On August 5 I got to attend something that I've been waiting 15 years to attend! I went to an Aerosmith concert! Yes, I've waited 15 years to see Aerosmith in concert...15 years! I almost gave up on the dream, thinking they wouldn't go on tour again, and if they did they surely wouldn't hit any venues within driving distance of Lusk, but alas...they started a tour with ZZ Top (another of my favorites) and decided to play at the Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgis, SD!
I found out last October that they were going to be playing at Buffalo Chip this year. Kurtis and I were eating at The Pizza Place and he says, "I have to tell you something." I said, "Okay, what is it?" He then says he can't tell me until we get outside. We hadn't even gotten our food yet and I was thinking, "You can't just leave me hanging like this!" When our food arrived I scarfed mine down in no time flat (curiosity was really getting the better of me) and he took his sweet time. Arg! Finally we left and as soon as we were in the parking lot I turned around and said, "So, what do you have to tell me?" He said, "Aerosmith is going to be at Buffalo Chip next year." Oh! My! God! I started screaming, squealing, and jumping up and down! He looked at me and said, "This is why I had to tell you out here!" As soon as tickets began selling I bought two! I wanted to upgrade to VIP but I couldn't afford to. Aerosmith had two different VIP packages. One was about $1,600 and the other was around $900! I seriously shed a tear when I discovered that I wouldn't be able to afford VIP tickets.
Finally, August 5 arrived! I took my friend Dawn and we got to Buffalo Chip around 2:00 pm. We set up our tent and headed to the amphitheater to see if people were already starting to crowd around the stage. It wasn't too bad so we roamed around, grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed over to the stage to find a spot to sit for the next 5 1/2 hours while we waited for the concert to start. We forgot to bring chairs so we ran over to the Buffalo Chip General Store and bought $22 camping chairs, which turned out to be well worth the money. We grabbed our spot again (very near the right corner of the catwalk) and lounged in our new chairs. We met some nice people while we waited, visited with them, and drank $1.00 tap beer (can't beat that)!
Saving Abel opened for Aerosmith and began playing shortly after 8:00. I've never really gotten into Saving Abel so I didn't know what to expect. They were pretty good. As soon as they got done a pretty big thunderstorm rolled in. It was lightning like crazy and pouring rain. Luckily we were close enough to the stage that it blocked a lot of the rain so we didn't get nearly as drenched as the people further back. It rained for 1/2 an hour or more and I was beginning to think that maybe I wouldn't get to see Aerosmith afterall, when it finally quit! Yay! It took another 1/2 hour for the stage crew to get things ready again.
Finally the moment I'd been waiting for happened! Aerosmith made their way onto the stage! AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!! (That's my scream!) We had made our way right up to the fence surrounding the catwalk, so for much of the concert I was only 10 feet from Steven Tyler and Joe Perry! AWESOME! I felt like one of those crazy teenage girls that goes to a concert and screams, and cries, and reaches for the band, except I didn't cry or reach...I screamed, screamed, screamed, screamed some more and took pictures! :) About the eighth song in they started playing "Love in an Elevator". Joe was on the catwalk and an amp blew. He motioned for the music to be cut, but it didn't happen. He walked back to the main stage to figure out what was going on and Steven grabbed his mic and headed onto the catwalk. He started doing a crazy dance to keep the crowd going. He spun around and...off the catwalk he went...backwards! Oh! My! God! My mouth dropped open and you could hear the whole crowd gasp (all 160,000 people)! He fell on the other side of the catwalk so I couldn't see what was going on. After what seemed like an eternity, the stage crew helped Steven back onto the stage. He was bleeding, but he was walking...with some help. After another eternity, Joe Perry came out and told us the concert would be ending since Steven was on his way to the hospital.
I couldn't believe it...I wait 15-years to see Aerosmith and Steven falls off the stage! I have a theory about what happened. You see, just before Steven fell he made eye contact with me, got flustered, and fell off the stage! He literally
fell in love with me! LOL!! Seriously though, that's what happened! I know some of you don't believe this theory, but it's true! (I can dream!) Okay, though, I seriously do think that we made eye contact at least once during the concert. He was only 10 feet from me and I swear he looked at me (at least once)! Dawn thinks I'm crazy, but I'm not. I'm just a dreamer! :)
So, it turns out Steven broke his shoulder and cut his head open. I'm thinking they should change the name of their song "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" to "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Shoulder)". :)
Agggggggghhhhhhhh!
Joe Perry playing behind his head!
Sad!
"Dreams are necessary to life." ~ Anais Nin
"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning." ~ Gloria Steinem
My co-worker's (Twyla) husband (Jim) requested some homemade cookies a while back and last week I decided it was the perfect time to make some. A couple of weeks ago some people moved into the house just down the street so I decided to make a double batch of homemade Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies...enough for the new neighbors (as a "welcome to the neighborhood" gift), Jim & Twyla, Doug & Julie (some friends), the linemen, a really nice salesman that was going to be at the NEA the next day, and a few for me!
