I'm still drained from Thursday, but I will take my shot at describing the day. It was definitely a day for the books. They say just before you die, your life flashes in front of you. Well, one of my flashes will be Thursday, March 22nd, 2001 at the Palace of Auburn Hills!

Nancy and I arrived at the Palace around 6:20pm. Not knowing there was an alternate entrance to the Grille, we went inside the Palace entrance and had to wait for them to open the "gates" at 6:30. Making our way to the Grille, I stopped at a counter to get a new Funkengruven shirt. Down stairs we went in search of Cyberfunkers. We get to the Grille just in time to see them filing out. I see John and Deb and ask what's going on. "They're headed back stage. Come on', let's go." Boy, talk about timing. While being led through the Palace's maze of hallways and stairs, I hear someone say "I got a message from Craig Clingan that John had tickets". My head spun around to meet Jan and Lorie. What a sweet pair of ladies. On the way to the elevator, Shock gave Nancy and I our laminated "Palace Concert Cards" that he had made. THANKS SHOCK, THEY'RE TERRIFIC!

We get out of the elevator and mingle a little. I was fortunate enough to meet the king of RoadKill, Bill Parrette. What a very nice man. Good luck with the journey you are about to take. I'm sure you will handle this with the same elegance that you have handled RoadKill and any other obstacles that have been handed you. Then, as you have heard a few times now, 2 versions of "Happy Birthday" were sung. One for MEL and one for JR. It was a pretty special moment for me, so I can only imagine how special it was for JR. And by the looks of things, it was pretty special for Mel too! There was a lot of love flowing backstage and it was this love that would be transformed into energy on stage and in the crowd in the moments to come.

We all headed back to the Grille when Stan breaks out the CyberFunker shirts that we all signed. STAN, YOU'RE THE MAN!! While signing the shirts, more than one person approached wondering how much the shirts were. Tia was there to tell them you had to go online to purchase them. This set of shirts was special and was NOT FOR SALE. After signing the 7 shirts, Nancy and I went back to the Palace's "mote" where we purchase some food to tide us over. While wandering around, I stopped to talk to another fan who was wearing an older tour shirt and was looking for a Jean Jacket to buy. I told him how we had just been backstage and sung Happy Birthday to Mel. He asked if we got to meet Mark. It was kind of an awkward moment when I had to explain that he wasn't touring with the band. I'm pretty sure I convinced him that he would not be disappointed. We see him later and by his reaction, I know he enjoyed the show. Now, it's on to our seats.

It was a pretty good trip to get to our seats. Quite a few sets of stairs lead down to the main floor where all the metal seats are arranged. Unfortunately, there was not middle aisle, so one has to go all the way around and sidle in from the end. It felt pretty good to be so close to the stage again as we were in the 2nd row. Looking around we could see John, Deb, Jan and Lorie about 6 rows back, Bill Parrette could be seen to the right of the main floor talking to Sunny. Up front more lucky CyberFunkers could be found as Rick, Shock, Stan, Tia and Jim were there to fill out the front row. (I know there were more, so please forgive my missing your names).

The opening act was Matt Besey. This guy can play! I kept thinking there should be a SRV on his guitar, but maybe down the road there will be an MB that people will recognize as belonging to a great musician and singer. If you are interested in getting his CD, check it out at http://wmgrecords.bigstep.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=7710%7C7713&PRID=138846 . It's only 10 dollars and I can easily say that it will be 10 dollars well spent. He finished his set with a blazing version of Jumpin' Jack Flash. It's funny how small the world is when you think of it. Stones - Frampton - GFR - Besey are all tied to this song now.

While Besey's equipment is moved, everyone stretches out and gets ready to rock. More to come on the SHOW and the after-show tomorrow...

THE SHOW

When we saw them up in Traverse City, it was the BEST concert I had ever been to. I was curious how they would compare here playing to a MUCH bigger and a more expectant rock-n-roll crowd. No worries! Sure, TC still stands as a GREAT concert but The Palace was head and shoulders above. This is the first concert where I NEVER SAT DOWN. There was too much energy. I was afraid that people behind me would start complaining, but I didn't hear a thing. Of course, standing in the 2nd row, they may have been screaming at me, but I didn't notice. ;-)

Our seats were right in front of MEL. There was quite a struggle for dominance of my chest between my heart beating on the inside and MEL's bass beating on the outside. My heart has finally won over after a couple of days. He definitely had his "box" cranked. You could hear every pluck, every slide, every movement his fingers made up and down the neck of that bass! He was on fire!

It was nice to be closer to Tim too. It's pretty clear that he's having a blast with this group. Rocking back and forth with his organ, always smiling and waving peace signs to the audience. The only drawback from sitting so close was the fact that much of the mix went to our sides and over our heads. Mel and Max were smacking me in the head, but much of the other music came to me after it had bounced off other peoples faces. (OK, that's the only complaint you'll hear from me)

It seemed to me that the BAND had been working on adding some signatures to each song since TC. Little nuances to say, "Yeah, we can play it the way it sounds on CD, but we'd rather shove it down your throat like this." Even the Locomotion, which is probably my least favorite GFR song, seemed to have renewed energy. Maybe it was the roar of the crowd. Maybe it was all the love pouring out from the band. Maybe it was all the love being sent right back from all the CF'rs and RK'rs in attendance. (Did I mention there was a lot of love going on there? lol)

You know, I started to do a song by song description, but the words escape me. It was THE BEST! If GFR continues with this kind of energy, especially with new material coming out, WATCH OUT!

AFTER THE SHOW

After the SHOW, we were all sitting on the "Group W" benches, playing with our pencils (oops, wrong story), when 2 Funk fans were walking out. Remember the guy who was looking for a Jean Jacket and was bummed about Mark not being there? It was them and they were wearing the biggest smiles on their faces. They looked at us and just said, "You guys are soooo lucky!" They couldn't be more right!!

How fortunate we are to have a bunch of crazy fans like the rest of you as friends. To have wives of the band members treat us like family. To have the chance to just talk to the BAND after the show when they could have easily just packed their belongings and headed home. To meet people from around the world who share your interest in music. WE ARE DEFINITELY BLESSED.

The after-show was kind of a free for all with everyone milling about and taking their turn to speak to each BAND member. I started out on a mission. I was hoping to get all their sigs on my new Funkengruven t-shirt. Starting with Bruce. He seemed to be in a great mood. I told him how well he sounded and that I LOVED his AUDIODOG CD. He was appreciative, signed my shirt and went on to speak to a couple of guys that looked like KISS members. I think they were part of a tribute band, but I'm not sure. I do know they both had a hell of a head of black hair. THANKS BRUUUCE! Next came Don.

I don't know where they all came from, but there was a ton of kids there. Each one had 2 or 3 tickets, back stage passes, etc that were being slid across the table to Don so he could sign them. While waiting in line next to Jim Collins (we'll have to talk more next time ;-) ), a man came to Don's table with the FLINT album. I think Jim mentioned this already, but it was pretty special to have Craig Frost in the audience. He was back in a corner just watching the people. He did come up and signed the album. More on CF in a minute. Finally, I got to spread my t-shirt in front of Don and he looked up and said, "Hey, you were right up front again, weren't you?" THERE HE GOES AGAIN!! Just when you think you've got something intelligent to say, he makes you feel like the star and whatever it was I was going to say came out like, "Duh, yeah second row". What an idiot! Anyway, he wanted to know if I enjoyed the show. "It was GREAT", is what I think I said.

Each BAND member was gracious enough to take time to sign my shirt as well as talk a little about the show. What a bunch of gentlemen! Mel was pretty lively. As he was signing my shirt, I told him "Man, you had it cranked tonight". HE says, "I know. It was loud to me too. My station was rockin'" A big smile on his face. I told him I could feel his bass in my chest and he smiled some more and said, "GOOD".

There was a pretty good crowd around Max at the time, so I took a chance and wandered over to Craig Frost. I introduced myself and of course, we both agreed that we had a pretty cool first name. lol I asked if he would sign my shirt and he said he'd be happy to. "Do you have a pen?" Bummer! I'm about ready to head off and find a pen, when Tim Cashion walks by and says, "Got ya covered", and hands Craig his pen. THANKS TIM. I asked Craig if he was still playing with Bob Seger and he said, "Yeah, but we haven't done much lately. I'M READY THOUGH". So, I hope Bob gets back on track and puts this great musician back behind the keys where he belongs.

After meeting with each member, it was around midnight and most people had filtered out, so Nancy and I decide we better start our 2-hour trip home. Sorry I didn't know about the shirt presentation or we'd definitely stuck around for that!

Sorry for the long post, but it was a very special evening for me. As many have said, If they come near you, go experience them. Thanks to all the CF and RK fans there, especially Stan & Tia, J.R., and SHOCK for leaving some pretty special memories in my mind. Thanks as always to Sunny and Dena for being so gracious, letting us share this evening with them and their hubbies. And, most of all, THANKS DON, MEL, MAX, BRUCE AND TIM for leaving nothing on stage and rocking your hearts out and opening your lives to us, even for just a short time. I consider my self BLESSED just to be your fan.

Craig good Clingan, good playin', good luck topping this one!