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Ytsejammers: You guys were great! We all met up around 4 p.m. outside
the club and had a seat to figure out what we were going to do next.
Well, the next thing we knew, someone else walked up with tickets in
hand and sat down next to us. Within 15 minutes, a healthy line had
formed behind us, so we were stuck. No Billy Miner's... after all that
planning. Anyway, all of you guys were great to talk with. Special
shots out to Ryan Webb (our "weasel"), Chad Allen Klunck, Anna, Cory and
the other guy whose name I forgot... (Was it Wade? I told you I don't
remember names well), Mauricio, Alan, and that other girl (sorry if I
crushed you during the show), and ScottH and his brother. You guys
learned how to speak slowly really well! ;-) Sorry if I've missed
anyone, but I'm really tired, and my head hurts a little. We also got
to see Derek come out and buy a coffee from a stand outside the club,
and he and John P. walked around Ft. Worth for a while. (shopping?)
Venue: Decent-sized. We wound up on the front row (Ken actually was
right behind me protecting me from the surging crowd) and slightly right
of center. We were right in front of James and JP for most of the show
and RIGHT in front of Mike's small kit. More on that later. :)
FotM: They were OK. I was a little afraid the singer would jump on me
or hit me with the microphone stand during the show. :P But the weird
thing about him is that he kept rolling his eyes back in his head while
he sang. The music was decent, and the crowd was rather responsive, but
at the end of their set, the drummer decided to -- get this! -- surf the
crowd. And he landed right on top of me, kicking me in the head. Well
the crowd nearly dropped him (haha!) and he kicked me again on his way
back to the stage. fucker. :P
DT: Kicked ass! Flawless! Awesome! Some of the highlights were when
James grabbed my banner (that said Texans Love Dream Theater and had
lots of signatures by then) and held it up in front of the crowd. I got
some nice applause for that. :) Then, when Mike sat down at his
smaller kit for Anna Lee, etc., I showed him my fingernails. Yes, I had
the letters Ytsejam and several Majesty logos on my fingers. He looked
and looked, and finally said, what is that? I yelled "Ytsejam!" and he
got it! :) Anyway, after he was done there, he HANDED me a drumstick.
I mean, he looked at me and put it in my hands. :) Some of the
downers included nearly breaking a rib as the crowd pushed forward to
reach James' hand, having an asthma attack right there in the middle of
their set, and getting kicked in the head once more by a FUCKING IDIOT
who started crowd surfing. Security literally pushed him back into the
crowd. You just don't do that, guys!
After the show: Ken met up with some of his old friends... Brian Cox who
he used to room with in college, and also a friend of his from
elementary thru high school, Derek (who plays with Haje's Kitchen).
Anyway, Derek got us into the aftershow, which included signatures and
pictures with DS, JP, and MP. Meeting Mike again was the coolest
because he recognized me as the DT in Texas person. (He said to me, "I
got your e-mail," and I about died!) Anyway, he signed my drumstick and
tourbook and posed for a picture. All of them are really a class act!
-Nicole/Kirby
click for a bigger pic Wow, what a night! I don't think DT could have been more perfect (or more entertaining) than in San Antonio, TX. James was right on the money most of the night, and everyone else was flawless. And you talk about your surprises!!! Pre-show: We didn't do much. I woke up at 9am on Sunday (because I was too excited to sleep anymore), and Ken slept until about 11. We left Ft. Worth at about 2 p.m. and arrived in Schertz at around 6:15. Ryan was, of course, at the front of the line, so he agreed to toss the Texas banner onstage during the show. :) We also saw Polo and his brother and Ryan Whitaker, but I don't think we saw any other Ytsejammers. Where were you guys?!? You're gonna shit when you find out what you missed! FOTM: Same exact set as the Ft. Worth show, same comments, same funky dance moves, ad nauseum. But that wasn't what was so cool. During the second song, Derek and Mike started throwing broccoli, carrots, and celery at the band, who in turn threw them back. Mike was behind his covered kit, and ke kept peeking out from behind the black curtain. :) And of course, the crowd went nuts every time he looked out. :) A little later on, Mike came out in a white bathrobe, sunglasses, and some sort of cap. He was carrying a broom, which he proceeded to use to sweep FOTM's cymbals. He then looked at the crowd (you could tell the singer was getting annoyed :) , turned, and mooned the crowd (in his white briefs, of course! ;) Of course, the crowd went nuts! He left the stage only to throw bread later in FOTM's set. In the end, the guitarist was the one who surfed the crowd. Thank goodness Ken and I were right in the middle of the crowd... halfway back and in the middle of the stage. :) No "boot to the head" as they say. The Setlist and Antics: Of course they played the FII demos Cover My Eyes, Raise the Knife, and The Way It Used to Be. Then the obligatory Rooster and A Clockwork Orange. They started in on the taped part of ACOS, and when it was time for DT to come onstage and start playing, there was silence. No DT. The crowd cheered for a bit, then got kind of quiet. Then out came DT!!! woo! They were backstage "shooting the shit" as James put it and missed their entrance. Only the first of many interesting things to happen.
The setlist was as follows: Then it got interesting. FOTM swore revenge during their set for the veggies and mooning, so they came out during LITS in only their underwear and stood in a line across the front of the stage. They turned around and bent over, revealing the words "Full" "On" "The" and "Mouth" written across the four member's asses (one word per member :). hehe! They then revealed Majesty logos on their right hips, which had been previously covered. :) Real cute, guys! Then I think the drummer dove off the stage into the crowd. Something about crowd surfing with this band. Anyway, James complemented the "Calvin Klein boys" on their humor and went on with the show. Then they did CiaW, which turned into Mike's awesome drum solo, which was similar to the warm-up he does at clinics. He had about 3 people help with the solo. The first didn't know how to reply to the old "shave and a haircut" beat, so he moved to the other side of the stage. He then gave the drumsticks to some chick who had been dancing wildly and was stoned out of her mind. She just looked at the sticks confused, and Mike took them away from her. He commented on how a 7 year old kid had gotten the drum solo right in Arizona, and these ppl couldn't get it right. Finally he brought someone onstage and did a solo with him. Pretty good, if you ask me. He even got the "shave and a haircut" right! woo! Then they finished CiaW. Then they played Lie complete with Derek's inability to catch even a single drumstick. You'd think he'd get it right by the last show! ;) James commented on how Derek wasn't picked to play for the Yankees and that he had made the right career decision. Peruvian Skies/Have a Cigar combination and a piece of Enter Sandman JP's solo complete with Paradigm Shife (with Mike, of course), My Way, and Flight of the Bumblebee. Last song was PMU. Ryan threw my banner onstage at that point, and James started wearing it around his shoulders and back! Then Ken picked me up so I was about 2 feet above the crowd, and I waved madly at Mike. He looked at me and waved back! I about died again! Ken put me down, and I just kept screaming, "That's my banner! That's my banner!" Encore: They did the first half of Metropolis, and James carried JP off stage when he went nuts. :) Then, NIGHTMARE CINEMA!!! NC made their third appearance in the United States at the SA show. Can you believe it? They do this shit in London, Chicago, LA (among other big cities) and San Antonio?!? Weird. JM was on Keys, JP on drums, DS on a glittery guitar wearing a sombrero and sarape, KJLB sang, and Mike was on bass. They did Perfect Strangers, what else? Oh, and Myung, who never, ever, EVER smiles, SMILED! :) Then they announced that that was the FINAL PERFORMACE of Nightmare Cinema ever! That's it! No more! Of course, they left the possiblity open that they might have a reunion "in a couple of years." They finished with Cupid's Dead, LTL, ACOS, and a teaser of A Fortune in Lies. After all that excitement (and all the pot everyone was smoking), I had just about had it. Ken and I talked with 3 of the members of Power of Omens and traded tapes. :) We hung out for a little while waiting for the guys to come out and sign stuff, but when Myung made a run for the bus, we decided to go. Oh, one last thing. The staff at the Bluebonnet Palace was exceptionally rude. They acted like a bunch of hicks (what else were we to expect?), shoved people out of the club after the show (and after we were told to go back inside to have our stuff signed, which was a mistake on their part), and one of them took and broke Ryan Whitaker's (thankfully disposable) camera after the show was over. I think that was really uncalled for.
Anyway, this weekend was an experience I will never forget. Sorry we
didn't do the pre-show meetings, but all in all, it worked out great!
It was great seeing everyone, some for the first time and some again.
I'm kind of sad the excitement is over. Now all I have to look forward
to is starting my new job in 3 weeks. :P Hope to see everyone again
soon, and THANK YOU, DREAM THEATER for a wonderful weekend! Sorry
this is so long, but I thought everyone would like to know what happened.
:) Now I'm off to nurse my bruises and strained muscles.
-Nicole/Kirby |
Nicole Stachowicz McWatters'
World of Movies, TV, Music... and Kirby, Too!
