On the 25th I did something I haven’t done in a while - I went to a concert. Leon bought me tickets for my birthday to see Dream Theater at the Nikon Theater at Jones Beach, with not one, but two opening acts - Into Eternity, and Redemption. I was really excited to go…but not so excited to drive there…We ended up getting going later then anticipated due to some issues that one of Leon’s friends were having, that Leon had to help…but it was the right thing to do…So we left about 2.5 hours before the show, being as I wasn’t sure how long it would take us (it look us an hour and 20 mins..)…the trip wasn’t bad at all really…didn’t run into too much traffic.

We got premium parking ahead of time, and it was a good investment. We got a good space, and wouldn’t have to fight with anyone to get out later - it was right out onto the main road from the lot we were in. We went in, and there was of course a bunch of stuff to buy - all overpriced, and we basically just chilled out for like 30+ minutes. We got our seats about 7:30 PM, which was 30 mins before the show…the seats were excellent. They were orchestra seats, about 30 rows back, which was still good.

The first band started at like 8:05, and right away I could tell I wasn’t going to like them…It was Into Eternity, a band from Canada that was way too heavy for my tastes. Combine that with a singer with a shrill voice who likes to hit high notes, and it wasn’t a good experience.

< More to come later >