jkmaletic
12-31-2011, 04:54 PM
This year has been AMAZING for us Stevie fans, with the release of "In Your Dreams" being the center of that amazingness. This has been a dream-come-true year for me as far as Stevie is concerned, so I wanted to do a short write-up of the summary of my Stevie-related experiences this year. You guys can feel free to follow suit with your own memories as well.
February 19, 2011 -
I was able to attend an event very close to where I live called Sunset Sessions. Stevie was there promoting her new release, and I bought a ticket to this industry-only event. (although I am not in the industry, I got in with no problems) I got to spend 2 hours in a small room of about 80-100 people, with Stevie. She played us 8 new songs, showed us the promotional sizzle reel (twice), and debuted the "Cheaper Than Free" video. She was extremely excited about all of it, and I was equally impressed with it. Part of me was worried what this music was going to sound like with Dave Stewart producing it, but as I said in the thread I posted after the event, after hearing it I knew we had something truly fantastic on our hands! Stevie also took questions from the audience, and Sapphire Sister got to ask one. :wavey: This event was special because of the intimacy of it and being able to hear 8 tracks 3 months before the CD was released, with Stevie herself! There were lots of little special moments during the two hours, but one that sticks out is when we were listening to "Moonlight". Stevie was sitting right behind me at the time, and I kind of turned around and gave her a little thumbs up about 1/2 way through the song and she replied with a huge smile and shook her fists like, "yes!" This was truly a dream-like event for me.
March 25, 2011 -
This was the public debut of the infamous Sizzle Reel. I was so excited for my girlfriend (who's a Stevie fan as well) to see it, and for you Ledgies to see it. Remeber how blown away we were? (well, most of us anyway) We all had a new appreciation for Owls. :laugh:
May 3, 2011 -
The release of "In your Dreams". It was so great to finally get a physical copy of this masterpiece in my hot little hands. Overall reviews for IYD were very positive, validating our fandom and making us proud of our Stevie! :nod:
May 14, 2011 -
Saw Stevie perform in Vegas - 3rd row. Awesome show, considering Stevie had been battling pneumonia since May 3rd.
May 26, 2011 -
Stevie's 63rd Birthday and the Wiltern Show! :blob2: What can I say - a lot of us were there that magical evening. I remember being in line and meeting Danielle, Ed, and other Ledgies. I also met others that have since became friends with - shout out to, Justin, Jose & Maria At one point, Danielle had gotten a copy of the set list, and was gushing over the listed songs. She asked me if I wanted to know which new songs she was going to do, and I said no, but I did ask how many - she replied, 8!! I remember being floored! As we all know, this was unheard of for Stevie. We were in for a VERY special night and that's exactly what it was - special. I hope they work a lot of this show into the documentary because the energy was just crazy - from Stevie and from the audience. We were in the pit for this show, the 4th people back from the stage, dead center. Got some great Stevie interaction along with some great video.
August 3, 2011 -
The day a dream of mine came true. This was the day I met Stevie. It was at a CD signing at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. It was on a wednesday and I didn't find out about it until the friday before that. Not having the time to really ask for the day off, I feigned illness the monday and tuesday before and called in sick early wed morning (at 4am, in the quiet parking lot of Denny's on Sunset) :nod:
It was there in line at 430 am that I met Becca for the first time. :wavey: Danielle and Lindsay showed up soon after that, sleeping on the sidewalk like homeless women. ;)
Fast-forward to the event itself - we were all so nrevous and excited. While in line inside the store, I went through phases of getting choked up. Stevie's music was being played in the store and a dream of mine was finally about to come true. I managed to hold down the tears, thankfully. Stevie came out, and everyone cheered. I was the 12th in line, so I just kept telling myslf to hold it together and act normal. Last thing I wanted is for Stevie to view me as some kind of wierdo. It was my time, and I approached the table. I introduced myself and shook her hand. She then began signing my lithograph as I was telling her what an amazing year it's been for me with the Sunset Sessions event, Vegas, The Wiltern. I told her I was the one who had made the comic book for her spoofing the Destiny Rules documentary. She said she remembered that and Karen piped up and said, "Everybody loved that thing!" Then I told Stevie that her music meant so much to me, and that it's been very helpful in the healing process of losing my mother. I got a little choked up at this point and she took both of my hands and squeezed them. She cocked her head to the side sympathetically and said, "awww..." I said, "Thank you Stevie." I then let go of her hands and left. Needless to say, I was emotionally spent after that. But I was so happy at the same time. :o
October 12, 2011 -
Like an answer to our prayers, Stevie added a few solo shows after the Rod Stewart shows. We got to see her at The Grove of Anaheim. This was another small venue which always makes for a more intimate show. While waiting outside we met up with Becca, Jose and Maria. It was so dang hot, but worth it in the end. Another rockin' show. I was right behind Becca, who was front and center, in the pit. My girlfriend finally got a handshake at this show, after a 10 year hiatus. Stevie always seemed to miss her until this night, so she was stoked.
October 19, 2011 -
The Grammy Museum Event. Becca had told me she had heard about this and would try to find out more details. The next day she calls me and tells me she's in line at the Museum and asked if I wanted her to get me a ticket. (God Bless you, Becca!) They were only allowing 200 people. Of course I said yes. On the day of this event I waited outside in line with her. Once let in, we scored seats in the 3rd row, dead center, in this tiny little room. It had a fantastic sound system. The evening consisted of an interview, audience questions, and then a small performance. I was one of the lucky ones called on and I asked Stevie how she decides which songs are to be slower vs. faster. Her answer was lengthy, but basically said that she has no set way of deciding, she just kind of goes with what the producers make out of it, or sometimes not. The entire time she was answering my question she was looking dead at me. I remember thinking, this is unfreaking real right now. :] She performed Landslide and For What It's Worth, with Waddy, Carlos, and Michael Grimm on guitar. Sharon backed her up. Becca and I pantimimed in our seats along with Stevie during FWIW, and Stevie was totally smiling at us. :D Then, Stevie did Moonlight by herself, on the piano. I was FLOORED. This event was videotaped by the Grammy staff and I was told it would be archived and they had plans to screen it there in January 2012, so I'm keeping my eye out for that. It was another amazing night I'll never forget.
So that's been my Stevie year, in somewhat of a nutshell. Feel free to post your Stevie experiences of 2011. I'd love to read the memories.
Here's to an even more amazing 2012!!
Jamie
February 19, 2011 -
I was able to attend an event very close to where I live called Sunset Sessions. Stevie was there promoting her new release, and I bought a ticket to this industry-only event. (although I am not in the industry, I got in with no problems) I got to spend 2 hours in a small room of about 80-100 people, with Stevie. She played us 8 new songs, showed us the promotional sizzle reel (twice), and debuted the "Cheaper Than Free" video. She was extremely excited about all of it, and I was equally impressed with it. Part of me was worried what this music was going to sound like with Dave Stewart producing it, but as I said in the thread I posted after the event, after hearing it I knew we had something truly fantastic on our hands! Stevie also took questions from the audience, and Sapphire Sister got to ask one. :wavey: This event was special because of the intimacy of it and being able to hear 8 tracks 3 months before the CD was released, with Stevie herself! There were lots of little special moments during the two hours, but one that sticks out is when we were listening to "Moonlight". Stevie was sitting right behind me at the time, and I kind of turned around and gave her a little thumbs up about 1/2 way through the song and she replied with a huge smile and shook her fists like, "yes!" This was truly a dream-like event for me.
March 25, 2011 -
This was the public debut of the infamous Sizzle Reel. I was so excited for my girlfriend (who's a Stevie fan as well) to see it, and for you Ledgies to see it. Remeber how blown away we were? (well, most of us anyway) We all had a new appreciation for Owls. :laugh:
May 3, 2011 -
The release of "In your Dreams". It was so great to finally get a physical copy of this masterpiece in my hot little hands. Overall reviews for IYD were very positive, validating our fandom and making us proud of our Stevie! :nod:
May 14, 2011 -
Saw Stevie perform in Vegas - 3rd row. Awesome show, considering Stevie had been battling pneumonia since May 3rd.
May 26, 2011 -
Stevie's 63rd Birthday and the Wiltern Show! :blob2: What can I say - a lot of us were there that magical evening. I remember being in line and meeting Danielle, Ed, and other Ledgies. I also met others that have since became friends with - shout out to, Justin, Jose & Maria At one point, Danielle had gotten a copy of the set list, and was gushing over the listed songs. She asked me if I wanted to know which new songs she was going to do, and I said no, but I did ask how many - she replied, 8!! I remember being floored! As we all know, this was unheard of for Stevie. We were in for a VERY special night and that's exactly what it was - special. I hope they work a lot of this show into the documentary because the energy was just crazy - from Stevie and from the audience. We were in the pit for this show, the 4th people back from the stage, dead center. Got some great Stevie interaction along with some great video.
August 3, 2011 -
The day a dream of mine came true. This was the day I met Stevie. It was at a CD signing at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. It was on a wednesday and I didn't find out about it until the friday before that. Not having the time to really ask for the day off, I feigned illness the monday and tuesday before and called in sick early wed morning (at 4am, in the quiet parking lot of Denny's on Sunset) :nod:
It was there in line at 430 am that I met Becca for the first time. :wavey: Danielle and Lindsay showed up soon after that, sleeping on the sidewalk like homeless women. ;)
Fast-forward to the event itself - we were all so nrevous and excited. While in line inside the store, I went through phases of getting choked up. Stevie's music was being played in the store and a dream of mine was finally about to come true. I managed to hold down the tears, thankfully. Stevie came out, and everyone cheered. I was the 12th in line, so I just kept telling myslf to hold it together and act normal. Last thing I wanted is for Stevie to view me as some kind of wierdo. It was my time, and I approached the table. I introduced myself and shook her hand. She then began signing my lithograph as I was telling her what an amazing year it's been for me with the Sunset Sessions event, Vegas, The Wiltern. I told her I was the one who had made the comic book for her spoofing the Destiny Rules documentary. She said she remembered that and Karen piped up and said, "Everybody loved that thing!" Then I told Stevie that her music meant so much to me, and that it's been very helpful in the healing process of losing my mother. I got a little choked up at this point and she took both of my hands and squeezed them. She cocked her head to the side sympathetically and said, "awww..." I said, "Thank you Stevie." I then let go of her hands and left. Needless to say, I was emotionally spent after that. But I was so happy at the same time. :o
October 12, 2011 -
Like an answer to our prayers, Stevie added a few solo shows after the Rod Stewart shows. We got to see her at The Grove of Anaheim. This was another small venue which always makes for a more intimate show. While waiting outside we met up with Becca, Jose and Maria. It was so dang hot, but worth it in the end. Another rockin' show. I was right behind Becca, who was front and center, in the pit. My girlfriend finally got a handshake at this show, after a 10 year hiatus. Stevie always seemed to miss her until this night, so she was stoked.
October 19, 2011 -
The Grammy Museum Event. Becca had told me she had heard about this and would try to find out more details. The next day she calls me and tells me she's in line at the Museum and asked if I wanted her to get me a ticket. (God Bless you, Becca!) They were only allowing 200 people. Of course I said yes. On the day of this event I waited outside in line with her. Once let in, we scored seats in the 3rd row, dead center, in this tiny little room. It had a fantastic sound system. The evening consisted of an interview, audience questions, and then a small performance. I was one of the lucky ones called on and I asked Stevie how she decides which songs are to be slower vs. faster. Her answer was lengthy, but basically said that she has no set way of deciding, she just kind of goes with what the producers make out of it, or sometimes not. The entire time she was answering my question she was looking dead at me. I remember thinking, this is unfreaking real right now. :] She performed Landslide and For What It's Worth, with Waddy, Carlos, and Michael Grimm on guitar. Sharon backed her up. Becca and I pantimimed in our seats along with Stevie during FWIW, and Stevie was totally smiling at us. :D Then, Stevie did Moonlight by herself, on the piano. I was FLOORED. This event was videotaped by the Grammy staff and I was told it would be archived and they had plans to screen it there in January 2012, so I'm keeping my eye out for that. It was another amazing night I'll never forget.
So that's been my Stevie year, in somewhat of a nutshell. Feel free to post your Stevie experiences of 2011. I'd love to read the memories.
Here's to an even more amazing 2012!!
Jamie