The Grand Illusion
"Everything Is Cool" led into "The Grand Illusion." JY marched across the stage and over to my spot for the first of many times. Good God, is he tall. He's tall just on general principle but even more so when your eye level is a little below his knees and you have to lean back and look straight up… waaaay up! The first few times he came over he didn't see me and my shiny hands. There was no one in front of me but I was right up at the edge of the stage and he was looking out, surveying the audience with a big smile, and he just didn't look down far enough to see me. I was not disappointed though, especially since he kept coming back! The moments he spent over in that spot on the stage are mostly just a big blond blur in my mind. I think I can safely say I was slightly overwhelmed!
"Hello Friends!" Tommy talked to us for a minute before "Blue Collar Man", and I believe he also called us "Boston." Compared to Cleveland, I guess Mansfield is close enough to Boston to make no difference, but it really isn't Boston, folks! During the solo he came over towards my side of the stage but didn't quite come over to my spot. He was very energetic and had a great big grin on his face throughout the show. It's obvious to see that he really loves what he's doing and is really enjoying the party that every show becomes. He sounded great and did connect with the crowd a lot. A couple of times I saw him lean down close enough to let people reach up and strum his guitar during a song! I'm only now realizing what little attention I paid to Tommy during the show. Sorry Tommy! There were just too many other places to look! The closer you are to Lawrence, the more you appreciate what a showman he really is. He had some nice interaction with JY when JY ran over and jumped up on the keyboard riser and "chased" Lawrence off , then Lawrence spun the keyboard and "pushed" JY back away. Glen is a blazing ball of energy, and JY is coolly mesmerizing. I just didn't have enough eyes left to keep one on Tommy!