Greetings Rusties,

Yesterday was certainly a fantastic day for a show. Great weather and
great crowd at the Shoreline, and everyone played awesome.

First off, I want to say (not that you don't already know) that
Rusties are fantastic people. I went to the show on my own as I've
just moved from Canada to Palo Alto (just up the road from Shoreline),
and bought a single seat for Saturday as I couldn't convince anyone to
come with me. I ended up setting in section 203, row L - which
coincidently happened to be right in front for Rust row!! I few More
Barn T-shirts and some extremely friendly Neil lovers tipped me off,
and before I knew it we were chatting away. It was great to enjoy Neil
with other Rusties. They were even so kind to include me in the Rustie
group photo at the totem pole during that garbage "punk" band Good
Charolette and introduced me to a bunch of other Canuck and
International Rusties. Thanks to everyone for being so great - it was
like a dream come true to not only finally be at a BSB but to meet
some other Rusties.

The stage was great and all the kids from the Bridge School were there
for the entire show cheering away and enjoying the music. Neil opened
up to a standing O (at least from us) with I am a Child, and then
Emmylou Harris came out and joined him on This Old Guitar, and the two
of them together are magical. I love her voice and together the song
really was special. Neil ended with Comes a Time and brought out some
Native American friends of him to add some percussion and dancing, and
it added a great element to the song. Even though I knew he would only
play 3 songs or so, I was disappointed to see him go. The man still
has it - hasn't changed since the last time I saw him, and he really
is the best IMO.

Los Lobos was next, and those guys are wicked. SO much energy and a
great sound. The were the first to get the crowd on their feet, and
then Neil came out and we couldn't believe it because usually that
happens on Sunday - they did a wicked version of Cinnamon Girl and we
all just rocked out.

As a fan of Bright Eyes, I was impressed with his live performance.
There have been many comparisons by people in my age generation with
him being the "new Dylan", and whether or not that is accurate I won't
say, but he has songs with challenging and meaningful lyrics and his
band had a crazy variety of instruments. He invited Emmylou to join
him for his last song, and even though she had to read the lyrics, she
did a great job and really added to what I thought was an extremely
moving song entitled "Walk Away", but I could be incorrect.

Good Charolette was next, and we all left for pictures, beers, smokes
and bathroom breaks.

Emmylou was up next and she did a great set. I've always enjoyed her,
and today was another great set. She gave a little monologue about how
when your a parent you never stop being one, then fessed up that she
was 58 and her mother still made her wear a bike helmet. The crowd
gave her a big cheer for not being afraid to speak truthfully about
how old she was. And as a great surprise, she invited Linda Rhondstadt
to join her for her last song, and it was GREAT!

Then the Jerry Lee Lewis band came out and all I can say is that man
kicks some SERIOUS ASS on the piano. So much energy and never missed a
key stroke or slowed down. The crowd was all up, dancing around, to
"Whole Lotta Shakin Going On" and the classic "Great Balls of Fire".
Another standing O from everyone, and the energy in the crowd was
unbelieveable.

Then Norah Jones came out and brought the noise level down. While her
music is not my cup of tea, she is a beautiful woman with an amazing
voice and amazing performer. She was so happy to be there to
contribute to the show, and she actually played a really long set (or
maybe I was in a trance because I hadn't go up to dance like a freak
during her set). I can see how millions of people around the world
enjoy artists like her and Diana Krall - not for me, but I enjoyed the
set none the less and was glad I stayed (for most of it, nature did
call....).

Mellencamp has never been one of my favourites, but he brought some
politically-infused songs to the stage that were definitely refreshing
and got the fire back in the crowd a bit (I'm hesitant to speak about
others, but this Canadian Rustie was onboard with the Mellencamp
message). He had a great response from the crowd, as I'm sure there
were a lot of Mellenheads in the crowd (or whatever they call their
fan club, no offense.....just being cheeky). I'm glad he was only
there for one of the two shows.

Then the moment I have been waiting for since February 12th, 2002 came
- I got to see CSNY together again. They opened with Helplessly Hoping
and I almost died because it sounded SO AWFUL. Stills looked like he
was about to keel over, and Crosby seemed to be in a comma. Nash and
Neil saved the song but I was so worried that the whole set would be
like this. They played a generic Nash tune about the Milky Way that I
would have preferred not to hear. Then they got themselves back on
track and really delivered a great set - Carry Me, Our House, and then
Neil broke off on the pump organ and did When God Made Me. Nash and
Crosby then broke off and did a great version of Guinnevere, and then
then they regrouped for a great version of Old Man. The crowd got on
their feet during For What Its Worth, followed by Fight the Cost of
Freedom, and then the highlight of the night for me came - they rocked
out to Ohio and everyone was just so into it onstage - absolutely
wicked. Then they invited everyone on stage and did Teach Your
Childrean, which was a fitting conclusion to the end of the night. But
Ohio stuck in my head on the walk to the car (which I ended up losing
in the parking lot since I was a total moron and forgot to check the
number where I was near - yup, I'm a moron, but I found it after 20
minutes), and then I just had to crank Neil on the drive home because
I was still in my concert high and didn't want to stop.

Those are my opinions on Day One - looking forward to today's show,
although my single seat is not near Rust Row today. Regardless, it was
an amazing night and thanks to all the Rusties who introduced
themselves and welcomed me the group. It was a dream come true, not
only to be at BSB but to knowingly share it with other Rusties.

Cheers,
Bosco
~I am a lonely visitor, and I came to late to cause a stir