Ok, Buzz made it thru the weekend
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...I'll try and share some of my non-technical observations of the whole BG Palooza event on Saturday. First of all, what a great collection of Haliens we are! Seriously, we are quite the eclectic group. Mrs Buzz and I are just overwhelmed about the nature of Haley Fans here in Chi-Town. It's like good friends that you haven't seen in years...our forum friends, that instantly welcome each other into whatever event is taking place. It's like seeing Haley in person vs only on video...the same applies to interacting with Haliens in-person vs only online.
We had a full day. The lunch at Bob Chinn's crab house was our first session with 12 of us attending. Himm2, Captain Organizer, was spot on with his choice of restaurant and round table for 12. What a treat...Tusk, Yanni, Tim & Jill, Himm, Babbs, NUG, Swansteel, Mrs Buzz and I...all having a great meal together with plenty of laughter and stories to fill up a quick 1-1/2 hours. Great food, great atmosphere, great conversation...and they really love Haley there too.
I'll skip next to the evening concert. We all met up at the Westin at 4:30 pm to head over to Buffalo Grove, with only 4-1/2 hours
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before Haley & The Reinharts would perform. We all had folding chairs and made Camp HF.com right in front of the main stage. There was a young couple in their early 20s sitting on the grass in front of us. They were Haley fans, and camped out 4 hrs in advance too. I had Tusk take their picture and told them we would post it on HF.com...making one new HF fan at a time.
The entire festival was spread out over a large park area with food tents, vendors, rides, etc. so the 1000s of people that would be watching Haley were only part of a much bigger gathering of festival attenders. The opening blues band at 7:30 pm was excellent. Yanni and I both said Blue Brothers-like at the same time...jinx.
After the Blues Band, we had maybe 1/2 hour to wait for Haley & the Reinharts. When they hit the stage there was a crowd surge forward and into our area. Instead of us being able to sit comfortably with extra space around our chairs, it was now standing room only about 10 rows deep...all part of the Haley effect. *Note* after speaking with Harry Reinhart on Sunday, he was told by the BG organizers that a full field in front of the main stage would be about 20,000 people; therefore, since the crowd pretty much covered the whole field, there must have been over 10-15K people there...and who's going to argue with Haley's dad?
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Speaking of Haley's dad. Before the concert, and since we Haliens are social if anything...Buzz was working the crowd...having fun with everyone, putting smiles on faces. A number of people were looking strangely at me. Some staring for awhile...stranger looks than I normally get
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Anyway, finally the 20 year old girl next to me and her mother asked, "are you Haley's dad?" What a nice compliment and Buzz didn't miss a beat by responding..."no, I'm here older brother".
Now look at what I've done...I've made it about me. Oh, Babbs is going to have a field day with this. All I've got to say is don't believe anything she writes about me...what happened in Chicago, stays in Chicago...but I've digressed.
What can I add to what others have said about the concert? We have some very articulate Haliens here...Swanman, Yanni, Tusk, Himm, NUG, Babbs, etc. are all eloquent and very humble. I had a riot spending time with them, and while standing there so close to the stage on a beautiful summer night taking it all in...listening to the sweet sounds of Haley and her family and full band...it was a beautiful experience! It was more than the sum of its parts...it was very special. So many highlights...if one stood out more than any other for me...Haley & Harry's duet on CFMWBH. The harmonizing together, the effortless notes Haley goes to...and then Harry gives Haley a hug and kiss on the cheek when it's over...for all of us dads with daughters, it doesn't get any better than that.
Plenty more to report (The Sunday Reinhart Party), which I'll post on the other thread.