i.... i just died in your arms tonite

so last night was the first of two nights for street scene, and i couldn't have asked for a better time. first, the bands. jimmy eat world put on a really good simple rock show, that had everyone up and moving around. no moshing as far as i could tell, just good clean fun. we caught the tail end of black eyed peas, and i know from seeing them perform before they put on a really energetic show, but i guess they were a little tired when we got there. salgoode, we were still rocking out to some 'where is the love'. then, the musical highlight of the night for me was seeing a tribe called quest take the stage for the first time together in over seven years. man, their cd's are so mellow and graceful, but they really turned it up and put on an energetic show last night. they played a bunch of really old stuff, and even did an encore with 'scenario'. i half expected busta rhymes to pop out onstage. i'm normally prefer rap cds over concerts, but i'll go see atcq again if i can after their performance last night. a close second to that was ben harper, who unfortunately for me, was playing at the same time as social distortion. topgun girl is a huge fan of ben , and i've seen both bands, so we originally decided to try and split the time. this plan was dumped when halfway through the set, ben harper brought out the blind boys of alabama. these guys turned the concert into a 20,000 person gospel revival. man it was simply amazing. the blind boys were really into, playing to the crowd, and i'm sure ben was absolutely loving the fact that he could perform some different songs live. i know topgun girl and i were floored, and we didn't mind missing the social d set.
then there's all of the typical peripheral concert stuff that goes on that you just have to laugh at. during jimmy eat world there were these two really cheesy ex-frat guys trying to talk and dance with these two girls the whole set and failing miserably. one had his sunglasses on the whole night, and the other forgot that he's bald and the comb-over really doesn't look too good when it's all sweaty. that, and you really don't need to wear a trendy dress shirt to an outdoor 20,000+ concert. the funniest part about one of the guys was the fact that he was nursing a red bull for over an hour. seriously, i think this guy would completely shut down and lose all self confidence if his hand wasn't somehow attached to or reaching for a beverage to hold. both of these guys were club dancing (to jimmy eat world) which had pretty much everyone around them laughing at their failing attempts to 'party', as they kept yelling. interesting sidenote though, topgun girl pointed out that as much as the two girls were shutting the guys down, they never really left or stopped talking to the guys. maybe they do deserve each other. the only thing that was really worse than that was the couple making out in front of us, who we didn't think were going to slow down, and make it really awkward for the people around them. fortunately they left and we could go back to a pg concert.
there were the other typical concert goers there too: the cell phone guy who calls his friend and tells them to listen, the middle age pot smoker who is too out of it to realize they don't know any of the bands playing, the teenage girls with their handbags that totally get in the way and are more than likely to get lost (this is also the crew that all wear sandals to a show and inevitably lose a few of them), there were the die-hard fans who were wearing the shirt of the band they were going to see, fortunately, we ended up spending a majority of our time in a group that was really mellow and having fun, cracking jokes. that really makes the time in between sets go quicker when you're surrounded by people that are fun to meet. mad props to san diego street scene goers at the ben harper stage. good people.
speaking of props to good people, i have to say that the highlight of the night was spending it with topgun girl. we had so much fun together last night, even though she had a run in with a big phobia of hers. we took the trolley to street scene because there really is nowhere to park downtown. the problem is that she has developed a phobia of closed places. heading down she was all right, she asked me to talk the whole time so she had something to focus on. heading back though was pretty tough. we waited for the crowds on the trolley to thin out a little before we got back on, the problem arose though, when we got stuck third in line at every stop and a normal 15 minute ride turned into a 45 minute ride. she was really scared, but closed her eyes and hugged me pretty much the whole time and trooped through it. i felt about 2 inches tall for suggesting the trolley to begin with, but she said it was the best way to go, and not to worry about it. we stopped for some gatorades before we went back home, and i told her i felt bad, because i enjoyed the trip home, and any night that ended with her holding on to me was good night in my book. she smiled fortunately. that, and she called to let me know when she got home because she thought i would be concerned. i was.
well, now it's time to get ready for another night of street scene. topgun girl can't make it tonite so i'll be the random guy there by myself, but i'll be there by myself watching donovan frankenreiter, g love, jack johnson, p.o.d., and the marley bros. doing a tribute to bob. then it's a quick night's sleep and my last class at la mesa in the morning and a trip to seattle to see the folks.
one love, one heart.