12:47 P.M.
Last night takes the cake for the all time best New Years Eve bash!
The whole day was actually quite wonderful.
I went to bed early on Tuesday to prepare for the celebration on Wednesday night.
Wednesday I spent the majority of the day down on the beach and then at the last minute decided to go get my nails done.
Around 6 it was time for me and my sister to venture into the city to claim our spot for the Tonic concert.
I was so happy that she decided to go!
Surprisingly, we didn�t hit ANY traffic in the city and parked in a lot right next to the club where the concert was going to be. We got there an hour before doors opened so we decided to walk down to Ybor�s best pizza place.
The town was strangely empty. I had expected far more people to gather for the festivities.
We had missed the parade and it seemed that the majority of the crowd just followed the parade right out of the city.
As we sat down for our pizza some guys followed us and barricaded us in a booth. They were quite friendly and announced that they were in town for a few days to go see the �Outback Bowl� in Tampa.
We chatted for a bit while we ate pizza and they tried to convince us to drop the Tonic show to do something more along the lines of their budget.
After pizza we headed back to the club to find that the crowd had gathered to a whopping 14 people, and 12 of them were waiting to go up stairs into VIP.
When we saw the crowd that had gathered for VIP we decided not to upgrade for VIP tickets.
There were no benefits that came with VIP other than the use of some couches that the club had thrown upstairs.
Well we claimed our spot 4 hours before Tonic was scheduled to go up and the closer it came to midnight, the more it seemed like hardly anyone was going to show for the general admission portion of the club. (GA was located right up front with the stage)
It was perfect. No one was pushing or shoving. I couldn�t have been happier with our spot for the concert.
The opening band played a few songs and it turns out that they are local. We�ll have to check them out.
About 2 minutes till� midnight Tonic took the stage. We counted down the minutes before 2004 and then they started their set.
I was surprised when they started the show with �Liar� but I wasn�t disappointed. It�s one of the best songs off of their newest release.
I still get the tingles and Goosebumps when I hear them sing.
It was the best feeling in the world!
A tear came to my eyes when they sang, �Head On Straight� but it still felt good. I hadn�t heard that song in a long time and it still means as much as the first time I had heard it.
They had a set of about 13 amazing songs and I wouldn�t have changed a thing!
The play list looked something like this:
1. Liar
2. Open Up Your Eyes
3.Take Me As I am
4. You Wanted More
5. Sugar
6. Head On Straight
7. Bigot
8. Wicked
9. Come Rest Your Head
9. Mountan (This is the song where they normally throw in some Zeppelin)
10. Count On Me
11. If You Could Only See
12. Casual Affair
and the encore of "Go Your Own Way".
We played �Guess that tune�, just as they were winding down their set and all the songs were so familiar.
We had such a great time.
After they wrapped things up they came back out to do an encore of Fleetwood Macs hit song, �Go your own way�
I couldn�t have pin pointed that they would sing that song but it was definitely a great song to kick off the New Year!
We walked away with a hand full of souvenires and my sister is planning on making a shadow box to capture the mood and memories of the entire night.
After the show we spent some time hanging around the club. It was great to see Billy and Shawn.
I was somewhat surprised that Shawn even remembered me.
We did a shot in the DJ booth just before I left to ring in the new year.
I couldn't help but think to myself, "Damn, this has been such a great night!!!"
Mad Dog had mentioned the other night that �new years is a special time. The person you spend your new years with will say a lot about the year to come.�
It was a damn amazing new years! Last night was by far the best New Years Eve celebration I could have ever hoped for.
If spending new years with Tonic says anything about the year ahead, I know I�m going to have an excellent 2004!!
I was happy that my sister could make it.
There was no new years kiss right at midnight, but I didn�t really feel all that jipped.
I would trade my New Years Eve kiss for front row seats to see Tonic ANY DAY!
BRING IT!!!!
