STRYPER CONCERT!!

I took my family to see their first Stryper concert at the Club Nokia in downtown L.A. last night (well, Susan, Emily, and Matthew that is--Christopher spent the night with Nana & Papa). They were blown away at how good Stryper sounded live. Since Susan is a Music teacher, she tends to be critical of live rock shows, but she was duly impressed with Stryper!

While in line to enter the venue, we saw Les and Joyce Carlsen. I had run into Les, the lead singer of Christian rockers Bloodgood, by chance a few years earlier with Emily and Matthew at a Ralph's grocery store near our house, of all places, and we struck up a conversation back then and realized we both lived in Fontana. I reminded him of that encounter and he remembered it! Then I introduced myself to Joyce, his wife, who is also my Facebook friend. I said, "I'm Todd Barnes, nice to meet you." She said, "Oh, you're 'C. Todd Barnes'," and smiled. I was flattered that she knew me from Facebook.

We had Meet & Greet passes, which in and of itself is a blessing and we are thrilled to have had the experience. Having said that, that part was a bit of a disappointment to my family, only because their expectations were higher based on reports I had given them (based on what I had read about other fans' M&G experiences so far on the tour). The band/venue was "behind schedule" that night, according to venue staff, and when we were finally let in, we were told the band would only be signing ONE item per fan, and we would not be allowed to take pictures WITH the band during the M&G. My family was so looking forward to this, especially given the special relationship we have had with Oz in the past (when he visited the school I am Principal at in early 2008 and then came to our house & out to Carl's Jr wit us a couple months later). My kids were really looking forward to talking with him again and meeting the other members. Inside, while I kept my attitude in check and understood there was nothing anyone--including the band--could have done about it, I still felt a little sting of disappointment.

The soundcheck experience was neat, though, and they sounded really good! They played a little "Reach Out" and an instrumental version of "4 Leaf Clover." I saw Annie Lobert and had intended to introduce myself, but didn't get the chance. We did see and talk to both Irene Kelly (wife of bassist Tim Gaines) and Starri Sweet (wife of drummer Robert Sweet), who was there with her kids. Irene was very sweet and gracious with her time, and after meeting my daughter Emily, told her that she had named her guitar "Emily." She said she & Tim were doing well in Nashville. I asked Starri how the show in Vegas was, and she said it was really great. She commented that it was a 21 & over venue, so she and the kids had to sit behind the drums ("Best seat in the house," she laughed).

After soundcheck, the band got behind a table and we lined up for autographs. I had brought my To Hell With The Devil original cover LP, and my kids brought 5X7's of the pictures of them with Oz back in 2008. My wife had our free Murder By Pride CDs and was going to get those autographed if they would allow it.

We were again slightly disappointed when we got to the table only to find that lead singer Michael Sweet had already left the table. One of the venue staff said he wasn't feeling well. So, I got three out of four to sign our stuff, which is better than a kick in the pants, LOL! Oz did remember my kids and the fact that he still had not met Susan. I shared with him that my school had moved to a new location since we had last talked and he said he was aware of that and where we had relocated. He signed both 5X7's of the kids and their CDs. The other band members also signed the CDs, which was so nice of them. I had intended to make a point to tell Tim how great it was to have him back, but forgot by the time I got to him (we were all very rushed as the band had only a few minutes to meet everyone).

Last slight disappointment, and this is with the venue (but they more than made up for it): Because we had to arrive no later than 5:00 p.m. to receive our M&G passes, which meant leaving our house at 3:00, we hadn't eaten dinner. Our plan was to do the M&G, then go out and grab a quick bite, and come back in during one of the opening band's performances. But the venue would not allow re-entry. So I went to the bar and asked if they had any food items. The lady behind the counter said they normally do, but for some reason the caterer hadn't shown up for this particular show. My heart (and stomach) sank, imagining going through a concert until midnight with no food in my kids' tummies.

At this point, I want to interrupt myself to say that the Nokia staff were all top-notch! When I asked one of them for a possible exception to the "no re-entry" rule due to the circumstances of there not being any food in the venue (and others were complaining as well), one of the guys went over to find out more info and promptly returned (he didn't have to do that) to tell me that they had decided to make other arrangements with another caterer and that by the time doors opened, they would have some sandwiches. WOW! That was totally cool of them! THEN the same guy found me a little later and said, "There's food over there now, sir." I was really blown away. And all the staff were gracious and helpful! I had a happy family by the time the show started, which was a major relief for me!

Now, on to the show: The first opening band, Manic Drive, was entertaining and talented. Their guitar player was a real performer! I liked the visual touch they added with wearing ties. Musically, I liked the first couple of songs. The last couple were so-so. But they were very grateful and complimentary to Stryper, which the crowd loved. Flight Patterns, featuring Michael Sweet Jr, was "Green Day" in style--not my cup of tea, but they were obviously a group of guys getting started in their careers and I wish them the best. Mike Jr made a very brief comment about losing his Mom to Ovarian Cancer and noted that they had a donations jar for Ovarian Cancer Awareness at the Stryper merch table. I looked for Michael's daughter Lena at the table but never saw her there.

Stryper came out and rocked the house! I never cease in amazement at how TIGHT these guys are, particularly Michael and Oz in their guitar duets. And they also nailed it vocally as well. Like I said, Susan was really impressed, which made me happy! The band did TWO encores.

All-in-all, it was another amazing memory and I'm thrilled that on this tour, I get to see them twice (going to the Anaheim show on Monday night as well).