Once doors open all the early kids went straight to the front on the stage. By the time we were done eating there were already 100 people in the listening room. Scratch Track started and the crowd loved them. I started to get a little nervous, not about the constantly growing crowd but rather about following Scratch Track. They were very entertaining. After their short set we were up on stage and getting ready for ours. I had never played to a crowd like that before; the whole stage lined with kids ready to hear music...as far as I could see with the lights. We were ready to go at around 9:50 so we went back stage and waited to make an entrance. Chad and I spoke to a girl who was traveling with Scratch Track or Will, not really sure. She wanted to get us up to Nashville but we all know how that goes. The five minute wait was short and then the door opened and we were on stage.

The crowd had grown to around 400 plus people, it was a great. We strapped on our instruments and went right into "Monster." There were groups of people who were having a good time and getting into the music, they were rocking along with us. On the other hand there were a few who were there just to see Will. "The Century" followed to help get people into the groove. While not on guitar I went from one side of the stage to the other looking for familiar faces. I found Matt Loflin to the right of the stage taking pictures, Melissa's camera emerged from the mass of people every now and then to snap a shot. "Halley" changed the pace and I could tell that the crowd dug it. That song has an emotional power to it that can't be explained. People always connected with that song and this night was no exception. The newer song, "On My Side," followed with its upbeat groove. Some of the people up front really got into the song, swaying from side to side with each bar. "Home (The John Lennon Song)" lightened the mood a little more. I tried to watch to see how people reacted to the song. The 'double fantasy' line got a number of screams and I felt like people know what I was singing about even though the words don't make much since. "Reason for Living" snapped everyone back into 'rock' mode. We played the song way too fast, I guess it was all the energy from the night that sped it up. For many weeks I had hoped that we would be able to do a new song at this show. There had been two songs that we had been working on back at the end of 2004. Both songs were written around bass lines brought in by Bob. One harder Tool-like riff that we had down but never got a chance to play live and another synth based song that came together rather quickly in practice. At rehearsal earlier that day, Rusty and I both said that we should do the new synth song. So we ran through it a few times and later played it on stage for the first (and last) time. The song was a huge departure from others we had written. When we played it there was a feeling in the air. It was very whymsical flowing song and the high chorus ripped through the flow and took the audience by surprise. The end of the song then beat down with emotion. It was very powerful and flowing with it's light to heavy tension throughout the song. I saw smiles on people's faces, they really liked it. "Eight Minutes from the Sun" brought the audience back from their trance. Rusty's guitar had some tech problems and my guitar had to cover the song as much as possible. Luckily enough I had decided to play electric. It was a little weird but it came together well by the end. "Frail" and "Shooting Star" followed. "Frail" was a really great song. It had this slow groove and a great melody, unlike anything else we had ever done. I could tell people enjoyed it. "Shooting Star" then faded in with it's Placebo'esque guitar intro, that got the crowd going every time. I always tried to be as 70s cheesy as possible with that song on stage. It always reminded me of Aladdin Sane Bowie era music, pointing into the audience as I screamed "You just don't know who you are." Rusty's high backing vocals cut through and took the song back in time. By this time the crowd had grown to over 500 people, we completely sold the Handlebar out! We were playing to a huge crowd as Chad took the mic and announced that I was leaving the band, he told the crowd to show some love as we play the last song..."Fire." The audience screamed as we went into the song; Rusty armed with my Tele and I loosing my voice with every note. We all worked the audience one last time. After the last note was played everyone hugged on stage as the crowd screamed and got excited about seeing Will Hoge.

I like to think that without us it would have not been a sold out show. With Will's popularity and the marquee value of ROTD's last show, we came together to bring 520 plus people out for the night. It totally rocked and I will never forget it. After the show I walked around the crowd and spoke with a few people. Local hero, Edwin McCain, was at the show along with Doug Jones of Cravin' Mellon fame, a band I followed for years when I was a kid. It was a full-circle moment for me. I remember seeing Cravin' Mellon at a Manifest in-store and thinking, "I want to do that." Now I was on stage and he was in the audience. It made me realize that I had achieved everything I set out for so many years ago.