Ouch (or, what happened on Monday)

Yes, yes.  I know you want to hear about the show.  In a second.

Yesterday morning, I had my second of six personal training sessions at the gym (they came with my membership package).  I'm a little sore this morning.  And by "a little sore," I mean "my hamstrings are so tight, I can barely bend at the waist."  I'll be going back to the gym in a little bit because, if I don't warm back up and purge some of the lactic acid built up in my muscles, I'm sure I won't be able to move my lower body tomorrow morning.

OK, on to the show.  Well, the rumors weren't exactly right.

The actual lineup (in reverse order of performance):
Your headliners for the day:  The Eagles
To satisfy the hip-hop set:  The Black-Eyed Peas
A living legend:  Bob Dylan
The surprise act:  The Foo Fighters

Damn.  What a fucking awesome day.

First off, you have to remember that there were something like twenty thousand (20,000) people there.  The complex stretched over a few parking lots, with food and some bleacher seating in the back and a very large open area in front of the stage.  Nice large stage, set up with San Francisco Bay in the background, and large (maybe 30') videoscreens on either side.  There was another 30' screen in front of the bleachers and a few other, smaller (10') screens scattered about the food area.

The Stella flowed like water.  The Bud Light flowed like water.  The bottled water flowed like water.  The sausages and tortilla chips didn't flow nearly fast enough, as it seemed like there was a feeding frenzy and mini-riot every time a new tray of food was set down.  The lines for salad, mini-black bean burritos and stir-fry were less long, but probably because the food wasn't as good.  There were carts giving out corndogs, churros and ice cream.  Each cart had four lines radiating out from it:  the two lines of people waiting for food, the line of assholes who didn't want to wait in the normal lines and formed their own, and the line of helpers bringing in more food and taking away empty boxes.

All in all, though, a really fun day.

Brandy finally got to see the Foos play their acoustic set which, although abbreviated, was just as good as the Berkeley show.  And the stage setup was exactly the same.  If I'd gotten a chance to look at the stage before the whole thing started, I would've called it.  As it was, our little group of merrymakers rushed to the front after Brandy saw Dave Grohl standing behind the CEO as he made his opening remarks.

What can you say about Bob Dylan?  Other than the fact that he looks really old now, he was great.  His voice was in fine form.  The backing band was tight.  He played "Like a Rolling Stone."  Unfortunately, he played keyboards the whole time and only busted out the harmonica once.  But now I've seen him play live.  Cool.

The Black Eyed Peas?  Nice show.  A little singing, a little rapping, a little dancing, a lot of the camera guys focusing in on Fergie.  I don't blame them a single bit.  Damn, that girl's abs are amazing.  A little frightening, actually.  And they were running over time, so the Peas busted out a double-time version of "Let's Get Retarded" to close their set.

I've never been a huge Eagles fan.  In fact, I don't own a single Eagles album (which, for those of you who have seen my CD collection, is saying something).  I'll have to get the Greatest Hits disc soon.  It's not like I was unaware of how many hits these guys have had, but you hear them on the radio all the time.  However, I'm really glad I got to see them live.

They played most of the hits (no "Desperado") and some of the solo works of Don Henley ("Boys of Summer" and "Dirty Laundry") and Joe Walsh ("Life's Been Good" and "Funk No. 49"), although Glenn Frey's "The Heat Is On" was conspicuously absent - probably for good reason.  They, of course, encored with "Hotel California," going back to the original version instead of the flamenco guitar-tinged version from Unplugged.  Very nice.

Can't wait for the next party.  I'm pretty sure that to top this one, they'll have to have The Stones and The Beatles (after resurrecting John and George).