Nissan Pavilion July 29, 2002

The key word for the day, HOT!!! A few days before the concert the weather had been nice enough to turn off the A/C and throw open the windows. But as luck would have it, such was not the case for July 29. My friend Duane called before Valerie, Heather and I left for the concert and asked if I wanted to know the temperature I said,"No way, please don't tell me!" I would not even tune in to the local weather channel for if I found out how hot it actually was, I would have had to cancel my plans to attend Area 2. In case you don't know me..I HATE THE HEAT!! (I did find out from Duane the next day that the temp was a scorching 99 degrees coupled with the humidity it was a steamy 110 degrees!!)

Luckily the girls and I were lazy that day and decided we wouldn't be leaving until around 4ish-cutting out a few hours of the hottest part of the day. The concert area was to open around 2:00 PM but the actual concert would not be starting until almost 4:00 PM. Being that the Blue Man Group was not going to be on stage until 5:00 PM we didn't feel the need to rush (no offense to Ash or the DJ Tent).

We walked out the door around 4:15 PM into a BLAST FURNACE!! Truthfully I almost turned around to seek the cool refuge of my domicile, BUT the need for a Bowie fix was too overwhelming. It took us about 40 minutes to get to Nissan and then another 10 minutes (or so) to reach the gates from our fine parking space out in the north 40. There is something to be said about leaving early to get a closer space BUT on the other hand it only took us mere minutes to leave the parking lot. It was nice not to have to play a game of chicken with the other cars for 45 minutes to reach the goal....EXIT (stage left)!

I am not impressed with Nissan's policies/regulations on beverages. I brought my own bottles of water to the concert only to find out they are not allowed. I had to leave what was left of my water (and I guzzled most of it before entering) sitting on a garbage can as I was being frisked and my bag searched. I suppose besides the usual drugs, guns, booze, photographic equipment and other items not allowed they were looking for more of that evil contraband, H2O!! Truthfully it is because they want to soak you (pardon the pun) or shall I say squeeze out your hard earned $4.00 for one bottle of water. I can purchase a case at the local grocers for that price. Maybe they charge that much so you will buy beer instead. I mean who wants to pay $4.00 for water when they can get a beer for probably the same price or less!! Geesh....(ok enough of my bitching)

Our seats weren't as bad as I thought they would be (I could of had much better seats purchased through BOWIENET but I was having problems with my mail server and didn't get the Email until a day after they went on sale, d'oh). We were in the last row of the second section (Pavilion consists of four sections plus "lawn seating") and on the end. No one showed up to claim in the seats directly in front of us so we didn't have the usual problems associated with going to concerts, such as: The inevitable "too tall" guy which then causes the "standing on your toes to see the already mini animated musicians on stage" problem. And not to forget the "I have to have a beer every twenty minutes (and pee it out every ten minutes) or I don't enjoy the concert problem". (ok enough of my bitching AGAIN)

Blue Man group were already performing when we sat down. They only played about 20 minutes and I am sorry I missed all of their performance. THEY were fantastic!! I liked them so much I went out the next day to buy their CD and it was sold out. They say there will be a new one coming out this Fall!! I now could kick myself for not seeing them when I visited Vegas! But they are still performing in New York and the next time I am up there I plan on getting tickets.

Busta Rhymes was the next performer on stage. Unfortunately by then it was sweltering and I needed to re-hydrate myself as all the water I consumed quickly at the gate felt the need to escape the confines of my body and attach to my clothes. So it was off to purchase (grumbling under my breath) a lovely $4.00 bottle of water (hmmmm tastes suspiciously like a .99 bottle of water). The girls wanted to get some "dinner" and then it was off to check out the DJ Tent and the new "Element" drinks. By the time we got back to our seats Busta was gone. BUT we found out Bowie was next and all of a sudden it didn't matter that our skin was melting from our bodies..HAHA!

Bowie was grand, as usual. I was hoping that since it was starting to get a little dark they would turn on the big screen as both Valerie and I were having a hard time seeing him. I turned to the girls and said, "Man I wish they would turn on the damn screens!!" Not a minute later it was on with Bowie larger than life! As per the norm I cannot remember all of the songs he sang, but to name a few - China Girl, Let's Dance, Ashes to Ashes, Slip Away, Fame, ZIGGY STARDUST, I Would Be Your Slave, Heathen, Heroes, I'm Afraid of Americans, I've Been Waiting For You and Cactus.

Last out was Moby - WHAT A TRIP!! Where does he get all of that energy? It was like watching a game of tennis when your trying to keep your eye on the ball. He was fantastic! All in all a great concert, well except for the heat!!

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