2008
A Taste of Summer - June 8, 2008
A Taste of Summer - more like a taste of bad weather. The area was plagued over the weekend with tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding. I made it a point to watch the forecast for the area, but I don't think they expected the weather to turn out this bad!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
My daughter and I arrived in Waukesha around 2:15pm, at 4:00pm we were put under a tornado warning. I videotaped a little bit of the weather from my hotel room, as seen below:
Needless to say, we weren't able to go to Saturday nights festival events, and found out later that Dennis DeYoung and other bands had to cancel due to the weather. We were also stuck in our hotel room for the evening as one of the streets we use to get out of there was shut down due to flooding. I was pretty bummed out about that because I would have liked to have seen Dennis DeYoung perform live - maybe next time.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
We woke up to the sound of rain. I'm thinking "Oh great, here we go again." It cleared up in the afternoon - we even had warm weather and sunshine for a bit. We left the hotel at 4:30pm to make our way to The Expo Center.
We had a little food, then walked down to the main stage where Roger Hodgson was performing and watched the sound check. Technical difficulties with the opening act delayed the start of the show until 7:00pm. What we didn't know was that there was a storm brewing on the outskirts of town.
About 10 minutes after snapping this photo, we were instructed to go to one of two shelters on the grounds and wait the storm out. Reluctantly, we gathered or things up and trekked down to the first shelter. We were there for about 15 minutes when we got word that Roger was determined to perform for us. That gave most of the audience members the fortitude to stick it out.
We were finally given the okay to go back to the tent, and that it was just sprinkling out. Zoe and I didn’t get 20 feet from the shelter when it started raining - hard! Mind you, I left my umbrella back in the car, thinking we wouldn't be needing it, boy was I wrong! Zoe was not happy with getting her feet soaked, but when we got back under the tent, I took her shoes and socks off and wrung out the water as best I could. I did the same thing to mine, which Zoe thought was hilarious (Momma's got big feet, more water you know).
Peter & Gordon took the stage 2 1/2 hours later than their scheduled start time, and played for about an hour. Roger finally took the stage around 9:45pm, decked out in different than normal concert garb - green jacket, white shirt, tan pants, white fringed scarf - I really like that look! :) The crowd may have been small, but we had a mighty voice! We were cheering Roger and Aaron on, and they really gave it back to us.
A couple of surprises on the docket were "Child of Vision" and "The More I Look" - I've never heard either of these two songs live before that evening, and it was a real treat. "The More I Look" hit home for me especially hard. As I had mentioned before, my mom was supposed to have taken this trip with us, but she passed away suddenly on New Year's Day. I tried hard not to cry, but I couldn't help it. Omissions from the set list included "Even in the Quietest Moments," "Oh Brother," and "Two of Us."
Setlist (in order)
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Backstage
We were given Media passes to get backstage (they're a great thing to have, it nearly gives you "carte blanc" to take photos, even from inside the stage barrier). Kim and Patrick traveled all the way from Texas to come to this show (1300+ miles), so we're all in the back of the pack having a blast. She had asked Roger if she and I could take a picture with him. He calls out my name in this silly voice, and I called his name back in that same silly voice. I get up there, and he tousles the hair on the top of my head! I felt like I was being snapped by the paparazzi with all the photos Patrick was firing off - it was great! I told him that my mom thought the world of him, and that it was really hard for me to be there because she was supposed to be with us, but that she was with me in spirit. I also mentioned that when he played "The More I Look" I cried like a baby. He looked at me and said "Imagine if I had played "Puppet Dance" (for those who don't know, "Puppet Dance" was written around the time when Roger's father had passed away). Zoe was really exhausted by the time we got back there, so she was shying away from Roger and acting silly. We said our goodbyes, left the comfort of the tent, and took a rain walk back to the car. Despite the tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flash flooding, we had a blast!
Kim & Patrick - it was great seeing you again, I hope you had a safe trip back home. Can't wait to hang out with you two again!
Linda - as always, thank you for your hospitality, it was a crazy day, and you always manage to keep it all together.
Roger - you are a class-act all the way, my friend. You never cease to amaze me, and you made so many people happy with your performance. Thank you for choosing to weather the storm with us, and I hope to see you again soon.
