Gas Giants Fans,

Well, after almost experiencing an unforeseen disaster, I finally convinced my friends (at like noon) to give yesterday's Starfest concert a try. We were not disappointed! The crowd was annouced at close to 14,000 and the heat was insane. We arrived at about 1:30 or 2, just before Dido's performance (the order was Leona Naess, Guster, Dido, Gas Giants, Tonic, and Collective Soul). So we got some lemonade - an ordeal that lasted her entire perfomance - and got ready for some real music. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to bring my camcorder in or take pictures, but we had a great view less than thirty yards from the stage (we could've gotten much closer but I think my ears wouldn't have recovered for days). Anyway, all I can say is they tore it up!!! While the three previous bands apparently didn't receive much recognition, the crowd was rockin' when the Gas Giants got going. They played nine songs, and the whole time I was hoping Robin would announce "Allison Road", as I have heard that he did during previous concerts. So when he said, "Here's a cover song I wrote", I couldn't have been more excited. The crowd was really moving to that song and every other person was singing along.

Here's the playlist -

• Stinking Up the Charts
• In Between Two Worlds
• Tonight Won't Let Me Wander (before this song Robin said something to this effect - "Hey Starfest! Were's the Gas Giants and we're from Tempe, ever heard of it? It's a strange, desolate place with weird creatures and people. Here's a song we wrote all by ourselves back in Arizona..."
• Under Pressure (Queen cover)
• Whose Side Are You On
• Allison Road (YEAH!!!!!! - Gin Blossoms cover!!!!!!!!!)
• Now The Change (before this one he said "We're a new band with a brand new record that sounds something like this...")
• Quitter (before "Quitter" he said "Thank you Starfest! We're the Gas Giants and we were the first band invited to this concert back in October. It's been great! See you on the charts!!!")

They also played "Circus of Stars" somewhere toward the beginning (I think after "In Between Two Worlds") but I'm not sure because I was so into the performance that I forgot to write down what happened until the third or fourth song. So if anyone else went and remembers its exact place please let me know!

The only bummer to the concert was the Phillip Rhodes wasn't there!!! (I later found out from Robin that Phil was ill and couldn't make it.) So at one point, Robin introduced the drummer as the "world-famous" Phyllis King (another Phil!). He did a great job and was beaming the whole time so I guess he had fun. He was also wearing a GG hat and the band's drum set had the Gas Giants' logo on it along with some album artwork. Everyone also got to see Robin's "Pharoahs" tattoo (where the band's former name came from).

After their performance (which was approximately from 3:00 to 3:45...I wasn't too concerned about time when the greatest band in the world was playing right before me) they said that members would be signing autographs, so my friends and I headed straight for the booth. While we were in line, we heard a Star 95.7 DJ praising what nice guys the Gas Giants were (apparently she had talked to Robin a while back and asked for some collectible stuff or whatnot and hadn't expected to hear from him again but she ended up getting her stuff) and asked for a final applause for the band, which was answered with a roar. However, when they asked for an applause for Star 95.7 itself, the cheer wasn't half as loud!

So I got to shake hands with Robin and he (along with Dan) signed my copy of FROM BEYOND THE BACK BURNER and Robin was nice enough to sign my friend's copy of OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: THE BEST OF THE GIN BLOSSOMS. You couldn't meet nicer guys. When I asked him whether they'd be back in the Tampa area anytime soon he said probably around the time school starts up again, which I take to mean around mid-August. I might have to travel to another, more distant concert before then!!!

We left after the autographing and on our way out we were able to hear one of Tonic's songs, but it wasn't enough to keep us there - we'd gotten what we wanted. My friends agreed that the Gas Giants were awesome and that it was worth the $16 bucks per ticket. As far as I can tell, the Gas Giants were the crowd favorite - sort of like the underdogs who impressed everyone (since most people came to see Tonic and Collective Soul).

You can see some concert pictures on Star's website ( http://www.star957.com/pictures.html) and check out the "Backstage" section - apparently the Star Staff liked the Gas Giants a lot since they have the most pictures there.

And that's how my little adventure went (I was way too tired to report on it yesterday as I didn't get home till 10:30). While it would've been even better if Phil (the real Phil) had been there, I enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait to see them again. Does anyone know if this was the Gas Giants' biggest performane to date? Have they ever been in front of a crowd of such numbers? All I can say is that you guys have to go see them if you haven't already. Without a doubt, this concert was a tremendous boost to helping us see them on the charts!

PlastSrgnFLARE