Second Show, Same As The First

State Theatre (show #2)
Easton, PA
February 5, 2000

For the second show, Christina and I were sitting in the center, but towards the back of the theater. The seats were still good though. That's what's nice about the size of the venues that Al plays in. Every seat is a good seat. The second show was really good but I decided not to take any pictures until after the show, and even then, I didn't take many.

Al seemed energized, and it appeared that the band was as well. One of the funnier moments happened in "Like A Surgeon" when mid-song, someone from offstage walks up to Rubén and hands him a note. He reads the note and then promptly turns around and zipped his fly! That's really funny! During "Saga Begins," for some strange unknown reason, Steve started waving his hands around as if he was conducting an orchestra. He took off his robe and tossed it on the head of one of the stage crew.

After the show, Steve was hanging around on the stage so Christina and I got his attention and he came over. I showed him the tattoo and he liked it. We talked for a little bit and we compared hand sizes. Steve has a really big hand and big fingers. I showed him that I can do that weird hand bent backwards thing that he does. He can also bend his finger forward at the top knuckle while doing it, but I can't.

Jon came out and we chatted a little bit. As a joke, I had a really poorly drawn picture of Jim West drawn on me. It was basically a smiley face with curly hair. I showed it to Jon and he started laughing. He said it looked like Rubén. Poor Jon had gotten little sleep the night before because of the early hour he had to get up for the long bus ride.

I went over to say "Hi" to Al, and he read my shirt and said he knew I was Elvis. Oh well, guess my cover is blown! I showed the fake tattoo to Al and at first Al started laughing and then all of a sudden he stopped, and this look of fear went across his face. He thought I really had it tattooed on. The look of relief on his face when I told him it was only a joke was priceless.

Al asked if I was going to be at any other shows and I said I'd be at the Beacon Theater, but from then I didn't have any planned. He told Christina that they would probably put "Smells Like Nirvana" back into the setlist for the Beacon. I got a really nice picture of myself and Al.

Unfortunately, the staff at the theater wasn't letting people hang around so we had to leave. I later heard that there was a crowd outside, but the theater threatened to call the police unless everyone disbanded and went home. I guess it was a long day for everyone working and they just felt like getting some rest.

Trying to find the highway was a trip in itself. The signs led us all over the place. We even witnessed a drunk driver hit a parked car and, thankfully, he broke his axle in the process so he couldn't do any more damage. Luckily no one was hurt, and we made it home safely.