Rain kings

... the rain didn't stop and it didn't stop us.

... The Counting Crows and Goo Goo Dolls were in Chicago last night. Tad and Jen flew in. We'd been awaiting and talking about this night for months.

I'd show you pictures. But I'm still beating myself about losing my camera the other night at the Brewers game ...

... Kates and I left work early, packed our rain gear, hopped in the car and cruised to Steve & Emily's house in the north suburbs, where Tad and Jenn were waiting. Emily had tasty snacks on the table -- good thing, there was no time for supper -- and the six of us, as usual, had quite the time catching up, venting about work, swapping old high school stories and, well, laughing. A lot.

... Too bad we had to leave Steve and Em behind, but they'd already had their concert fun this week. They saw the Dixie Chicks on Tuesday night ... luckies.

'Say hi to Mr. Jones for me,' Em said as we were leaving.

'Yep. Mr. Jones, Mrs. Potter, Maria and the whole gang,' I said.

And off we went, crossing through the outskirts of Chicago into the south suburbs. Fighting the rain and our hunger, we made a pit stop at a Taco Bell joint, and hit the road again, wolfing down our food in the car ...

We arrived at the amphitheatre with barely a minute to spare. We'd already missed the first act.

We packed our belongings, flung on our rain gear, grabbed the blankets and trudged through the puddles flooding the gravel parking lot. Talk about a lovely night for a concert ...

Inside the amphitheatre, the crowd was buzzing. And the amphitheatre itself was like a concert palace -- a monstrous, steel roof over the reserved seating area, glitzy VIP boxes, large screen monitors at every view, tons of vendors and expansive lawn seating ... Unfortunately our tickets had us in the lawn seating, and that's because I refused to pay much more than $40 per ticket ...

I led the way up a staircase to the lawn and we cut over to an open spot without even realizing the Goo Goo Dolls were taking the stage. A moment later they exploded into their current hit, "Stay With You." I pumped my fist in the air and snuck a look at Tad. Neither of us had a care in the world; we were in summer bliss ...

The rain barely stopped and the Dolls played hit after hit after hit -- "Slide" (one of my favorite Goo Goo Dolls songs ...), "Iris," "Broadway," "January Friend," "Black Balloon" (another one of faves...), "Name" (a sentimental favorite that reminds me of my high school days ...) and new stuff "Better Days" and "Let Love In." But just when I thought they'd played all I needed to hear, the Dolls whipped out their wondeful take on Supertramp's "Give A Little Bit."... All the while I couldn't help but notice the group of teenagers standing next to us who were hanging on every word the Dolls sang.

For our group, though, the show was only beginning ... A few minutes later, the tide would change. It was our group hanging on every word the Counting Crows sang, while the Doll-heads next to us mumbled about not knowing enough of the Crows songs ...

Just when we thought the rain was subsiding, Adam Duritz, his crazy hair and the Crows emerged on the stage and launched the opening drum beats of "Anna Begins." Again, I screamed in excitement, pumped my fists in the air and huddled close to Kates, knowing "Anna Begins" is her favorite Crows song ... but she was slower in recognizing it.

" ... My friend assures me/it's all or nothing/I am not worried/I am not overly concerned ..." Duritz sang. Finally, Kates burst into a smile -- she had recognized the song -- and we swayed and sang to it the way we've done hundreds of times in the car ... But none of those times could beat the feeling of actually singing the emotion-packed lyrics and "rain falls down" under an actual pouring rain ...

... From there, the band rolled into a sweet, rousing "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby," a Crows song I've loved from the first moment I heard it, and it may have been my favorite song of the night. Then a crowd-raising "Omaha" and the fabulous "Monkey" ...

The show started to drag a bit with the slower, whiny "Time And Time Again." It picked up a little with the worn-out "Big Yellow Taxi." ... But things really started to drag when the Crows pulled out their extended, rambling version of "Round Here." It blew me away the first time I saw the Crows during the Satelites tour, but I've heard recordings of it several times since and on Friday night it seemed to only bore the crowd ...

The Crows kept the mood low-key, though, with an acoustic of "Mr. Jones," the lesser known "Miami" and then "A Long December." They played one more upbeat one with "Hangin' Around" and then ended the night on "Holiday In Spain" -- a good "ender" indeed ...

So, yeah, I was a little dissappointed they didn't play "Rain King," given the circumstances and the fact it is my favorite Crows song. Also missing was the big "Shrek" hit "Accidentally in Love" ...

But looking back on the entire show? I wasn't dissappointed at all ... It was like a Holiday in the Rain.