Cheers to Shane Dubose for working so hard on the Showcase and dealing with the VP situation.
Jeers to Shane Dubose for playing kick ass new Krucible tunes but not having a CD yet for me to buy
(I already told him about this one!)
Cheers to each and every replacement person (in Sonata Arctica, Firewind, Threshold) for doing OUTSTANDING JOBS, better than the originals in some cases.
Jeers to my replacement stomach, which has apparently decided I should not drink more than 4-5 beers before I'll be sick the next morning, thus making me watch bands in a much more sober state than I'd like.
Cheers to Sean Andrews of Redemption for being one of the best bass players I've ever seen.
Jeers to Sean Andrews and others like him for being SO good that when I consider trying to learn the bass but then see how far I'd have to go, I say "screw it, why bother!"
Cheers to Sonata Arctica for having the best live vocal harmonies I've heard in a long time.
Jeers to Sonata Arctica for giving the standard tour package. Did they know they could play for longer than 65 minutes before breaking for the encore? Sheesh.
Cheers to Stephen Frederick for still having a great voice.
Jeers to Stephen Frederick for his Tina Turner impersonation.
Cheers to Threshold for an awesome set, and playing Pilot in the Sky of Dreams (one of my favorite songs of the year).
Jeers to Threshold for starting several minutes late and *still* having poor sound the first little while during which Richard West could not be heard on keyboard or vocals.
Cheers to After Forever for, like Epica, giving me a set that far exceeded my expectations.
Jeers to Floor Jansen for not living in Valparaiso so I could watch her sing all the time.
Cheers to Pagan's Mind for learning all those songs for the All Star Jam, and playing them flawlessly. And for the guitarist, this on top of learning all the songs last year for Jorn. I am in awe.
Jeers to Pagan's Mind for not employing Hiro to bend time and space to get God's Equation available this weekend.
Cheers to me for supporting the economy by buying CDs!
Jeers to me for making a list ahead of time of CDs I want. When I buy a bunch of CDs and only 3 of them are on the list, what's the point of having the friggin' list??
Cheers to the Center Stage bartenders and security for being pleasant (at least as far as I saw). I heard one bartender telling someone how he loved these metal shows because everyone is so friendly and they leave pretty good tips!
Jeers to the jerk in the audience at the end of Friday night who called one of the security guys "dickhead" because the poor guy was just trying to do his job in getting people cleared out, and was even trying to be funny / friendly about it.
Cheers to the Residence Inn staff and their always friendly demeanors.
Jeers to the Residence Inn for having cards about their "conservation" efforts with respect to linens, but having housekeeping run a dishwasher to clean a single plate and glass.
Cheers to all my friends at ProgPower.