A Head Full of Ideas that were Driving Me Insane....

Really the only word to lead with, 90 minutes or so after Paul, Artie and friends left the stage.

Paragraphs come with difficulty, so just some random sentences while it's all wonderfully fresh in my mind.

The perfect repertoire- everything you would've wanted.

A nice mixing of the songs, older and newer (face it, Paul said at one point, all of it's old), including two of Paul's solo songs- "Slip Slidin Away" and "American Tune"- which, as he said, were never recorded by S&G but should've been, what with the elements Artie added to them.

Artie looks like, well, Artie- same hair, same vest, same amazing voice.

Paul looks like Mel Brooks with a sudden virtuosity for the guitar.

The band was excellent- all expert session guys, all introduced by names I knew not a one of, all of whom featured on jammed-out versions of one song or another, including "Homeward Bound" and "Mrs. Robinson," but especially on the last song of the second and final encore- a "59th St Bridge" rendition with no fewer than two instruments I've never seen before.

The video montages- only two, beginning and midway, but well done, well fitted to the music, and solely for my personal enjoyment, a five-second clip of Paul in the turkey suit hosting SNL.

The opening act- make that middling, as the Everlys didn't come out till almost an hour in, did four songs, joined by the boys on "Bye Bye Love" and didn't keep us waiting for the main event.

The memories- "Scarborough Fair" opened the second, post-Everly part of the show, which as you know was a favorite of Sandy's (they did it well, but then you know that, you were there with us{{{{{}}}}}).

The demographics of the crowd- out of maybe 17,000 people, I saw only a couple dozen people who had lighters or matches to hold up for the encores.

The stories.

Artie's- "I met this guy in sixth grade when we were in the school play together- Alice in Wonderland. I was the Cheshire Cat. Paul was the white rabbit. This year marks the 50th anniversary of a beautiful friendship." (cue huge cheers and applause)

Paul's- "It's true, I was in Alice in Wonderland with him, but after starring in Death of a Salesman in 5th grade I felt I needed a stretch. We started singing together when we were 13 and immediately started arguing. This is the 47th anniversary of us fighting with each other (cue huge laughs with the cheers and the applause)

The surprise in the finale- I'd read about it, expected it, kinda understood it, but was still totally put away by it- read
this if you want to know what it is.