We flew in from Alaska, and didn’t get to Everett (north of Seattle) until 4 am Friday, so needless to say, we spent the good part of the day asleep. That afternoon I spent camped out at the back gate, where there were 4 tour buses already parked. I found out later they were Hoobastank’s busses and the road crew from VR. The guy next to me caught a glimpse of Slash getting off his bus as 6, and I caught a glimpse of Matt as he got off his bus a short time later. I left after that, only to return at 7 for entry into the arena. The place was only half full when Hoobastank took the stage precisely at 8, and played for 45 minutes. They were ok ­ at one point the guitarist broke a string but since he was only strumming, it didn’t really matter. I think they had a backing track going, as there were several times I heard guitar, but didn’t see anyone playing! 45 minutes of set-up and the house lights dimmed and the large screen monitors played portions of VR’s Dirty Little Thing video cut with some motorcycle ad. Then Duff came up, followed by the rest of the gang, and they exploded into Sucker Train Blues. The crowd was on their feet from the very beginning, and most everyone was singing/yelling along with Scott. I can’t remember the rest of the order of the set list, but it’s the same as the others have been reporting. Since I’m a beginning guitarist, most of my attention was on Slash, and of course my seats were on his side of the stage (right). Unfortunately, he moves around so much, and many of his solos were directed to the left. Fortunately, the big screen monitors showed close ups of all the guys, to include Slash, so you could still get a really good view (but I kept looking back and forth to see if he had turned toward me). At one point, Slash and Duff almost collided; both of them had to swing the necks of their guitars up to avoid disaster. Several times, Slash and Dave played to each other, as well as Duff and Slash. Scott was amazing ­ really getting the crowd revved, and at one point during their encore, he came out into the crowd and was 20 feet in front of us. Duff and Slash looked great ­ very in shape and fit. Matt and Dave, too were pounding away. They played for about 90 minutes and then it was all over. I hung out at the back gates for another hour, saw Slash hang out, then get into a car and drive 5 feet in front of me as he left the parking lot. The small crowd remarked how being a huge rock star, he simply got into a Honda Accord and departed like he was just another regular joe. Unfortunately, he didn’t sign any autographs, which I was disappointed in since I had bought a close-up of him from Australia and very much wanted his autograph. Since I had never seen Slash play live and he was responsible for my picking up the guitar in the first place, it was the experience of a lifetime that I’ll never forget. It was one of the best concerts I’ve seen, and my voice is still a bit hoarse from yelling so much. To Slash and the boys: Thanks for a great concert and “way to f---ing rock and roll!”