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Mick's Book Signing Seattle, Nov. 21, 2014
I am sorting through final photos/video clips and will post those soon. I thought I'd post my description of the event now so it's still fresh. I think it'll have to be in two parts to keep it from being unreadably long.
Part One: So today was Mick’s book signing at the University of Washington bookstore in Seattle. The band played the Tacoma Dome last night in Tacoma, which is about 45 minutes from downtown Seattle. Today was a grey, showery day and, against all common sense, drivers in this area somehow can’t manage to drive in the rain. You’d think living in an area that gets some form of rain almost every day from November to April (at least) would not be thrown by a little rain, but Every. Single. Time. It. Rains, traffic snarls up. So getting from my house, through downtown, to the UW Bookstore, which should take me maybe 20 minutes, took about an hour. I was getting a tad cranky because I had originally hoped to arrive around 10:30 for the 12 noon signing, just to have time to park, go inside, have the obligatory stop at the restroom, and still get a good spot in the front of the line. As it was, we arrived (my husband and I) about 11:15 in pouring rain. I had a ticket that was given me when I bought my book (two weeks ago) and which guaranteed me a spot in the first ‘group’ of people in the signing line. At the time I bought the book the store clerk said the size of that first group would really depend on how many people showed up overall, so it could be anywhere from 50-100 people. There were three rows of seats in a cordoned off area in front of a podium. There were about 30 seats and about 20 of them were already filled when we arrived. Eventually one of the store personnel came out and told us that we would need to vacate the seats and actually queue up behind the ropes for the actual signing. He suggested we start lining up about 11:50. The demographics of the crowd skewed older… average age seemed to be 50. A few (like half a dozen, tops) teen or 20-somethings were there also. Mick arrived promptly at 12. He was wearing some dark trousers with a pinstripe pattern which literally just hung off his skinny frame. He had a white shirt with somewhat poofy sleeves, a dark vest (which had a dark red satin back to it) a dark jacket, and his half cream-half reddish long scarf. It was getting a bit warm in the store and he fairly quickly took his jacket off. (I had taken my cardigan off after a few minutes packed in the line with so many people). They were playing Mac music on the stereo system and one of the first things Mick did was ask his assistant to help him turn the speaker that was closest to him (high on top of a bookcase) so that it wasn’t blaring right at the back of his head. He said something about being able to hear. What was kind of interesting, and nice, was that he himself (partly because he was sooo much taller than his helper I suspect) helped move the speaker. (http://youtu.be/4z9SMtfVW2A) I tried to imagine say, Stevie, actually putting her hands on anything and moving it at a public appearance and concluded she would call Karen over and get her to take care of it. (I found myself mentally comparing how things were going with Mick with how it might be if it were Stevie several other times during the signing as well.) Mick stood behind the podium and jokingly acted as if he were a minister behind a pulpit. He said “We are gathered here today…” to laughter. (http://youtu.be/RElLg2JftkU). A guy sitting in one of the seats in front of Mick started chatting with him about Mick performing weddings and such. Mick chatted very casually with the guy, saying that he had a restaurant in Hawaii and that he had started to do the paperwork (for being ordained) so they could marry people up on the roof of his restaurant. He chit-chatted with the guy for a couple minutes. He said “Thank you for coming” to the crowd and someone said back “Thank you for showing up!” He asked the crowd, “How many of you were at the show last night?” And a cheer went up and probably 60-70 percent of the people in line raised their hands. The line by this time was at right angles to him for about 15-20 feet, then curved along a bookcase and went the entire width of the store. He said about the Tacoma Dome “They’ve done something to make it sound better” and gestured with his hands like they’d done something to the ceiling of the place. (http://youtu.be/OlFmgoqfa1Y). Then he pretty much got going with signing. The staff was well-practiced and very friendly and efficient at getting people through the line. One lady stood at the head of the line and took your book from you and opened it up to the title page, tucking the jacket flap around so all Mick had to do was open the book cover and he’d be on the right page to sign. Another woman was there to take your phone/camera to snap photos for you. When you were next in line, while Mick was still chatting with the current fan, the camera lady took your phone/camera and made sure she knew how to use it (I had my iPhone and she said, “Now THIS is a phone I do know how to use!”). The book lady directed you to Mick’s left side when it was your turn, the camera lady snapped the shots, and then you stepped from behind the podium with Mick to in front of the podium and were face to face with him while he signed your book. (No personalizations were allowed, so he just signed his name, which he was very, very adept at doing without actually looking down at the page). |
Part Two:
Luckily for me I had my husband with me, so when it was my turn I gave the camera lady my phone to snap still pics and had my husband taking video of the whole thing as well. While waiting for Mick to arrive I suddenly felt myself getting nervous for some reason, having those worst-case scenarios in my head like—what if I say something stupid or what if I faint?? Now, I am not a fainter so I don’t know why that entered my brain but thankfully it was just a random moment of fear. Once he arrived I felt totally calm and at ease. When the book lady motioned me over to Mick he held out his left arm so you would stand next to him and he’d put his arm around you and camera lady would snap. I said “It’s really great after nearly 40 years being a fan to finally get to say hello to you!” and it seemed to take a second for him to process what I had said (he had turned to face the camera) and when it did he turned back to face me and looked deep into my eyes and said, “Hello!” very sweetly. (I’m kinda laying it on thick for effect but honestly it was a rather lovely moment, he actually did this with everyone—he connected directly to you for just that moment). At that point the pics were done and they motioned for me to step around to the front of the podium as he began signing his name in my book. He looked a bit knackered, to be honest. I don’t know what time he goes to bed after a gig, but to be in Seattle for noon he would have left Tacoma by like 10:30 for sure given traffic (and given he’d arrived on time). So figure he probably got up by 9 or 9:30 latest. As he signed I said, “So is this an early day for you, after doing a gig last night?” and he started to say something and the guy next to him (one of his guys) said something and the moment was lost. I was like, what?? It’s over already?? They were handing over the book for the next person. So, I’m embarrassed to say, I didn’t get to hit him with my question about “was there ever a consideration of doing an album BEFORE going on the road with Christine or were you always set on touring first?” Total bummer man. Waaaaaahhhhhh. Huge bummer. I guess I could have been more pushy but...the moment had passed. Next time... Ok, one other thing I gotta mention, regarding his attire. In all the publicity photos he is of course bandbox fresh—his clothes appear perfectly pressed and crisp. His clothes today….were not. They weren’t stinky or dirty in any obvious way or anything, but he was definitely rather rumpled and it was obvious his clothes had been worn at least once before. They had a certain vintage shop quality to them, if you know what I mean. Nothing was torn or stained or anything like that… but it was sort of like a worn, vintage couch where the upholstery is just clearly not fresh from the factory. Like it’s had a bit of a life already before you decided to buy it. After I stepped away we stood off to the side and just watched more of the signings and Mick’s interactions with fans. I chatted with one of the bookstore guys who was working the event and he told me they were happy to have him there, and that this signing and one in New York were the only ones Mick was doing (in the States). I hadn’t known that and it made me glad I’d decided to go. The line was dwindling down about 45 minutes into the signing and at just about an hour it was done. They had limited people to 2 books per person to be signed, but we saw a few people who got away with 3. They had said that anyone wanting more than that would have to leave the line and go back to the end of the queue and wait for another turn. Several people did this; most of them didn’t have extra books for him but rather personal items, albums and such. There was one couple who had a couple of tote bags with stuff in them and got him to sign what looked like all of it. I said to my husband, “How soon do you think that stuff will be for sale on ebay?” But neither Mick nor his helpers seemed bothered by it. As he was leaving, he walked past us. There was a young girl (14 or so years old) that he had a very lovely chat with while signing, and she was standing near us along with her mom. He saw her and stopped and hugged her and chatted. The mom asked him when he would be in Hawaii again, telling him that they had gone to his restaurant but missed him (he wasn’t in town) but mom assured him that “they treated us so well” and how nice it was. He was a bit hard to hear but he said something about maybe being there in April. Then he turned to one of his guys, the bigger, burlier one name Robert. “Robert,” he called to the guy. And then asked him about the schedule and wasn’t it April that they might be back in Hawaii for a little time? I could catch snatches of his convo with Robert (Mick’s back was to me at this point and he was like 10 feet away) but they said “mid April” and then Robert said “if they don’t add dates” and then Mick said “it’s gone into April now?” Mick turned to the woman and daughter and said that the band was supposed to have 5 weeks off before playing Europe “but it keeps getting shorter” and as he said ‘shorter’ he gestured with his hands, holding them up and moving them closer and closer together. (http://youtu.be/OE1-TBUkG4c). They led him out through the computer section of the store around the corner, where he sort of politely looked at a couple of things and then they led him through a doorway into a conference room. His smaller, bald assistant said “we’ll go to the conference room and call the car from there.” Robert, the bigger assistant, was on his cellphone in the hall while they led Mick to the conference room and seemed to be giving someone on the other end a big what-for. Unlike the other guy, he frankly seemed a bit… I dunno… kinda like the type who would use the fact that he was Mick’s friend/assistant/whatever to be a bit unpleasant to people. At this point we headed downstairs and out to our car. |
waiting for Mick to arrive:
http://imageshack.com/a/img903/7987/oWsHej.jpg |
Mick's arrival:
http://imageshack.com/a/img743/7206/gFJqJ5.jpg |
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my moment with Mick:
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Don't know how to embed videos here, so I'll have to just post links to youtube. I apologize some of these are a little shaky (which I always hate and try not to do) but my excuse is there were a lot of people pushing past behind us and they would hit my arm or my purse and the camera jostled. :sorry: Most are about a minute; some shorter. I had a lot of clips and just wanted to link a few examples.
Mick's arrival and him adjusting the speakers: http://youtu.be/4z9SMtfVW2A This is Mick doing his "Reverend Mick" thing. It's a bit hard to hear: http://youtu.be/RElLg2JftkU Mick saying the sound at the Tacoma Dome seems better: http://youtu.be/OlFmgoqfa1Y Some lady had a photo and asked Mick to bless it or something: http://youtu.be/C9YFSe-Z0Ck At one point they stopped playing FM on the stereo system and Mick noticed and said, "Which of our albums is this?" and joked a bit more: http://youtu.be/xSut2p6XNvw |
A couple longer clips:
This girl for some reason didn't want to take a photo with Mick and he was trying to cajole her: http://youtu.be/6_MNCijoQ0o And finally this is Mick as he was leaving talking about the band's break before Europe and how it's shrinking (Oh and this is where you can totally see his bony bum quite close as well :) ) http://youtu.be/OE1-TBUkG4c |
Heres how you embed videos and photo with Windows with Firefox browser.
Photobucket. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b8...ps6febe103.jpg Here how you do Youtube. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b8...psa2e9354b.jpg Thanks for sharing your moments with Mick..I love to meet him and chat for hours with him. He is so funny. |
thanks Skip!:xoxo: I'm using a mac, so maybe that's part of the issue...:shrug:
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Got to frame it. |
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thanks again, you're always one of the most generous Ledgies!:angel: |
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Oh Thanks.LOL.I'm here at your service.LOL.. Happy reading Mick's book.I have to get my copy soon. |
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Oh, Bombaysaffires I saw the video of Mick walking in. You are right. He is SO thin.
Lovely picture. Ha. You probably wore that yellow sweater around your neck to coordinate with the yellow scarf he sometimes wears:p . Michele |
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as for the sweater, i wish i was that clever. I just have to dress in layers these days…… :( |
Thank you for taking the time to share all of this! Love all of the details.
I remember someone told me, around the time of the last London shows, that Micks g/f runs yoga retreats. He is so slim-- Your clothing observation was of interest as Mick always seems well pressed and turned out. (I often wonder how many stage outfits they each have as they seem to have impressive laundry turnaround times). |
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thanks for sharing and a detailed write-up, pics and vids bombaysaffires!
too bad you couldn't get your album questions in. takes some watching of the process and how it works with people before you and mental prep to be ready to jump in and get whatever question you have in really fast, in a sec you have! :lol: makes it even more impressive what all Hellomonster managed to get from Mick in a similar situation this spring!! :thumbsup: |
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If I'd been more on the ball I could have nabbed him as he was leaving. Now, back in my teens/20s I woulda been all over that, no hesitation. Hell, we even jumped all over Peter Frampton's limo once. Sooo out of practice. :( |
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