This was show number six for each of us, having seen him before in Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, and once at Mardi Gras, but we have to say, Wolf Trap was the most fantastic venue by far (although The Fox is a close second, guys).

We arrived about two hours before the show with our friends Caroline and Heather and our little picnic (wine, strawberries, granola bars--you know, the essentials), picked up our front row tickets (thank you, fan club!) and copped a spot on the lawn near the stage. After a few minutes and several appearances by band members, we walked over and began sort of passively eavesdropping on a conversation Ned Goold was having with some other fans about how great Harry's writing and arrangements have been recently. Eventually we introduced ourselves and chatted with him for a few moments before he had to leave to get ready for his trio's opening act. Ned, you're one cool cat.

It seemed as if many of the guys had family and friends coming out for the show, as they were all milling around. After a few minutes of trying to blend in, we noticed a particular band member hop off of a golf cart in an area beyond a security checkpost. Emboldened by a couple glasses of wine, we waved and motioned for him to come join us. He came over and we all ended up chatting for an hour until right before show time.

The show was incredible (we'd give a major appendage for a video of Mind On the Matter), and we were all really pumped when our new friend came over during the show and played for us (Connie, the sweet lady sitting next to me, I apologize for the very loud, very public display of excitement). At one point Harry jumped down from his dancing pedastal--the piano--and came over and sang in front of us and said, "Look at the pretty ladies in the front row!" A little over the top, but needless to say, we enjoyed hearing it!

As soon as they finished their kickin' encore, we looked to our new friend, who motioned for us to go back to where we'd been chatting before the show, so of course, we bolted over there. We arrived to find lots of VIPs with backstage passes and felt a bit silly standing there without any, knowing that Harry hasn't been hanging out much after the outdoor shows on this tour. Even the Wolf Trap security people scowled at us, saying, "we're going to turn out the lights, and everybody's going to go home, and y'all are still going to be standing here, because nobody's coming out tonight." We just stood there, like starstruck teenagers, waiting on our friend.

After about twenty minutes he arrived and said, "These ladies can come in." Excited? Why yes, we were. When we got inside the gate, we told him how much behind the show kicked and how great they all sounded. Then he informed us that he was going to work on getting us better seats at the Charleston show the following week! When we'd been talking before the show, we explained that we were visiting the area, and that we normally see them in Georgia or the Carolinas (where we live) and that we had less-than-stellar seats in Charleston. You can imagine how pumped we were that he was offering to do this for us!

The only problem was, we'd gotten our wires crossed, and he thought we'd said Charleston, WV! So when we told him we were going to the South Carolina show, he said, "Oh, man. Well, come with me, then."

The next thing we knew we were on one of the busses with the band! WOW! Amazing--We'd been on one briefly during the Star Turtle tour, but this was much more fun, cause all the guys in the band were hanging out, talking, watching TV, listening to music, and playing basketball in the parking lot. Our friend introduced us to a couple of the other guys and then showed us their ammenities of their "home away from home," while he checked out some type of tour schedule book. It was great!

All of a sudden our friend Heather gives us a big whack on the back and sort of motions to look to the front of the bus. Harry had just gotten on! Wow! He sat down and starting chatting with the guys about the show-- what he liked, what he wanted to change--the works. After a few minutes he rose and said, "allright, guys, we need to go." He looked at our friend and said, "see ya later, man," and kind of acknowledged our presence and away he went.

Our friend walked us back to the security post, hugged each of us, and told us he'd be in touch about the Charleston tickets. We left, dancing and singing and basically acting like goons all the way to the parking lot. It was all pretty surreal, really, and for the next couple of days we reveled in our "close encounter," our fun time with our new friend, and waited in anticipation of the Charleston show.

Wanna know what happened? Check out our story for that one, too!