The crowd in the center aisle
was getting denser and closer to the stage, but still, not disruptive as far
as I could see (I wasn't in it though) and the security guy was watching them,
but not making them sit back down. Then a guy a few seats over from me, in the
front row, got up and said something to the security person in front of the
side aisle I was on, and pointed to the crowd in the center. I really don't
know what was bothering him - even sitting down, the people in the middle
aisle were not blocking the view from his seat. But the security guard got up
and said something to the other guy, and they started to try and clear the
aisle. Before they got too far, Jimmy Johnson, the stage manager for Styx,
came across the front aisle and said something to both of them, and they both
nodded and moved back over to the side, leaving the people where they were.
Jimmy went back to the center and picked up the security guard's chair from
the center aisle, and took it completely away from the front of the stage.
There wasn't a mad rush to the
stage after that - people were pretty well behaved. More and more people did
move up though. During "Keep On Loving You," more people started to
move into the area between the front row and the stage, so I moved up to the
stage with everyone else, and ended up standing right in front of Bruce's
microphone for the rest of their show. The stage was very high, probably just
under five feet tall - so just above chin level on me! It was great though -
that's where I love to be! By the end of REO's last song, the area in front of
the stage was pretty full. While we were clapping and yelling and waiting for
their encore, I looked around, and standing a few feet away from me was the
young guy, the usher, who had been talking to me earlier about the band's
gear. He had piled in with everyone else and was having fun! We smiled at each
other - everyone had the same idea! It was a night to let loose and have a
blast!
At the end of the
show, Bruce threw a few picks to those of us standing right in front of him. I
won't dive or push or fight for guitar picks, but when someone throws one
right at me, I don't turn it down either, so when this one landed on the stage
right in front of me, I reached out and picked it up. So I have a
tortoise-shell Bruce Hall bass pick - very nice!