STAR WARS IN CONCERT - WITH MEGA-SPOILERS

Last month we headed off for Seattle to see "Star Wars in Concert". What a trip! We left early on a freezing Monday morning, and arrived in Seattle in the early afternoon.

Finding the hotel was an adventure, but we got checked in and settled in hardly any time at all. Then we took care of couple of shopping-type errands before setting out to find some dinner.

Finding a restaurant was another adventure, it seems Seattle folks (Satellites?) live on Subway sandwiches and espresso. LOL

Tuesday was full of anticipation. We checked out the area around Seattle Center, tried to find the parking garages, called for parking information and generally got antsy to just GO!

So after a late lunch, it was time to suit up in our costumes. I had a little trouble with my boot zippers, but the Force was with me as Grampy-Wan had a pair of pliers in the car and fixed me right up!

We were so worried about handicapped parking availability that we got there way too early, and had to wait outside for over an hour!

The disappointment of not being allowed to troop with Alpha Base of the Rebel Legion really sank in then, as I could see them walking around inside having fun! And I'm sure they got a better view of the displays than I did, for even though we were first in the door at 6 PM, I couldn't get anywhere near the displays because of the crowds, so I didn't get to check out the costumes first hand.

But, I did get to meet several members of Alpha Base, a really nice group of people!

After spending an obscene amount of money at the novelty stand, we found out seats and they were AWESOME! Front of the upper deck, in the center, with no one in front of us! Woot!

We could hear the orchestra tuning up, and an ominous announcement warned us that the lights would dim and the show would start suddenly!

And start it did, with the traditional Fanfare and the opening theme! The screen was huge, and bright!

It's too bad that it was in a basketball arena though; the acoustics did not give the show justice.

Initially I had to overcome my disappointment when I realized that the video was the same video that was on the DVD "Star Wars a Musical Journey" that I got in 2005 with the soundtrack to "Revenge of the Sith". I was expecting a specially edited video just for the concert, so it was a little disappointing.

But the quality of the video screen and the thrill of hearing the music live soon made up for that!

At the intermission Grampy-Wan said "It's half over already?" And I knew just how he felt. We wanted more and a lot more!

Anthony Daniels was awesome as the narrator, and broke into Threepio talk during his introduction of "A Daring Escape". Set to the music from the chase through the asteroid field during 'The Empire Strikes Back", this clip also gave a nice Prequel tie-n by showing Obi-Wan chasing Jango Fett through asteroids in Ep. II. It also showed unnecessary shots of Anakin's pod race, which left a WTF? taste in my mouth...

It ended all too soon, with a standing ovation, and a curtain call by both the conductor and Anthony Daniels. The Mr. Daniels astounded us all by saying "You people don't want to leave yet, do you? Do you want to hear one more?" YES! And we were treated to an encore of "The Imperial March"!

Still, no one wanted to leave, but we made our way to the exit. Being Seattle, it was raining out when we left, so there went a Rebel Pilot on scooter with an umbrella, and a Jedi clutching a 3-D poster and a very expensive program under her cloak, also with an umbrella towards the parking garage! LMAO

Tired and happy, we slept in just long enough to not miss the free breakfast at the hotel, and then started home. We took a pleasant detour across the floating bridge to get to the Lego Store.

Lunch in Ritzville, and home for dinner.

All in all, a great trip and an awesome Star Wars experience!