August 8th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

Yesterday was really fun.  Matt and I, in a fit of spontaneity, decided we were going to go to the Linkin Park concert.  At an outdoor amphitheatre.  In August.  In Phoenix.

. . .

Yeah.  It was hot.  And SO fun.  I felt like a kid again.  Chris Cornell (of Soundgarden and Audioslave) was the only opening act we caught (the show had been going since 2 pm.  In 110 degree weather.  YIKES!) and, while I was never a big Soundgarden OR Audioslave fan, I must admit that I like me some Chris Cornell.  Good stuff.

After Chris, there was a half hour break while Linkin Park set up.  I ran and bought a $5 Diet Coke (!?!?!? how do people afford to get drunk at these things when just the Diet Coke costs $5?) and ran to the restroom.  Just as I made it back under the roof of the amphitheatre, it started raining.  No, that doesn’t cover it.  It started POURING.  It was a full on monsoon with lightening, thunder and torrential rain.  And it was SO cool.  People were coming back to their seats looking like they had been drowned.  The boiling hot crowd out on the lawn were cheering with joy and screaming for more.  The people under the roof were getting misted when the gusts of wind blew the rain sideways.  And that’s about the time Linkin Park came on stage.

The show would have been amazing by itself, but coupled with the rain, thunder and lightening, it was incredible.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like that.  The band played for an hour and a half and Matt and I kept looking at each other and laughing because EVERY song was fantastic and one that we loved and they are GOOD live.  Not a big mess like most acts seem to be.  They sounded so much like their albums.

When the rain stopped and the crowd became a hot, muggy, sweaty, pulsating  mass of humans.  I was completely enveloped in the experience.

We got home at midnight, ears ringing, and went right to bed.

Today, I think I have a hangover.  Splitting headache.  Ringing ears.  Tired body . . . yikes.  I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I had actually been drinking!

I’m too old for this stuff . . . but I still love it.