Ok, bottom line is the show ROCKED !!!!! It was so cool to finally meet Sammy. He came up to my son & I and gave Ryan a double high five to start with. He then signed what we had brought for him to sign and then we got 2 pics with him. He came up and wrapped his arm around Ryan and I and signed " I Love You " with both hands. I didn't even have to teach him any sign language, although I had planned on teaching that one :-).

The MNG was so fast that I never got to ask him any questions. The people at the venue screwed up the list that Liza had sent them and didn't have our names on the list. Let me tell you, I can be a very persistent ( expletive deleted ) diplomat when I need to be. Luckily Liza had emailed me with the info I needed and I took it in my own hands and did a little name dropping. I went from one place to the next and dealt with everybody's supervisor, but I got in!!!!

When Sammy was signing my programs, I told him I was a big fan since I first saw him in 1976 and this was my 16th time to see him live. he signed my program " Ron...21 yea ! ". I looked at this later and thought, why did he right 21 when I said it was my 16th time?? 5 hours later on the drive home a light bulb lite up in my head. I have seen him perform live for 21 years.

The next thing I knew, there was this drop dead beautiful blonde asking where the list people were. It was Liza, the wonderful lady who has worked so hard on the Red Rocker web site, and also responsible for my getting to meet Sammy.

A group of us chatted on the backstage area for a while. There was this one guy named John who was from Seattle who has seen Sammy perform more than 90 times !!!!!!!!! And I thought my 16 times was impressive, but I took a back seat in that department real quick. We also enjoyed the company of Karen & Rick ( RedRokette ). A fine couple who were very friendly.

Next Sammy was escorted out of the compound and down the hill to the stage. We went right behind him to go see the show. I got down there and couldn't find our interpreter. I started talking with security again and going through that hassle all over again. Tim ( the interpreter ) told me earlier in the week that they would set him up right along side the stage. They put him way out on the back side of the platform for the mixing boards. That sucked !!!

I forced my way down into the mosh pit to try and get a few pictures with the disposable camera I had my son sneek in (took an ace bandage and wrapped it up on his inner thigh, covered with those huge baggy shorts. BTW, anybody understand this big baggy short thing ?? I don't get the concept of having pants so big you have to pull them up to take a piss !! ). And what the hell is this mosh pit crap ?? I just want to ROCK !!!!!!!

So Sammy did most of the great line-up of songs that I have been reading about. It is hard to top what I have read previously, except everbody else at other venues got to see more. It seems the local radio station that sponsored the show had not been playing much if any Sammy that day, but they played a sh*tload of DLR rea VH. Sammy never let on to us that it pissed him off ( being the true professional that he is ). I was given a copy of the set list before the show started, thanks to my friend & favorite interpreter Tim. Sammy did cut 3 songs out of his performance. We missed: Who Has The Right ( a message there maybe), Kama, and Eagles Fly ( the most beautiful song I have ever seen interpreted ).

Sammy was full of energy and life. He ROCKED as hard as I have ever seen him before !!!! He told the same great stories I have read about, shared his Caboritas with the crowd, broke into a verse of " I hear ya knockin, but ya can't come in " during Bad Motor Scooter, and a "Whole Lotta Love" riff towards the end of Red. I haven't seen him give that much energy to the crowd since the late 70's and early 80's. So they say he is almost 50, huh ? He has the energy of a teenager and all of the skills of the true professional that he is !!!!

If this post doesn't satisfy your curiosity or you have any questions, please feel free to throw them out. I hope I didn't miss anything and I really wish I was at the Gorge today :-(

Thanks to Ron Graupman for this review and the set list.

WHO WENT