REO
Speedwagon came out, and the people from the first few rows in the middle
section went up to the front of the stage again. Two women from my row tried to
go up to the front of the stage. The security guy had let them go up during
Eddie Money's show, but this time he told them no, so they came back. After a
little while the two women came out again, and stood next to the stage in the
aisle next to our section, so they didn't pass the security guy and go to the
very front of the stage. He seemed to think that was okay. After a while, one of
the guys who was with the women from my row went out and joined them. The other
guy from their group handed their drinks out to them, and they set up shop for
the rest of the REO show. The three of them tried setting their cups down on the
edge of the stage, but every time they did, another security person from behind
them stepped up and told them they couldn't leave the cups there and made them
pick them back up. No one seemed to mind them coming out into the aisle from
their seats, but every time they would set a cup on the edge of the stage, up
came the security staff again and made them pick the cup back up. The two seats
to my left were still empty and I thought about moving out into the aisle, but
by that time there was a little group three or four people deep, and I would
have only been standing right up next to the speaker stack, so I didn't bother.
I was keeping the plan in mind for later, though.
REO
put on a great show! Kevin Cronin and Bruce Hall came over to the edge of the
stage on my side a lot so I got to see them very close up! There was a big sound
monitor (or some piece of equipment) on stage, pointing at the band, which was
right about even with the row I was in. Directly next to that (and adjacent to
my ears) was the HUGE stack of speakers, so the band members couldn't come
directly in front of me, but they were still extremely close! I was thinking
ahead to the Styx show and looking at how far the guys would be able to come
over, and I was thinking that at the other shows they didn't have this monitor.
The monitor, and a twin at the other side of the stage, kind of rounded out the
corners of the front of the stage for REO, and Styx has had square edges or even
flared out the other way so they could go pretty far left and right, so I was
wondering if the monitor was moveable. Either way I was going to be pretty
close.