An extremely boisterious crowd waited until 11:30pm when MSG finally took the stage.

Schenker looked real rough as if he'd just woken up from a long winters nap. Absent from his forehead was the cross tatoo that used to be between his eyes. I suppose he had some laser surgery. He was dressed like a homeboy complete with skull cap and long black shorts.

I was right in front and Schenker did not move out of a five square foot area. He was in his crouch position never looking up just swaying from side to side for about the first 5 or 6 tunes. I was worried.

The crowd was going nuts. During Mad Axe Man this asshole next to me decided to start moshing and pushing . I dispatched this moron with an elbow to the face while another guy gave him some body shots.The bouncers pounced on this guy but only after there was quite a commotion during the final solo of Mad Axe Man. Then Schenker left the stage and the bouncers came back to throw ME and the guy who threw the punches out but fortunatly the people around us stood up for us and we got to stay for the encores ...which were really the highlite of the entire show.

There was no sign of Amy Schugar. She never came out.

Schenker played a V thru two Marshall stacks with JCM 800 heads. He had an A/B box , a wah wah, not a cry baby BTW. He also had a Boss delay and chorus on his petal board along with some kind of Boss distortion/overdrive.

The sound system was great. Everybody sounded superb although the singer had very little stage presence. Schenker was pretty subdued and only started to warm up to the crowd half way thru. He did smile and look up and sang a few backups and seemed to be enjoying himself. The Bass player was going nuts. He is destined to be in a neckbrace before too long.

The crowd was screaming for encores and Schenker came running out arms above his head as if he had won the Superbowl.

They started with Armed and Ready and man they were fired up. Then it was into Doctor Doctor and the whole place was going nuts. Everybody in the band was all smiles cuz the people were in a frenzy.

Rock Bottom kicked total Dino ass. His solo was a nothing less than a masterpiece of distinction. I was in awe.All we love about Schenker came thru on that song. Fuckin Killer.

I've seen Schenker before but never from this close. One of the most amazing aspects of his technique that he only uses three fingers on his left hand...no pinky. His vibrato was impeccable especially on the low strings.I got a real lesson in touch ...Brutal and Delicate. His ability to trill ,slide, hammer ,bend and pulloff in the space of four bars was truly amazing.

I stood in line and got my guitar signed and Micheal was all smiles.