11:46 pm

Alright. First things first. I'm going to be posting pictures. PLEASE, feel free to snag them, but don't take credit for them.

OH MY GOD! My feet are killing me, my arms are tired from being up in the air for the last four hours, and I don't think I have even my sexy voice left. I have not had so much fun since, well, last time I saw the boys.

Bear with me here; I just got back to the hotel, and if I don't have something to drink soon, I'm going to dry up and blow away.

OK, I upgraded my ticket. I was on Hughie's side like 40 rows from the stage, but when I went to will-call to pick up my ticket, I asked if there was a better seat, and there was. 20 rows from the stage directly in front of Jon's mic stand. OMG!! I forked over the $300, ate the $140 my original ticket cost, but damn it was worth it!

Next, Mary (the woman I met on the train) and I headed out and took a few pictures of the Pru and the banners around the area.




Then we made friends with a pair of DJs that were playing all Jovi all the time while we waited outside in a queue to get in. Mary had them turn the speakers so we could hear better, and bless their 20-something hearts, they agreed.



We waited in line for aobut 45 minutes, then got into the arena. We headed straight for the t-shirt tables and got our souvenirs. We had a little nosh (crappy hotdogs, but hey, it was fuel) and went to find our seats. We chatted for a while, then Gretchen came on. When she was done, Mary and I hooked up again and chatted while we waited for the lights to go down again. Then, I didn't sit again until I came back here. That's why my feet are killing me. I couldn't get over how small the arena was.



Maybe it looked small b/c the set was small, but really, I didn't have to look at the video screen at all. I could see everyone's faces, could watch Richie work the talkbox (I need a shower after watching that) and could see Jon's smile light up the place. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Gretchen Wilson ROCKED!



I felt bad, weren't too many people up and dancing, but I was, dammit. I wasn't going to miss a second of fun!! Her playlist was short, but included (in no particular order; I'll reorder when I get through the recording I made):

Here for the Party
One Bud Wiser
California Girls (dedicated to Paris Hilton ha ha)
There's a Place in the Whiskey
You Don't Have To Go Home
All Jacked Up
Politically Uncorrect
Star Spangled Banner (Instrumental)
Barracuda (cover)
Redneck Woman

I danced my ass off. Literally. There are little bits of it scattered around the Pru (but I don't want them back, thank you very much. I still have plenty of ass left).

OK, I don't know if I got the set list in the right order, because I was too busy keeping my eyes on Richie, and singing. I was so proud of myself, I knew all the words to all the songs.

Intro
Lost Highway
Bad Name
Raise Your Hands
Runaway
Story of my Life
I Love This Town
Whole Lot of Leavin'
Memory
Bounce
Born To Be My Baby
We Got It Goin' On
It's My Life
Captain Crash
These Days (Richie -- siiiigh)
Joey
Last Man Standing
Lay Your Hands On Me
Have A Nice Day
Bad Medicine w/Shout
Prayer

Encore:
Wanted
Who Says You Can't Go Home

Tomorrow on the train I am going to attempt to parse out the recording I made at the show. I hope it came out OK.

Definitely the highlight of the evening was Richie doing These Days.

Alright kidlets, I'm exhausted., It's going on 1:14 now; it's taken me a while to get things uploaded and stuff; I'm gonna hit the sack. I will provide a few more pics from the night, though, just because I care.