Eric Hutchinson - LIVE!

About a week ago I took a Rockin' Road Trip with my friend Theresa. We unfortunately had to leave the dogs behind, but that wouldn't impact the fun that was to ensue.

We hopped on the road mid-afternoon with St. Louis in our sights. Our goal, find the Firebird, grab a bite to eat, and rock out to Eric Hutchinson. Oh, and then, drive back to Peoria. Thank goodness Theresa is used to 3rd shift.

With Suzy's help (my GPS), we made it to St. Louis without any incidents. We found the Firebird and scouted out the area for places to eat on my Urban Spoon app on my iPhone. The Good Pie was our choice. How can you go wrong with pizza?

Well according to my non-condiment loving friend, you could go wrong with the toppings featured at The Good Pie. Plus, the restaurant was almost louder than our concert to come.

Walking down the street, we stopped in to Hamburger Mary's. Good ole American food, heck yeah! This restaurant was a hoot!

As we walked in, the first thing we saw was a Friday, Diva's Night sign. Had we been two days later, I'm sure our waiters would have been in drag and the mirror balls would have been spinnin' and shinin'! They catered to all audiences, even having a Rec Room (sports) area. To cap off the meal, our receipt arrived in a ruby slipper.

After a fun meal, we were finally in line at the Firebird. Listening to the people around us, we discovered there was no seating except for some benches on one side of the gigantic room that contained a stage, a bar, and bathrooms.

Once we got carded and let it, we set our sights on the benches. We weren't too keen on standing for the opening act, Avalanche City. They were from New Zealand and had some interesting tunes, but nothing I had to rush out and buy.

We scoped out the joint and decided the prime spot would be at the back in the center, so we staked out our position while waiting for the sound crew to setup the stage. Our spot was guarded by the sound board to our left, but we were getting a bit bounced around from the bar line to our right and the men's bathroom behind us. This best part, a natural aisle formed in front of us and we were next to the only men's bathroom in the place. I do believe I got bumped into by Eric and his "handler" and then a bit later, the keyboard/guitarist.

Eventually the show started and all my tiredness flew out the window. One of the best shows I've seen. Eric sounded great and had such high energy... my kind of show! Towards the end of his set, he announced he'd be signing autographs after the show. With my second wind in full force, we decided to stick it out.

The Mission: Theresa booked it over to the merchandise table while we waited for Eric and the band to come back for an encore. Fingers crossed we'd be at the front of the Meet & Greet line. I made "friends" with the sound guy and kindly asked if I could have the set list after the show was over. Goal: Get Eric's autograph on the set list without having to wait for 50+ people in front of us.

Did we accomplish our mission. Heck yeah! Third in line, can you feel it? No pictures with him (I didn't want to get tossed out without my autograph, so no leaping over the table for me.) Below is Eric signing Theresa's shirt and his "handler", to the left, keeping us in line.

Set list acquired and signed! Home by 2am and up by 6am... had to get to work to support this nasty concert habit I have.

I'm looking forward to my next concert in August. I'm sure I'll have another good story to tell. This Rockin' Road trip will be with Theresa as we head down to see Zac Brown Band outdoors.