**LAURA'S REVIEW**

Camden, NJ
March 17th, 2001

My name is Laura and I'm a new Lifehouse fan. A friend told me to check them out last year and unfortunately I didn't make them as high a priority as I should have...I didn't get around to buying the CD until I heard Hanging By a Moment on the radio and fell in love! I took my friend Jill to the show. She and I both have about the same opinion of Matchbox Twenty: mostly very good music, with a few truly great songs, and a really great live show. We also agree about Everclear: a band we like to listen to but wouldn't necessarily need to own the CDs. She had never heard a single song by Lifehouse, but she trusted my judgment enough to buy the ticket :). We had what turned out to be pretty good seats. I wasn't too enthusiastic going in, because I knew we were sidestage/behind-stage, but we were quite close. And it was interesting to see everything from the side/back like that--we watched all the bands walk on and off, saw them hanging out before the encore, and had some fun interaction with MB20 before their curtain dropped. I was the only person in my section standing during Lifehouse's set, but they had some pretty energetic cheering sections in other areas, which I thought was awesome. Here's the setlist, in order, in case anyone here likes to keep track: Cling and Clatter, Sick Cycle Carousel, Quasimodo, Everything, Hanging By a Moment. Short and sweet...I was impressed that they included Everything, which is one of my favorites but a daring song for an opening band to perform because it's so very slow. It really pays off at the end, though; I think when they get huge (and I know they will!) it could make a terrific set-ender, because it really rings out in an arena! And it was the song that really got Jill excited about the band, too. She loved the whole set, but she said Everything is why she went out the next day, bought the CD, and immediately dubbed it to tape so she could hear it both at home and in the car. We decided that we were willing to miss the beginning of Everclear's set to visit the autograph table. I usually think autographs are pretty unimportant; what really matters to me is being able to tell an artist that his/her/their music means something to me. But I had brought my CD booklet with me, and I figured a fly-by of the table was better than nothing. They each had a hello and a friendly smile to go with their signatures, and Stuart stopped Jill to ask for some of her CrackerJacks, which gave us a minute to at least say that we'd enjoyed the set :). We caught most of Everclear's set, which was okay. It's amusing to see bands at MSG because it's one of those places that they all seem really grateful to play (Rob Thomas knelt down and kissed the stage!), and Art Alexakis seemed especially excited to be there. And MB20 really did a fantastic set--their songs are all even better live, and I'd go see them again even without Lifehouse. So I had a great time, and I can't wait to see Lifehouse headline their own tour! If you're still reading this, thank you and bravo :).

Hope I didn't bore anybody,
Laura

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