Inn of the Mountain Gods, Ruidoso, NM Concert Review

We drove from El Paso to the concert at Inn of the Mountain Gods at Mescalero, NM. I had been there once before to see a Three Dog Night concert. We left early to beat the crowds and found ourselves at the head of the ticket line.  After waiting awhile we began to get concerned whether any one else was coming or not. Once inside a trickle of people slowly came in over the next hour. As the concert began I felt embarrassed that so few people had showed up. Maybe there were 300 people at most.  But then I thought “Hey we showed up at least.” At any given time a person could easily walk up to the front of the stage. The performers truly had eye contact with the majority of people. We chose to set our chairs four rows back just to take it all in. As the concert began Todd made very light of the small turn out. He thanked us all for coming and told us that every buddy got their own port-a-john (close to truth). He said after the show we would all get to know each other by name. They then went on to present a very professional and entertaining concert. There was not a single minute that I did not enjoy myself. The intimacy of it was what made it special. At one point our neighbor concertgoers scrambled to find a pick that Todd through out into the audience. They never did find it in the grass. At the end of the evening on the last fantastic encore as the crowed continued to applaud. I looked away to pick up my folding chair and something struck me in the forehead. As the front stage lights came up in the darkness and illuminated the audience there in the grass at my feet laid a lime green pick. I bent down and picked it up. Looking up at the stage to see who’s it was, there on Todd’s mike stand was a row of lime green picks. I smiled and told my friend I should get it signed, but I decided I didn’t need to. What an experience.