We're Not In Kansas Anymore

I spent part of last weekend in the front row at the Kansas concert at Mille Lacs Grand Casino. The tickets were only $18. How could I resist? On the Kansas web site, the tour date is listed as "Mille Lacs Event Center". Perhaps they didn't want to let the world know they were starting off their 2007 World Tour at a casino in the boon docks. I spotted the guitarist, (the guy with the eye patch), eating dinner in the casino steakhouse. The steakhouse is surprisingly good. I might not be that great of a judge, though. I've never eaten the steak, just all of the other food that comes around it.
Kansas looked much better in person than in their publicity photo shown here. I was on the left side of the stage, and they walked up the stairs right in front of me. They played "Dust in the Wind" perfectly. David Ragsdale did a nice job playing the electric violin that gives the song its signature sound. Unlike the photo below, he was wearing a shirt during the concert. Probably because the casino buffet has that "no shirt, no shoes, no service" policy. The only disappointment was the lack of a lighter salute during the famous ballad. Even though we were in a casino, one of the few places you can still smoke indoors, only a few people had lighters. I expected to see a wave of lighters during "Dust in the Wind" like I did at the 2004 Metallica concert during "Nothing Else Matters". I stopped at the Milaca Unclaimed Freight Warehouse on the way up to the casino. I bought 1000 pairs of disposable plastic gloves (to clean up Whippy's little messes) but I forgot to grab a four pack of lighters for $1. Oh, well.
There was no opening act, so after the show I had plenty of time to hit the Grand Casino Arcade, the largest casino arcade in the state of Minnesota. (Yes, their signage actually advertises the arcade that way. How many casino arcades are competing to be the biggest in Minnesota? Maybe 4 or 5?) I won a big pair of fuzzy dice playing Skee-Ball. I picked the black ones and silver ones, of course, to match the van's new paint job.
The casino has a no dogs allowed policy, so I couldn't get a ticket to the concert for Perro. Once he sneaked into the Hinckley casino hotel in a backpack. But I told him he couldn't spend the whole concert in a backpack. Even though he missed barking along to "Carry On Wayward Son", Perro loved spending a weekend on the farm out at Castle Rock Kennels. He didn't even cry when Joey dropped him off at the farm.
This was one of the best concert weekends ever. I wanted to spend another night at the casino, just hanging around the pool and sipping the free coffee. But too soon it was time to drive the Echo back to Farmington. My only comfort is that my memories of the Kansas show will be with me forever. As their second biggest hit says, "Carry on, you will always remember".

Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son Lyrics

(Kerry Livgren)

(Chorus)

Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man

I hear the voices when I'm dreamin',
I can hear them say

(Chorus)

Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Now don't you cry no more

Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely
means that I don't know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but
I hear the voices say

Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you

(Chorus)