My Road trip!

Last week I went on my first ever road trip for a concert! I had such a blast! Who would I drive hundreds of miles across the midwest to go see you ask? Come on, take a guess! I bet you know it!

Yep, Great White....only the best rock band EVER. :)

So they were playing in Columbus Ohio Wed. Aug 6. My friend Julie, who lives in Indianapolis, was going, and she was going alone since her kids were going to be in Florida with their dad. I begged and pleaded with hubby, and yep, cuz I'm spoiled (:D) he let me go.
The plan: Drive to Indianapolis to meet up with Julie at her house, then to Columbus for the show, stay at a hotel, then drive back the next day. Yeah, a lot of driving, but hey, that's what a road trip is all about right.

I left at 5:30am on Wed (yes, I must be crazy to leave the early)...it takes about 4.5 hours to get to her place, plus I lose an hour due to the time zones, and I wanted to get there early enough in case of traffic issues. I was driving through Chicago after all.
The drive there wasn't bad at all. Chicago traffic really wasn't bad, and their freeway actually is nice and easy to navigate through. I like their express lanes. Once I got past Chicago there was a slight detour to get on I-65....probably about 10 miles out of the way, but it wasn't a problem following the signs. Once I got on I-65 it was smooth sailing. And holy cats....getting into Indiana is EXPENSIVE!! $3 toll!!! That's more than Illinois! Love ya Jules, but it's expensive coming out to see you!! LOL

I arrived at her place a little after 11am. I made good time. I stopped in to see her house quickly, went to the bathroom, and we were on our way out to Columbus. We popped in some Great White CD's, which we ended up not even listening to since we spent almost the whole trip talking. Get us Great White girls together and we never shut up! LOL

We arrived in Columbus about 3:30-4pm..and made our way to the hotel. We got some phone calls from Dave on the way there saying the boys were at the venue getting ready for soundcheck already. We hoped we weren't too late. Once we freshened up at the hotel, we went to the venue. We got our tickets there that were left for us via the "guest list", but they wouldn't let us into sound check. Security was really tight there. However, we found our way back there anyway! LOL Ratt was the headliner and apparently the local radio station was doing a special promo where some people won tickets for sound check. So we kinda mixed in with them. We got to see Ratt do theirs, and then Great White did their sound check.

After sound check we tried to make our way down to the "pit", or the area at the front of the stage. Unfortunately, the tickets we got from the guest list did not allow us down there...they were for the lawn seats!! We called Dave amist our confusion and he texted Scott (the bass player) to get us in. Unfortuantely communication was not getting back to us, and security was so tight that they said even with the band's approval they still wouldn't let us in. ggggrrrr.
So we ended up buying pit tickets and got our front row. There was no way I was going to drive all the way out there to see them way back in the lawn seats!! LOL

So the first band out was Naked Beggars. They were really good. I don't know much about them, but Julie likes them and said they are good. The lead guitarist was from Cinderella, and his wife is the singer for Naked Beggars. They had some catchy songs and did a great job. I felt kinda bad for Inga though since she was wearing all black and it was really warm that day and she was directlly in the sun! Anyway, they played probably for 45 min to an hour.

Next up was the one and only--Great White!! :)

The set list is basically the same...opened with Call it Rock N Roll. I was standing between Jack and Scott.. in perfect line of view for Michael. :) I've noticed that he never really looks directly out at the crowd in front of him, he tends to look more toward center. Anyway, right away during the first song he saw me and gave me a nod and smile :) He rocks!! hehe
They were awesome as usual...sound was good and Jack was in a good mood, joking around quite a bit. They were rushed for time since they skipped a few regular songs, and of course, since they were opening, they didn't do their extras...Michael and Mark singing. They played an hour, but it was an incredible hour!

After the show we tried to get backstage, as we were invited by Scott. But security were being jerks and wouldn''t let us in. I think part of it though was the whole radio thing....instead of the boys doing their normal meet n greet, they had a formal one with the radio station winners. So no talking with Michael this time around. However, we should have a better chance next time in Greenwood. I hope.

So Julie and I stopped at McD's, since we hadn't eaten since lunch, and then back to the hotel. We made it back to the hotel by 11pm....early night! But we stayed up until about 3am talking!! It was awesome! I loved having not just girly time...but GW girly time!! LOL I don't really have anyone else I can talk with about GW and my love for them, so it was awesome talking with her. We hit if off so well!

The next morning we got up (about 7am), got ready, and made our way back to Indianapolis. I think we got back to her place by 11am. I hung out there watching a DVD she has of the boys, and talking some more. I had planned on leaving earlier, but due to our chattiness, didn't get out until 1pm! I ran into Chicago traffic on the way home, but made it home by 6pm. Not bad. Just in time for dinner!

The drive by myself was nice...I could listen to whatever I wanted and as loud as I wanted! LOL And no whining in the car! LOL

I had such a blast and can't wait to do another road trip again. It will have to wait until next year though....after Greenwood I don't think GW will be anywhere in the midwest again for quite some time. Most of their shows in the next few months are on the east or west coasts.

Thanks Julie for a great time, and thanks to Great White for putting on a great show as always!

BTW- if anyone wants to hear, Great White will be on Rockline tonight (Wed) at 10:30pm. Check them out!

**more pics on myspace!**