Rock Never Stops in Cedar Rapids, IA

I wish I had a great opening sentence to describe just how much fun was had at the last stop of the Rock Never Stops tour. There are so many things to tell so I will just get started here.

Bonnie, Pete, and I left Des Moines about 2:15pm Sunday. Bonnie hadn't been to a rock concert in many years and Pete was just going along for the ride to Des Moines to meet a friend. Bonnie has a bit of a lead foot, thankfully, so we made great time getting to Cedar Rapids. We tried listening to a little music along the way, but we all had some great conversation along the way, mostly about what to expect at the show and the concert the previous night in Clear Lake. I was hoping we'd be able to find Steph easily, too. Steph has a knack for meeting people and I thought it would be cool if Steph and I were able to help make it interesting and fun for Bonnie. Bonnie grew up on this music and has since taken up family life and church life, so this could be a small step outside of her comfort zone. It would be interesting to see how much fun she'd have, especially with Steph and I trying to make sure we got to meet the bands.

Bonnie and I both brought cameras to the show. Mine was just a disposable and hers was an expensive digital camera with a great zoom on it. We were hoping that we'd get to use them, but when we arrived at the venue there was a sign that said No Cameras and they searched us. Mine just about got by, but a guy noticed the bulge in my pocket that the guy having me turn around missed. Yes, it was the camera and they asked me to take it to a table, pay a dollar, and have them hold onto it. Bonnie had her purse searched and they did the same to her. We turned them in and went and stood in line. The line wasn't really that long when we got in it, but it seemed to add up fast behind us. I kept a look out for Steph since I didn't see her in front of us. I knew she'd be able to get her camera in easily. Sure enough, we saw Steph come through and motioned for her to join us in line. It wasn't long after that they started letting us all in.

When we got inside, we quickly found the merch table and also noticed a couple of band members wandering around to the right side of the stage. Fred Coury (drummer for Cinderella) and Chuck Wright (bassist for Quiet Riot) were taking some time to look at the stage setup and see what kind of crowd was coming in the door. Other band members were walking around outside those dressing rooms and we did get a few autographs, but wished we could have gotten pictures. Steph was really going through a camera jones with all these missed opportunities.

Steph eventually started making some conversation with a security guard down front who said that they were allowing cameras in and we should go get ours. We thought he was joking at first, but he had just come out of a meeting where they said cameras were fine. Bonnie, Steph, and I hightailed it for the door so Bonnie and I could get our cameras and Steph was elated that she'd finally get to use hers. We were glad to have the cameras but very upset about the missed opportunities. So we did something about it. We were able to meet everyone except Bobby Blotzer and get autographs and pictures. We did this between sets and after the show.

First, the show. Firehouse was up first and for some strange reason there were socks all around the bass players rig and toothpaste in front of the kick drum. CJ came out to the first song brushing his teeth. Since it was the last night of the tour, the games were on. Lots of hijinks, but still a concentration on putting on a great show. I didn't get an entire setlist, but they did perform All She Wrote, Crash, Shake And Tumble, the first verse and chorus of When I Look Into Your Eyes, Love Of A Lifetime, Reach For The Sky, and Don't Treat Me Bad. During the first solo, Bill Leverty threw a pick out and I didn't see him do it. It landed perfectly on my chest and stuck there. Steph had seen it coming and we all had a laugh since it landed on me. Bill played the guitar briefly with a tube of toothpaste that Jeff Labar handed him and then dropped it to me at the end of the set. (Steph found out the socks had a story behind them about Al puking at some point in the tour and using a sock to do that in. Her version sounds better!) Firehouse then went out to do a signing in the merch area.

We went back to their table and got in line. Steph had gotten a toothpaste tube from CJ during their set so we both got them signed. I also had to tell Bill what a great pick thrower he is. They were quick, but in good moods as they took care of the line. We hung around for a while to see if we could get pictures, too, but they took off fast after they were done at the table. I think they had some plans for more jokes and pranks that night.

We watched Quiet Riot from the back, but I was still singing along. They put on such an energetic show and you can still feel Frankie hitting those drums from the back. That guy just pounds and it's great! Kevin is always working the crowd and really looked like he was having fun. I wish I had that much energy and I'm younger than he is! I can't remember the name of the opening song, but after that they performed Mama Weer All Crazee, Red Light Mama Red Hot, The Wild And The Young, Cum On Feel The Noize, and Metal Health. I'm continually in awe of Red Hot because they go into some other classics at the end of the song and then Frankie takes a solo. I love this part of the show. I did notice that after the drum solo that the pace of Wild And The Young was just a hair slower and the guitar riff had a little room to breath. I had mentioned this to Frankie before the show when I stopped him for a signature. He said they have tried a couple of speeds and it depends on the night. Tonight was awesome. I also shared that I like what they did with the harmony at the end of the chorus. Great song and tonight it didn't feel rushed at all. I love singing along with these guys. Now if only they'd invite me on stage some time. :)

Ratt is one of my favorite bands. Their CD Dancing Undercover gets so much play in my house that I've replaced it a couple of times already. Tonight there was no Dance or Nobody Rides For Free, but they rocked their set with a little more abandon than the night before. They opened with Wanted Dead Or Alive and went into one of my favorites, Slip Of The Lip. From there it was Way Cool Jr., Lack Of Communication, Lay It Down, You're In Love, Back 4 More, and Round And Round. Jizzy was in command once again and Warren and Bobby looked very excited throughout the show. Robbie was his usual insane self on stage and John was the consummate pro. Warren and John have their harmony parts down so well that they do it from opposite sides of the stage. After seeing Stephen a few weeks back and now Ratt, Ratt is in a better place by far. I'm just hoping they actually start putting some more music out. I talked to Warren briefly before he climbed on his bus and asked him what the plans were. I told him I knew that he had to be writing all the time and wondered when we'd hear it. He said he has about 4 albums worth in the can, but isn't sure how it will all come out. I'm looking forward to more Ratt N Roll!

Cinderella came out with the full show Sunday night. There was plenty of room and then some for this show. The crowd started going nuts when Welcome To The Jungle was played over the system. At the end of it the Cinderella intro hit, the curtain went up, and the purple lights started moving around. I'd had it verified that Fred Coury had put together this intro so I had paid even more attention to it since it is a great vibe. The set list was Night Songs, Last Mile, Somebody Save Me, Still Climbing, Push Push, Last Train, Coming Home, Fallin' Apart At The Seams, Shelter, Nobody's Fool, and Gypsy Road. Fred had a drum solo at the end of Fallin'. He used beats that everyone was getting into. Fred also made an impression coming out to harmonize with Tom earlier. The band used even more pyro for this show than in St. Joe and when the flames came shooting up, we all felt the heat. Cinderella used all of this and the lights to great effect in putting their songs across. After they left the stage, everyone was going nuts for more. It was very loud in that arena. The band came back on to do Don't Know What You've Got, complete with falling snow, and Shake Me. They were all very appreciative of the turn out and also took time to thank everyone for coming out. Tom then asked for the other bands to come to the stage. Since it was the last night of the tour, they thought it would be good to jam out on Jumpin' Jack Flash. Kevin Dubrow shared the lead with Tom on this and the stage turned into a party. Warren was playing guitar, too, and Fred jumped down to let Frankie hit the skins. There were several bottles of champagne and Robbie Crane was passing around a huge jug of Jim Beam. It was nuts, but still sounded great.

After the show, Steph, Bonnie, and I hung around for a while inside. We were hoping to catch a few of the artists for more pictures and autographs. When the place was pretty much cleared out and we saw people heading for the doors, we decided to do the same. Once outside, we followed Steph around to where the semis were loading. There was a small group of people waiting with cameras and things to sign so we went over by them to see what we could see. We stuck around for a long time! We got a few autographs and saw the Ratt bus leave. I wasn't sure if we were going to see John and Warren, but we did. We also were sure that the Firehouse bus was ready to pull away, but it stayed there and Michael Foster came outside with his beer. He was nice enough to let us get a picture and he went back on the bus. After a while, he returned and saw us still standing there. He said, "You guys are hard core!" We asked him to try to get CJ and Bill to come out. He disappeared and brought CJ out. CJ had a little champagne and it was obvious. He was in a great mood and very funny. He took the pictures and signed things for us.

I have to tell you a funny story about CJ. He was tipsy and smiling and I pointed out that his bottle of Aquafina wasn't the only bottle he'd been hitting that night. He just smiled and made a comment about not telling. The funny part was when he went to leave. He reached for Steph's hand and gave it a kiss. Then he reached out to shake my hand. The way he grabbed it made me wondering if he was going to do the same to me. I said, "You're not going to kiss that, are you?" He then proceeded to do it! CJ Snare actually kissed my hand! What a little fruit! I even tried to pull it back and he kept going! Geez, that was hilarious to me and a little embarrassing. We had a pretty good laugh about that one.

We then waited for Eric and Tom to come by. Eric walked by us and didn't look at our group. We figured if he wanted to stop, he would. Soon Tom appeared seemingly out of nowhere. This was the one we thought we'd never get. We hadn't seen Tom before or after the show and figured he was probably on the bus. I'd even mentioned to Steph that Bonnie was ready to head out and Bonnie had gone to the car earlier. We were running out of batteries and film and were there for a long time. I thought for sure we were done, but told Steph I'd stick around until she was ready to take off. Steph's feet were killing her and it was hard for me to stand, too. It was hard for me to sit since my knees were hurting, too. Thankfully, Steph's persistence paid off yet again and we were getting our pictures with Tom. Since he was pretty much the last one we were waiting for we decided to head down the street and see if we could catch Eric on the way out. It looked like Inga was talking to someone and sure enough it was Eric. We were fortunate enough to have Inga making sure that Eric signed our stuff and took one group picture. We almost didn't get that picture since Bonnie's batteries were dead, Steph's camera had the last bit of juice squeezed out of it, and I was out of film on mine. Fortunately, Pete happened around the corner at this time and ran back to get Bonnie's camera to see if we could get another picture out of it. It worked!! We were so excited. Steph had just one more photo to go to make her Cinderella night complete. She needed Jeff's picture. Inga had invited us down the street to the bar where Firehouse and Cinderella were doing some festive after show activities. We took Bonnie's camera and ran to the bar to get this last photo. When we got inside, Jeff had just finished signing some things for a group of people and then just turned, put his arm around Steph and kissed her cheek and started singing. I took two shots of that going on because it was just a timeless moment and Steph just had this surprised look on her face combined with the biggest smile. (She has posted those pictures, so I have to refer you to her site to see them. They are classic!)

This made our night and topped off one fantastic evening. I walked Steph to her car and she put on her tennis shoes there. She was only 20 minutes away from home and said she was going to a nearby gas station to grab a disposable camera and come back for more pictures. If I had driven or was with some people that didn't have to work the next day like me, I would have joined her. She got a couple more great stories and pictures out of the night. My night was over and I hopped in Bonnie's car to head back. Of course, we spent the drive home talking about all the fun things we did that night and couldn't wait to see all the pictures.

This concert rates pretty high on my list, but the time had was the best. Thanks to Bonnie and Steph for the wonderful time and pictures! I hope we get to do it again soon!