Stage climbing in San Diego

[Les]

I'm not so good at the song by song thing, so I'll try to remember some different things. But yeah, as the title says - stage climber! And the stage climber climbed the stage during Beautiful Child of all songs. More on that momentarily.

Due to being the recipient of charity, I did the little backstage tour thingie before the show. We walked passed (not through) the dressing rooms. Jana & Sharon share a room. Stevie has her own, which was labeled "Make Up" instead of "Stevie" in a terribly clever attempt to throw us off (nevermind the visible satin pillows and lace, wink, wink). Mick, John & Lindsey share a room. Nothing fancy in their room, except Mick's bright red shoes were sitting out waiting for him. Unless John isn't voting Republican this year, I think someone in the band or someone in the entourage is having a bit of fun at John's expense. There was a "John Kerry for President" sticker stuck to John's case in the dressing room.

We were walked through the wardrobe lady's area. Two racks of wardrobe were out being pressed and otherwise looked after. One rack was devoted to Stevie's shawls, which thoroughly thrilled a couple of girls on the tour. Gasps were heard. A bit of close inspection followed, but not too much touching allowed. The other rack had all of the clothes for the boys in the band -- shirts for Lindsey, John and Mick, as well as Mick's stage knickers. In case you were wondering, Lindsey does indeed have more than just one white shirt. There were several identical white shirts hanging up labeled LB. There were a couple of hawaiian shirts there too. John's I presume.

Let's see...we learned that LB comes in and eats dinner most nights with the crew. We also learned that Brett Tuggle's son was there for the show tonight. We did get a glimpse of the little areas Mick and Stevie change in when they leave stage for certain songs. Stevie's was mostly empty. I don't mean to embarass Mick, but there were two boxes of Gas-X sitting out on his table. As they were so visible, I almost wonder if they were placed there for a bit of laugh at Mick's expense. Mick also had a Snickers bar awaiting him on the table.

The show was fun, and very good, as always. All seemed to be in pretty good spirits. I had third row on Stevie's side, but a nice security guy let me slip up to the front pretty quickly. I really enjoyed the new additions to this leg, especially I Know I'm Not Wrong and Red Rover. Mick's solo was extraordinarily long.

During Tusk Lindsey did not assault John in his usual fashion. He approach John and started to put his arm around him and John geared up waiting for the smothering he usually takes. But Lindsey stopped. He stepped back, took a look at John and instead put both arms out at first as if awaiting a hug. John looked up, almost puzzled. Then Lindsey began a short, slightly seductive hula-type dance for John, which cracked John up more than anything else I've seen at any of these shows.

Okay yeah, so the stage climber. They were maybe a bit more than halfway through Beautiful Child when a very large man just hoists himself onto the stage. It took security a minute to respond. I would suspect they don't expect this song to be one that sends people scampering on stage, so there was a bit of delay before Mr. Climber was removed. He jumped up from the front, right in front of Lindsey. Once there, he stood between Lindsey and Stevie and smiled and opened his arms and sang along. Neither Stevie nor Lindsey jumped back or anything in response to him being there. Lindsey kept playing without pause, but did turn and smile at him with that wry, "yeah, so, uh, you're on stage, huh?" kind of look. Stevie kept singing, not missing a beat. Mr. Climber leaned toward Stevie and put one arm around her. Still no real reaction from her. Then he leaned over to Lindsey and started to put his arm around Lindsey, which is when security nabbed him. Mr. Climber grabbed onto Lindsey for a second as he was being yanked off stage, which kind of pulled Lindsey back for a moment, but Lindsey again, just smiled. Hehe.

As we got our last glimpse of Mr. Climber disappearing off the back of the stage, Stevie reached her last few "I wish that you were mine" lines. As she sang them, she put her arm out around the imaginary figure of Mr. Climber, just as he had done to her a few seconds earlier. She smiled very big, Lindsey started laughing and the crowd laughed and cheered. Lindsey continued laughing clear through the start of the next song. But as Stevie thanked the crowd after BC ended, she joked, "I could have sworn there was just a ghost behind me." She also added that he actually had a gentle touch and it almost felt like he was part of the band. Laughter and cheers followed.

Good times.

[Johnny Stew]

A heavy-set guy climbed up on stage and hugged Stevie?
I didn't realize Bill Clinton's book tour had brought him to San Diego already!

Great review, Les... thanks for posting that.

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Thanks for sharing Les!

Pip

[DownOnRodeo]

That was great - very interesting about the backstage stuff, eg Lindsey eating with he crew. And I didn't realise that the three guys shared a room, that's pretty cool.

I pulled back a woman who was trying to get up on stage in Sydney (but she was very petite - no big hulking guy like this one!) and yet I swear that they (the band) seem to get a kick out of it! It was just my gut instinct to protect Lindsey and the song and pull her back, but he was just laughing all the while anyway, so maybe I should've let her get up and give him a peck. What would you guys do? It sounds like everyone tried to stop this guy get up. And the security guard did thank me for my actions later on.

That Lindsey dance for John sounded hilarious, Les!

[golden braid]

Great review! I love the part about the Gas-X and the stage climber. It sounds like Stevie was funny and handled the situation very well.

[Carolina Girl]

Great review! I love reading the backstage tidbits, such as Lindsey eating with the crew. That's cool. It's hard to imagine those three guys sharing a dressing room, though!

There were stage climbers in Raleigh, but they waited until the end of the show, after the band had left the stage. It was two girls (teenagers?), and they looked very inebriated. One of the girls made it on to the stage before security realized what was going on and pulled her down. I don't think I could have pulled myself up there (stage tall, me short), but I guess if I was going to go wild (not likely) and try that, I'd do it while Lindsey was still ON the stage!

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Les

Unless John isn't voting Republican this year, I think someone in the band or someone in the entourage is having a bit of fun at John's expense. There was a "John Kerry for President" sticker stuck to John's case in the dressing room.

Yes!

[wondergirl9847]

OMG, how hysterical is that!! They didn't even flinch!! Gawsh, I hope this is on video!!!

Les, your description of LB's face as "so you're on stage, huh?" KILLED me!!!! LMAO!!

Great stuff!

[amber]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

A heavy-set guy climbed up on stage and hugged Stevie?
I didn't realize Bill Clinton's book tour had brought him to San Diego already!

Excellent review Les. Love the backstage extras. Dish, dish, dish!!!

[SpyNote]

I believe this show was videotaped so hopefully we have something to look forward to!

[skcin]

Originally Posted by SpyNote

I believe this show was videotaped so hopefully we have something to look forward to!

That would be so sweet - sounds hilarious! Paula

[sodascouts]

lol! This is great, thanks for sharing! lol!

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by Les

During Tusk Lindsey did not assault John in his usual fashion. He approach John and started to put his arm around him and John geared up waiting for the smothering he usually takes. But Lindsey stopped. He stepped back, took a look at John

Well, I think we figured out whom the Gas-X belonged to.

- Jake

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by Les

Okay yeah, so the stage climber. They were maybe a bit more than halfway through Beautiful Child when a very large man just hoists himself onto the stage. It took security a minute to respond.

in the front rows are very lucky this guy didnt decide to do a stage dive into the masses, Probably would've looked like bowling pins fallin' over, Unless the crowd just moved aside as he was in flight SPLAT!

[Les]

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

I pulled back a woman who was trying to get up on stage in Sydney (but she was very petite - no big hulking guy like this one!) and yet I swear that they (the band) seem to get a kick out of it! It was just my gut instinct to protect Lindsey and the song and pull her back, but he was just laughing all the while anyway, so maybe I should've let her get up and give him a peck.

Hehe, no I suspect you did the right thing at your show! Lindsey and Stevie were both very calm about what happened, and since it turned out okay, it seemed mostly funny and light-hearted. But that guy was in the position to do something bad for a few seconds there if that's what he'd had on his mind. Luckily, it seemed like he was mostly there for a brief few seconds of glory (and a much shorter concert experience than the rest of us). Even though it did sort of seem like it took security an extra few seconds to see what was happening, once he did, he flew across the stage with impressive speed and force to remove the climber.