Music in Modesto: Five for Fighting, Day Two

After a fantastic night of music, courtesy of John Ondrasik and his awesome string quartet, I didn't have trouble falling asleep. Strangely, I woke up with a sore back, courtesy of the overly soft hotel bed. Nothing that a couple of ibuprofen couldn't fix. The plan of the day was a slow drive down to Modesto for the next Five for Fighting concert on his current mini-tour. After getting my stuff loaded into my car, I noticed the string quartet's van...yes, they were staying at my hotel...was still in the parking lot. By the time I got done having a bite from the hotel's complimentary breakfast, the van was gone...no doubt on their way to Modesto.

I had a little time to kill in the morning, so I dropped by the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve...also known as the Isenberg Crane Reserve...in Lodi, CA. The only time I can recall seeing sandhill cranes was when I was moving from New Jersey to Washington almost 25 years ago. There were thousands of cranes on both sides of the interstate in Nebraska, but I didn't have time to stop for a closer look.

I was hoping to see cranes at this reserve, and I did, but not in very large numbers. Still, it was cool and I got some photos, albeit from a distance. There were also other waterfowl present, including a lot of Canada geese and American coot. The second photo below appears to show snipes, too.

 When I arrived in Modesto, I went to the Gallo Center for the Arts...the venue for tonight's show...and took a few pics of the building. I also caught the concert info on the digital board.

After checking into my hotel, I got a head start on this blog post so I wouldn't have to spend so much time on it when I got back from the concert. A few hours later, I headed back to Gallo Center, checking into the box office to get my comp ticket...again, courtesy of John. As I was waiting for doors to open, I ran into Katie...one of the quartet members. I gave her a Starbucks gift card that I wasn't using...I don't drink coffee...which will be much appreciated by the quartet. Turns out I had another great seat...fifth row center. The concert was like last night...simply awesome! The set list was the same as previous with the exception of one song...John performed What If instead of Born To Win. Even though they asked for no photos during the show as a courtesy to the audience, we got free rein to do so for the encore. And, I took full advantage of that!

At the conclusion of the concert, John and the quartet were available for photos and autographs in the lobby. While I was waiting patiently as John interacted with his adoring fans, I chatted with the quartet and got a pic with them.

I was the last one to see John and I jokingly introduced myself and said I was a big fan. John played along and said he had heard of me. I had bought the CD of his live string quartet performances, and asked John to sign it. I mentioned how good the Washington State Cougars football team was doing this year, and John replied that since his Bruins were NOT doing well, he would be happy to support the Cougs. Finally, it was picture time and I must say, it came out well.

After saying our goodbyes, I returned to my hotel and looked to see what John wrote on my CD. It was pretty special. Looking forward to one final show in San Juan Capistrano in a couple of days. The magic never ends...