so i should have written this a few days ago and am cheating by back dating, but i won't tell if you won't. ;)

i am so glad saxy said to pick up tickets for this show even though we really couldn't afford it. not only did i get to see my boys in concert, but i also got to spend some quality time with my man and without children. and the show itself was fantastic.

but i'm getting ahead of myself.

we were actually going to meet up with friends of saxy's for dinner and the concert. it wasn't really even set by the time we left the house because of a series of bad luck stuff on their end. first their daughter tore up the confirmation letter for the tickets. the wife didn't tell the husband as she tried to resolve the whole situation on her own, but never could give anyone a straight answer as to which show their tickets were for - tonight's or tomorrow's. it ended up being moot - she did something to her foot and they spent 7 hours in the emergency room instead.

not knowing this, saxy and i left the house early and headed for the restaurant we'd agreed to meet at: the vortex. we'd chosen it because a radio station the boys (er, saxy and friend) listen to was going to be there with backstage stuff, among other things. the place has a policy to not seat you until your entire group arrives, so we went in as a twosome rather than wait for friend and wife, especially since we couldn't seem to raise them on the cell. the radio guys were already there and we got a couple of t-shirts almost right away. we ate dinner, enjoyed the show, watched more than a few csoul fans make fools of themselves, then saxy decided to attempt to win some "meet and greet" tickets. he made it down to the last 5 listing things before he muffed up and had to sit down. just as well, even the meet and greet tickets probably wouldn't have earned him any kisses with what the remaining four had to do to try to get those tickets: drink beer, through a sock belonging to another contestant. i still shudder thinking about it. blech.

still, they did upgrade our tickets. we had bought tickets before they were available to the public through a special promotion for csoul fans and even then got row s. granted, it was the center of row s, but still row s. they gave us row g. (my ticket stub now sits in the frame of my signed poster. :) )

by then it was getting late and the radio show was almost over, so we were off to the concert. we were still early, but that was okay. the a.s.o. concert hall is beautiful, though it was a much smaller venue than we had expected. another gentleman warmed things up - alan yates, a long time friend of ed's. he was pretty good, but gotta admit i was pretty impatient to see my boys!

i think my only complaint about the concert was that the sound seemed off to me - it was very hard to hear ed's voice - and there was one song where somehow the timing was off, but for the rest, holy freaking cow, but it rocked! the band was playing with the a.s.y.o. and both the tonight and tomorrow night are going to be used for their first live cd and an accompanying dvd. they didn't play either of my 2 absolute fave songs, but that's okay - they did play saxy's and a few older songs as well. ed is quite the character on stage when he has the room! the audience was hot - dancing and singing with the band. really, it was the best experience.

there were a couple of really super cool moments too. a 4 member string section did a beautiful rendition of one of csoul's songs. then ed came out and did a solo with a cellist (who will probably never forget it!) of "crown" which he dedicated to his father who is deceased. afterwards, his brother dean came out and gave him a hug. at least one other orchestra member won't be forgetting the evening wither - ed grabbed her and danced with her during one of the musical interludes of one of the songs. the look on her face was sooo funny, but, embarrassed or not, she won't ever forget it!

so many of the songs were perfect for an orchestra accompaniment. and those kids were soooooo incredibly talented! i mean, seriously so! just astonishing!

coming home i was kinda quiet, i guess, because hubby asked me if i was okay. i was very okay. i was . . . content. i've finally seen a "full" concert of one of my 3 favorite bands (and the only one of the 3 still actively making music together). the orchestra made it different than a standard concert, as did all the cameras floating around for the upcoming dvd, but it was just fantastic. do i want to see them in a regular concert? heck yea! but this was very cool and will tide me over for a bit.

at least until may when their next cd comes out - all acoustical!

god they rock!

and i'm such a fangirl. *g*