Come with me...
This
was a great show - there seemed to be such a connection between the band
and the crowd. Or maybe it was just me! But it is an incredible thrill to be close
enough to see the expressions on their faces and see them interact with each
other and the audience. The energy at a Styx show is contagious -
there were some people in the middle of the front row who didn't stand up at the
beginning, but most of us were on our feet from start to finish. I kept looking
at Valerie from time to time to make sure I wasn't blocking her, since
I'm taller than she is, but she said she was fine - she must have found a
place to peek around me!
As
some of you have noticed, I take what
might be considered a lot of pictures at these shows! A lot of venues say that
they don't allow cameras, but when you get inside, everyone has one and is
taking pictures all over the place. I always try to respect what the band or
artist prefers, and if they don't want pictures taken I won't even bring a
camera. But I know the guys in Styx don't mind people taking pictures. I'm not
sure what tipped me off - maybe it was the way JY kept coming over to the
edge of the stage in front of me, waiting for me to get my camera ready, and
then posing? And the other guys are just as shy! But I never hide my camera in
any tricky places - just put it in my bag and walk in, and if the people at the
gate stop me, fine - but most of the time they either don't check or don't
care. This time there was no problem bringing the camera in, and also no problem
taking pictures for close to the first hour - none of the security people
so much as gave me an evil look, and there was no way they didn't see me.
However...
After "A Criminal Mind" finished, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and there was a security guy who said to me with a very serious look, "Would you come with me about the video camera?" Uh oh. I'm not sure who saw me and thought my camera was a video camera; it's not. Besides, the way I take pictures is this: I take a few pictures for a minute or so, then put the camera away for a while (really, I do) back in my bag or my pocket so I can just enjoy the show without it. Then a few minutes later, I take it back out and take a few more. So if I had been trying to film the show, it was going to be a pretty lousy video! In fact, at the moment the guy came up to me, the camera was not in my hands, it was in my bag. I said to him, "It's not a video camera." He frowned and just said "Come with me." I wasn't going to argue while we were right there in everyone's way, so I followed him. We went over to a second security guy, and the first one said to him, "She says it's not a video camera." They both frowned at me. I said, "It's not - it's digital, but it's not video." First guy says to me again, "Come with me." So we ALL go over past the speakers to a third guy who looks like a supervisor type. First guy says to the supervisor, "She says it's not a video camera." I had no idea I had been the topic of so much discussion. So I said again, "It's not - it's digital but it's not a video camera." Now I have THREE of them frowning at me. Supervisor guy says to me, "You'll have to take it to your car anyway." Great - my car is half a mile away, I know there are only four or five songs left, and besides, when we came in, they told us not to go back out because there was no readmittance. So I said, "Can I just put it away and not use it any more? I won't touch it - you can watch me." Like they wouldn't have been watching me for the rest of the night anyway. Supervisor guy thinks for a second and then says, "Give me your batteries." BOOM - you never saw batteries come out of a camera so fast! I'm sure it helped that what I handed over was two AA batteries, and not some big battery pack!
So they let me escape and I only missed the beginning of "Fooling Yourself" - whew!