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Sunday, Nov. 21st. I landed at LAX Sunday night. Thanks to the US Thanksgiving week, the congestion of bodies and baggage was unreal; it was a zoo! When I finally arrived at my hotel, I discovered (amongst much wailing and nashing of teeth) that it was under renovations and some of their ‘amenities” were temporarily closed. I didn’t know if I was more upset that their internet access was unavailable or that their hot-tub was shut-down!!!! I consoled myself by flipping on the TV, only to spend the good part of an hour looking for a channel that didn't have a singing cowboy, obnoxious guests claiming "I've got a secret!", or half-naked women arguing in Spanish. |
 LAX |
| Monday, Nov 22nd. Had a less than stellar night’s sleep; I missed my feather pillows (foam always gives me a stiff neck), and the noise from the expressway outside my window kept waking me up. (I currently live in a city where more than five cars at an intersection is considered a major traffic jam.) A writer friend of mine took pity on me and came over at 10 am, bringing comfort in the form of two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon; we drank the wine, ate Sushi, and hung out all afternoon. Roland called and asked if I’d like to go out for dinner that night (like I'd say 'no', right? ;-). I managed, through sheer luck, to get the worst taxi driver in L.A.; he got completely lost in the hills trying to find Roland's house. Instead of a 30-minute trip, it took an hour and a half. $47 dollars later (and after two cell phone calls to Roland), the moron still couldn’t figure where to go! I was starting to feel like I was in an episode from the “Twilight Zone”. Roland told me to stay at the intersection where we were parked and he would pick me up. He also said the driver was an idiot, give him only 20 bucks, then SHOOT HIM! (I would have too, if customs hadn't taken away my KMK Ruger at the airport ;-) Less than five minutes later, Roland drove up and I was never so happy to see a friendly face. It's been four years since I saw him in Bath, UK, and he looks fabulous. We drove to his house, and after handing out some gifts I had brought, we (Roland, Caroline, Raoul, Pascal, and their nanny, Kate) went to a lovely restaurant. Roland asked if I preferred red or white wine with dinner. I said I preferred red, but white was fine (hey, I'll drink anything!). I didn't overhear what he ordered, but a bottle of white appear (for Caroline, Kate, and Roland), as well as my very own bottle of red! Now that’s class! :-). Dinner was great, and yes (as Roland mentioned in his post) I had the Alaskan halibut, which was delicious. (If memory serves, I believe he ordered the lamb.) After dinner, he kindly arranged for a town car to drive me back to my hotel so I wouldn’t have the same problem as I did with the taxi. Back at the hotel, my writer friend was waiting for me; we stayed up talking till 3 am, so sleep again eluded me. |
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Tuesday, Nov 23rd. Up at 7 am after four hours sleep to say good-bye to my friend, who had slept over. I was exhausted and shaky, but couldn’t fall back to sleep again. All the wine and excitement of the day before had taken its toll. I forced myself to eat some dry crackers to settle my stomach, and drank lots of water to rehydrate, and after a few hours, didn't feel quite so awful. Roland called and said that a car would be picking me up at 3:30 pm, then picking him up so we could go to sound-check at Universal. He told me that my message board was going crazy!!! I cringed, as he knew didn’t have internet access at the hotel. I asked him what in world was going on, but he said he was only kidding. The ‘car’ Roland sent turned out to be a stretch limo so I was driven to Roland’s in pampered luxury, then we were off to sound-check. In the limo, Roland mentioned my message board again, saying it had "exploded with posts!". At this point the jig was up - I could see in his eyes that he had done something mischievous. He confessed to posting to my board, telling the fans that I didn’t have internet access so anyone could post what they wanted! ('Mama' is gonna get Big Brother for this! ;-) When we arrived at Universal, I was given the holy grail of TFF fandom: the ‘ALL ACCESS’ pass. While the main green-room was all done up in La-La-Land leopard prints (complete with grand piano and HUGE Roman-style sunken tub/showers), another dressing room was straight out of Austin Powers: ‘shagadelic’, baby! (with 1960's pink fake-fur furniture and psychedelic walls). Roland introduced me to Curt, and later I met his lovely family. It was great to meet Nick, Tiffany D'Virgilio, Gruno, Charlton, and Doug in person; they all made me feel very welcome. Gruno arranged for the band to sign one of Nick’s stage-used drum heads for me, and I was surprised and very touched by this gesture; it will hang over my computer. Another highlight of the trip was listening to Roland play and softly sing, “I Believe”, on the piano in the green room. I never thought that I would hear him sing that song again, so it was a real thrill. It’s amazing how much time goes into sound-check and getting the mix right. Kuddos to the road/audio crew for their superlative efforts in bringing it all together. Gungi, the Scottish road manager, is a slight to behold. Standing about 6’11” (I’m 5’2”), I couldn’t stop thinking that in a kilt and holding a broadsword, he would have been perfect in the film “Braveheart”. But aside from his incredible physical presence, he is a true gentle-man in best sense of the word. Pascal (no doubt the future rock star in the family) had a great time bouncing around the stage and playing Nick’s drums as they set up. It was so cute to see him trying to jump up to reach Roland mike so he could sing! Later, I met Marion (a lovely lady who is their manager), and she gave me my ticket for the show. Amy Keys not only looks like a divine Diva, but sings like one; she is terrific and I’m so glad I had a chance to meet her in person. (Even though Roland was busy with all those things that need to be taken care of before a concert, he couldn’t have been more kind in introducing me to everyone and making sure that I was comfortable.) One thing I noticed is what an excellent ear and technical grasp Roland has when it comes to sound-check. He knows instantly when a mix isn't right and gives direction on whatever changes are necessary. I have to say that while I had always known he was a consummate musician/producer, to actually see it in 'action' was very impressive. After sound-check, we went back to Roland’s place. His home is lovely and very comfortable; they are doing a lot of landscaping to put in a fire-pit area cut into the side of the hill beside the (now empty) pool. Caroline graciously showed me her digital photography; a number of her prints cover the walls, and as a photographer myself, I could certainly appreciate her extraordinary talent. Caroline is terrific, and we share a love of history, art, and photography (as well as a certain type of music and those who sing it ;-) At one point, I joined Kate in the backyard (in the designated ‘smoking area’ for those who still have this nasty habit, like me). She's a lot of fun and I can see why they hired her. While she and I were chatting, we watched the family dog, “Lola”, throw up, then re-eat whatever it was! Too funny - a dog rolfing two feet away while relaxing in the Hollywood Hills drinking expensive wine! When we went back into the house, I encouraged everyone NOT to let Lola give them any doggy-kisses ;-). After meeting and chatting for a bit with some of Roland/Caroline's friends, we all piled into the limo, and it was off to the concert. I was sitting beside Raoul, and discovered he isn't into dinosaurs anymore, but interested in Greek and Egyptian gods and myths (something I’m very keen on!). So we talked about making mummies and canopic jars. He has Roland's dark, good looks, and will surely become a babe-magnet when he gets older (hey, he already has SIX girlfriends! <g>) When we arrived at Universal, they had three areas set up for the pre and post concert backstage thang: an outside area, an inside double-room, and the dressing rooms. People were given one of three types of backstage badges (depending on the area they would be in), and security was incredibly tight. Before the concert, there was a forty-five minute ‘meet and greet’ in the inside room for contest winners, media, VIPs, friends and associates, etc, and Roland and Curt patiently had pictures taken and signed autographs for the mass of people there. (Until you've experienced it, it’s hard to imagine just how much they put into getting through these ‘grip and grins’. The press of people on them was claustrophobic, and I noticed that when talking to someone, they are interrupted constantly for one reason or another. It’s not conductive to any type of meaningful conversation because everyone wants their moment with them, and I was really impressed with how well they handle this; it’s very intense and I’m sure very tiring.) I saw Roland speaking with Linda Dalziel (RATKOS backup singer), but by the time I weaved my way through the crowd, I was disappointed to see that she had disappeared; I had really wanted to say 'hello' to her. I didn’t get a chance to watch “Dirty Vegas”, as I was enjoying myself too much hanging around backstage. But then, it was time for TFF to go on so I found my seat and watched the concert. Of course, I enjoyed every minute of the show and was on my feet constantly. It was a great gig, and the crowd was great. After the show ended, a HUGE line formed at the backstage door inside the venue, but after a few confused moments of how I was going to get back in again, I was whisked thorough without much of a delay. The post concert 'meet and greet’ was even larger than the pre one. Pascal had brought 44 of his classmates to the concert (and their teacher) so I'm sure he felt like a 'star' in his own right. I had the opportunity to talk for a little bit with Tashia (who was arranging the Vegas fan gathering dinner the next night), and I was delighted to meet her and Phyllis and some other fans who were waiting in the outside backstage area. They were all hoping that Roland would come outside (as Curt did), but he was so busy inside that it didn’t happen; he was constantly talking to one person after another. I was disturbed to find out that Roland is being aggressively ‘stalked’ by an obsessed fan; a woman who is following him from concert to concert and even trespassing backstage. She showed up at Universal in the outside backstage area, and security had to remove her as they have done at other gigs. (While she may be harmless, her behavior is not going over well with the band. In these days of crazy fanatics, Roland can’t be too careful, especially with his family around.) We left Universal around 1 am; everyone had to get up early the next day to make it to Vegas, but Roland graciously arrange for the limo to drop me off at my hotel. I got to bed at 3 am, and was up again at 7 am to catch my flight. Another lousy sleep because I was so pumped from the concert, but I wasn’t complaining! ;-) |
 the 'car'
 Hummm...I could get used to this ;-)  Universal Amphitheatre  All Access pass  autographed drum-head  Gungi, taking care of another dire emergency...  Tiffany, Nick's lovely wife!  "Play to the crowd with your big hit sound..." |
| Wednesday, Nov. 24th Arrived in Vegas and met up with my friend, Betsy, who flew in from Michigan. After we checked in, we hung around the centre casino bar, drinking wine and getting all caught up. Roland and family had planned to fly in, but when they heard how dreadful LAX was with the Thanksgiving line-ups, Roland drove instead. We saw them arrive, and said ‘hello’. When sound-check started, we went into 'The Joint' to watch. Roland played a song we hadn't heard before ("Pullin' a Cloud"?), so that was very cool. Nick also broke out into song and then they played a medley of Led Zeppelin tunes - so it was 'all good'! We stayed for about 45 minutes, but pressed for time, we left to rush to the fan gathering dinner at “Mr. Lucky’s”. Although we were ‘fashionably late’, it was great to see so many fans, a number of whom were digest members. I was delighted to see Michele B. (it was great to finally meet her in person cos she was one of the first TFF fans who I met on the net back in '96.) I didn’t have much of a chance to eat (my only meal of the day) because there was a lot of excited conversation. I wished I could have stayed longer, and just as I was leaving, Carlos showed up. I was disappointed I didn’t have a chance to talk with him, but hoped that I’d see him after the gig at the casino bar.) We rushed up to the room to get changed, then went backstage. The dressing rooms were a lot smaller than Universal so we were packed in. Betsy had brought a couple of gifts for Roland, including an antique lion-head corkscrew made in France, which she managed to get through airport security in her carry-on! (Since airport security had taken away my pair of (obviously lethal) nail clippers, this was a huge accomplishment <g>.) Roland was very pleased with the gifts, and laughingly said that all the corkscrews he has are just cheap pieces of crap <g>. (For a man who is an aficionado of fine wine, I was surprised to hear this, so the gift was a good choice. But I suppose now he will be be gifted with all types of corkscrews from 'concerned' fans... ;-) Aside from my sexy but totally impractical high-heeled shoes, the Vegas concert was great; we danced, sang the songs, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. (Halfway through the concert, we both finally kicked off our torturous footwear because the pain was making our eyes water.) After the gig was over, we donned our shoes again, then hobbled backstage. Roland asked how I enjoyed the show, and of course, I pointed out my evil, but 'fashionable' footwear while explaining my shoe-woes. Groups of well-wishers were dropping by, saying ‘hello’, but Roland’s throat was really bothering him due to the cold he had picked up. As things wound down and the room cleared, Roland and I sat back and chilled, and we had a most memorable conversation ;-). Betsy and I then headed to the casino bar and hung out with the TFF fans that were still there. By 2:30 am, I was toast (lack of sleep, little food, and too much wine finally caught up with me) so I called it a night. |
 Hard Rock Hotel - Vegas  The Joint  Betsy and me hanging out at the Hard Rock |
Two strange Brit guys I picked up at a bar ;-)
Thursday, Nov. 24th
The next morning (7 am) Betsy and I said our good-byes, and she was off for home and so was I. It took 12 hours (and three flight connections), but I arrived back safe and sound at 1 am, Friday. (After I returned, I became sick as dog with a nasty virus I picked up. Oh well, at least I didn't get sick while on the trip.) When I opened my emails, there were 372 TFF-related messages, many responding to Mr. O's post on my message board. (Oh, yes, I will definitely ‘get you’ for this, Roland; maybe I should circulate those scandalous rumours we talked about...!)
Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my TFF adventures. Thanks to those who made me feel so welcome, and if I’ve missed mentioning anyone, my apologies. And of course, my sincerest gratitude to Roland for making this a fab trip – perhaps one of these days, with the help of a therapist, you'll get over your 'aloofness' ;-).
Cheers,
KMK~