My Halloween/L.A. Guns weekend

[leighblack]

Friday started pretty early in the morning, since I knew it would take a while for me to get my devil costume prepared before I went to work. I got ready, finished packing for my weekend and made it to work on time. There was a costume contest, and it was pretty much the only reason I wore the whole thing to work. I got quite a lot of compliments, so that was cool. Everyone was amazed that I’d be driving to Chicago yet that day. I was like, it’s only six hours – not a big deal. I don’t think they get it.

I left around 12:30 to pick up Rachel (Death Kitty from Sludge) and after hitting some traffic in town, we got on our way. Yes, I wore my costume all the way through Wisconsin. I was going to change, but decided it would be too much of a hassle. Rachel & I haven’t hung out much lately, so we chatted most of the drive about band guys and gossip. Not that I would gossip, mind you. Muscat’s name definitely was not mentioned. lol

Before we left, the last news we had heard was that the BulletBoys were still going to be at the show that night before leaving the tour. Rachel was excited that she’d at least get to see them once, seeing as how she’s the biggest Bboys fan in existence. We got to the bar, in the middle of pretty much nowhere, and stood around by the buses trying to find someone to get us in. Someone came off of the Black N Blue bus (who we later realized was the drummer) and Rachel asked him if Marq Torien was around. He informed us that they had already left the tour. What a bummer! I asked the guy if he could find Jay for me, hoping that he’d let us in, because I was determined to get myself into the bar for free. I am so not above begging. ;)

It was freezing and Rachel & I were outside for quite a while. While out there, we heard quite a bit about the Mark Rojas – bus driver stabbing incident. Interesting stuff. Rachel was upset, but still excited to see Black N Blue live. We were wandering around outside, trying to find someone to still help us out. The back door opened and I saw Brad standing inside and I was all “Brad!!” and motioned for him to come outside. He did remember me, but said that he had cut off the guest list, so he couldn’t put anyone else on. Then he said he’d just get Jay to do it, and went inside to fetch him. Jay came out and I could see he sort of remembered me, but as soon as I said I was the other Leigh, he said “Leigh Black? Oh yeah, I’ll get you in.” So we went around to the front and happily walked into the bar for free. The number one rule of “groupiedom”: Make nice with the road crew, ‘cause they’re really the ones that take care of you. I made sure to give Jay a big hug and a thank you. He asked for a blowjob. I offered him a shot, but since he doesn’t drink, he said I should have just blown in his face.

Now, here I am six hours from home. I get about 4 steps into the bar and see someone I know. Again, I am traveling WAY too much. However, it was just Marcos, the neck biter from my last LAG Chicago experience. I kind of figured that he’d be there. And he pretty much didn’t leave us the entire night. Ugh! When I turned to say hi to Marcos, Adam Hamilton saw me from where he was standing at the bar. His eyes lit up, he got a big smile on his face and he came right over to me to give me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. He’s such a sweetie! Of course, all I can think at this point is that my costume isn’t that good if everyone can recognize me. lol

I finally found xiolablux and littleweirdgirl at the bar and introduced them to Rachel. And reintroduced them to our shadow, Marcos. There was a local band playing at that point. They actually were not too bad, but they seemed to play forever. I saw Cherie & Flynn from the LAG board and finally officially said hi to them. They introduced me to Teresa, who’s also on there. I started talking to a couple guys next to us at the bar, John & Dan. John had been one of the 20 people at the Sludge show at the Elbo Room. I asked him if he remembered the cute merch girl. ;) I ended up talking sports with them for a while, as they were watching the Bulls game.

There was a guy in a Guinness bottle taking photos with people around the bar. If you took your photo with him, you could get a free Guinness. I pulled Julee into the photos with me, even though we don’t drink Guinness. John & Dan were very happy to take our free drink tickets from us. Jay kept coming over to talk to us. He mentioned that he & Lee had gone to yet another casino the night before in Peoria. So, yes, we did talk about you, Lee! I asked him if he’d get me in to the show the next night too and he said that of course he would. What a sweetie!

We decided to move up front for Black N Blue since the crowd was kind of big and we wanted to be sure to get up front for LAG. Plus, Rachel really wanted to see BNB. The bathrooms in this bar were right next to the stage (the most horrible bathroom placement I’ve ever seen, since the bathroom crowd prevented the roadies from getting to the stage), and there was a big mirror on the wall so we could see all the guys in the bathroom from where we were standing. Including Curly Mullet guy, who was in the bathroom about every five minutes making sure his hair looked good. He, uhh, was not attractive. Not at all. But the guy dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow was attractive. All the ladies seemed to like him a lot.

BNB came on and I’d have to say that I really enjoyed them. I had no idea what any of their songs were, but I liked them a lot. There were quite a few people around who were really into them. That was nice to see. John Neilson came out next. He’s an acoustic guitarist that Brad & Phil are helping out. He’s on tour with them to play a little set and sell merch. He sounded really good! Brad & Adam came out to play “Sweet Home Alabama” with him, with Adam on drums.

Between John & LAG there was like an hour delay. They did a lame costume contest which the Jack Sparrow guy won. Mostly due to all the chicks in the audience screaming for him. I managed to move even closer to the stage, so I was wedged at the front, between two monitors. We could see Johnny Monaco from Enuff Z’Nuff walking around behind the stage.

FINALLY, LAG came on stage. Mmmm…Keri Kelli is just so much fun to watch. He was completely drenched in swear in about 1 minute. And he makes the greatest “O” faces while playing guitar! Not to mention that he jumps all over for the whole show. He kept standing right in front of me and I was just about at crotch level. Yeah, that was tough. ;)

I wasn’t all that enthused about the setlist, as it seemed a little bit to slow. This band rocks, so why not play songs that reflect that? But, it was still cool. Monaco came out to play “Long Time Dead” with them. He & Keri did dueling guitar solos and the song ended up being about 12 minutes long. Phil just gave up and posed on the stacks, playing his little acoustic guitar.

The band was really having a good time and you could tell. Phil & Keri spent a lot of time talking to the audience. Keri through out tons of pics, but I got one placed directly in my hand. ;) Phil made a bunch of jokes about the stabbing. It seemed like they were really entertaining themselves. I had to keep watching out for him cause he kept waving the mic cord near my head.

The show finally winded down with “Rip & Tear,” as usual. Phil leaned down to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before he walked off stage. And Adam grabbed my hand and smiled at me. Gee, these guys always make me feel like I’m about 15 again when they do stuff like that.

After the show, Julee, Stef, Rachel & I sat down at a table near the meet & greet area. Marcos was still hanging around, but kind of getting the idea finally. Rachel became a magnet for every loser/vulture/weirdo in the bar. I went over and bought John’s CD and talked to him for a little while. He told me that he’d noticed me from on stage and that I had looked like I was enjoying it. He signed the CD for me and wrote “U Look Hot in Red” on it. Rachel wanted to get her photo taken with Jamie St. James from BNB, but doesn’t really like having her photo taken, so she was kind of shy. I have no shame, so I pushed her up to him and told him that she was too shy to ask for a photo. They got a really cute one together!

LAG came out and sat behind some tables. Brad organized a line to have the crowd go through to get autographs and photos. We weren’t really into that, so we just stayed at our table. I saw Monaco sitting near them and went over to say hello. I wasn’t sure that he’d remember me, but as soon as he saw me, his eyes got real big and he said “Hi!” really enthusiastically. He waived me over behind the table he was at and gave me a big hug. I told him that I was so happy to see him and he sounded great on stage. We talked for a few minutes before I went back to sit down.

I finally did get up to talk to Keri for a moment, once the line dispersed. I got a big hug and I told him that I was really happy to see him. They were just on their way out to the bus, but he said he’d try to come back in. We sat around for a while, but it was extremely cold in the bar. Plus, Stef got gum all over her skirt and our table was still being accosted by weirdos. So we finally decided to leave. I tried to find Jay to say goodbye, but he was nowhere around. We went outside and I saw him by the bus and gave him a big hug and told him I’d see him the next night.

We finally drove back to Julee’s and crashed, after enjoying some late night White Castles.

We got ready on time the next morning and left for Frog’s (Kim) house around noon. We got a tiny bit lost, but did find it without much fuss. She lives in a pretty little town, St. Joseph, MI. It’s right on Lake Michigan (and I mean, right on the lake) and full of gorgeous little houses. It was all very quaint. We got to meet Frog’s very energetic daughter, Sydney, and her friendly dog, Joe. Joe loved us and all the attention we gave him.

It was our friend Trista’s birthday, so we all went out for dinner. Kim gave us a tour of St. Joseph while we toured around in her SUV. Rachel and I were stuffed into these little seats in the back row and I’m sure it was quite comical to watch us get in and out of the car. Dinner was really good, but Julee’s didn’t seem to agree.

Now, this bar was REALLY in the middle of nowhere. No digital cell phone service or anything. Here I am, now nine hours from home. And before I even walk into the bar, I see someone I know. I think that was a new record! Brenda drove up from KC for the show. It was great to see her again!

Jay was standing by the door and I asked him if I was on the guest list. They hadn’t brought one up yet, but Jay told the door guy that I should be let in. While overhearing him talk to the bouncer, I realized that it was true that the person hereto referred to as Hideously Ugly and her 7-year-old daughter would indeed be at the show. Oh, goodie. But, whatever, I was there to have fun. I gave Jay a big hug thank you and he again asked for a blowjob. I catch on quick and blew in his face. He just laughed at me.

We got a table and started drinking. And I started my eight hundred trips to the bathroom. I went to talk to John once he had the merch table set up and I think he thought I was a raving lunatick. He was just kind of staring at me. It was weird. I grabbed Brad and told him that I wanted to be sure to say thank you for everything and gave him a big hug. I told him that I really appreciated his help and that I didn’t drive nine hours for just any band. He then thanked me and told me that he and the band really appreciated me.

Seeing as we were in the country and all, this bar was filled with drunk, country bumpkins. Brad said that the bar had been open all day, so who knows how long some of those guys had been there? So, yeah, a bunch of dressed up girls fit in well. I just ignored the stares and went about my business. Hideously Ugly did come in and her kid was banished back to the dressing room. I’m sure that’s every 7-year-old’s idea of fun.

Without the BulletBoys, the show started a lot later than it had been stated. The natives were getting very, very restless. John finally got on stage to do his acoustic set and the crowd was really into it. Especially when he kicked into “Sweet Home Alabama” with Brad & Adam. Apparently, John is Neil Young’s son. I don’t know about that, but I still really enjoyed his set again.

While waiting for Black N Blue to come on, some guy went up to the stage and stood in the EXACT spot that I wanted. The whole stage and he picks my spot??? Rachel & I then went up to the stage and staked out spots. Some girls that we were next to at the show the night before joined us and we started talking. The guy in my spot was pretty cool too, although he wasn’t leaving. Dammit! Yes, I was at the front of the stage and still complaining. But, that exact spot was the perfect place for photos. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, turned around and it was Suzy from Planet Rocks. Yet another person I know! We hugged and talked for a moment.

BNB came out and put on another good set. Most of the crowd stayed at the back of the bar, but the ones up front were really into the show. Hideously Ugly ended up standing next to me for a short time, taking photos of the band. I resisted the urge to turn around and punch her in the face. Julee came up to join Rachel & I near the end of the set. Rachel started to really get into in and was head banging something fierce. ;)

Stef joined us at the front of the stage and Kim finally managed to drag Trista up there. We waited around for LAG to begin, but most of the crowd still stayed at the back. What’s the point of that??

LAG sounded great again! They played the same setlist, which I wasn’t thrilled about. Keri was very intent on his playing and didn’t really throw many picks out. I still got one, of course. I gave it to Julee since she had been bummed not to get one the night before. The band started throwing out bead. Since I am ultra-amused by shiny things, I made it a quest to get lots of strings. Phil and Brad both threw some directly to me and Julee gave me some of hers. Yay!! Shiny beads!! ;)

After the show, we went back to sit at the table, which was next to the meet and greet area. I talked to Suzy for a while, and then Brenda. The band came out and the “line” formed again. There weren’t many people there, so I didn’t really see the need for the line. I wanted a photo, so I went to find Brad. I reminded him that the last time I saw him, he had told me that I didn’t have to pay for anything. I told him that I wanted a photo and he made sure to give me one. I stood in the line, feeling like a moron. Keri drew a little hat on himself in the photo and commented on my Motochrist shirt.

I got to Phil and told him that I didn’t get a kiss on stage tonight. He grabbed my beads, pulled me too him and gave me a big hug and a kiss. Again, I felt like I was 15. Since there really wasn’t a much of a line, I stood around and talked to him. I told him that Ann was upset with him and he wanted to know why since he’d done nothing wrong. I just told him to call her.

The guys finally came out from behind the table and the photo taking commenced. I finally got a photo with Steve! I always miss him, since he’s so quite and doesn’t hang out much. I later referred to him as the anti-Chad. I got photos with all of LAG, Brad and Jay. Keri kept insisting on having a 1-2-3 countdown before photos and was upset when we wouldn’t do it. He then decided to grab Stef’s camera and started taking all sorts of photos after counting to 2. He was just funny to watch! He did take a group photo of all of us girls with Brad, which you can find on Julee's journal. It’s so adorable!

Brad ended up sitting at the table with us and told us a tale about the stabbing incident from the day before. Interesting stuff. He sat with us for quite a while, and I kept wondering why he didn’t have something else to do. I noticed that the bar seemed to be closed and we were pretty much the only people left in there besides employees and band guys. Apparently we were granted special privileges. We finally had to go, so I said goodbye to everyone that was still hanging around. I gave Jay a big hug and another blowjob.

It was raining on the drive back to Frog’s, but we made it back in one piece a crashed. It rained nearly the entire way home. blah Rachel & I made it back to the Twin Cities around 8pm and I pretty much went into a daze. I was not tired enough to sleep, but not energetic enough to actually do anything productive.

It was a great weekend & I had lots of fun. It’s always great to see my girls who live far away!!