The last three days have been an AMAZING experience. More than worth the 1000+ miles on my car; more than worth the 12 hours total spent driving around the balmy southeastern US. What made this experience all the more enjoyable was the fact that I could go alone to these concerts, and meet listies, and enjoy myself. But it even went beyond that. Now, I would have been absolutely thrilled to have a solo experience of watching Neil perform, but to do it with people who also share a great admiration for the man made the experience basically indescribable!! So....Mark, Peter, Dale, Cassandra, Tom, David, Bill, Bibi, Sansanee, Carol & Bob, Meredith, Rich, Lynn, Scott, Richard, Andy, Paul & Sarah, Katie, Ed & Vicky, Laura...thank you for making the last three days truly fun!!

Atlanta was - WOW. Several folks will surely post about their encounters with Neil, but suffice to say we had a blast just waiting in line to get in. Although it was about 104 degrees with no breeze. This was actually beneficial, because you could consume whatever you wanted, and it was certain to be sweated away within mere moments.

Off into the theatre, straight to the front we went. Ebba Forsberg was better than I expected, pretty dark and brooding, but still very good.

And then, our darling Neil. Yowzah!!! When he came out onto stage, he looked out into the audience, then did a double-take, and his eyes lit up ... It was indeed a packed house. The place went absolutely bananas.

Some highlights:

Neil commenting that they simply needed to get through the show without someone leaving the band; :)

He told the story about the airlines losing his prized guitar, and he commented "There's the replacement", and pointed at Liam holding said instrument...then he started laughing..."No, no, Liam wasn't the replacment!!", which bought a grin to the younger Finn's face

An absolutely spiritual version of "Suffer Never."

Neil coaching the band through a song (someone will please post the exact tune at some point; my sleep-deprived brain can't find it right now) where Neil, instead of singing the lyrics, sang out the chord changes to the band while the audience supplied the words.

And quite possibly the listie highlight of the night: Our own Scott called up on stage to sing. Why you ask? As Neil finished "Four Seasons in One Day," we of course were all singing along right up at him, with Scott right in front of the mic. As the sound died, Neil looked down at Scott and said "My God, it's like having my brother here with me! Come on up here..." So up went the very unassuming Scott to sing a stanza!! Very amazing!!

Neil was cool, confident, funny, charming, and (obligatory h'n p report) wearing a very sharp suit. One scene, sans Neil, pretty much summed up the experience for me: at one point I looked through the crowd, and spotted listie Andy Bennett! with his 10 year old daughter, standing about 2 rows from Neil. The look on this guy's face as he watched Neil was one of pure bliss and utter contentment. And that sums up the music for me, as well. The added bonus of standing seven feet from the man was icing on the proverbial cake.