RAIN - A Tribute to The Beatles

When I woke up in Blacksburg I headed to find the town's YMCA to take a shower. I found one, but it was a store similar to Goodwill, not a gym. I went into the office next door and asked where there was a Y where I could take a shower. There wasn't one in that town, but the nice lady gave me directions to the community center where I could take a shower. After the shower I went to Starbucks to get some breakfast and use the computer while I waited for a store called Nice Dreams to open. at 12:00 I went to Nice Dreams to pick up some posters for All Good that I could put up at RAIN and Phish. I then hit the road to Vienna, VA. Traffic getting into Vienna was a nightmare!! It was bumper to bumper, and there was no wreck or anything. I got to Wolf Trap and the gates had cones in front of them so I went to find somewhere to use the bathroom, as I'd been holding it all through traffic. I ended up just going in the woods. I went back to Wolf Trap and parked and made some Ramen noodles while I was waiting on the gates to open. I was one of the first people on the lot, but it filled up really quickly. I packed up a sandwich and some promo in a bag and went into the venue. I started putting up posters for All Good and one of the ushers stopped me and told me that I could go to Federal Jail for putting up posters in a National Park, so I stopped putting them up and just waited on the concert. They opened with a clip from the Ed Sullivan show playing on the screens introducing them as RAIN and then the curtains went up and they began playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The stage was set up like an old TV band, with no props or anything, just a sign that said "APPLAUSE" and some white arrows pointing at the band. They looked just like the early Beatles, hair and everything. After a few songs there was a solo of "Yesterday" while the rest of the band went to change. They put some vintage funny commercials on the screen during the break, and when they came back they opened with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" complete with the drumset and outfits and everything! They played Eleanor Rigby, Strawberry Fields, and When I'm 64 this set. Then there was intermission, and I met someone who happened to be from right outside of where Nateva is going to be. We talked for awhile, and he asked if I wanted to sit with him up on the lawn. I had been getting tired of sitting down for the whole concert so I joined him. He had an ice chest with some beers and we sat up there and listened to the second set from the hill. They played "I Am the Walrus", "Norwegian Wood", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", and "Come Together" among other songs. After a short speech about the Beatles and thanking everyone, they started playing "Give Peace a Chance" and went into "Let It Be". They then took their bows and went off stage. For their Encore they came back and played "Hey Jude". The show was awesome, and the venue was really cool. There were some awesome 60's era visualizers on the screens. After the show I went to my car and waited for traffic to clear out before heading for Columbia, MD. I got into Columbia and found a Wal-Mart parking lot to go to sleep in.