March 15th, 2003 - Phil Vassar Concert in Warsaw, Indiana

Justin (Patch), Jill, Lauren, and I went to go see Phil Vassar this past Saturday in Warsaw, Indiana, and man, was it an amazing show. We're still buzzing from it, and it definitely will keep me inspired for a good long while. Patch drove with me in one car, as he, Jill, and me were going to spend the night in the Ramada Plaza Hotel adjacent to the venue of the show (the Wagon Wheel Theatre). Lauren drove her car down, as she needed to come back home after the concert to get a head start on pending school responsibilities, and Jill rode along with her. Patch and I listened to the Spartan basketball game (they lost by one point to Ohio State in the Big-Ten Tournament semifinals due to a banked-in free throw!) and then enjoyed some Brooks and Dunn. We got to the hotel at about 4:45pm (about a 2.75 hour drive), and checked out the recreational area before heading back out to grab something to eat. Phil was playing two shows that night, one at 7:00pm, and one at 9:30pm, and we had tickets to the latter event, giving us some time to kill. First we stopped by the local Kmart, and picked up some film for Lauren's camera and some Nutri-Grain bars, juice, jellybeans, and chocolate eggs :) Then, we decided to have dinner at the local Appleby's - literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from the hotel and concert venue. I delighted some honey-grilled salmon (dear heavens, was it good), and had a good time with Justin, Jill, and Lauren as we colored some and attempted to recite a line from "8 Mile" with a straight face (it took us at least 8 times). The scene is when Rabbit is being dropped off at work by a friend, and Rabbit turns to him and says in a very solemn and despondent voice, "You ever wonder when you gotta stop living up here, and start living down here?"...to which his weary friend replies, "It's 7:30 in the morning, dawg...." We never even got to the friend's line. Blah, if grad school doesn't work out for us, acting is definitely not a viable option. Oh, while we were in the restaurant, I also had a fork and a knife thrown in my direction (actually, they kind of fell off plates held by the waitress while she passed by). I shrugged my shoulders and remarked to her that sometimes it's underwear, and sometimes it's forks! And she was taken aback but started laughing, and then she came back a little while later and asked Lauren if she ever throws her underwear at me (I'm dead serious), and I turn beet red and am thinking to myself, oh no, you did not just ask her that. Thankfully, it was played off nicely, but whoa, that was a very bizarre moment that produced a handful of nervous glances and a lot of laughs.

After dinner (and after playfully pestering Patch and Jill to give me back my wallet - which Lauren actually had), we drove back over to the hotel at around 7pm. Patch and I checked out the venue, and were very excited at how intimate and cozy the stage and seating area seemed to be. Basically - much like a wagon wheel and therefore appropriately named - the theatre had a large flat circular area for the performers in the center, and was girded by seats on an incline all the way around. To be sure, there wasn't really any demarcation between where the performers were allowed to be and where the audience had to be - which provided the flexibility for an artist to physically interact with those in attendance. We knew we were in for a fabulous night, and just seeing how things were set up whetted our appetites for what was in store. After reporting back to headquarters (our room), Patch and I changed into our swimming trunks, and enjoyed the spa for a few minutes before electing to have some fun in the pool instead. Jill and Lauren sat across the way on some lounge chairs, watching us attempt a host of goofy things. These included playing chicken with some of the boys in the pool. It should be noted that we handily beat them each time, whether I was on top of Patch's shoulders, or he on top of mine. Truth be told, they were about 12-14 years old, and so it was no brilliant accomplishment. Still, it was good for our morale as manly men. Rarrrrr. Next, Justin and I attempted to balance the other on top of our shoulders. The problem was our shoulders were quite slippery (seeing as how it was wet skin and all), and so we kept falling before both the person on bottom and the person on top could simultaneously stand up straight. Eventually, though, we got it, and I hope it looked as good as we felt actually doing it. After that, we decided to spring each other off of our shoulders to do forward and backward somersaults in the air, and ended up slapping our backs or our stomachs or our sides way too hard on the face of the water. It was totally worth it though, and was super fun to try. At this point, our eyes were killing us - I had never been in a pool with so much chlorine in my entire life - and so we figured it was time to get out.

After heading back to our room, we showered and got dressed for the concert while watching some of "Seven", the Brad Pitt & Morgan Freeman hit movie that was being broadcast on TNT. We got to the show at about 9:10pm, and the show started promptly at 9:30pm. Phil came out in this sweet long-sleeved butterfly-collared shirt (the type I absolutely love), and started off his set with "That's When I Love You". Man, he sounded so phenomenal, exactly like he sounds on the album, and the rest of the band perfectly complimented his talented voice and captivating stage presence. I was literally about to burst, just completely blown away by the sound and the atmosphere of the experience. In no particular order, he played the following songs throughout the night: American Child, Rose Bouquet, Just Another Day in Paradise, Joe and Rosalita (one of my favorites), Carlene (one of Lauren's favorites), Six Pack Summer, This is God, My Next Thirty Years and For a Little While (both of which he wrote for Tim McGraw), Right on the Money (which he wrote for Alan Jackson), I'm Alright and Bye Bye (both of which he wrote for Jo Dee Messina), Stoop Down Baby (the 1970s blues song by Chick Willis), and Workin' for a Living (the encore). Throughout his performance, he did all sorts of crazy and nutty and wonderful things, like spin around on his stomach on top of the grand piano, hop up and down from the top of the grand piano, run around getting the audience riled up, posing for pictures, signing various Phil Vassar memorabilia, giving high-fives, handshakes, hugs, and kisses, and basically doing everything an audience could possibly hope for. Wow. Words cannot adequately capture the collective excitement and energy level during the concert experience. He is such a gifted songwriter and performer. I sat next to Lauren during the show, and it was just so cool because she was visibly caught up in the moment, and was singing along as loud as she could, and screaming and cheering for him, and basically just rocking out, and I've never seen her like that, and it was just heartwarming to behold.

Well, after the show I talked to a nice lady named Elaine, from Indy Phil Phan Club (a group of fans who travel around the nation attending Phil Vassar concerts) and asked her if she could send some of the digital pictures she took to me, and she kindly obliged. Then, Lauren picked up Phil's newest CD from the merch table, and we all headed out of the venue and into the crisp night air. The goal was to somehow meet Phil and get Lauren's CD signed, and as we walked over to the tour bus, I prayed silently, God, you have got to make this happen somehow. We rounded the side of the tour bus, and I expected there to be a throng of people waiting outside for Phil to perhaps make an appearance, but there wasn't really anyone at all, except a police officer, a roadie, and perhaps one or two other fans waiting from a distance. Nevertheless, I just had this peace and confidence that this was somehow going to happen. Justin and Jill decided to head back in while Lauren and I chose to wait, and after about a minute, I said out loud that it's time to be assertive...and I headed over to the roadie - who was talking with the police officer - and during a moment of silence in their conversation, I asked, "Sir, I wondered if before he leaves I could get my friend's CD signed...". And very kindly he responded, "Sure, just wait right here." Yes! After another couple of minutes, the tour bus door opened, and Lauren told me later that she half expected Phil to come out, but it turned out to be the roadie, who beckoned us to come over and come aboard. So we see this, and now we're thinking, holy crap, this is not happening. Holy crap. But it was.

So I follow Lauren towards and into the tour bus, and lo and behold, Phil Vassar in a baseball cap is standing right in front of us with a big smile on his face and a hand outstretched toward us. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! We exchange pleasantries, and I tell him that we're graduate students, and that we love his music and that we listen to it all the time and it keeps us so inspired...and he asks where we go to school...to which we reply "Michigan State"...and then he tells us that one of his crew went to Michigan...and Lauren tells him what a remarkable performer he is...and basically, we're trying not to be blubbering idiots and are actually doing a decent job because he is so friendly and so down-to-earth and authentically interested in the fact that we were there, wanting to talk with him, a superstar country artist whom we respect and admire. I told him that we are going to try to see him at the Allegan County Fairgrounds in May (and I'm checking now and noticing he has four Michigan shows between now and the end of August, including one at the Fowlerville Fair (with Martina McBride!), where we saw Alabama in 2001). Then, he asks us if we have a camera, and I apologize that we don't, and then Lauren chimes in and says that she does (duh, and wahoo!), and so we get a picture taken of us with him...and he signs Lauren's CD and personalizes a poster for her (thanks, God, for all of this). It should be mentioned that his tour bus was *really* nice, and presumably keeps him comfortable on his busy touring schedule. It also appeared that he is a banana pudding aficionado, and Lauren (who also digs that dessert) mentioned later that she was so tempted to ask him for some :) Well, after repeatedly thanking him and the roadie, we say farewell and depart from his presence, totally floored that all of this actually happened. Lauren was beaming and downright giddy, I was just stunned (until the significance of it all hit me a few minutes later as we walked through the hotel corridors), and we pretty much just floated back to our room. Unbelievable. When we got in, Lauren gushed while she excitedly told Patch and Jill all that happened, and I just sat there smiling, still trying to comprehend how it all came together so perfectly. Everyone was in agreement that it was the perfect ending to a magical evening. It was about 11:30pm at this point, and Lauren had to hit the road in order to get back to East Lansing at a decent time, so we walked her out and said our goodbyes (I also ran over to the venue marquee to take a picture while this was happening), exchanged embraces, and wished her a safe drive home.

Justin, Jill and I then headed back in and got ready for bed while watching some of the beginning of Top Gun. We were asleep by 12:30am, and up on Sunday morning by about 8:30am. We packed up and checked out by about 9:15am, and the three of us enjoyed a nice breakfast together reminiscing about the previous evening and talking about donkeys and horses. We were on our way towards East Lansing by about 10:30, but within about 20 minutes Jill asked us where our swimming trunks were. Doh! We had left them hanging in the shower and totally didn't grab them before we left. So, because we were both quite fond of our respective swimwear, we decided to turn around and see if they were still there. I ran in, grabbed a key from the dude at the reception counter, and hurried to our room where I was pleased to see our trunks still hanging there in a lonely sort of way. I threw them into a plastic bag, ran back through the hotel hallways, dropped off the key and thanked the dude, and we were on the road again listening to Phil Vassar and Styx all the way home. That was our weekend. Justin and I often say to each other two things: "It's always something" - when an unexpected obstacle is all too often placed in our path...and "Everything always comes together" - when we notice how God is always working things out and giving us the best of everything in the grand scheme of things while we are distressed and distracted by the rather unimportant details. Without a doubt, the latter most accurately describes our Phil Vassar experience. We couldn't have asked for a better time.