BEST DATE EVAARR!

September 4, 2011 ~ I'm setting the DeLorean to this date and hitting 88 MPH.

My Soul One and I road tripped down to the Metro in Chicago to see Blind Melon. I'm recording the details here since my car is really only a Pontiac Vibe, without a flux capacitor. 

After feeding our young men McDonald's, we left them home to enjoy their parent free, game playing all night marathon. We packed the kazoo, the Illinois troll transponder and hit the road.

I grew up in the Chicago area and during my high school days, I saw plenty of shows at the Metro, but here it was, probably almost 20 some years since I'd been down there. (We did not go see Blind Melon back in 1995, before Shannon passed, because I was preggers with DS#1.) I remember it being a fairly decent place to see a show.

We found a parking spot on a deserted street. Turns out parking was prohibited due to the Cubs game. We pulled up just as that parking restriction was no longer in effect. SCORE! It was only 1 block away.

We ended up being around 25th in line. I had given up the hope of being in the front. When the doors opened, for some reason, everyone swarmed one entry point. I saw the Metro guy free and walked over. Since we already had tickets, we were able to walk right in and guess where we planted our feet? Stage front, in the middle once again, I couldn't believe how fortunate we were.

The first opening act, The Train Company, was pretty good. The second act, The Katz Company we didn't enjoy as much.

When our boys took the stage we were so excited. The crowd was a great blend of new and old fans and the energy was amazing. Complete Melon Love Fest!

Feeding off our vibe, Blind Melon was completely into it, delivering such an intense, connected performance. They all seemed to really be having a wonderful time playing together, playing for us. Travis surfed the crowd, hundreds of Melonheads buzzing their kazoos, even the Bee Girl was there!

After the show, the bassist Brad specifically handed his set list directly to DH. I know the band recognizes us and appreciates our support. All the band members jumped down to shake our hands.

We left the show Blind Melon buzzed, to a cool, just rained outside, midnight. We broke our pre-concert liquid fast, (no drinking before the show to avoid needing to use the facilities and miss the show), at the 24 hour White Castle. That Diet Coke and chocolate shake tasted so good!

While driving home with our cotton ears, we saw a shooting star. Could this night get anymore perfect?

I hope one day we can repeat this experience, but I know the band doesn't have any future dates on the schedule. The band members all have separate projects they are working on, but I'm hopeful the experience we all shared September 4, 2011, will motivate them to come together once again to relive and recreate this wonderful night.