Best Venue Ever: Giants Stadium

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As a fan base, we sometimes take for granted that the word "humble" has not fallen out of their vocabulary. Surrounded by the ridiculousness of The Surreal Life, talentless lip-synching little sisters, or former "Kings of Pop" standing trial for…well whatever it may be, the point is we should be thanking the band for the countless memories and experiences they have given us.

The main reason why I chose to write this essay was the memory of the first night's encore during the 2001 summer tour. It was an experience that can barely be put into words, clearly evidenced by fan reviews of the show being limited to one liners that went something like, "AMAZING, TWO STEP, RAIN, THUNDER, LIGHTNING, UNBELIEVABLE." It truly was too good not to be scripted and pawned off to The Academy as a winner for best encore of a lifetime, because to be honest, I don't remember any other part of that show. But I remember the rain and I remember "Two Step." I remember The Beatles-esque words of Dave's little intro where he changes lyrics daily. "All you could say was let it rain until it washed us all away."

It was almost as if God was testing them. Amidst a flurry of lightning bolts across the sky, deafening thunder, hail and rains of biblical proportions, the band kept playing, and beyond that, they seemed to get stronger. Doing his best Lieutenant Dan impression, Dave came out to the front of the stage strumming recklessly on the guitar, seeming to ask, "You call this a storm?" You could barely here Leroi on the sax, and at times I wasn't sure if I was hearing Carter's double bass or more thunder, but it didn't matter, it was perfect.

What seemed like an eternity may have only lasted minutes in reality, but it lives on in the memory of every person who was there. We would have stood there for days on end, funny thing is, I don't remember running to my car to dry off or change clothes, I remember simply walking through the lot with eighty thousand other soaking wet people stunned in disbelief. That level of intensity is something that is rarely, if ever, matched. And it's something that only happens in and around New York City.