Just got back in from the show. Driving the 6 hour trip from Richmond this morning, I kept thinking I had to be crazy. But now that the show is over, I have to say that it was well worth it. Can't wait 'til next weekend.

A few highlights:

1) Meeting Josh and Elliott by the buses before the concert. First hugs of the night, and they both seemed to remember me from the summer (or else were just very friendly and pretended well! At the very least, Elliott knew I was from Richmond - although the Ukrops bag may have been the giveaway!) I was wearing my Josh shirt, which seemed to please him a bit. Wish I'd thought of something clever to say, but like most everyone else, when I get around either of them, I turn into a dolt. (They're really looking forward to Norva BTW! Sounds like the venue really caters to the musicians.... don't know about other acts, but these guys deserve any pampering or whatever they want!)
2) Standing by the stage by a girl (upper teens I believe) whose mom had surprised her with tickets. She is apparently a HUGE Elliott fan from back to AI days, and this was her first time to see his solo show. Just seeing her reactions to everything was such a joy for me. Needless to say, she was NOT disappointed. Before the show started, she was not interested in the opening acts, but after Josh ended, she leaned over and was fanning herself, saying, " OMG, He's HOT!" She also loved TLG, but when Elliott took the stage, I recognized the obvious syndrome that we all experience... "The Elliott Zone" where the rest of the world just ceases to exist. There's just nothing else in the room except for that smile, that heart, that exuberance, the joy, and the voice.... oh the voice...(and yep, the jeans!)
3) Josh's set had some of my faves like Take it or Leave it, 360 and of course "Ain't No Sunshine"(but I was sad that Goodie Man wasn't in there... pooey.) But the new "Try" was drop-dead gorgous. Soulful, yearning kind of song. Almost made me cry. He was his typical charming, humorous self - just can't get enough of that! (Missed the Jagger moves tonight though:-(
Oh... instead of dedicating "Move That Body" to Elliott, he dedicated it to Russell, who was standing by the bar. Couldn't see his reaction, but I'm sure it was classic. VERY funny intro by Josh about this particular dedication. Imagine a low, smoky voice and Josh saying something along the lines of..."Hi, I'm Russell. I'm from Bangladesh and enjoy taking long walks on the beach, lap dogs.... etc." I think I got it on video. A text recap just doesn't do it justice. Too funny!
4) Seeing Russell smile several times throughout the night. (Of course, my camera turned the images into big blurs, so the moments will just have to live on, etched in my mind. So the quest continues for anyone to get some good smiling pix. Guy next to me told me I need to look for a camera with image stabilization.. Amen to that! Between the guys moving and my shaking, the possibilities of good pix are fairly remote. But I think I did get a few decent ones, mainly of Elliott, that I'll upload soon.
5) Listening to Elliott sing a few bars of Josh's "360" and TLG's "Pictures of You" when he was talking about them. Sounded GREAT. I just think it's so cool that all of these guys seem to truly enjoy and respect each other as musicans and as human beings. In an industry fraught with huge egos and even larger insecurities, it's very refreshing to see so many guys all celebrating each others' success.
6) Hearing Josh say that Elliott is going to do a DUET with him on his new album in the spring. WHOO! WHOO!!!!!! (I hope that wasn't a secret just for the Ashevillle crowd.)
7) Having Josh fix the flash on my camera after the show. How cool is that!!! Wonder if he can fix it so that I can get some clear pictures of the shows????
8) Some lady took a Last Goodnight poster to Josh and asked him to sign it. He pointed out to her that he wasn't actually in their band. She didn't care, so he signed and then drew a mustache on one of the guys and horns on another... and giggled. He cracks me up! (BTW, I was VERY pleasantly surprised by TLG - really enjoyed their set and to be honest, I didn't think that I would... but I really did! Drummer is a hoot! He came out wearing the fake mustache/glasses that I had dropped into one of the goodie bags I'd given to the guys. Didn't expect to see it on the stage! Figured they'd clown around with the stuff behind the scenes. Bass player is gorgeous!!! (But none of them are anything to sneeze at.... Met Curtis for a few moments at the merch table - wow! what a gracious guy! All of them seemed so appreciative of folks coming out, saying good things, etc.
9) Standing in line at the autograph table behind 2 little girls (around 4th/5th grade.... They had several Last Goodnight posters and were rather shy about asking for autographs. Well, the ball got rolling when Anton came over to them and offered to sign. Then I started pointing out the rest of the guys in the room, so it became a bit of a scavenger hunt for them while waiting for Elliott, and they discovered that all the guys loved signing for them! Very cute! Big kudos to TLG for their special care with the kids!
10) Elliott and the band looked sooooooooo happy tonight. Lots of laughing, dancing and carrying on. I love Aaron! (Both Goldsteins were having a blast, but Aaron in particular always looks as though he's on top of the world - his smile and energy are so contagious. This was my first time seeing Glen and Sway with the band, too. Great additions! Sway's voice sounds phenomenal - very nice complement to Elliott's! Glen didn't stop smiling all night - truly, everyone seemed to be in a fantastic mood!
11) Hearing sooo many people during and after the show raving about how good the entire concert was. Seemed like a lot of people hadn't seen Elliott since Idol and were just blown away. Why do I always feel like a proud mama?
12) Seeing his joyfulness continue... At one point, when everyone was yelling and clapping after one of his songs, he looked out and said, "Man, this part just NEVER gets old. Thank y'all so much." I'm just so amazingly tickled for him.
Elliott's stage presence just gets better every time I see him. The guy just lights up the room with that smile. STNT sounded amazing, and I really like the dancing that goes along with that!!! He also talked about the video for One Word.... said, "This is a real video ... and it's um... very sexy... I can't wait for y'all to see it", then chuckled and gave that that cute little mischievous smile with the eyebrows.

Anyway, all in all it was a very fun night. I think there are a lot of other details I'm leaving out, but this gives the overall gist of the evening. Packed house too, so I think it was a place they'd all like to come back to.

All of these guys are just top-notch. Love 'em all to pieces.
(Oh... BTW, when I was picking up my tix at the box office, I looked over at the newpaper boxes, and there was a full-page smiling Elliott on the cover of one of them! When I opened the box, it was empty, and it wasn't 'til I'd gotten down the road that I kicked myself for not pulling the display one out.... so I ran back down the sidewalk, hoping it was still there. My lucky day! So, right now, I'm sitting here staring at our cutie-pie, looking relaxed and giving me a big smile back! I think it might be from the same series of pics from the Target Christmas album cover. Sweet dreams are definitely in store tonight. And the newpaper also had a big story on Josh as well.) I don't have a scanner, but here's the online story on Elliott: http://www.take5online.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...ID=200771101080

Josh's http://www.take5online.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...ID=200771101079

And cool! I've just found that they've also got podcasts from both of our guys! Good going, Asheville!!!!! The podcasts are even better than the articles!!! They include music clips and the full interviews. Here's the link - look at the bottom right of the screen under Music and Entertainment Podcasts: http://www.take5online.com/apps/pbcs.dll/s...?Category=ENT02

Great Great Recap...Loved it....So Happy for You !!

Thanks so much for that awesome recap!!I feel like I watched the show with you...I am so happy you got to meet everyone...

really great recap! Thanks for that!!!

Great recap. You captured a lot of what I couldn't say about other times I've seen him. Josh's duet wasn't a secret, he mentioned it in Greensboro. But that's the first time I heard and I was at the Memphis and Birmingham shows.

Great recap!

Great recap. I wonder what Elliott really means by "sexy"? Did he bare some skin in the video or did the video focused too much on his eyelashes more (well he said these were sexiest parts of his body)?

Wheweee, great recap ithad2bu.

Ithad2BU... (They're really looking forward to Norva BTW! Sounds like the venue really caters to the musicians.... don't know about other acts, but these guys deserve any pampering or whatever they want!)

Nancy & I got that impression last week when we talked to the Hospitality & Catering manager at the Norva. He told us not to worry about feeding the guys...He is in charge of that and would make sure they all eat well.


Every new recap this week, is making me get more and more excited about the Norfolk show!!! It's finally going to happen!!!

A tid bit of "useless" information. I lived in Asheville, NC many, many years ago when my kids were very young. My husband "at the time" was transferred there with the company he was working for to build "The Billy Graham Retreat" located in Black Mountain. An absoulutely beautiful place to live...Loved it there!

Well only 8 days and counting!!!

Hugs & Blessings,

Theresa

Brilliant re-cap Ih2bu....thanks for sharing it with us.

thanks for the recap ithad2bu....fantastic! I love hearing about how the guys all interact with each other.

E and Josh asked if this was my only concert of this leg, and that it should be a great show tonight. I said no, that I was also planning on coming to Norva as well (and maybe a few others if I can work it out.) They both said they thought that was going to be a fabulous show and were looking forward to seeing everyone. One of the crew guys was there and Josh turned to him and said, "And that venue is awesome. They don't mess around - really take care of folks. Heard they've got hot tubs in the dressing room, man, spa treatments, food, the whole nine yards. It's gonna be great." Elliott smiled and said something like, "For real??" Then they all high-fived and clearly were excited about it... They also know that the crowd is going to be very excited to see them all, so they're jazzed about that!

Anyway, Josh ran onto the bus, and Elliott's friend Robcee from Richmond was there in the car near the buses, and I didn't want to intrude on their time together, so I waved at him and said it was good to see him again and got in the car to go attempt to find a parking spot. Elliott came over to the window and, once again, in that wonderful sweet way, grabbed my hand, thanked me for driving down and said he hoped I'd enjoy the show and was looking forward to seeing me next weekend as well. By then, I was a quivering mound of (very happy)cytoplasm, with a big ole goofy grin on my face a mile wide.


And Theresa... from what I can see, Asheville is a VERY cool town. Wish I had more time to explore. Debbie (mother that surprised her daughter with the tix) said that the Biltmore is amazing, but particularly at Christmas, so I'm thinking that there may be another road-trip in the future. Sure would be good if another concert presented itself that time of year!!!!
Saw a grocery store across the street from the venue that only carries organic stuff (they're talking my language there!). The Billy Graham Retreat is right down the street from my hotel - looks gorgeous. May try to at least drive through there before I head home today. Everyone I've met has been incredibly friendly - great vibe around here... oh, and I think it must be a law for everyone to have really cute, happy, friendly dogs. Must have seen 200 yesterday at various times down by the Orange Peel either in the afternoon while I was getting tickets, or while standing in line for the show. (No, they weren't in the venue, but all around..... Just had a thought - maybe they all read Audra's report on how her dog helped her to meet Elliott and they were trying the same tactic!!!!!

Thanks sooo much for the great recap. I'm glad you had such an awesome experience. Elliott , Russell, Josh and and all of the musicians are so talented and such genuine nice people. It feels so good to read about them and their intereaction with the fans. So few entertainers are so appreciative of the fans like that.

I'm looking forward to any pictures of Russell smiling . How could he not crack up at Josh. Josh is such a riot!

And of course we have Elliott's next video to look forward to.....

Loved your recap. Thanks for sharing. It was good to read that the tour is going so well for all of them. Must be great to tour with people that you like and respect.

Elliott should be very proud of his first year of solo touring. He is amazing. Russell is smiling more and more these days. Someone, someday, will capture a clear picture of it. lol. Yay for Josh and TLG too.

Glad that your 6-hour drive was worth it and that you got to talk to Elliott and Josh. Enjoy Norva.

Really enjoyed your recap ithad2bu.......

The part I idenified with most was:

"The Elliott Zone" where the rest of the world just ceases to exist. There's just nothing else in the room except for that smile, that heart, that exuberance, the joy, and the voice.... oh the voice...(and yep, the jeans!) :awe:

That is EXACTLY the way I felt Friday night in Greensboro!!!

See you next Sunday at the Norva.... :elliottporsche:

Carol!!! Great recap, so thrilled that you made a trip to Asheville for Elliott's concert. Haven't seen you around on the board and it is great to see you! I'm sure Elliott remembers you...the Oriole girl :)