Well, I returned home last night after being away for 16 days. As many of you know, on August 1 I set out towards Chicago to see Radiohead perform at Grant Park right in downtown Chicago. Since I had done some small work with the Googly Minotaur Instant Messanger Buddy, Capitol Records hooked me up nicely for this show, along with the Toronto and Montreal ones.

The day before I left, I was told to stop by Will-Call at the show to pick up some VIP and Aftershow passes, which I wasn't expecting but you better believe I was happy! We got our passes and found our way to the VIP section, which was right next to the Sound/Mixer tent. There we got to see the show with a great view and I also got to meet a lot of people from Capitol Records and EMI. The show was awesome, of course, and I really marveled at how Radiohead could pull off doing such a huge concert (26,000 people) in the middle of a park that hasn't seen a concert this huge since the 1970s. The backdrop of the skyline and the full moon really added to the show. I was so happy that Thom came out at the end and played "True Love Waits", one of my favorite Radiohead songs. Hopefully they'll release it soon.

After the show, we headed to the aftershow party, which was held in the hospitality tent next to the stage. We sat there for a good ten minutes with about 30 other people before Colin showed up. I was amazed how no one seemed to care that he just walked in! People were talking to each other and didn't even notice him. I didn't approach him because he was talking with a group of people and seemed to be having a good time (with his champagne glass in hand!).

Minutes later Phil walked in and I managed to sneak in and introduce myself. I wasn't sure if the band knew who I was or how they felt about my site. When I told him who I was, he smiled and shooked my hand. He asked me how long does it take for me to updated, etc... I was very nervous cause Phil is quiet and the conversation was kinda awkward... I told him that I would see him play in Toronto and Montreal and he said that he would "see you then!". :)

Ed walked into the tent next. Since I had never met the band before, I was amazed at how tall he actually is! I'm 6'2" and I had to look up to him! Some of the people who I had met earlier in the evening from EMI were talking to him and I walked up and fortunately they introduced me to him. Like Phil, he knew who I was and was very appreciative and nice. He thanked me for doing the site cause it allowed Radiohead to really experiment with radiohead.com and not make it like other official band Websites.

We talked a bit and then he excused himself... It was clear that Thom and Jonny were not coming out so we left the party and headed back to our hotel. I was on a high, to say the least. Plus, the free beer was nice.

The next day we left Chicago and drove North to Toronto. We had that night to relax so we just hung out around the hotel. The next day we got to Molson Park around 3pm and like Chicago, it was hot as hell! While standing in line at the ticket-pick-up place, I noticed a girl behind me wearing a red watch on her right arm. A couple of days earlier, Beryl (who runs another RH site www.followmearound.com) told me that she would be wearing a red watch on her right arm and for me to say hi. I asked her if she was Beryl and luckily she said yes. It was great meeting her! She and I both worked on the Googly Minotaur so it was nice to actually talk to her in person.

Over the next 2 hours, we talked and related war stories about running huge fansites.

The concert was amazing, even though I didn't have VIP passes. That was okay. I enjoyed the Chicago show the most but felt that the band played the best in Barrie (Toronto).

We did have aftershow passes again, and so did Beryl and her friends. We all were led to the tent after the show and sat at tables. All of a sudden Colin walked in and he was led to our table by Roger, who works for EMI Canada. Colin sat down and began to thank both Beryl and I for our sites, which was very nice but also awkward cause afterall, I should be the one thanking him! He asked us a bunch of questions about what we do and really seemed happy to be talking to us. Phil later came to our table and he tapped me on the shoulder and said "Hello, again"! He remembered me from Chicago! Both Colin and Phil talked about the tour and plans about an upcoming video for "I Might Be Wrong".

After some time, they both got up and Ed came over and sat down. He remembered me and was very happy to meet Beryl. The whole thing was surreal. He chatted with us all for about 10 minutes? I can't remember... While this was going on, Jonny could be seen at the other end of the tent talking to some people.

Once Ed had left, we were all hoping that Jonny would come over but he had left too. All of a sudden Thom walked in and walked very slowly to our table. Roger must have told him that we were there cause he walked straight to our table! After some mighty awkward introductions, Thom sat down and immediately started talking about his son Noah. One of Beryl's friends asked him how he felt about Americans and before he could answer, she looked at me and realized that I was American and quickly apologized. I said it was no problem and that I was actually born in Oxford, which raised Thom's eyebrow, and that I have citizenship in both the US and the UK. Thom then asked me if I was apologizing for being American and I said no... He smiled and started nodding his head saying "yes" so I guess I was apologizing.... It was funny and we all laughed. He stayed and chatted with us for at least 15 minutes... We asked him about the South Park TV show they did and about people following him around while on tour and stuff.

Thom then excused himself and we took some s with him while he was making funny faces. He was very nice and very funny, though I could see how some may be intimidated by him... He is very shy at first.

We left Molson Park and I told Beryl that I would see her two days later in Montreal.

We had decided that for the Montreal concert that we would take it easy and sit in the back on the hill. The concert was good, but not as good as the Toronto or Chicago ones. The park was beautiful and you could see the Montreal skyline behind the stage. Of course, being that Montreal is one of my favorite cities didn't hurt either.

We got aftershow passes again and met up with Beryl and her friends at the party. Only Ed and Phil showed up and they were really busy talking to others so I decided not to bother them again... Afterall, I've already had my time. :)

I was kinda sad leaving the concert cause this was the last one we were going to. I really wanted to go to the Madison Square Garden show in NYC but we didn't have the budget for it.

The whole experience of seeing the band play and then meeting them was surreal. I've been doing this site for over 4 years now and to finally meet them and for them to acknowledge me and to thank me was something very special and has made this all worth while. It was also really nice to meet Beryl... she can relate to what I do and vice-versa.

We left Montreal the day after and headed South in to New York state. There we spent a couple of days in Lake Placid before going West into Watertown, NY were I have family. I stayed with my Aunt for two nights and then we drove to my family's cottage on Lake Ontario where I spent the past week relaxing doing nothing but enjoying the nice weather and the beautiful lake.

We left the cottage on Thursday and got back home yesterday. In just over two weeks, I put over 3,400 miles on my car... Jeez!

We had a lot of adventures but I'm glad to be home now... even though I have like a 1000 emails that I need to read and respond to! Ouch!

Please excuse any spelling or other errors in this post... I am too tired! :)