To Meat, once again from the bottom of my heart, I have to say thank you for Couldn't Have Said It Better, and one of the most exciting, and memorable concert experiences of my life.  I don't know how you felt about it personally that night, but from where I was sitting, there wasn't a disappointed fan in the house.  You sir are not getting older, you are getting better... please do not let anyone convince you otherwise 

The Mohegan Sun arena was the perfect type of venue for this show ….. not too big, and not too small. I was sitting on the aisle, row 7 in the center section on the floor, and had a perfect, very close up view of everything on the stage.  The show started at exactly 7:00 pm. Even though I had never listened to Cyndi Lauper before, I had heard really good things about her, and was looking forward to her part of the show. Most of her fans had seats up front, and as soon as she came on stage, every one in the first couple of rows stood up and started singing and dancing along to her music. I recognized a couple of her songs, and she was so energetic that eventually I was tapping my feet and singing along with everyone else. She kept jumping off the stage and walking through the audience (even in the upper bleachers) which I’m sure drove security   At one point I took my eyes off the stage and was looking around .. the next thing I know, here she comes walking down the aisle next to me. She stopped, grabbed my hand for a second and smiled as she continued to sing the song. It just really took me by surprise!  Her set lasted about 90 minutes, and after 30 minute break, the lights went down you could feel the excitement and tension slowly building. I’m not going to spoil the opening for anyone, so suffice it to say it’s just something you had to see and hear to believe .........

Meat’s set lasted about 2 ½ hours. As I said before, I was very close to the stage, and Meat never looked or sounded better. His voice was very clear and strong, his level of energy was astounding, and he and the band were clearing enjoying every minute of it ! Admittedly the audience was a little slow getting started, but soon they were rocking right along There were so many memorable moments that night. Seeing Testify performed for the very first time, watching 8,000 people in the arena giving Meat a roaring standing ovation after Anything For Love, seeing the twinkle in his eye and smile on his face as he lifted the top of the piano to show us Betty's picture, hearing everyone singing along to 2 Out Of 3, watching him harass the poor guy in the audience for wearing a Jimmy Buffet t-shirt and not singing along to Took The Words, singing and dancing along to the new theatrics of Paradise, watching Paul literally bouncing across the stage and then giving it his all during the guitar solo for Bat, and finally the hysterical antics between Meat and Cyndi Lauper as she joined him for the roaring encore.

But the best moment of the night had to be Couldn't Have Said It Better. Of all the new songs, this clearly got the best reception. As soon as Meat introduced it as the title track of the new CD, and plugged the radio stations in the area that were playing it, the crowd started cheering. I just stood there, overwhelmed and in a state of awe watching him and Patti sing the song. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life .. I really love the new CD, and it's very hard for me to put into words how emotional I felt right then. The crowd responded very positively to the song ..... I talked to several fans after the show who hadn't heard it before and yet were very impressed and anxiously looking forward to the release of the new CD !!Meat, I was really proud of you and the entire NLE that night. Thank you for rocking the Mohegan Sun and making it a night I’ll always remember for the rest of my life.

Vicki