Middle East Squee-Cap

Here is a copy of the first email Mr. RMH sent me this morning:

I went back to my room to get my camera, and on the way back I went by the stage to see if they were there setting up yet. They're all set up, and I saw DC walking back towards the stage from the basketball court. There weren't many people around, so I walked over and said hi. He shook my hand and I congratulated him on his victory. We chatted for a few minutes, he asked where I was from, and said one of his band members was from Colorado. They guy asked if I was a Bronco's fan, and of course, I said no, and DC said he was happy to hear that. LOL The guitar player (can't remember his name - heavily tattooed) was sitting down. I got a picture with him and one with DC. I mentioned that you're a huge fan and that you had even written to him (guitar player). He asked where I was from, and then he said Boulder, right? So, he's read your emails and knew who you were. He had a big smile. He has a fan! LOL Actually, that's what DC said to him. I'll take more pictures tonight and upload them to my laptop, then send them to you. But I thought you'd like to know that I've already met them both, shaken their hands, and gotten my picture taken with them. In daylight! And without a bunch of other people around. Who knows what it will be like tonight.

And now for the squee-cap

NOTE: Although I am putting what David said in quotes, it is Mr. RMH’s recollection of what David said, so please do not take any of this out of context and quote it somewhere else.

Middle East Squee-Cap
(Courtesy of the Divine Mr. RMH

NOTE: Although I am putting what David said in quotes, it is Mr. RMH’s recollection of what David said, so please do not take any of this out of context and quote it somewhere else.

So, you know the part where he runs into Dave and Crew coming back from shooting hoops in the afternoon before the concert. Turns out they had been at Arifjan (the largest airbase in Kuwait, where everyone comes through into the country) the day before, not performing, just meeting peeps and signing autographs. The scarf that Neal is wearing is called a keffiyeh which he most likely got from the vendors that are outside the gates of the airbase. (Bonus points for spotting Andy in the background) Mr. RMH told me that Neal was very humble and when Mr. RMH asked for a picture (after the discussion of meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!) Neal broke into a huge smile and seemed very glad to have his picture taken.

(Mr. RMH is dismayed that he looks fat next to our boyz. I told him he looks beautiful to me.) He said as soon as he asked for a picture, David came right up next to him and put his arm around him, as he also did later on in the USO tent (more on that later). David is the same height as Mr. RMH (6’) and Mr. RMH said pretty slim.

Anyway, Joey was with David and he had just hurt his arm playing basketball. He appeared that night on stage with his arm in a sling but took it off to play. David gave a big shout out and thanks to the medical staff that helped Joey with his arm, and then said “I wish I could say this is the last time he’ll do anything stupid, but it’s not.”

Mr. RMH and David and Neal had a nice conversation, which included Joey too. Andy and Kyle were there, but didn’t say anything. (OMFG, he met and hung out with all five guys AT ONCE! And survived the bling/tattoo trance).

Later that night at the concert…

When David came out, he had a lei on and he said “I got lei’d earlier by a girl today, but I don’t even remember her name” and held up the lei. Everyone loved that one and he got a big laugh.

They opened with Declaration to a crowd of about 200. They got many standing ovations and lots of begging for more songs. After Declaration, David said “How many of you are gonna get up and go see the Inauguration? Nobody? Good. That’s what we like to hear.”

Next he said “What you guys do every day is a lot more important than any of this s*** we do up here. We are so honored to be here and we thank you so much for having us here to perform for you.” Mr. RMH said that David was very, very humble and grateful and expressed his thanks many times for their service to their country. That goes a loooong way with men like my husband who has been serving his country for nearly 40 years in military and civilian positions. There were lots of Marines and Army personnel there, and apparently a LOT of women, mostly Marines. (A lot is relative, the ratio on base is something like 8 to 1 guys to gals)

After saying that, he dedicated “this next one for you guys” and played Heroes.

The rest of this is in the order Mr. RMH remembered it, not necessarily how it happened. He said that David really enjoyed himself. During the concert David said “I’m still not that good at stage banter.” But Mr. RMH said he was very good and entertaining.

Then he sang Light On ; Bar ba Sol (which Mr. RMH says everyone referred to as “the stripper song”); KOTN; Breathe Tonite, and … wait for it… this cover.

At some point, someone yelled out “Freebird!!” and David said “Who yelled Freebird? – That’s always a concert staple. He told the story of when he lived in KC he used to hang out at the Plaza and stand on the sidewalk and sing. One day a guy came up to him and asked if he could play Freebird. When David said “no” they guy gave him $20, so David never learned to play it! But, just before he sang the last song, he sang the first line of Freebird a capella.

Someone else yelled for Billie Jean. He said “I was wondering how long it would take for that to come up. The band has never played that song together. Maybe some other time when I’m alone.”

They played about 35 minutes and did 4 encore songs. They played 2 songs and then David said “You wanna hear another one?” to which everyone screamed
yeah!so they played one more. Then David took out his earphones and the band got together in the middle of the stage to converse and David came out and said “OK, this really is the last song” and they sang “Little Lies”.

Here are a few more pics of the concert. Neal,
Neal and more Neal (Mr. RMH knows on which side of the toast his bread is gonna get buttered)

Finally, after the concert, David was ushered to the USO tent where they just herded people through the tent to meet him, 3 at a time. They said if you had a CD he would sign it, but otherwise he wouldn’t sign anything. Mr. RMH took off running to the PX to get a CD for me, but they were closed. So he did get a picture with Dave, and a pre-autographed (but real, not machine done) glossy photo of Dave. Mr. RMH noted that Dave immediately put his arms around whoever came in for a picture. Like so (David has on his fakey picture taking smile here)

When Mr. RMH came into the USO tent, David recognized him and said “Hi again”.

I love Dabid Cook. And I seriously love me some Mr. RMH.

This is the only stop in Kuwait. From here the band is going other places and I won’t say where till it’s announced publicly or they come home, for reasons of security and safety. I’m sure you all understand.

Again, this is Mr. RMH’s best recollection of events. Please don’t quote any of this out of context. He got to sit only 3 rows back, but in front of a speaker and he said it was so loud his head was still spinning. His co worker was with him at the concert and had a way better camera, so we may be able to get better pics. You can see in many of the pictures that there was videotaping going on and Mr. RMH said there was an official tent center stage back about 10 rows with a camera on a tripod (maybe USO) so footage will be somewhere in the world.