May 16, 1997
The concert started right on time, 7:30. The lights went out and the crowd screamed immediately. Everyone's heart started racing even though it was only the opening band. Onstage was a band called "The Vandals". They played a few songs and then said it was their friend's birthday. A girl with a cake came onstage and their friend blew the candles out. The cake fell flat on the floor and the singer started laughing. During their next song he picked up some off the floor and threw it at the audience. They continued to play for another 20 minutes until "CIV" came. CIV was pretty good too; they sounded similar to the Vandals. The lead singer was constantly jumping around and dancing so it wasn't too boring. But the audience wasn't on their feet yet; it would take a higher power to do that. The lead singer said they had a couple more songs until they were finished. He said he needed to waste some time so he wanted everyone to do the wave. That looked really cool and the lights made it even better. The band started into the beginning to "Summer Days" from Grease. Then the audience started screaming. Suddenly, next to the lead singer was Gwen smiling. She sang the girls part and might I add, it sounded really great. After that song was over CIV played a couple more songs and then the fun began. After a few minutes of setting up the lights went out. The distant sound of buzzing bees could be heard. Fog started rolling over the stage and the beginning introduction to "Tragic Kingdom" started. The lights flashed on and they started. Everyone screamed louder than they probably thought they could. Gwen was wearing a black feathery jacket and her hair was up. Adrian already had his shirt off and Tony and Tom were busy blasting away at their guitars. The initial shock didn't start yet. It wasn't until the middle of the concert that I started thinking about the fact that not too far away from me were four infamous people that have been on magazine covers, MTV videos, Grammy Awards, everywhere! I guess until you actually see a band in concert you never realize that they are regular people who really exist in other places besides California. They played most of their songs from Tragic Kingdom and in the middle they played the Star Wars theme. After a few songs Gwen started talking. Her voice sounded better than hearing it over a radio or TV. It was a childish hypnotizing voice that everyone there loved to hear. She said she wanted everyone to jump and the way everyone was screaming, she could have asked them to jump off a bridge and 7,000 screaming fans would've gladly taken the plunge. They started playing "Just a Girl" and once again a deafening blend of screams filled the arena.
Halfway into the song she asked if there were any guys there, and they all screamed. She had them sing three lines, "I'm just a girl, I'm just a girl, I'm just a sweet little girl" which was funny to hear guys sing. Next she asked if the girls wanted to sing. The screams escalated way beyond the volume of Gwen. We sang "Fuck you I'm a girl" three times and she laughed. They continued with the song and played "Move On" from their first album.
They played "Hey You" but it was a more acoustic version, it sounded really good. All of their songs sounded just as good as their CD. They also played Total Hate, which I had never heard before but it was still really great. Towards the end they played Sunday Morning. In the middle she stopped singing and went over to Tony. She put him in a headlock and had him sit down in the front of the stage. Next she went to Tom and pulled him by his ear and had him sit next to Tony. She got the keyboard player too and she got a piggyback ride from Gabe McNair. She waited a minute until everyone stopped screaming. Then she looked at everyone and asked, "Do you know who this is?" pointing to Gabe. The crowd paused a little while; feeling kind of embarrassed at not knowing his name. She asked in surprised voice "You don't know who this is?? This is (in a sport announcer's voice) Gabe…. McNair!" Then everyone started yelling once again. She announced all of them and of course Tom and Tony got the most applause. When Tom was announced he put his guitar behind his back on his shoulders and played a little, showing off to the screaming fans. Then they continued with the rest of Sunday Morning.
I knew it was going to be over soon, sadly enough, but they still hadn't played their other huge hit, Spiderwebs. They finished and said thanks to everyone. The lights went out and a screaming fit started. That lasted for a few minutes until faint shadows walked back onstage. They said thanks once again and Adrian played his drum roll beginning to Spiderwebs. This being my favorite song instantly put a huge smile on my face (well, made the one already there a little bigger). When they went into the chorus everyone jumped as one. That's when my ankle, feet, and stomach started to hurt from jumping to half of their songs. Their last song was Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da. Since I love the Beatles this only made it cooler. She said in the middle of the song that the guy from Offspring was there, so he came up and started dancing with the rest of them. While Gwen and the audience sang the band started rolling around and dancing.
Despite my wishes, the song ended and that was it. They said goodnight and thanks. The lights came back on. I watched them leave the stage. Finally, after 50 days of counting down to that night, it was all over.
I was dizzy, my stomach ached from hunger and continuous jumping, my feet were very sore, my ankle felt like it was broken, I barely had a voice left, I couldn't hear a thing, and my face was covered in sweat. I guess those are all signs that it was a great concert. I doubt I will ever see a better concert, unless it's them again. All in all, it was the best night in my life.
--Laura Robeson--
