Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:28 am

Tonight was round 3 of my Miranda and Dierks tour. Ran was in St. Paul, which is the closest for me.

Got to the arena around 5:30 or so, which I thought would put me deep in line. However, there were only around 30 people in 4 lines at that point. I found some friends I met at the Julie Roberts show last month, so we were about 6th in line when they finally opened the doors at 6:35. I hurried down and got a spot in the front row and when they got there, headed off to the merch table for something for Ran to sign.

The lines at the merch tables were insane!! They were about 20 people deep. There was no way I was gonna get a pic for Ran to sign, so I went to the far edge and got served in about 5 minutes. Whew!!

Quickly hurried to the meet and greet line, as it was supposed to start at 6:50 and it was about 6:48 by this time. I met up with Rachel (zoysiagirl) and we got to the back of the line. The meet and greet started around 7:05 and the line was pretty long - probably about 30 people. Saw Ran walking down the hall toward the meet and greet room with Crysta. When Ran got to the door, she saw me, smiled, and said Hi when she entered. The, I visited with Crysta for a bit while we waited our turn.

When it was my turn, I visitied with her for a bit and did the standard photo. I have to think of some creative pose!!

Randy Rogers was very good again. They've got a great sound and I am quickly becoming a fan of theirs.

On to the highlight of the evening...Ran's performance. All I can say is WOW!! She gets better and better every time I see her. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn't as great as Dekalb or La Crosse, but she still rocked. The set list was the same 10 songs and she nailed every one of them. After Gunpowder and Lead, a guy next to me said "That's a great song. I love it". The crowd did get going for Crazy Ex-girlfriend, which is great to see. The entire place was on their feet and rocking for Kerosene. I am really seeing more and more people getting into her music, which is great.

After the show, Aden got me a set list. Gotta love the band!!!

To keep this shorter, Dierks was excellent as well. He really gets the crowd going and is very high energy. He even ran out into the crowd again during a song. Also, he fell during one song and never missed a beat. I even love the encore...

I managed to get a drumstick from Dierks' drummer again. I kept this one, tho!! It took a good jump on my part - it was headed a row or two behind me. Definitely an excellent time. Can't wait for the next show in 12 days!!!