September 3, 2006: Front Row Reno!

Reno, NV
Reno Events Center

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. We'll see how coherent I am today after a late night followed by an early rising to beat the holiday traffic (woo hoo! success -- home in 4 hours!)

Okay, so last night's show... First a HUGE thanks to Matt for the front row seat, being up close and personal is always a great opportunity. That said, however, sometimes front row just ain't worth the hassle... For most of Journey's set, we were OK, but towards the end people started cramming in from the rows behind -- I really did not appreciate the 6' 4" guy pushing in front of me. Fortunately, security was pretty good and sent most of them back to their seats. Alas, when Def Leppard came on the crowd was rowdier, drunker, and security couldn't keep them back, so I spent much of their set hanging on to the barricade for dear life and jabbing a few elbows. Amazingly no beer was spilled on me, though there were a few close calls!

The crowd was very interesting last night. Between the guy behind me who'd unbuttoned his shirt at the start of the show and did a bump and grind for virtually EVERY song Journey did, the 175 lb woman in a black belly shirt and short shorts, and one of the front row crashers who thought she was in a strip show when DL played "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (much to the enjoyment of the odd dude sitting near me who'd won tickets to the show and just had to tell me ALL about it), it sure seemed like a "let your freak flag fly" kind of night.

So, enough about the crowd and on to the bands. Once again Stoll Vaughun took the stage about 10 minutes early only to have a string bust on his guitar which shortened his set. This time he was joined by Jon, Vivian Campbell, Phil Collen (in a shirt!), and Phil Collen's son. Because of the busted guitar string (followed by an out of tune guitar) his set was a bit disjointed, but the jam at the end was still a lot of fun.

Nothing hugely different to report on the set for either band, nor any particular memorable moments. Being up front, I had a stack of speakers next to me and while the bass and drums pounded through me, it was nothing like the beating I took 10 rows up at Shoreline last weekend! At a couple of points, however, the vibration from Deen's drums felt like they were just going to blow my clothes off! By the time the guys got to "Dead or Alive" I thought I might have bruised a rib!

I've been driven slightly mad trying to figure out the 2-3 notes that Neal has taken to playing at the end of "Lights." I'm thinking it's a bit of Hendrix, but damn if I can remember what it is! As I think someone reported earlier this week, they've updated the old "Faithfully" video with newer footage. When I read that I thought "I don't remember that at Shoreline or Concord..." Well, that's because the new footage was SHOT at Shoreline and Concord! A nice addition -- especially the adorable shot of Deen and Roman. Awwwww....

So, after seeing four shows with Jeff Scott Soto, I'm left with much the same feeling I had after the first one. He does a good job, but all in all he's not working for me. I can't even figure out what it is at this point, but there is something missing.

I've really been enjoying Def Leppard's show -- which I did rather expect having seen them on their own a few times in the past -- and last night was no different. The angle at which I was facing the stage meant that at times the only person I could see was Rick Allen as the rest of the guys moved around the stage, but since they DO move around so much, they all paid a few visits to my side of the stage. I think I can appreciate what some of my fellow Back Talk females are seeing in Vivian after standing in front of him most of the night. And I figured out why Phil Collen never has a shirt -- Viv has them all! At least Sav was able to switch to a black version of the all-white vest and pants outfit last night, so I guess the wardrobe budget has expanded.

DL's set was a little harder to get through physically because of the rowdy crowd mentioned above AND the fact that they had a rotating light that was sitting on the speakers in front of me. Fortunately, I was just enough to the right of it and short enough that I wasn't totally blinded (though the heat was incredible), but poor Matt probably had his retinas burned out....

Last show for me for the year -- strange saying that just 3 weeks after my FIRST show of the year. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the tour. To the folks I got to see this summer -- great seeing you all again. To the ones I didn't -- you were missed!

Set List:

Star Spangled Banner
Stone in Love
Ask the Lonely
Wheel in the Sky
Keep on Runnin'
Edge of the Blade
Who's Crying Now -- Deen vox
Chain Reaction
Lights
  -- Jon solo --
Open Arms
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
Escape
Dead or Alive
Jon solo
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'
Any Way You Want It

Encore:
Separate Ways