After the first show was postponed due to some unlikely circumstances, this show finally arrived. It had been since January, 1999 in Alma, Michigan when we last saw Firehouse. It was a little over seven hours to get there, and Kurt had a cold, but that wasn't stopping him from attending the show. We planned on getting there early so we could find the hotel so we arrived the day before. By the time we got to the hotel it was 11:30 p.m. and we were pooped. On the day of the show we waited for some phone calls but no one called. We called Angela from the Firehouse message board and we found out that she and her husband were running late. We then decided to try and find the club and get something to eat. I told Angela that we would meet them at our hotel at 5:00 p.m. Finding the club wasn't an easy task since there were a lot of one way streets. We then discovered that we were at the wrong end of the street. After discovering this we finally found the club, which was upstairs. They are renovating the downstairs and turning it into a restaurant. When we went in, we saw a familiar face...it was Jamo. Man were we happy to see him! We talked for a few minutes but they were busy setting up so we didn't want to bother them. We then went to the bar. The girl that was selling tickets was running low on singles so we gave her what we had. After that, we decided to go back to the hotel to meet up with Angela and her husband Rob. They had gotten lost trying to find out hotel. Turns out I had spelled the name of the street wrong. It was Mayland and I added an r so they were looking for Maryland. We also got lost trying to find it the night before. If those hotel directories would use bigger print I would have gotten it right ..ha ha. (Editor's note: Had your glasses checked lately?...Just kidding!). Once they finally arrived, we sat and talked for about 45 minutes and then headed over to Wendy's for a bite to eat. Kurt and I had already eaten at a 50's diner but we still grabbed a jr. cheeseburger and a frosty. We then went back to the hotel so they could change clothes. We returned to the club and waited outside for Jan to come and get us. While we were waiting we saw Glen and Grace from Pennsylvania. The last time we saw them was on the Rock Never Stops Tour so we were very happy to see them. When we went inside, they checked out id's. You had to wear a bracelet if you were drinking and I was planning on getting a wine cooler. After that was done, we planted ourselves in front of the stage (obviously!). It wasn't a big stage but it was low. We were happy to find out that 100% of the merchandise sales were going to the FDNY fund for the terrorist attacks. We purchased a T-shirt and donated some money after the show. When I went back to the bar to get my wine cooler I discovered that they didn't have the kind I like so I ordered a rum and coke. I told the bartender not to put a lot of rum in it, but I heard someone call my name so I turned away for a second. When I turned back to get my drink I smelled rum big time! I took a sip and I swear my face almost got swallowed. I then asked for a plain glass of coke to wash it down with. The opening band K-Theory was okay, but the only thing that kept me interested was the lead singer...yum! It was finally time for the guys to come on and we we tried to hide from Bill who was on the right side of the stage. They started out with Jumpin' which I was happy to hear. C. J. kept looking at us but when he looked at Kurt he just turned away. I told Kurt to take off his hat because I thought maybe they didn't recognize him with a hat on. When C. J. turned back round I tickled his thigh (Editor: You did what?!). He waved and gave us a high five. Bill came over and mouthed "Hi Barb" to me. They played a variety of songs from the cds, including four from the new one. They did Jumpin', The Dark, Take It Off, and Call of The Night, along with all the old favorites. The camera that I borrowed from my roommate was acting up so we gave Angela our rolls of film to use in her camera. I was upset! I should have checked it at the hotel but with all the excitement I didn't think about it. After the show we headed back to the merchandise table and they asked us to help keep track of the money that was being raised. Turns out they didn't need all of us to do that so I stood behind Bill and started handing out merchandise to people that bought it. When the line was done we went around to the front and had a couple of group pictures taken and an individual one taken with Bill. While I was giving Bill a hug, C. J. asked where his was. I said "Hold on, my arms aren't that big." We finally got to meet Bruce and he gave us a couple of ticket stubs to save for souveniers. We talked to the guys for about a half hour, then we got kicked out of the bar. I told the guys that next time it wouldn't be so long and that we would see all of them soon.
Written by Barb Currie |