The end of an era. Ron will be missed and thought of for years. What can I say, he was great. He added much, much more to the Breakfast than just bass and a high pitched voice. What an understatement...
I went in to the show expecting to be a complete mess. Instead I felt like I had to just sit back and watch them do their thing together for one last time. I want to remember as much as I could, which would explain my being that guy who takes pictures throughout the show and gets in the way. Sorry. We walked in during the opening notes and didn\'t take long to hear the begining rumblings of Attraction which ripped, by the way, and before we could settle in they immediately started a nice happy version of Beef Barley. It seemed though once it really started to get going it turned into Psygn, which was simply great. Really. I thought I was hearing things when I thought I heard a little Beef Barley in Rust, guess I actually wasn\'t hearing tease that weren\'t there this time.
Then as I hoped...Doughboy! Thank Christ. I don\'t think anyone wasn\'t taken by surprise by Matt singing it. He did a GREAT job IMO, I really think it\'s a good fit for the way the music sounds and how his voice sounds. It was REALLY good. Not a big fan of Band on the Run as I may have said before a few times, but anything with Ron singing was ok with me, it just brought the energy up that much more for the HUGE Rufus. Overall well played set.
God were my emotions all over the place.
I didn\'t know how to feel. It really didn\'t feel like new year\'s at all to me. I couldn\'t decide if I was happy or sad. Both I guess. Nine years is a long ass time to see a band...
I thought set two was a weird idea. Worked out pretty well actually. With the obvious, for me, only exception being Fresh Cut, but all things considered, I could deal with it. Gravity killed, as it usually does, Escher\'s was BEAUTIFUL, got me a little to tell you the truth, it\'s always been one of my favorites. But it was the power, fury, and just raw emotion of Ep 3 that was one of my highlights of the night. Just thinking about it makes me wish we were all still there.
For the "final" time Ronnie takes the stage as a member of the Breakfat...man...that made me force the tears back...
****. He actually looked a little nervous to me to be honest.
The Chase though, fuckin tore it up, which is what I think we all needed. Lit was fun with Ellis \'jammin\' next to Ron, it must\'ve been a fuckin\' blast for him. Definitely never seen that before. I don\'t know what the hell Matt was doing, actually I think he was lettin\' it all hang out, to say the least. Gladys was a good one, one of those emotiional ones again with a couple of strange teases, what made them think of those songs, I really don\'t know. The
**** Jollies that came from waaaay the
**** out in left field made me wish it would find it\'s way into Merge, but what can ya do. Really a nice surprise. By the time GSOT hit, I was all over the place, I couldn\'t look at anyone, cuz I would cry...I think even if you were seeing them for the first time it had to have moved you. It looked like it did. God. For He\'s a Jolly Good Fellow was funny so it didn\'t make me cry like it probably should have.
Not really a better choice than Pea>OE, if you ask me. As it was starting, this like 6\' 8"
**** guy behind me kept putting his hands over my head and covering the camera, when i was like, "SERIOUSLY??!!" he got an attitude with me. So needless to say, the song was perfect for me to sing loudly, and yes, he could have kicked my ass...so fuckin\' what. That was as lame as it gets but I don\'t care.
Well, Overexposure couldn\'t have been any better. Such fuckin\' power and emotion, anyone who was along for the ride for a considerable amount of time like most of the b\'fam, didn\'t have a dry eye, infact the last little peak at the end of it will be in my mind forever....
Goddamn these guys are great. I\'ve never really had music make me feel this way before.
Well. I guess as is the case with life...we deal with it how we choose and ultimately move on. I really hope to see all the same faces. I know I will.
See ya!