New Year's Eve With Ekoostik Hookah

Finally!!!
I've got some catching up to do again. It seems like I start a lot of these blog entries that way.......

Anyway, before I go out of town this weekend, I've got to at least get my New Year's Eve blog posted. Some of you have probably already seen pictures on Facebook, but look again anyway!!!!

Ryan and I were very excited to see Ekoostik Hookah for New Year's Eve this year because it was our first ever New Year's show with them. After it was all said and done, I'm kicking myself for missing it all these years!! It was the best New Year's I've ever had!! We definitely started the new year off right that night!!

The show was at The Newport in Columbus, Ohio. It is one of the large venues in Columbus near the Ohio State Campus. I also know from talking to the guys in the band that it is one of their favorite places to play. That always makes for a great show when you know the guys are enjoying it too!! There is a blacony that is normally closed off for the shows, but they had it opened up for New Year's Eve, so I hung out up there and played with my new camera a lot!! (That camera is now broken.)

This picture was taken pretty early in the evening before things got too crazy!! We had several friends from Indy who joined us for the trip. It was wonderful ringing in the new year with a big group of great friends!!! There were about ten of us and two hotel rooms.....nice and cozy!!!

This is Kelly Anne and me before the show started. We were hanging out in the back of the room watching for people we knew, and of course, spying on anyone from the band who we could find :-)

This is our friend Stephanie from Toledo. We don't get to go to a lot of the same shows, so it is always good to see her. She's tons of fun....always has glitter and fun stuff to play with or toss onto the stage...wink wink!!!

Kelly's hubby Dave was there too.We love him!! We all had New Year's hats, although mine only lasted an hour or so before I lost it, but I never lost that horn!!! Had it all night long!!Yep, that's the one!! I bought some for Dave and Kelly too!! It's always more fun when you have props!!I was all over the place that night. I spent a lot of time up front like I usually do, but with everyone who was there being spread out all over the place, I found it hard to stand still for long. I wanted to see everyone and play with everyone!!! I'm pretty sure I danced for miles, literally!!!John Mullins had his hair down that night. It was kinda weird to see him like that, but I guess I liked it alright. I definitely prefer the ponytail though. Looked like he even used some hair spray on that do!! Ryan had ahold of the camera for a lot of the night, and kept taking random photos from above everyone's head. This is the only one where I actually recognized anyone....and it was me!!!I loved it that the balcony was open. It was a great place for photos.I was happy to be up there when Eric, the drummer, was singing. We never hear enough out of him, and the few times that he does sing, I'm usually not anywhere where I can actually get a good picture of him.

I spent a little while up there hanging out with different people and taking lots of pictures. The sound was spectacular up there and the view was great, but I always feel like I'm missing out on something if I'm not right up front where all the action is. Some people might call that nosy :-)Another view from the balcony. This was after midnight...there's confetti everywhere!!!TeShannah was there to ring in the New Year with us!! I just love her!! I believe this was just before we both fell down in eachother's arms....and the sad thing is, I was drinking Pepsi!!!!Of course, I had to throw in a picture of Sweney, the guitar god!! He was on fire that night. You could tell that the whole band was having a great time. We got to hear some of our favorite songs along with several suprprises. The one that totally blew me away was when Cliff sang "Hoist That Rag" by Tom Waits. I think I might have peed my pants a little :-)

Hope eveyone had as a great a time as I did for New Year's Eve this year. If so, then there's a lot of us off to a fantastic start!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!