The part of Rockford that the show was in is a business district. Weekends are quiet. Spooky quiet. We got there around1:00 pm and found nothing to do. Walked around a bit and decided to get a beer.
J-Bears is a nice small bar run by a die-hard Bears fan. $1.50 drafts were nice. Had a few and decided to walk around some more. Turns out the boys were doing a sound check so we kinda slid in between a couple of trucks and watched. The MG people didn't care. They just asked us to stay off to the side and be quiet. The wife was really happy.
After an hour or so one of the event staff kicked us out. The wife noted that all the men that had asked us what we were doing there acepted the fact that one of the crew told us we could stay. The one woman to come by kicked us out.
As we left we ran into a couple from central Wisconsin. They too had come early expecting to find things to do. We pointed the way to J-Bears and off they went. We headed back to the car to get something and ran into 2 girls from Madison and another group from Addision. Talked for a minute and off we went to bar. Beer and Pizza soon ensued.
One of the girls from Madison, Kimberly, had won a meet and greet with the boys. The wife was really jealous but wished her well. For some reason Kim asked for our cell numbers.
We left the bar to go get an umbrella from the car as a drizzle was starting up. Ran into the girls again and they asked if we were headed back to the bar. Sure - why not?
At the bar Kimberly pulled the envelope out and was showing it to the wife. She asked her to listen closely as the instructions were very specific. It took a second for it to register. Kimberly gave the wife the meet and greet pass. What an Angel!
Kimberly is on the right. Turns out they are huge MG fans and have met them a few times. A random act of kindness for a total stranger. Made the wifes day. Mine too as I'm not going to be able to top this for the rest of year so no more shopping!
After we got into the park the wife headed off to the meet and greet. She said the boys were total gentleman. Eddie remembered her from the sound check and seemed upset that she had been kicked out when we being quiet. After a few autographs and pictures it was over.
The opening act was Paul Thorn. Great performance and excellent songs. Ended up buying his CD/DVD (watching the DVD right now). If he shows up in your area go see him.
The park where the show is held is right along the Rock River. Lots of boats came by to listen. Can't see anything but no doubt the music was good.
In case you're wondering - its the Stars and Guitars festival
And then it started...
Two hours later it was over. Excellent show. It seemed as if Eddie recognized the wife as he looked right at her and sang to her a couple of times.
Outside there were a couple of bikers on custom Harleys awaiting autographs. I don't think they got them. Shame as the bikes looked as nice as the girls...
And in case you don't know who sponsors Montgomery Gentry - take a guess.
Headed for home around 11:30. Talked to a cop and asked the best way home. He advised not taking the way we had come as it was, as he referred to it, a part of Hell. Instead we took Business 20, found a McDonalds to get a shake (one of 5 we passed before getting to the Tollway) and headed home.
A pretty good day.
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