Kim gave me news of the biggest bummer of the evening: NO SVEN. Apparently he had re-injured his shoulder (I know he’d been having problems at TF3) and no one was sure exactly when he’d be back. Poor guy.

Bun E came along after a bit and Kim went with him into the venue. Mari and I tried to follow but got stopped. Oh well. Can’t blame a girl for tryin’!

At least I did get a chance to tell him in person how much I’ve enjoyed BBB 1 & 2.

Samantha was kind enough to buy me a beer. When she came back we chatted for awhile with Teresa from Springfield, MO. She’d come in by herself for the show. We both lamented the fact that neither of us would make it to the NYE show…

About this time Robin walked by with Robin Jr. – obviously on their way to sound check. They had to try a couple doors, but eventually got in.

I lost track of time (and names) as other fans arrived. Seemed that a lot of folks were in for this show and NYE. It was good to see Junko from Japan again. We’d stood next to each other at the 25^th anniversary show… Lisa from LA said that she’d seen Pam in the casino with the Zander’s baby girl. Didn’t find out her name but congratulations to the whole family…

Rick and Carla happened along some time after that and I took the opportunity to give him the hat. Not a lot of time to chat since Rick needed to get to sound check…

SOUND CHECK

It seemed to take awhile to get things going but once they did, all of us in line heard them warm up with "Don’t Be Cruel" and "Walk Away." Two fans behind Teresa and me laughed at us doing the background vocals. I had to help those guys get the facts straight when I overheard one of them say that only "3 of the original guys" were still in the band. Sorry if I sounded like a smart-ass, guys. Not my intent. :)

Before the doors opened I met 2 very cool fans from Michigan: Joel and Josh. Actually Joel recognized my Homer sign and asked if I had a web site. As it turns out we were at the same table. We chatted about all things CT - they’re both musicians and had seen CT several times. Talking with them was a great way to pass the time waiting for the show to start…

Once the doors opened (late – fancy that!) all 3 of us snagged the seats closest to the stage. We were right up against the stage in front of Rick’s steps… The stage was quite large – no barrier. Joel and Josh knew much more about the gear than me – not that that’s hard to do. I’m quicker to notice stuff like the absence of Chairy and the Rick doll lying prostrate on the amps. Rick had put the baseball hat up there. I guess he liked it. Woo hoo!

Tony (Sven’s sub) was hard at work. For whatever reason, the gear was on ground level. Perhaps there wasn’t enough room backstage - I’m not really sure. It was a nice way for folks to get a close look at the arsenal, though.

With the exception of the couple who got engaged and a collection for a local food pantry, the pre-show announcements made me feel like I was at a school assembly. Am I the only one who finds it depressing that people need to be told that aiming laser pointers at performers is in bad taste? These are the same folk that still need to be reminded to turn off their pagers and cell phones. :P

Robin Jr. was sitting in a chair stage left – such a cute little guy!

I took it as a bad sign that there was feedback before the show even started…

THE SHOW

The usual "I Must Be Dreamin’" intro kicked things off, only to be interrupted by some Tejano music sounding thing for a few seconds. Weird. An omen of sound probs to come.

FASHION REPORT

SET LIST

RICK BANTER – as always, in no particular order

I got the feeling that the technical problems kept Rick on his toes – so the banter brought on more "impromptu" comments than usual. My favorite line of the evening was "Do you guys know what I got for Christmas? Feedback!"

He was quick to welcome fans from far away and brought up the 25^th anniversary show – claiming that in February it would be aired on Direct TV 96 times…

Sven’s absence was also explained, "Sven has a large growth – and not between his legs!" He pointed out "Jake" (AKA Tony) a former roadie for Rush, claiming that the guy had the worst job in the world. While he was on the subject of roadies, he introduced Dave (BEC’s tech) since he was from Grand Rapids, MI, going on to add that he’s available. "He’s been divorced 3 times, though!" By the time Tom added, "This year!" Dave had a big grin on his face.

Rick had another great moment with Alex – a 6 year old he invited onstage because he liked his shades. When asked if he liked CT, Alex said, "Yes" and Rick looked relieved. Between Alex and Robin Jr. onstage saw more than its share of cute kids...

I guess Robin’s no longer Rick’s favorite singer since he failed to say that. KIDDING.

MISC. STUFF

There were lots of sound and guitar issues. Lots. I was proud of the way the guys handled it though – they seemed to take it in stride. Every time Rick switched out guitars, we were feeling for Tony. I’m sure the gear heads in the crowd were being slowly driven insane. Then there was the "pick issue."

I think the poor guy didn’t understand just how many picks Rick would go through at his mic alone, so he had to keep running onstage with new strands of tape. He also hadn’t figured out how to set them on the stand such that the tape would stay put. This led to several rounds of Rick vs. The White Electrical Tape Wad. Somewhere Sven was cringing. Or laughing…

I must confess that I was doing a lot of the latter.

We got a "bonus" song that night, as well. During yet another "guitar problem time" the guys started jamming and Rick took vocals for a bit of "Who Do You Love." Fun stuff...

It was a tie for between Robin and Tom for sharpest dresser that night. I hafta say that I’ve seen Robin and Tom play with the crowd more at other shows. Tom was all smiles, although he seemed to stay on his side of the stage most of the time. Robin seemed to be working hard to keep some "flow" going. I got the feeling that they were kinda left hanging during some Rick banter time because Rick was offstage dealing with guitar stuff. Bun E. came out from behind his kit at one point – not quite sure what that was about…

As Rick said goodnight to us all, he donned the baseball cap I'd given him. It sat precariously on top of his other cap as he waved goodbye and walked offstage. Somehow it stayed on the whole time...

Overall it was a fun show. Very odd in some ways – but I still had a wonderful time. The additions to the set list were very fun. I didn’t feel too bad about missing the show the next night… Oh hell. Yes, I did. But this show was still a nice consolation.

POST SHOW STUFF

After saying goodbye to friends old and new, I said a quick "hi" to George. He gave me a few more details on Sven’s condition. I guess it’s a bone spur and the doctors should have a better prognosis on January 2. Sven: here’s hoping you get better ASAP. It just wasn’t the same without you!

In "negotiating" this show, Tim and I agreed that we would take off immediately afterwards. We had a flight home to catch at 1 pm the next day, so we needed to get part way back to Columbus. Since the show started promptly at 7 pm, we were on the road by 9. It was a good day for both of us. I got in one last CT fix before the end of 2000 and Tim had fun at the blackjack table and got to see his Dolphins win.

I keep forgetting that my husband’s a driving MACHINE. We ended up getting all the way back to Columbus that night. The unfortunate thing in that was that we were locked out of my parents’ house. Gotta love waking up your dad at 2 am. D’OH!

SOME THANK YOUS

MOM & DAD – thanks for the loaner car and for not yelling when we showed up in the wee hours of the morning. :)

CT & Co. – great show as usual. Thanks for making this fan feel special… Can’t wait to see yous guys again in 2000+1!

And finally…

TIM – Quite possibly the most patient man on the planet. Thanks for carting me up north and back. You're a helluva a guy to put up with me. :)

Thanks for reading. Happy new year!

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