I love uptown charlotte. I love walking the streets, as the stars come out, a nice cool breeze blowing.

at first we weren't sure if we were going to get to go to the concerts. but last minute, it was a go.

i have to say, it was cool, because the day before i told z that we didn't think we were going to get to go and he should see if he could go with one of his friends. the next day, he had lined up a ride, but when we realized we were going to get to go, he said he'd rather go with us, and did. too cool, and kind of weird that your teenaged kid would rather hang out with his parents. of course he reminded us that we weren't "normal" parents.

we got there at dusk(that's the photo up top, the first one i took, immediately after i got out of the hoopty). and the streets were already full. this year they expanded the blocked off areas, because over the last few years, the crowds kept growing.

we ended up going to the other side of uptown. the budweiser stage, where both three days grace and staind were playing, was down third street (we parked off of 10th street) and back towards graham. we found a high spot, where we had an awesome view of the stage, tho we weren't very close, but that's ok, because i hate being stuck in a concert crowd. it's usually sweltering and there's little space to move.

three days grace was great, and cc couldn't recall who they were until she heard a few of their songs. now she's a fan.

but of course, the highlight of the night was staind. just as impressive as i imagined they'd be, and a lot harder in many of their songs than what they sang on the "true colors" "it's been awhile" album.

on top of that, he did my favorite, i mean favorite pearl jam song, "black" and did a damn fine job of it too. here's cc and z enjoying the show (my two bleached blondes...lol). the red light in the background is coming from the stage.





one of the things i love about going to concerts, and especially where we stood, is i love to see the crowd jump and pulse in unison. this isn't the best pic, unfortunately, most of them came out really blurry(damn photographer!), but the crowd fills not only the lighted area in front of the stage, but all of the black areas as well to the bottom of the pic are people, lots and lots of them. the orange dots a little over midway up in the pic were people sitting on railroad cars. they said we broke a record, with the most people ever to fill uptown for a speed street concert(of course, it was STAIND and young and old alike where there) they're in a parking lot, believe it or not, and it stretched nearly a city block. we were standing on the other side of one street. the white lights towards the back, towards the top of the pic, is the panther's stadium.






as usually happens when you let people roam the streets drinking beer, there were many drunk folks (i remember my first beer too). i lost my id about a month ago or so and haven't gotten a new one, so i couldn't get an armband. but, unbelievably, they let people buy two, three, four, and five beers at a time, so first cc bought me one, and then mark bought me one. that was all i needed.

we saw some interesting things, a fight or two, and people who got heat exaustion from being in the crowd.

all in all, it was a great night!