Or... can you?
We did still get to the casino theater at about 5:30 to start lining up for the 9pm show. Might as well give it our best shot! There were about ten people already in line in front of us, and I knew every face there from one previous show or another! As soon as I saw that one woman had flowers, I knew that was Linda, and I finally got to meet Judi from Massachusetts - we had been to a lot of the same shows, but had never run into each other until this one! Edith, Tom and Sandy and Fiona and Erin were also there from last night's show, and way too many others to mention by name. But it was great meeting some new people and getting to see others again! We sat on the floor and chatted as other casino visitors strolled by and wondered what we were all doing there sitting on the floor...
Finally they began letting us in, taking us in little groups and assigning us to seats at a table. The five or six tables that were right up against the stage in the center were reserved, but I was happy to see that they did start seating those of us who had spent hours waiting in line at the next best tables. So when Valerie and I got to the front of the line, the woman led our little party of two down to the front and up to a table that was right up against the stage, as close to the center as the "regular" people got to sit, which was just a few feet to the right of Tommy's microphone. Fiona and Erin and Judi were already at the table, and Judi was in the seat up next to the stage on their side, and we were shown to the other side. I offered to let Valerie in ahead of me so she would be in front of me, but she said no. I'm not sure if she was afraid I'd forget she was there during the show and crush her, or what - but I went in first, so there I was in my favorite spot - squished right up against the stage. Completely unexpected and VERY very cool! Judi was across from me about to explode - she had never been in the front row before!
The rest of our table filled out with a couple who had seen Styx several times before, and a guy whose wife was out in the casino, who had been a Styx fan for a long time. He was a little sketchy on band members' names, though... he mentioned that there would be two of the original members there tonight, "Tommy Lee (he said it, not me), and that other guitarist - what's his name?" I already had my gloves on, so rather than tell him JY's name, I just showed him! Everyone at the next table got a kick out of the gloves too! I'm teasing, but he was a very nice guy, and we all chatted while we were waiting for the show to start.