Pleased as a little kid at Christmas
The show started late, about half an hour. I was still stuck in traffic so I didn't get there until "Great White Buffalo" was almost over. I could hear "Stranglehold" (I think) as I was standing in line. Ted's secretary had told us he wasn't going on until 7:00 pm.
Ted Nugent was great. Headset microphones and an indian outfit! Great sound! I can't believe it was only a three piece band! At the end Ted left the stage and came back with a (fake) guitar which he hung over an amp and then shot an arrow into. We got about 10 minutes of great feedback as the band left the stage and the roadies came in.
[Here comes Deep Purple. Mind you, I have been waiting 30 years to see the best band in the world. For one reason or another, I have missed Deep Purple and/or Rainbow several times, so I am just sitting there pleased as a little kid at Christmas.]
Deep Purple set up and Roger played a few notes on his bass. All of a sudden, there was Ian Paice. He gave us a kind of sheepish wave and the crowd went wild. The rest of the band came out and the show was on. Ian Gillan was barefoot. I thought the show was going to be over almost before it began when Roger fell near the end of the first song. He got back up and kind of favored his ankle for a minute. Then he laughed it off.
Roger and Steve 'played' each others instrument for a moment, and during "Fools" Ian Gillan ran his tambourine the neck of Roger's bass, encircling it. Steve Morse was smiling almost the whole time. I finally saw how he plays the intro to "Ted the Mechanic" and got to steal a whole bunch of licks from him. Dang! I've been playing "Lazy" the wrong way for 25 years!
During "Fools" the audience finally sat down. Jon was having a bit of trouble getting volume from his sound man, gesturing to him several times, then finally giving a thumbs up. At that point my friend said, "You want to go backstage?" Oh, man! Unfortunately, the backstage passes were Ted Nugent passes, and he had already gone, so we didn't get backstage. Too late! I had tickets in Row P, so I was pretty close. We rotated that ticket between the four of us, the rest of us sitting in the "lawn" seats.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was great. I saw them back in 1977 or 78, so I let someone else get the good seat for that show.
My only complaint (other than the $4.50 soda): IT WAS NOT LOUD ENOUGH!
What a show!
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