Here is my collection of thoughts and impressions from the Atlanta gig. Part review, part quite personal.

The wait outside the front door seemed long due to the heat and the lack of breeze but it was made more comfortable by the group of like-minded people. We finally got to make our way in and moved straight away to the front of the hall. It looked like an old movie theater with the first several rows of chairs removed so you could stand up and dance about by the stage or have a seat if you preferred. I got right up on the stage, one person to the left of Neil's microphone, leaning on one of his monitors.

Ebba Forsberg went on promptly at 8:00 and did approximately a 30-minute set. I had heard her single "Lost Count" quite a bit on the local Nashville AAA station. I liked Ebba's set quite a bit. She is not really one to pump up a crowd, the songs being a bit dark and not really of the "c'mon get happy" vein, but this didn't bother me a bit. I felt like she had a bit of a shell up there and she stayed in it almost the whole time, only briefly venturing out of it to where we were, but she did really get into the songs. I enjoyed watching the way she moved and gestured as she sang and even the way she talked (or didn't talk) to us. I got a little concerned because her vocals all sounded like they were behind me while the music was coming off the stage. It was a bad effect that I hoped wouldn't show up when Neil came out.

After her set and a bit of shuffling and setting up, out came Neil and the boys. We had wondered outside about how many people would be showing up. The line had actually gotten fairly long before we came in and by the time Neil came out the place was pretty well packed. I am not a good counter of crowds, but it was definitely more than have been reported at the Orlando and Myrtle Beach shows. And we were definitely into it! The place got quite animated for him. I think we were rewarded well for our enthusiasm.

He opened with "King Tide" (which I didn't expect, so I was glad I had ignored all the reports already!) After this, it mostly becomes a blur of fabulous songs, old and new. (The mix problem [or maybe just a proximity problem] I had noticed in Ebba's set was gone now. The vocals poured right in just beautifully.) We had made up a rather large list of requests (my addition being "I Walk Away," which was not played, but then again most of them were not played! I would be most pleased that we had made this list before the night was over though.) He questioned us as to what the second line in the second verse of "One Step Ahead" was (taken from the request list). He couldn't remember and I am not sure we helped much but he went into it and made it through just fine. I believe we also eventually got "She Goes On" from the list.

Neil mentioned his wish that he get through the show without losing any bandmates, fairly early on. He also mentioned that he had played the theater once before, a claim that was disputed by a person a little ways behind me. Neil was not really sure after they discussed it a bit. He thought it was one of their earlier gigs there, I suspect in the Crowded House days. I have no idea if Split Enz ever made it to Atlanta.

Liam played to the right side of the stage and did a great job. He doesn't seem to have much stage presence yet, but why should he yet? I was pleasantly surprised by him, especially when he moved to the drums (I think it was for "Loose Tongue") which he really kicked!

One thing that I wanted to see differently was when "Private Universe" was building and I wanted the drums to just take the song and drive it home hard, but it was a bit more reserved than that. I guess I was thinking about the live version I have of it (I think from the Paul Is Dead club cd) which really churns at the end. But this is a little thing.

"Dream Date" does end up churning at the end and is better live than on cd. Look forward to that one if you are one of those who are less than thrilled with it. On the other hand, I believe it was "Faster Than Light" that I thought was not quite as pretty live.

Neil swapped up and took the bass for "Twisty Bass" and before moving into it did a solo for "Mean to Me", just him and the bass with a bit of drums added. By the last verse the guy on keyboards started adding some and then Liam and Robert were looking to him for guidance. Neil ended up feeding them chord changes and we all helped out with the vocals. (The next night as I listened on RealAudio from the Myrtle Beach show they were much more at home with the song.) Neil joked about the brave one standing up first and then all the others looked to him for leadership. Then he moved into "Twisty Bass" where he used a second mike for the bits that megaphone sound. (Robert had used this mike earlier in the evening for a rant at the end of one of the new songs which is escaping me now.)

The show ended with "Last One Standing," if my memory serves me correctly. We cheered for a bit, then they returned. I don't recall the few songs he did here. They left again and then returned, Neil with his acoustic guitar. The set list read that he was supposed to do "Don't Dream It's Over," but he broke into "Four Seasons In One Day" instead, just him and his guitar and everyone in the hall singing along (this is the point where I become deeply grateful to someone for putting it on the request list; "and praise will come to those whose kindness leaves you without debt...") It was quite beautiful. When the chorus came I did what I usually do in my car and sang Tim's harmony part. I was kinda surprised that nobody else did this within my earshot. I noticed that Neil was starting to look around in front at us at this point. He had managed to ignore me all night so far!

The song went on, I did the harmony alone again in the chorus and when it ended he commented that someone down front was doing Tim's harmony. He asked which one it was, looking at me and Rich beside me. I waved and Rich pointed at me and Neil said (wow! as I type this it is welling up in my throat again, 6 days later!!! I'm still emotional!), "Come up here!"

I moved with no hesitation, completely surprised and absolutely thrilled. I hopped up there and stood next to the guy I admire most in the world of music as he was saying something about Tim but that I had a beard and glasses and made a bit of a joke about my shirt coming from Finn's store in Cork (where the keyboard player is from and he was wearing a shirt from there, which had started the joke earlier in the evening). I remember modeling my shirt at this point (yeah, I do my little turn on the catwalk...) I really couldn't see more than a few people in the crowd for the lights.

Neil told me that we were going to sing the chorus again and he counted it off. I joined right in, felt a tiny bit of fear but ignored it. He seemed pleased and turned to shake my hand and ask my name. I told him that this was a dream I had had for years. He told the crowd who I was and that I even had a rock star name (or something like that). I stood there briefly and made my way back down to my spot to many congratulations and pats on the back. So much of this is filled with holes in my mind, which was doing backflips all the while. I only remember bits of what he was saying to the audience. I have no recollection of applause at all, but I guess there was some. (At this point I wonder who among us was taping the show. I would be very interested in hearing it, needless to say!)

Then when I got back to my place and he went into some other song I couldn't begin to remember now, my legs almost buckled. I owe many thanks that my body didn't react to any of this until it was over. Collapsing on stage with a man I admire so much would be rather embarrassing! As it turned out this was absolutely the coolest moment of my life.

After the show ended with "Addicted," Neil went across the front of the stage and shook several hands. I reached up and as he passed and shook mine (again) he looked me in the eye and said something like "that was really good." I was just smiling and still buzzing something awful. I even performed the good deed of fetching Neil's set list off the stage for Sansanee.

I held that buzz for quite a while, even to the point of driving straight into work in Nashville the next morning (arriving around 10:30 Central time, but not having to at all since I had gotten the day off) basically so I could tell some of the people I knew what had happened to me. People generally had a hard time believing that I would do such a thing. I am a very quiet guy generally and have only sung in public once before (and that was as a part of a strange little tour group that went to Japan when I got out of college and we played in a country bar in Shinjuku where one night I tentatively and unexpectedly stepped up to the microphone and did a Hank Williams tune for a bunch of people I would absolutely never see again.) I definitely keep to myself almost all the time and don't open up until I feel I know people. For me to do something that I consider to be this personal was waaaaaaaaay out of character.

But not doing it never entered my mind. I was telling a friend last night that when I am driving around alone and listening to this music that I feel like I am living in the songs. I am sure I look silly singing so loudly and drumming so intently on my wheel. The part of me that I need to be driving the car is there but the real me gets completely lost in it and it is truly a wonderful feeling. To have the opportunity to move this feeling from my inner world to the real world was just more than I could have ever asked for and all the fear and low self esteem and other assorted terrible things that make us not do things sometimes just flew away when the moment came. I have this feeling that the whole experience may have changed me as a person in a fairly strong way. I may have been freed of some of my demons at the moment when I refused to acknowledge them.

I suppose I have gotten deep enough now. It truly was the coolest night of my life and I am glad to have experienced it with so many like minded people who could understand what it means. I thank all of you for your kind words and pats on the back, most of them coming from people I never did meet.