Yes, Greg,his sister Luanne and her husband Mike  and I were there. What an incredible day it was. We got in last night, and we are still collecting our thoughts, and then there's that WORK thing.

Mark was on fire, and very cool to get to see him twice in one day (!!), and to be with him at length between shows.  I will post more details when I have time later today, but for now, it was an awesome day; one that we will never forget. 

Later, y'all,

--Debbie.


-----Original Message-----
From: Gregg James Belanga gnbelanga@... [markfarnersrailroad] <markfarnersrailroad@yahoogroups.com>
To: markfarnersrailroad@yahoogroups com <markfarnersrailroad@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sat, Sep 29, 2018 8:20 am
Subject: [markfarnersrailroad] The B-day boy

We got there late morning, and who should we meet up with right by the stage but Hubert. Such a nice guy.and always ready to visit and talk. So we hung out there for a bit, and hugged him and visited with him. Also met some people that we have only heard about; Phil De Gracia, who gave Mark the guitar a while back, Chuck, Carol, Shaun, and Terry and Suez and some others. We were right in the very front row for the whole day, and night. The opening band was a local Beatles tribute band called the Brittains, and they were really good; nice guys to meet, too.  

Round about 2 or so, we went backstage, and decorated it for the party; what a blast that was. Greg and Phil went to pick up a cake that I had ordered for Mark from a local bakery (within walking distance!) that was really cool; it was like a Jack Daniels label, and it said Year 1948. If you go on Facebook, you can see it there  I also got some pictures of it. Mark also did the sound check, and talked a little about his new song Can't Stop, which that day had  450,000 hits already. He was pretty psyched about that.

So about 325, we met at the merchandise tent; Lesia gave us our passes, and we went backstage; there were probably 20 of us from the Farner Fanatics group total. Mark came out of one of the trailers, and we sang Happy Birthday to him. He was floored; he said he had NO clue we were planning this. That time went by very quickly, and we really enjoyed just hanging out with and talking with him and eating birthday cake (which was awesome; banana cake and filling; Mark's favorites). The fair people also brought a cake in addition to the one we had ordered for him, and holy crap, that Mr Farner can really cut a cake! There are all kinds of pictures and videos from the party on Facebook. I couldn't help but think of Jim Wicker, and how he would have loved it, along with you all who were unable to be there as well. Just a really good time, and Mark and Lesia were so humble and gracious, as they always are. They gave each of us a coozie for coming backstage, and of course, lots of memories.   

So someone asked for a setlist; in no particular order, here it is; at least what I remember; if songs are blank, they are included in both shows:

Are You Ready
Footstompin Music
Rock and Roll Soul
The Railroad (afternoon show) 
Mean Mistreater
Creepin (Evening show)
Turning Hubert loose on the drums (Evening show)
Aimless Lady
Bad Time
Some Kind A Wonderful
The Loco Motion (and what a line for both shows; led off by a huge banner that people signed)
Closer to Home

All in all, it was a fantastic day; one that we will not soon forget. Greg's sister Luanne met Mark for the first time, and she was struck by how nice he was, and she can't wait to get the chance to see him again. We are so glad we went; had a great time, and we took all of you with us. One thing that has struck both Greg and I, is how nice Mark's fans always are, and how much we enjoy getting together. We plan to have a get together once a year going forward.

I will be seeing him again in November for an acoustic show in Natick MA, which I am really looking forward to, and it will be very interesting to see what he thought of all of that. 

If anyone has any other questions, let me know; I will see if I can get them answered. I am still in the afterglow of it; it was truly awesome.


--Debbie. 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Randy railroadrandy@... [markfarnersrailroad] <markfarnersrailroad@yahoogroups.com>
To: Mark Farner's Railroad <markfarnersrailroad@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Oct 3, 2018 9:28 am
Subject: Re: [markfarnersrailroad] The B-day boy

Two more songs to add to the set list:

Ohio
People Let's Stop the War (Evening show)

--Debbie in NH


-----Original Message-----
From: dlwunsch@... [markfarnersrailroad] <markfarnersrailroad@yahoogroups.com>
To: markfarnersrailroad <markfarnersrailroad@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Oct 3, 2018 9:10 pm
Subject: Re: [markfarnersrailroad] The B-day boy