Last night was my 21st SK6ers show, but it was the 1,000th show the band had played. Before I left, my computer had a virus so I tried to clean it up and left a scan running and was hoping when I got back it would be fixed. Then I took the 5:01 train in to the city and was going to meet my friend Lauren who was taking the train in from NY.
I got to Grand Central earlier than anticipated and waited outside my track for Lauren. While I was waiting, a woman came up to me and said “This is what you do? Just standing here? Isn’t there anywhere to sit?” and I was like “I don’t know, I’m just waiting for my friend” Why it was such a concern to her that I was standing, I don’t know, as I wasn’t the only one standing around. Lauren showed up about 5 minutes later and we took the Subway to Irving Plaza.
As we were walking there, we saw Boots, SK6ers drummer. He was with Soucy who was the guitarist when I first got into the band, but left the band a few years later after getting married.
Doors were opened when we got in line and we chatted with the girls in front of us a bit about Michael Jackson and “This Is It” We got our 21+ wristbands and checked out the merch. They had a bunch of retro stuff to celebrate the 1,000th show, there were a couple things I thought about buying but didn’t want to hold and/or carry home. (Maybe they’ll end up on the website for sale? lol) and I ended up buying a set of Boots’ drumsticks and the new guitar picks they had to offer. For someone who doesn’t play guitar, I sure have quite the collection of picks!
We then grabbed a spot by the barricade on the side and waited for 8pm to roll around. Serena Ryder took the stage and did 5 songs, I really enjoyed her and she could hold out some amazing notes for a crazy long amount of time (Idol contestants, take note!) For one of her last songs she had SK6ers come out and sing with her. She also commented that someone had told her that NYC wouldn’t sing along to one of her songs, but we did!
About quarter to nine Stephen took the stage and sang a song solo. Then he talked a bit about how he met Goose and he joined him for a song. Then he talked about how Boots joined the band and Boots came out for a song. And finally he had Sam come out and there we had The Sixers! A special guest, Josh Ritter, joined them on stage for a song in the first set.
Then there was a break and the screen came back down in front of the stage and played some slide shows of photos of the band throughout the years. A photo of Boots with Taylor Hanson got about 6 screams.. and a couple of the marquee signs from when the band opened for Hanson got the same amount of screams – that was how we knew where our fellow Hanson fans were standing in the crowd!
The band came back out for their 2nd set. For a couple of songs they brought out Soucy who was a special guest and Stephen said that Soucy had been there for about 400 of the shows so he had to be there with them to celebrate. For Big Easy they brought out Marc Roberge, the lead singer of OAR who had been very supportive of the band when they were first starting out.
Then it was time for the encore. For one of the songs, Stephen said he wanted a couple to come up on stage as it was a slower song. Cousin Jess picked out a couple from right near we were standing and escorted them to the stage. Once they got to the stage, the guy got down on one knee and he proposed to his girlfriend, who was shaking. She said yes, showed the ring to us, and then they got to dance on stage for the song “Diamond”, it was such an amazing moment!
For the final song, they went up to the balcony with no mics. They were right over our heads so we could hear them, but the whole crowd sang along with “See You Later, See You Soon” and it was just the perfect ending for the show! It was an amazing night and I am really glad that I got to experience that with them, and hope that I can see them again and again during the next 1,000 shows of their career!
Oh and another highlight was when Stephen said, “I feel like I’ve said this 1,000 times.. “Hit it Boots!””
(and ps, the computer seems to be fine now – but I will be spending most of my time over the next week making sure I have everything important on my external hard drive!)
Satisfied Man
Anthem of our Discovery
Start the Day Early
4th of July
My Sweet Charade
*Lil Ol Wine Drinker
Oh Adeline
Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts
Thirteen
The Bear
Wagon Wheel
Sweet Sophia
**Lonely in Columbus
Pedal Steel
***Father’s Day
***Now I’m not so lost
Such a Way
****Big Easy
Uninspired Gambling
Milwaukee
Diamond
Days
***See you later, See you soon
* with Josh Ritter
** with Serena Ryder
*** with Chris Soucy
**** with Marc Roberge
Katie 
