Being in Athens now, it only took us around an hour to get to Atlanta this time around. Lauren, Mary, and I got in line at 5:00 pm at the Masquerade, where we also found Mike--the same guy who was in line before we got there at the last PT concert. We stood waiting outside until about seven when we were let into the bar area called Purgatory. We were told to relax at the bar until we could get to the main stage upstairs (called--you guessed it--Heaven), but we all said "Screw that" and stayed in line in front of the stairs. We'd been waiting outside for two hours already; we weren't about to give up our place in line now.
So, at around 8:00,we were let into Heaven. Mike and the rest of us made a mad dash to the front of the stage where we visciously staked out our spot. Once again, I was right in front of where Steve Wilson would be, which was fabtastic. Apparently, the opening band never showed up (John Wesley wasn't opening this time), so we ended up waiting for two more hours until the show began. My God, it was awesome; definitely one of the greatest concerts I've ever been to. They played some of the songs from the last time they were here, such as "Deadwing," "Halo," "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here," and "The Sound of Muzak," but there were also lots of new additions like "Don't Hate Me," "Open Car," "The Start of Something Beautiful," "Buying a New Soul" (which freaked everyone out), and, amazingly, "Radioactive Toy" (ditto). I loved every minute of it. It was surprisingly short; even with the encore, the show only ran from 10:00 to 11:50. I only wish it could have been longer.
One of the most amusing moments was during the intro of a song, some guy in the back suddenly shouted "I love you John Wesley and I wanna have your baby!" I saw John laughing while he was playing his guitar. When the band walked on stage at the beginning, Gavin was wearing a paper Varsity hat, which was hilarious.
After the show, I ran to the merch table and browsed. I ended up buying a tour shirt (in girl size this time, thank God), Warzawa, and a double vinyl of Deadwing. I ran back outside and waited with everyone for a good hour or so until the band came out of their bus. I got a tour poster from someone who worked for the Porcupine Tree website and got every band member (save Richard; for some reason he didn't appear) to sign all the things I bought, as well as the poster. Colin and Steven remembered me immediately from the show in June, which really excited me. Since I talked to Steven about my synesthesia last time, I gave him a list of some Porcupine Tree songs and what colors they were. He was surprised, and he thanked me for it; that made me happy. He read my name out loud off the paper, and it sounded so cute in his British accent. After snapping a picture or two with him (how scary I look in it depends on whether or not I post it), Lauren, Mary, and I left for home.