(It will be another 20 hrs before I get a chance to post the full and complete review of Bris # 1 because I’m at my folk’s tonight as Brisbane is experiencing a 40celcius+ heatwave and I don’t have air con at my own place. Hopefully the Bris # 2 review will not be long off. Here I’m gonna post everything from us meeting Sharon to meeting Lindsey. It is all out of context and makes more sense with the rest of the review but that’s at home I’m sorry. I brought it over on floppy but the disc was defective. Grr! So here’s basically the details of who we met in the hotel lobby near the lifts after the show.)
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I said to Sharon: “How do you do it, night after night?”
“Are you kidding?” she replied. “It’s so much fun.”
After I’d had a photo taken with Sharon, Jana and JC, I ask Sharon, “So what’s your favourite Stevie album?” In retrospect I should have said ‘album that Stevie’s done’ or ‘album by Stevie’ rather than calling it a ‘Stevie album’, but it just shows how used to talking about FM stuff I am that I use the little specialized, short phrases we have for things that come up in threads all the time. But I would have said a lot of different things in retrospect. In fact I wouldn’t have asked her what her favourite of the albums were, I would have asked something like, which producer did she enjoy working with the most. But I had to think of something on the spot that I thought might be interesting to some of you guys. As it was she said, “Umm.. Bella Donna.” I said “Oh, not the Wild Heart?”, my copy of which she’d just signed. And she goes, “Yeah I’ve said the Wild Heart before..” lol, the poor thing. I kept saying ‘You poor people’ to all the band members we accosted that night. I felt terrible for getting them on the way to their rooms. Then Sharon, the sweetheart that she is, asked me “So what’s your favourite?” This is while she is signing the other’s stuff. I go, “Oh, Trouble in Shangri-La. For sure.” “Oh yeah? Yeah that was great.” “Yeah you did a great job on that.”
Sharon and Jana eventually escaped from our clutches and went up the lifts. Before they left they asked whether we were front row the next night. Actually Jana seemed to be struggling with too much baggage and I half-jokingly ask: “Are you alright with your luggage?” She managed though. Now maybe it was my gentlemanly remark here that earnt me my wink and smile from Jana the next night…
Now I think that the next two people actually became before Sharon and Jana, but it’s all a blur so let’s pretend they came next. The first was Brett, and he was pretty much about to get into his lift cause no one was making a first move. I was coming up to him, and I’m turning my head back to ask the guys whether its Neale. “Is it Neale?” I say like a doofus. Then I look more closely and realize who it is. It’s Brett of course! (They do look quite similar though, don’t you think?) “Brett!” I call out to him. He seemed pretty cool about hanging around for a while, and came over. Taku was there at that point too, an d of course we didn’t let him get to the lifts but got him to come over to the Stamford Lobby Autograph Production Line. Brett was getting assailed by the Melbournians wanting photos etc with him, but I just made a point of saying a few things to him. The first thing that came out was, “You are great, you’re really doing Christine proud.” He seemed really flattered by that remark. The next thing my mouth-on-autopilot spat out was, “So are you gonna stay with these guys? You’ve been with them for a while now.” “Well, yeah, with Stevie’s thing” we both clarify at the same time. “Yeah,” Brett says, almost wistfully, “It’s been a long time now.” I then asked Brett if he would mind signing my programme, and he was all too happy to. He signed ‘To Joe – Rock on! Brett Tuggle’ next to his picture in the programme. While Taku was signing stuff I asked him, ‘So are you originally from Japan?’ “Ah, yeah,” he says, “I was born there but I grew up in America.” They eventually escaped, but not before leaving an impression of two really cool guys who are happy enough to suffer fan shenanigans even at 1am in a foreign country.
We’re sitting down again on the couches, reveling in the moment, and with LPs and Programmes gratuitously spread out all over the coffee table and everywhere else. Then James and George, who’s sofa faced the entrance, pretty much jump up and someone says “It’s Lindsey.” I turn my head and see him walking by the back of my sofa between the columns, with Ray Lindsey and another minder. He gets ambushed by the Melbournians, and it takes me a while to get around to where they all are. He looked pretty tired, and said a number of times over the next 5 minutes “I’ve really gotta get going guys”. But he was all too happy to sign our stuff. The first thing he says as he looked on the table for what to sign was, I soon realized, directed to JC. He There were a dozen albums and programmes he was signing like lightning, and I rushed back over to my couch to get my pre-prepared ‘Lindsey package’ – the inset of the Tusk LP with the photo of him grinning at the rest of the band who are clutching him and staring in awe, the spread out OOTC CD back and front cover, and the single of NGBA that I’d picked up that day. I felt terrible offering three things, and I apologetically said “I don’t know _what_ I want you to sign..” but I could hardly say that before he signed all three – each signature was quick, but with clearly formed L, B, and H etc. And he waited for my prompts to check it was ok to sign each one. And he was careful to sign in the best place possible on each one! Needless to say guys, for all these things, there will eventually be photos. Oh, and Ray Lindsey is a champ – Lindsey was holding under his left arm this wrapped-up gift of an Aussie-style clock (I dunno, kangaroos or something) that James, Michael and George had presented to him, and then when the signing frenzy started, Ray came up and offered to take the present for him. Other than that, Ray and the other guy didn’t say a word. I felt bad cause it was only later that I was able to confirm my suspicion that it was Ray, so I didn’t really say anything to him I don’t think. Not that I think he minded at all – he probably felt like the lucky one.
Then everyone went into paparazzi mode and was getting photos with Lindsey. The Melbournians wanted about three each in different lighting and with forced handshakes, but James made a point after the photo of saying to Lindsey “I just want to say that it’s a real honour to meet you. Could I shake your hand?” Of course Lindsey obliged. I don’t see any point at ALL in a forced handshake but at least that was a respectable way to do it. It came JC’s turn to get a photo and I imposed myself into it as I didn’t want to be keeping Lindsey. I instantly picked up that JC felt the same way and of course was fine for me to get into the photo. James took it on his analog camera which he says turned out to be a great photo so I can’t wait to see it and post it. But I’ll need to see it with my own eyes before I stop believing that my tongue is hanging out of the corner of my mouth and my eyes are pointing in opposite directions, let alone even open. Obviously the plan eventually will be to frame the ‘Lindsey package’ that he signed and the photo, together. By the way, I found out later that I accidentally had the NGBA single the wrong way up, so he signed the A-side – Don’t Stop! At first I was really annoyed and half-pretended to hurl it across the foyer, but now I realize that it’s just as cool because after seeing how much Don’t Stop made the crowd dance those two nights, Lindsey has a lot to be proud of about his involvement in that song as guitarist, a producer and arranger, and singer. A song that has a varied, proud history and means a lot to many different people.
Where was I? Oh yeah, taking a photo with Lindsey and JC. He had his left arm around her and I stood up next to him on the right. He put his right arm around my shoulder. It took me a few moments but soon I gingerly reciprocated. I think I gave him a little affectionate pat on the back/shoulder in the process, lol. James took our picture. Then as we broke apart, I turned around to face Lindsey and said, “Hey, Lindsey check out our shirts.” I said “our” but I stuck out my non-existant chest into his face to ram the point home that he shouldn’t waste any time looking at JC’s but should focus on mine. As I found out much later, JC was still winning because for a few moments there after the posing for the photo had broken and he and I started talking, he was facing me but still had his arm firmly around JC’s shoulders. Lindsey looked closely at my shirt, and to my absolute surprise and delight, for the first time his face began to visibly light up! I think he was looking around the edges at the lyrics, and he made this ‘Ohhh’ sound like it was dawning on him that this shirt was all about the fact that I Know I’m Not Wrong is a song worth writing home about – or that is, worth writing on a shirt about! I said “You should be doing this song live, man, it rocks!” He was nodding enthusiastically, as if we were discussing a mutally interesting topic. “Yeah,” he enthused, “actually Mick has been talking about doing something, like this, you know, like Eyes of the World..” I’m just nodding in agreement. “Oh, really? Cause it’s just like what you’re doing, like Eyes of the World, and um… Second Hand News.. Sort of short, punchy, it rocks!!” “Yeah, yeah,” agreed Lindsey. I forget exactly what else he may have said here – sorry Gerald! But it wasn’t anything bearing.
“Lindsey,” said James, “can I just say – you need to do Murrow live. It rocks.” Everyone vocally concurs then James says, “Lindsey, someone’s gotta change your mind.” Now I thought that James, who is a funny guy, was making a pun, saying that Lindsey should be playing Murrow live but using the name of the other song to say it. I didn’t even think at the time that Lindsey would be surprised that we had heard of SGCYM. Well Lindsey is like, “Oh, so where’d you hear that, the Internet?” (Said with a capital ‘I’). He didn’t sound to excited about the whole ‘So yeah, we all listen to your private demos on the internet’ reality, but that was just what I read into it. If I had at all gleaned from his response that he did not have an any issues with the GOS leak, then I would have been all over him about Down On Rodeo, as you might imagine. So in fact I guess its better that I decided not to! He got accosted for a few more signs, but JC got in a request for a handshake and I looked on as he complied and then leant in to give her an embrace and plant one on her.
People say (and I have always been among them) that Fleetwood Mac may not be the best people to meet on a personal level – I mean, as fans, but in a personal context rather than from on stage. Well, in one magic night this baseless theory of mine was utterly contradicted. And this was echoed equally strongly the next morning in JC’s encounter with Mick in the same lobby.
Lindsey, Ray and his two minders soon after were escaping up the lift, and I must admit that I was standing there from back at the couch ogling my idol as he did the most mundane thing possible in front of me – walk into an elevator. Every other day I see people go into elevators. I go into elevators. Now I was watching Lindsey walk into one to go to his hotel room. There is something so leveling about walking into an elevator with luggage. At that moment, he was no longer a guy in videos and photos I’ve seen ad nauseum. He was the bloke I’d been talking with a minute ago who was now going to his room to get some rest. This observation makes me sound so bloody crazy. Oh well, the façade was never very convincing to begin with.
lol
Now were were all sitting back on the sofas, in a daze of disbelief and satisfaction, signed LPs and Programmes galore all over the shop in an unadulteratedly displayed disarray of fandom that would look like junk to the average passer-by but anybody reading this review would probably kill someone or at least have someone killed in order to get it. Sorry, don’t know where all the homicidal metaphors came from. Moving right along!
Brett came down again soon after and was headed for the bar. “Get a drink mate, you deserve it!” I called out. He replied with something I didn’t catch. Then Taku came down again, and some of the Melbournians must have asked him to sign some more Programmes or something because I realized I had a window open to get Taku to sign my Programme which I didn’t before. When he got a chance to sign mine I asked if he would be able to do it in Kanji (Japanese characters) if he knew Japanese. He did it! While he was writing that I asked where in Japan he was born and he said Osaka, but that he moved to LA when he was 3 or 5 or something.
Then that was it. JC, Karen and I broke left the Melbournians in the lobby as we went off to find food and a drink. We went past the hotel bar where I could see Brett inside sitting on a stool at a cocktail table laughing with what I swear were two attractive blondes on either side of him. I may be wrong with some details there! Anyway naturally the last thing we wanted to do was go intot hbe abr where he and Taku were so we kept on walking out of the hotel gardens (‘strolling through the garden..’ hmm, doesn’t quite pack the same punch, does it) and into the streets of downtown Brissie and eventually to a Subway. After that, Karen was kind enough to drop me JC home at our respective homes on the other side of Brisbane. After that, poor Karen had a drive all the way down to the Gold Coast where her hotel was that night. But she said she’s be cool cause she had a cd player in the rental car. I wonder what cds she played.
I got home and spent about 20 minutes online then hit the sack (it was going on 3am). I felt that I had just peaked, that I was not even frankly looking forward to the next concert because it could only be less of an experience.
I was wrong…