Gosh, it's a hard trip. hope i can do it once more.

Act I

obviously before we arrived we'd had to give up our fantasies of chasing the band around the hotel ;). as snow and ice filled the gutters, draining in rivulets across every ramp or crack in the sidewalk then re-freezing, walking about in high-heels was tricky.

entering the showroom half an hour before curtain time, we're seeing Moody friends from previous years and getting our hug-meter started. during the show Moody moments shared with the stranger beside you makes new friends. maybe that's the best part of what loving the band does for us: i know it has been for me.

for a first show, Friday night was strong. remember Paul telling us it's about pacing themselves to get through a strenuous weekend of performing? contrary to some Tahoe weekends, this one started great and just got better!

since set list etc. has already been covered i'll just toss out a few observations. i was sitting at the end of A-110 and John played to us quite a bit. i thot he looked trim and healthy and i really liked his red silk shirt. his bass was powerful but not over-amped, and i thot i heard a couple new riffs.

Bias wore a bright yellow t- under his purple suit. altho i couldn't see Ray very well he was having a great time. i don't remember Tracy's hair being that red before. the script on both drum kits is identical: G & G. both bass drums are stuffed with pillows. i love when Graeme raises his stick up high in the air, Gordon mirroring him, and they bring them down together. one of the screen backdrops is beautiful with 3 foot tall musical notes swirling across. Paul is so good-humored and un-assuming.

Justin's voice was top notch and he retires to the back of the stage through FML & LOM before taking the spotlight for the rest of the show. he was smiling most genuinely! working John's side of the stage he perceptibly made eye contact with every single person in sec. A and sec. B. turning back to his mic he gestured with both hands YES!! the gal next to me said "I need a cigarette!" we were dying, or were already in heaven, i'm not sure which.

in John's speech before Question he (paraphrasing here) said 'We hope to see you all later this year when we're touring.' in that one golden moment of silence before the music started i said loudly enough to be heard "Don't leave Oregon out."

Intermission:

a few of us went over to Cafe Roma Friday after-show. Shawn is so great at making everyone acquainted and including everyone in the conversation. (love ya, Shawn!)

we had all noticed a gal who insisted on dancing during IKYOTS and the usher tried to make her sit down. she compromised by walking over to the wings where she didn't block anyone's view. so when the band exited the stage after See Saw she attempted to pass a large bouquet of flowers to Justin, which he ignored.

anyway she ended up at our cafe table (where we were) doing the post-mortem on the show. she explained that she'd been dancing in front of him during that song at some concert somewhere (we all know that invitational gesture he makes as part of the act) and he'd seriously motioned to her to join him on the stage. she wanted to make him aware she was up for that. :|

people had a midnight snack, anything from ice cream to soup, then went 'home' to bed. of course talking and giggling went on several hours more as we tried to calm down enough to sleep.

Saturday's weather was calm and fair, so Lisa and i did the MS DixieII sternwheeler cruise on the lake. i've never seen so much snow up there, and it sure was pretty. we had a picnic lunch on deck and actually got sunburned a bit. it was peaceful, very relaxing, and the fresh air was great.

Act II

all dressed up for the early show we hoofed it across the highway. Saturday was 'sparkly' night, and we made a strange sight for all the ski-attired folks in the Horizon casino. somehow inside Circus Maximus i managed to be next to Christie Young at A-110; she had a notepad on the stage beside her, writing down the setlist as the songs were played, and any ad-libs she caught. i saw the stage hand bringing dry ice for the smoke machine at one point.

i had 24 frames of 800 asa film in my 35mm SLR and a fixed 135mm telephoto. it was great for long shots but inflexible at close range. wouldn't you know, because Christie was also shooting, the J's posed for us quite a bit! John leaning out over me through that lens practically put me under the table!! with the one persons film coming out blank, i'm praying the x-ray didn't kill my shots... they even warned me in Portland if i had film in my checked bag to take it out. however, no one warned me about the gate scanner, and both my rolls of film went through it unprotected. we'll see what comes out.

a young girl was stageside a couple tables in front of us, and after the show Graeme walked purposefully right to her and gave her a pair of his drumsticks!

the curtain closed and Christie and i were standing there putting our camera gear away, when some crinkled pages of paper suddenly shoved through from backstage. for the record: i saw it first! but Christie was closer, so she grabbed it. what a neat souvenir. also, let me say that i looked at it closely enough to tell you that it was in very large face type, faxed from Threshold Records in 1998, and in fact was titled 1998 Set List. only SIWL was crossed out and Strange Times written in by hand.

Act III

between shows, without a convenient room to go up & rest, all one can do is wander the strip. we walked over to Harvey's and went into the new Lake Tahoe Hard Rock Cafe. a brisk business was being done, with t-shirt prices $27 and up, a leather jacket going for $215.

dropped Lisa at the Horizon (not doing the late show) and went back to Caesar's, intending to annoint my new Emperor's Club card. spotted Bill Ashman and Lily Ikemoto on the steps, so hung out and talked to them instead.

once inside, BB pointed out she'd moved to A-106?8? and her chair was available. i caught an usher, showed her where i was and asked for Barb's spot. after lights-out the usher escorted me to A-103, which is right between Justin & Ray, directly in front of Graeme. yikes!! what a great view!

at last i could see the entire stage and all the Actors clearly. every time i looked at Graeme he was looking at me, grinning. i'd grin back. the drumstick toss had half a dozen misses, and one bounced off Justin's amp and landed on the stage between him and John. i was craning my neck to see where it fell, when some gal did a horizontal dive 5 feet onto the stage, and grabbed it! neither of the J's even looked down.

it was incredible to watch Justin working that Gibson. i couldn't believe the variety of sounds he could produce from it. he had cranked the energy level up to fever pitch, and was definitely ON. during Singer when the J's duel at stage front, finally John had to give ground! another time as Justin was roaming the stage, just like planes taxiing down the runway, John had to hold up to let him go by.

Ray had a magical LOAM. he challenged Bias with three quickies during the call-and-response. Bias pretended to sweat it, and was really cute about accepting the crowd's accolades. i could just see Tracy Wolf at A-107?9? playing with Ray throughout the show. in the end he gave her his tambourine!

time for Question and John's speech was 'On this summer's tour we'll be glad to see you, wherever you're from.' sadly we waved goodbye to them after See Saw, and sadly they waved goodbye to us.

Epilogue

it was a lot of miles, and 8 hours sleep in 3 days. thank you God for getting me home safe; please keep all the Moody crew, talent, & fans in your heart.