Rocking Out 2005 in Style!

Oldfield’s on High … small, loud, no parking, near OSU campus ... but none of that mattered Saturday night when Watershed rocked the stage for about three hours to close out 2005 and rock in 2006.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been out on New Year’s Eve … In my 20's I once rang in the New Year on a Caribbean Island, spent a few working, including one at the comedy club where I had a great NYE kiss with Danille (sadly that was the only kiss we had, but it was good) and, as John Denver said, spent a night or two all by myself.

In fact, I think the last time I went to an actual event was a party thrown by one of my desktop publishing clients in 1996/97. My date that year was Kerry. I was 28, she was 27, you could have combined our ages and we were still the youngest person in the room. The food was great; but the place didn't have a liquor license and it was BYOP (Polident) ... but the food was good. We left about 10 and went to her family party, wound up back at the apartment we were sharing and rang in the new year with the Dick Clark.

From 1997/98 to 2003/04 I've been at home, with Patti and/or the kids. Being married to a nurse ... she tended to work holidays for the extra money ... so sometimes it was just me & the kids. Last year, after Patti & I separated, I went to dinner with my friend Erica, and we went back to her place to watch some movies & saw Dick Clark’s replacement ring in the year.

So I was more than ready for a good night out and a good party.

Let's just say my expectations were exceeded.

The night started out with dinner … Kara told me I could pick and I was kinda hungry for Chinese ... so we head to Easton to take a chance and see what the crowd was like at P.F. Chang's China Bistro. As we pulled into the parking lot across from Chang’s there were several open parking spaces … whoo hoo. So we walk in, I wade through the waiting and ask how long the wait is without reservations. I’m told we could have a table about 9:30.

The only problem with that ... it’s not yet 7 p.m. … hmmm … about 160 minute wait … I’m not feeling that hungry for Chang’s. So we head over to On The Border because you never go wrong with 'Fine Mexican Cusine'. We pull in, get another good parking spot and walk in.

It took us about 160 second before we were in a booth with drinks ordered. Nice.

So after dinner we worked our way over to Oldfield’s. Music started about 10:30 … and didn't stop until about three minutes to midnight (okay, I'll be dramatic ... they rocked their asses off until they took an Iron Maiden break at "Two Minutes To Midnight". Wait, never mind, that sucked.) They rocked hard for 88 minutes, stopped at about 11:57, made sure everyone had a beverage to toast in the new year, picked up the countdown at 8 seconds to midnight, then after a couple of minutes of toasting, got back into the music for another half hour.

(Rewind: They did take a bit of a break early, but Colin played a couple of songs solo while the band took a break; Joe joined him for one, then Joe switched from bass to guitar and did one solo. End Rewind)

About 1:00 they were back on stage and rocked for another hour. With thee hours of music to fill … about the only song I didn’t hear I wanted to was their cover of “Since You Been Gone” despite me yelling it out several times, but I'm not complaining in the least, because they played every song from “The More It Hurts The More It Works” and every song from “The Fifth of July” … as well as most of “Twister” and “Star Vehicle” including the rarely played "I-65" (sorry Donnette), "Sad Drive," "What Would I Need You For," "Twister," "If That’s How You Want It," "How Do You Feel," "Consolation Prize," "I’d Be A Liar," "Half of Me," and "Superstressed." I'm sure there were a couple I missed because I'm not that well versed in those albums ... but they've been elevated on my playlist based on how amazing the live versions were.

Yeah, it was pretty freaking awesome … and talking to Joe & Colin before the show, and Joe at the break, made me realize that yeah, they’re touring all over the place, playing just about anywhere they can get a gig, working their asses off, and they deserve to success in 2006 … because they are, as Kara said, the hardest working band in show business, with apologies to James Brown.

Don't know how you're feeling about the new year, but like the fantastic “The Fifth of July” closing track … I believe, for me ... and hopefully for Watershed, indeed, “The Best Is Yet To Come.”

I hope 2006 is a good year for you … it has been for me … and it’s just 14 hours old.

Enjoy the pictures.