Jay and I left Matt and Nancy's recharged with bellies full of laughs, sausages, fresh fruit, and yogurt. Now half way into the last leg of the tour, we still had two nights at the famous Alpine Valley to finish off our little marathon. The trip to Wisconsin was longer than we expected and we rolled directly into the lot right around the time the concert was supposed to start.
We needed to unwind before we headed into the venue, so we mixed up some cocktails and relaxed before the show, thinking we would be able to hear the roar of the show when it started. Jay and I had a laugh talking about missing the show because we knew they'd play Runaway Jim (a bathroom song for both of us that they have played 4 times this tour already). Heck it was my 10th show in a row and we deserved a little rest, even if it did mean missing the opener. This leg of the tour had longer drives, later nights, and there was barely any "free time".
Before we knew it, there were hardly any other revellers around and we figured it had to be time to go in. As we approached the venue, it was clear the first set was well underway as we trodded through the 40 thousand or so phans to our seats. The venue itself was magnificent and I felt like a part of something special just being there. Alpine Valley is a Ski Resort among other things, and the lawn was enormous and very steep. The wood paneled roof of the amphitheater was taller than any we had been under, and as we danced in and out of people finding our seats, I pictured the hundreds of musical memories that haunt this amazing venue.
It turned out that we had missed most of the first set, and even though it seemed like an amazing set on paper, thankfully they didn't bust out anything we hadn't seen in the last 10 shows. If we made an amateur move at Jones Beach missing the first few songs, this was definitely a Veteran move; knowing that we needed a little rest more than we needed to see the first few songs of the set.
Our energy levels were in the perfect place to fully enjoy the second set, which was one of the best of the whole tour. There are too many amazing moments to give it justice, but it was a real musical treat; lots of great tunes, more tight jamming, seamless overlapping tunes, the best Lizards I've ever heard live, and a break out tune of Jimi Hendrix's Fire as a strong closing number. The crowd energy at this place was at a heightened level, unlike any we had witnessed before. There was an indescribable buzz to the place that added to the intensity of the music in a special way.
As Charater Zero started up as an encore, Jay and I danced our way to the top of the venue and escaped ahead of a good 35,000 people. The drive to the hotel outside Milwakee was easy, and the next day was spent resting up for another rockin' night.
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