| Wednesday August 20th, 2003 |
Here is my long summary in a nutshell: the show kicked ass and we got some Rzeznik!Love and Robby!Love with a bit of Mike!Chat thrown in for good measure. Here is me and Tiff about 4 in the morning, ready for some rock 'n roll!!
Tiff with her excited face. . .
Let’s begin by saying what I thought would take about 7 or 8 hours took us 9! GRRR!! First thing we do when we arrive in Rockford is find the venue, the Coronado Theatre. It was a little thing, perfect for a Goo show. Then off to find the hotel which according to our printed out directions should have only taken 12 minutes to find, scratch that, how about an hour?! Craziness! We find the hotel and me and my sis get all goo-fied in our outfits. I had my camo pants on and a long black knit top and Tiff had jeans and a black shirt with the Cheshire cat on the front. Take a couple of pics and head out for a night of rock and roll!!
We get to the venue. . .
. . .and are walking across the street and I hear someone yell my name, or I thought I did. I wasn’t sure so we just kept on walking. Then standing right outside the front are two protestors with huge white signs. I’m not even sure what the signs said, but they were yelling, "Sinners will not not get into our Heaven! Do not enter into a life of sin or you will go to hell!" Me and Tiff just walked past them real quick and went right inside. I’m thinking the whole time, "Why are they protesting a Goo Goo Dolls show?" but Tiff said she thinks they were protesting abortion. Don’t really know. We buy our things, I finally got me that Goo tote and gray t-shirt I‘d been wanting. We go inside, find our seats, 2cd row baby which absolutely kicked ass in itself. There were two rows of pit seats and then the row right in front of us. We were so close it was unbelievable, I was very happy with the amount of money I spent on those tickets, which just for my own purposes I will not voice aloud for fear of breaking into uncontrolable sobs. . .
Finally got to meet gooRZEZgoo, ie. Friend Ashey! Which come to find out, she was the one yelling my name from across the street. How ya doing girlie?! She was so nice!! She even brought me a present! A little box of unopened Wheaties, a ring with little pics of the Goos on it and a button that had The Deep-Fried Boot written on it! Check out Goo Crafts for a pic. Thanks chica!! She said that she got there pretty early and saw Mike walking with a group of friends down the street all normal like and saw Robby go inside. She showed me here Goo purse (check out Goo Crafts), which is just absolutely adorable and the shirt she made. We chatted a bit then she went back to her seat.
Now mind you, the whole time, there is this extremely hot looking usher standing in our section. Whoo-boy. Nice eye candy before the show.
Now, onto the opening act. . .
Kory and the Fireflies. They were awesome, loved their whole set. I’ve actually enjoyed all of Goo’s opening acts, other than Vanessa Carlton, but I really enjoy the newcomers, including Sensefield. They have to work a little harder to get the crowd into their music and I think they did a wonderful job. After their set, we chatted a bit with the lady sitting in front of us and she said she thought Kory was cute but she wanted Rzeznik! I told her, "Me and you are gonna have a fight to the death!" Chatted a bit more, then chatted with the girl right in front of us, she said she posts on WOG sometimes, but I never got her screen name. We were so bad, her last show was Saturday and mine was Friday!
Now on to Goo. . .
They come out jamming the hell out of Naked and I take my two cameras out of my Super Secret Goo Camera Hiding Spot from my purse, ie from inside the lining. I knew there was a good reason I didn’t sew that bit up. At the time I thought it was out of laziness, but now I know, it was fate. At first I was afraid they would take my camera, which I just spent $80 on a zoom lens the day before and they clearly said no cameras. But everyone else was flashing, so I did too, but we were so close, most of the time it didn’t need the flash.
Highlights from the show:
1. Rzeznik commented on the protestors outside. First he said something like, "Welcome men, women, homosexuals, sinners, fornicators. . ." Then he started talking about the guys outside, he said that he could see them from his window and that they were gonna be in purgatory with him. When asked, "What did you do to get here?" he would say, "Well I drank a lot and cheated on my girlfriend a few times." When they were asked, they would say, "For telling people they‘re going to hell." Something like that, everyone laughed.
2. Poor Rzeznik was pelted with womens underwear! One were these pretty good size white undies that had pink hearts on them that said, "I love John this much." He said that was a little too much then he called us all "fornicating sinners."
3. During Name right before the "I think about you all the time," this girl in the pit started screaming and what looked like to me convulsing, but in all actuality was just a really, really happy dance! Rzeznik started laughing and messed up and said, "Would you like to share that with the class?" and held the mic down so the girl could scream again. Then she yelled out, "I love you!" and he said "I love you too," but kinda did it like on a don’t tell anyone thing cuz you know who might hear. Then Jason played a bit of the Psycho music. Craziness I tell ya. . .
4. Me and my sis made complete eye contact with the ‘ol Robster. We were screaming and jumping up and down and he would just stare at us. Kinda creepy, but in a cool way cuz I would look away and look back and he’d still be staring. Then during Tucked Away, he pointed right at us. Too cool.
5. Cuz You’re Gone with A Thousand Words and We Are the Nomal. Enough said. . .
6. A girl had a sign that said, "Can I lick your dimple?" and Rzeznik said it might be gross because he didn’t shave. She didn’t seem to mind. More to that later. . .
The show was absolutely amazing, even better than Louisville. What made it memorable was that the crowd was even more amazing. The vibe around the place was just all GOOd.
Now, the after show. . .
Kory and the Fireflies were out signing things in the lobby. We bought one of the poster flats and their 2 CD’s, which kick ass and got autographs and a picture that didn’t take. Long story to that.
When we first got outside, there was a huge crowd in the street screaming their little hearts out. Come to find out, the guys are peeking out of the window to the crowd. They would throw the curtains back to give ya a quick peek then shut 'em just as fast to get the people screaming. Here is the funny part, they had sheer white curtains up but then they pulled down this really heavy drape so you couldn't see at all. A few seconds go by, next thing ya know, Jason's butt is pressed against the window for all to see! And ya know how windows have the wood dividing the glass into sections, his crack was pressed in the middle crack so there was cheek on either window pane. Craziness I tell ya, craziness. Got a pic too. So to Jason, I promise I will not post your white hiney for the world to see. . .unless I need some money. *grin*
We got bored with the window so we headed out to the corner where their buses were and hot usher guy. *sigh* As we're standing there, there is a man carrying a guitar case, drunk out of his mind asking people for money. First he's talking to ya, saying he's a local musician, yadda yadda then he hits ya up for money. He only wanted 77 cents, which I would have gladly given him but I had no change and the smallest bill I had was a 10. I told him I didn't have it and he said that was ok and he was going to be on the cover of the Rolling Stone. . .he was gonna buy a copy for his mother. Would that be five copies? *wink, wink* All this time Tiff was scared of him and wanted to go home. After about an hour, I decided to give up and was just about to head out when security Mike came up and said, "I'm not saying that they are coming out and I'm not saying that they aren't, but you're not gonna get anything signed standing on this side." So we had to go to the other side of the street. About half an hour later, Greg comes out with a few people, gets on the bus. Jason, with his pants on, gets on the bus. Mike with his huge posse, gets on the bus. At this point, I'm feeling like it was a waste and we should have went back to the room. Then the man who held our next moments in his hands turns up. "Line up along the sidewalk like you're in elementary school. No pictures, no hugs so don't even start."
Encounter time. . .
Mike was the first I saw and went to the opposite end where we were standing. Then Robby comes bounding out of left field screaming getting the crowd all wild. Where does the man get all that energy?! No Rzeznik. . .yet. Mike gets to us and he's wearing a shirt that says, "If I throw a stick, will you go away." Says hi and I ask him to sign my camo purse right by his pic and he said, "Well that would make sense." :) Said it was cool, I thanked him and he went on to sign Tiff's pic. She had drawn little pics of all three of the guys in the room before we left and he signed it. See a scan of it on Tiff's Page. He said it was, "so cute," now how cute was that? He was so bashful and charming at the same time. There was the Mike chat. In between there, Rzeznik came out but went and got on the bus so I thought that was it for him. Then a bit later everyone starts screaming and he starts making his way down the line. . .
Robby time!! This was pretty cute. The girl in front of us had the Hold Me Up cover and when he got to her he said, "It's like connect the dots! I'll make the Big Dipper!" So I'm watching him draw it and after his little task is completed, he looks at it and says, "Well it sorta looks like the Big Dipper." Now a cool story about the Hold Me Up cover I never knew. This is from Robby himself. He said that the picture is of the color fleshtone from an image in a magazine. Then he and George took it to like a copy machine, blew it up and that was the end result. Kick ass.
Now, our story. . .
He turned to me and my sis, took a quick second to realize who we were and, say it with me now, "lunged and grabbed." Key words: lunged and grabbed. Didn't say a word, he just got us both in this huge bear hug shouting, "God bless you girls!" I was completely shocked! Now, me and Tiff are pretty damn tall, now add about 3 inches of cement, (Robby is standing on the road, we're on the sidewalk) and he literally pulled us down to him and squeezed! So we squeezed back and he was like, "You girls rock!" He remembered us! I don't remember exactly what was said after that but I asked him to sign my purse, said, "I'd love to," and put little antennas on his head. See the picture on the Goo Grafts page. Then he grabbed me in another hug! His hand was right in between my shoulder blades and he was squeezing so I squeezed back, then he squeezed harder. Then he pressed his face to mine (he was sweaty and a bit scruffy) and gave me a kiss right below my ear and again said, "God bless you!" Now I know why people say Robby gives the best hugs! I could have died a happy woman on that sidewalk across the street from the Coronado Theater. Then he did the exact same thing to Tiff. She said he squeezed so hard, she thought she might choke! There was the Robby!Love. Tiff said it best: Robby wants to kill you with love.
Now, Rzeznik is making his way down the line to us. The girl in front of us, went and got behind Tiff to be there with her friends so there was a couple standing next to us. Rzeznik was giving out some hugs, but I am way too shy to even consider asking for one. So, he signs the woman's Gutterflower cover and she asks for a hug. Then her husband has nothing for him to sign so he's like, "Aww, do you want a hug, too?!" And the guy is like no that's ok. So, in my head I'm thinking, "Dude, I'll take his hug!" and the next thing I know, the words were out of my mouth! Rzeznik just looked at me and started laughing and turned to the guy and was like, "Yeah, give me a fucking hug!" He gave him a big 'ol hug and security Mike was like, "Ok, that's enough of the man love!" Too funny. When he gets to me, he's all smiles and, "Hi, how you doing?" He signs my purse, I told him thanks and thought that was it, but then he said, "Well, do I get a hug?" So I'm like, "Hell yeah!" I didn't even have to ask, he asked! That made it all the more special. As if he needs to ask, come on. Then he says, "thank you" after the hug. He does the exact same thing with Tiff only after telling her the drawing was cool. There was the Rzeznik!Love.
The girl down the line from us was the same girl that had the dimple licking sign and I guess she asked him if she could. At first he said no, but eventually gave in and let me tell ya, the girl went to town. Security Mike had to pull her off of him. He was like, "That's enough of that. You've already signed about 10 things for her and there are kids here!" She's got more guts than me is all I can say. And that's the end of my story.
Now for the pictures. . .
Hoped you enjoyed. . .and please, do not take these pics without permission. Thanks!!