International Ballroom, Houston, Texas

Last Stop Houston. The place held I think 4000 it seemed like there was one thousand more than maximum capacity. The most lively crowd I have ever seen. I squeezed up to about 8 people from the front. Nice and Loud. Acoustics were OK. The entire place rocked. Ian expressed his grattitude to the audience more than a few times. The Cult gave the energy back 10 times greater. I thought Ian was going to explode, I thought I was going to explode. Best song was Star, during the middle of the guitar solo I had this urge to start jumping. I felt like I was jumping 10 feet in the air. It just felt right with the music. I noticed the people around me were not getting into it as much as I which gave me an even bigger incentive to get into the song more. I was reeling, anyway the middle of Star when the drums are pounding Ian (this version was definitely extended) starts yelling on the upbeats, Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump about 29 times. I swear after that I must have jumped 20 feet higher. The most amazing time I have ever had was during that song. Later I asked my friend what the audience was doing since my head was banging away I wasn't aware of the people around me for some time. He said when Ian started yelling Jump, the entire place started jumping. Jumping 20 feet in the air. You really had to be there to know how it felt. I turned around everyonce in a while to check out crowd response, I got a rush just off all the cheering. In The Clouds, Star, and The Witch were still the standouts. The Cult would no longer be in a few weeks. All things must pass. I only hope The Holy Barbarians will live up to my expectations.

Mike MacLelland - Z_maclellanm@titan.sfasu.edu