This show was an interesting experience for me from beginning to end...

I was originally scheduled to fly into Sacramento but in order to meet up with Beth (aka Nursybeth at BB.com) I changed my flight into LAX and was going to rent a car to drive to Oroville. When she had to cancel, due to health crisis, I was NOT looking forward to doing the drive alone. So I called Susan (Gottayak bb.com) and she invited me to ride with her and her friend Helen. Since they were not leaving till Wednesday and I was flying in on Tuesday, Susan even invited me to stay at her house. OMG, what a blast we had. Funny funny funny woman!

We left EARLY on Wed. a.m. and began the nearly endless trek to Oroville. Let me just mention that the Gold Country Casino was in the middle of West NoWhere! Long drive made shorter by Helen's propensity to drive, ummm, faster than the speed of light. We arrived and being the curious little fans that we are went to find the venue. As we were coming up the escalator we spotted a man ahead of us with a long jet black ponytail. Susan, being the demure type, yells out "Kris Bell" and as a pure testament to Kris' good nature he actually WAITED on us at the top of the escalator instead of scurrying off before we could reach him :lol:

We attempted to do the soundcheck but were "invited" to leave by the new manager Eddie. I've gotta say that Richard spoiled us fans, making us feel welcome and appreciated. Eddie, on the other hand, is much less ummm, friendly. (okay, the man is NOT on my list of 1,000,000 favorite people as I heard several people had encounters with him where he ranged from rude to downright snarky and my own encounters with him were on the upper level of snarkiness). Enuf (sp intentional) about that!

Several of us from different boards met for a nice dinner at the Cafe - had a great time talking and laughing, getting a few pictures and anticipating a kickass show. The show started at 8 and since it was reserved seats there was no reason to arrive early.

My seat was in the 10th row center section (nose bleed for me). Two young ladies from bb.com were seated directly behind me and most of the others in the group were in a different section. The set list was much the same as the Columbus/Chicago/Block Island shows. Much of the crowd evidently did not understand that rock concert = on your feet people. They sat and sat and sat. A couple of times I absolutely had to stand, couldn't help it. Great concert by the guys but lazy audience. Even during Sweetbird I noticed many people were not inclined to stand. Yeah, whateva! The people who WERE up were dancin' fools and by the FB portion of the encore, most were up and the aisles were packed (as it should be).

Afterwards the group went to get dessert and then were going downstairs to play the slots. As we neared the elevator Kris and Terri came by and stopped to talk. This show was my first time meeting Terri and I was so impressed by how friendly she is, and she wasn't even feeling well (hope you're feeling better Terri). Beautiful beautiful lady too. (I know, take it to the gushing thread). As always Kris made us feel like we'd just bumped into an old friend. Everyone was commenting about how no matter where you see Kris, he's always so willing to talk.

After spending the night at the hotel/casino, Susan, Helen and I started our trip back to LA. I swear it was at least 200 miles farther back than up but we made it and had a good time doing it. It certainly helps to have a concert at each end of a trip to make driving more entertaining.

Thanks for bringing us there, E! Sitting down? Pffft. Whatever.