Took an evening off from working on strategies for the re-write to indulge myself. I did something I haven't done since 1982.

I attended a concert.

Let me amend that. I actually went out to watch a band not performing at a bar. A real concert.

.38 Special, Styx and REO Speedwagon were performing about four miles from the house and I simply couldn't miss it. I'm a huge fan of all three of the groups and to be able to get them all in the same night was just too much to resist. wishweaver and the daughter-unit decided they weren't interested, but no one objected to me getting tickets for myself. I wound up getting seats about 20 rows back from the stage where I could watch everything.

.38 Special opened the show. I thought of the three groups, their performance was the most consistent. It seemed to take the crowd a few songs to get into the feel of the concert, but by the time they hit their trademark songs, people were starting to rock.

Styx came on next. They were the most uneven of the groups. I really loved their performance of Lorelei, Come Sail Away, Blue Collar Man and other songs, but they seemed almost out of tune performing The Grand Illusion, which surprised me and actually took the crowd out of it for a bit. Also, when they did "I am the Eggman", I think they confused a bunch of people. It was a good cover, but I didn't pay to see Styx cover the Beatles. Couldn't complain about their encore though (Blue Collar Man and Renegade).

REO Speedwagon was the closing act and I enjoyed it a lot but they played a lot of stuff from before I started following them. I enjoyed it and actually added a few songs I want to track down, but it was weird after knowing every song Styx performed. Still, they hit the highlights from "You Can Tune a Piano" and "HiInfidelity". Plus, they closed the concert with the song I knew they would - "Ridin' the Storm Out" (my favorite REO song bar none).

For the final encore, Styx and REO performed a song they'd written just for the concert tour. It was wild seeing eight guitarist out on stage at the same time (Styx's drummer grabbed a guitar and he's got some chops there too). It was a pretty good high-energy song and a great way to close out the night.

Got to the car with minimal amount of pain and the trip home was quick and painless. Time to drink some water, unwind for a moment and get to bed.

Reminder to self: Next time bring camera . . . your cell phone camera stinks.

I expect my hearing will return to normal around the 4th. *grin*