I love salads so thought I would get a taco salad and that would hold me over until our tail gate party at Bethel Woods. A few minutes later we get our meals and sitting before me was the biggest salad I have seen. There goes my small snack. It was very good but could not eat it all. Chris had a burger and fries and that even filled his plate. The prices were reasonable and the portions were not small here. Was not hard to leave full. Goes to show that these country restaurants still believe in providing a hefty meal for a great price. After the show we all met up again and eat at the only diner in town. Everyone’s plate had the hungry man’s portion.
We head back to the hotel so I can check in and clean up for the show. Sitting in the lobby waiting for Scott and Mike to arrive, we go through our photos for the night’s show and I show everyone the small porcelain boxes I got for Máiréad and Kelly shows us these cute little animals she got for each of the girls. I know the girls get swamped with gifts over a tour and I know I am guilty as one of those who takes part in overloading Máiréad with gifts. No good with graphics or poems, so I try to search for a gift that she may like. For myself, it is just my way to say thank you for all she has given her fans.
Dave saves the best for last. He pulls out his beautiful and thoughtful project that he has been working on the last several months. As many know, he has taken all the reviews from the spring shows and combined them into a book to give to each lady. This is what I mean by providing such a thoughtful gift. Not only did he put a lot of time into each book, each one looked professionally done. I know the ladies would love their gift.
After Mike and Scott arrive and we chat a bit, we head off to the venue about 3:00 to try and catch any interviews conducted with Thunder 102 and hope to spend some time going through the grounds that held the biggest and most notable music event in the history of America. We take our cameras and head on in. After snapping a few pictures, we head out back in hopes of hearing a sound check. This was just a small treat of what we are about to experience in a few hours. Some was a little hard to hear because the venue was also playing music through their patio speakers, but we managed to hear some beautiful music going on down there.
We have some idle chat and watch the carts move about and soon see a cart pull up with two women sitting backwards on the cart. I quickly notice blonde hair up in a ponytail and as they stand up I see Máiréad and Lynn move on inside with expressions on their face of enjoyment. Later that night Lynn even mentioned that she was born in the wrong time.
No one is hungry after we each tried to eat small for lunch, but we all know how that turned out. So we purchase a ticket and move on to the museum. Let me tell you, well worth the money paid for admission. Such a great volume of information by audio, video and so many tangible items from the 60’s. I stood there just gazing at the 45’s (that is a small record with one track on each side, for those who may not know what it is). I was only nine years old in 1969 but I grew up listening to many of these artists and was deeply amazed with how much was in this museum.
As I move about I did notice that the choir was also in there. I am standing in the bus watching a video and after I leave someone asked me if I knew who was standing right behind me. Oh yea, I knew. That is why my heart was racing.
About time for the show so we head back to the cars and drop off our cameras and collect our things for the M&G. Dave and I each had two seats for this show. Of course, he had second row center and of my two, the best one was section three about seven rows back just a bit to the left of center. Not bad and had great view of the ladies. Kelly had a seat right next to me so we quickly get involved with a couple next to us. This was their first show in two years and they just got the SFTH DVD, so they knew nothing of this show. They did not even know about Alex. Well, we quickly got them up to date and prepared them for a show of their life. Kelly ran over and got a “Fiddler Crossing” sign from Mike to give to them. They were just in heaven with the sign.
The show started and Kelly and I did our best to keep those in our area clapping. Maybe it was meant for us to be spread out in this show. Gives us more chances to talk to new fans and share information with them.
Not sure why they took Lynn out of Goodnight My Angel but was still a beautiful song. Another of my true favorites.
Fields Of Gold is such a beautiful song when performed by Lisa. I may have been the only one who gave her a standing ovation, but she deserves it.
My Heart Was Home Again was performed by Lynn and Lisa. They really did a wonderful performance but I have to admit something. Two songs tonight brought tears to my eyes. This was one of them (the other was Amazing Grace). When I was listening, I watched Alex performing this. Though it was Lynn and Lisa on stage, I watched Alex on stage. My memories of Alex took control and I once again saw Alex on stage singing. It was so touching and emotional for me.
Now I am glad that I refused to read reviews until my first show this summer. I did not want to know how the changes were made without Alex and wanted to be surprised. I thought I could deal with it better. Anyway, I am glad I did that. I am sitting here listening to Orinoco Flow and all the sudden this four part harmony comes up. WOW, I just about lost it. On top of that, Kelly is next to me hitting me so I knew it blew her away too. I am not in no way minimizing any other part of tonight’s show, but this was the best part of the show. I wanted to hit replay and hear it again. Cannot wait for Philly. Seriously everyone, This change was totally Angels singing from above. Not reading reviews provided me with a surprise that I remembered all night.
During the intermission we discover that three seats are empty next to Dave so Kelly, Chris and I quickly take them over. Still did a lot of yelling and after I left the show I noticed my throat was a little sore from all the yelling that I was doing. Well worth it.
A few things really stood out in this show. Each girl seemed like they had this extra burst of energy and it blew me away. Lynn was fabulous on the stage. Seriously, she was so full of smiles tonight. Do not get me wrong, she is always full of smiles, but there was just something different tonight in her smiles. She already has such a beautiful smile, but I am not sure how to explain it. It is like the ghosts from Woodstock were once again on stage through these ladies.
I will admit that I was not sure how to react to tonight’s show. As it got closer I really started to miss Alex even more and even spoke to Dave about it. Alex will always be missed and I still got to see her perform tonight through the wonderful memories I have of her. It just goes to show that these ladies are so talented and each one has that special and unique gift that they will always keep us wanting more. That is just one of the qualities that makes us keep coming back for more.
Máiréad and Lynn, Máiréad and Lynn, Máiréad and Lynn. That is what I kept telling myself over and over. Than Rachel walks in and announces that Máiréad and Lynn will be at the M&G. YES! I have yet to meet Lynn and wanted so much to meet her. I pull out my items for the girls, including my IOH items to have Lynn sign. I make my way around to the table and start talking to Máiréad. I talk about Tinkerbell and than I talk to her about Pixie Land. I show her the little porcelain boxes that I got her. There are seven boxes with each letter of her first name. After I bought them I tried to paint the accents on the A and E, but it looked so tacky that I wiped it off. Not sure how long I was talking to her but I glance over at Lynn and she is waiting patiently for me. I again brought the line to a stop. Sorry everyone. As I move over they both comment about my Alex button. She will always be part of CW.
I get to Lynn and I think I took my stupid pills. Here I am finally getting a chance to talk to her and I waste it talking about how I have missed her at the M&G. What was wrong with me? I wanted to talk to her about her love for animals since I am also an animal activist. But did I? No, I did not. After we talked a bit she asked me where I was from and I told her Ohio. She was so sweet as she told me to be careful on the streets. Seriously, I think each of these ladies have been blessed with so much compassion for others.
I finally move on because I again was holding up the line. These ladies make us feel so welcome that time just never crosses our mind because we feel such comfort as we talk to them. But I still forget things.
Tonight’s show was full of energy and as we the fans continued to show our appreciation, it seemed like all four ladies just returned with even more love. Though there were many small changes, the impact on me was an overwhelming warmth on my soul. Truly a spectacular show!!
Philly, here I come.
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