Terri and I went to the Godsmack concert last night at the Verizon Wireless in downtown Houston. It was insane. We got there a few hours early and waited in line. It was a long wait in the rain, so when they finally opened the door we where glad to get inside. Terri headed straight for the bar to get us some drinks and I bumrushed the stage to get us good seats. Our strategy worked as you can see from the pics.

The opening act was Dine Alone. Those guys were off the chain. The bass player was a nutball, kind of reminded me of Fieldy from Korn. They won a poll on 94.5 The Buzz to open for Godsmack. Terri and I met them after the show, they were really cool and very thankful to be in the position they were in. I picked up one of their CD’s so I’ll post a review later when I get a chance.

After Dine Alone finished up their set Godsmack stormed the stage to “The Enemy”. They were so loud. Terri and I were right in front of a subwoofer. It almost blew our clothes off. Godsmack had a great set. They played songs from all IV of there albums. The best for me was of course “Moon Baby” and for Terri it was “Keep Away”. The crowd was wild. They were moshing and throwing people everywhere. Security must have “rescued” 150 people. They even threw up some old guy. He had a grin on his face from ear to ear. Godsmack closed the show with “I Stand Alone” which brought the crowd to a frenzy. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. What a show!

After the concert Terri and I went over to the Hard Rock and had dinner then we were off to the house.

BTW, I couldn’t move my neck this morning. Too much violent headbanging?

We just got back from seeing Live Free or Die Hard. It was friggin great. Finally a tech movie that uses real (private) IP’s instead of freakin’ phone numbers (pun intended). You geeks out there will know what I mean. I thought it tied up the series nicely. John McClane kicks arse…

Tomorrow is GODSMACK BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to Chicago again last week. Here are some pics. We went for an executive briefing with Panduit. I went with the goddess, the Coolest, and the Lightest from Baylor. And from Panduit there was Cliff and Greg (really great guys). They had some really neat and innovative products.

While we were there we were treated like kings. They flew us up to Chicago on Wednesday and picked us up in a Limo at the airport. From there we went to the Panduit EBC and were given a tour of the manufacturing facility. Then it was off to the Hotel. We stayed at the Chicago Marriott on the Magnificent Mile. The rooms were awesome. That evening we ate at Gibson’s Steakhouse. It was really good. It’s now my number three steak behind Ruth’s Chris and Vic & Anthony’s. We also had drinks at the Signature Lounge located atop the John Hancock Center on the 95th floor. The veiw is unbelievable. It was a good day.

The next day we returned to the EBC and had meetings all day with the Panduit Engineers. It was a great learning experience. That night we headed out to see Chicago again. We started at Murphy’s Bleachers. What a cool place, steeped in Cub tradition. Did I mention it was right across the street from Wrigley Field. Next we went to the Navy Pier and watched some live music. After that we went to Pizano’s Pizza….The absolute best pizza I have had in my entire life. If you ever get close to this place I suggest you stop on in and ask for the Rudy’s Special. We ended the night at Timothy O’Tools. It was an underground bar near the hotel. We had a good time there.

We flew back in to Houston on Friday morning. All in all in was a great trip. I love the city of Chicago. I will definitely return.