Last night we went to the Bare Naked Ladies concert. I had won free tickets from the local radio station here in Kentucky. The seats were on the lawn. At first I was dreading this because 1) I thought we'd be so far back that the band would appear to be ant-sized and 2) rain was in the forecast and we would get soaked.

When we arrived to Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio (a two hour drive from Frankfort, KY)we discovered that we would be allowed to take in chairs to sit on the lawn, but they couldn't be more than 27" in height. We picked up the tickets at the box office at 4pm. Off to have dinner and buy chairs. (We had brought ours from home, but they were 32" high! Damn!)

After a salad and BBQ Chicken Skewers from Longhorn Steakhouse, we headed to WalMart for chaise lounges. We had already decided two weeks ago that we'd need these for being poolside, so why not accomplish two tasks at once by buying them? So, we did.

We get to the gate and the security guard says that the chaise lounge chairs are too tall. We offer to not unfold them and sit on them like that. Still no go. We're frustrated. The guard explains that they offer chairs inside to rent for $5 a piece. As Ben takes ours back to the car, I say to her, "I bet it's a conspiracy to get us to spend more money by renting the chairs." She agrees. Ben comes back and we go inside. First stop: tee-shirts. We got matching black tees with the thumbs up logo on the front and the list of tour dates and cities on the back. Then we walk to the kiosk to rent the chairs. We were on the lawn by 6:15pm. We had a good spot in front of the center area of the stage. We set up our chairs and get comfy. We also brought our backpack with some power bars and water and a jacket in case I got cold. (Ha! Like that was going to happen last night! The air was so thick with humidity, you could have cut it with a knife!)

While waiting for the first opening act to come on stage, we look around us and notice that a least a dozen people had gotten away with bringing in the same kind of chairs that we originally had. (the ones we had brought from home) We were a little bit upset at that. So much for trying to follow the rules. I just wanna know how they made it past the guards!

Right at 7pm, Sarah Harmer comes on the stage. She sounds very good. I've never heard her music, nor had I heard of her prior to this concert. Although she had a beautiful voice and her band was talented, her style of music just isn't my cup of tea. She only plays for 30 minutes which turns out to be 6 songs.

Her band exits the stage and the stagehands prepare for the next opening act.

Vertical Horizon was next. They were great! I did't realize that they had 4 albums out. Anyway, even though their sound was incredible, I couldn't see a damned thing. Everyone had decided to stand at that point and I was screwed. They finished 45 minutes later and it was time for B.N.L. to come on.

9 p.m. sharp the music roared. The crowd cheered. We all were standing on chairs by this time. Fortunately, they had a large projection screen hoisted on stage above them so that everyone could see what was going on. It was awesome! They had this GIANT painted mask to the right of the stage. It was hilarious. And, of course, between songs, Steven Page and Ed Robertson were cutting up and making us all laugh. They were soon joking about vomit and diarrhea. Sounds disgusting, I know but they made it comical.

They played a few older tunes, but mostly songs from "Stunt" and "Maroon". It was a phenomenal show.

They were on stage for a full two hours. It was unbelieveable.

Despite the excellent show, having to inhale second hand cigarette & marijuana smoke made it slightly less enjoyable. In addition to that, people around us were rude... walking on other people's blankets and shoving and pushing and throwing lit cigarettes on the ground. When we left, the lawn was trashed. I cannot believe that so many GROWN adults would leave their trash on the ground instead of simply gathering up and placing it in the provided receptacles. It was disturbing.

Next time BNL is in town, Ben and I have vowed to go only if it's in an indoor arena!!! We learned our lesson. Though, I'm not ungrateful; I did get the tickets free after all. :-)We had a 2 hour trek back to Franfort from Cincinnati. By the time we unloaded the car, washed the sweat and cigarette smoke off our dirty skins and poured our selves into bed, it was near 2am!

All in all, a good time was had by all!

Thought Of The Day:"Music is the soul of language."--Max Heindel

Thought Of The Day #2:"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn."--Charlie Parker

Until next time...peace, love & HEALTH!!!