2002-06-28 - 1:43

To know for sure

So, last Tuesday was the release of the Rollins Band double live CD, The Only Way to Know For Sure. Yes, this is the album taken from the concerts that I flew to Chicago to experience.

First off, I have to say, that even though a statistically significant portion of the crowd had shaved heads and black T-shirts, I'm still reasonably confident that I picked out the back of my head in the CD's main crowd picture. My place in rock and roll history is now secure.

Listening to those CDs really took me back to the concerts. I could easily have said that the Rollins shows were among my lifetime concert highlights; but hearing the recording had me reliving the actual emotion of being there.

The spoken word section of "Thinking Cap" is amazing. I remember hearing that piece and experiencing one of those moments when I realized that there was nowhere else in the world that I would rather be; and I was ecstatic to be able to be a part of it all.

I'll be able to listen to this album years down the road and say that I was there and that it was the best emotion that I had felt in ages. And that's pretty cool, if you ask me.

J.