Crawfish Boil & my Goo Goo Dolls

The day after I got back from DC (Saturday), Neeley and I headed to downtown Bham for the Crawfish Boil. Now, I don't eat crawfish and I was still weary from my journey. But I couldn't pass up a night with Neeley, VIP tickets, and a chance to see my beloved Goo Goo Dolls. We got there in time to hear the end of the B-52s. They were...odd. Really odd. "Love Shack" was fun, but the rest was pretty weird. Train was a lot of fun, and I was excited to hear "Hey, Soul Sister" (which I think is one of the happiest songs ever recorded). The real draw, though, was the Goo Goo Dolls.

I need to preface this with a little background info. I remember Daddy taking Daniel and me to the music store when we were kids, and he told us we could buy one CD (which was still an exciting, newfangled gadget at that time). We had to agree on it, though, so I'm sure Daddy was laughing to himself thinking he was off the hook. Daniel and I didn't agree on anything. Ever. Ever ever. Daniel found "A Boy Named Goo" and we listened to it on the little preview thing (fighting over the headphones the whole time, I'm sure). Surprise...we both liked it! Daddy balked at buying it because there was a partially naked baby on the cover. (We won't even get into all the nakedness on those Pink Floyd covers and posters he loves so much...somehow naked's okay when the Floyd does it.) We begged and he bought it...I think I was 10. Fifteen years later, I'm still hooked. I know every word to just about every song. When I heard they were coming to Bham, I knew hell or high water wouldn't keep me away. Especially high water...that's what boats are for.

Neeley knew someone who was doing the sound for the Crawfish Boil so we watched the Goo Goo Dolls from under the sound tent. That was exciting enough, but then Neeley's friend told us she could take us up to the stage for a little while. We grabbed our cameras and made our way up the aisle to the stage. I. About. Died. There he was, singing "Black Balloon". John Rzeznik. With his way-cool hair, in his way-cool jeans, strumming his way-cool guitar. We took about a million pictures and died a thousand deaths when he walked over to us and smiled at us. The Goo Goo Dolls were incredible. They played enough new stuff to make me want to buy their new CD this summer, and enough old stuff to make my heart happy. I loved every single, solitary second. I need to create a bucket list just so I can cross this off!