leighblack | Kansas City trip recap

Sorry that this post won't be as drunkenly entertaining as the Nashville post. It was a much calmer and soberer (soberer??) night.

My trip to Kansas City, MO to see Duran Duran and Stimulator , or I smell revolting.

Friday, July 22nd
I somehow managed to get through my day at work and bolted from the office as soon as I was able. I zipped home, took care of a few last minute things, grabbed my stuff and headed South. When I had traveled to KC two years ago, it was one of the hottest weekends ever and I nearly expired from the heat in my non-air conditioned car. It wasn't supposed to be all that different this time, so I had pleaded with my mom to let me borrow her car. She kindly agreed to it, so I was much happier about this trip than I had been about my drive to Nashville. Plus, it was only going to take about 6 hours to get to

rockerlee's aunt’s place. Kind of like a walk in the park after the previous weekend.

Nothing very exciting happened on the drive. Iowa is just plain old boring. No giant crosses. No pro-gun signs. Just lots of farmland and bad drivers. I got to Lee's place in the middle of nowhere around 10:30 or so. It was still about a zillion degrees outside. Fabulous. We ended up sitting around and talking for quite a while, while watching TV. I had brought my Faster bootleg DVD from the Sludge show in Minneapolis, so we giggled over Taime telling me to shut up from the stage. After a late night run to grab snacks and soda (Yay! for Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, which we still don’t have up here), we finally crashed out.

Saturday, July 23rd
I wasn’t feeling very motivated the next morning. I knew I needed to call Chad or Thomas to find out what was going on for that evening, but I didn’t think they’d be in town yet. So, I left my phone in the other room and figured I’d call them in a while. Lee & I ended up watching Celebrity Poker since there was nothing else on.

I went over to grab my phone and saw that

annfromdetroit had called. It seemed that she had become Chad’s secretary. He was trying to get a hold of me, but couldn’t find my number and had called her, so that she could tell me to call him. Yeah, okay.

So, I called Chad, as I had been summoned. The conversation started out something like this:
Me: "Hey, it's Leigh"
C: "I know."
Me: "Your secretary said I had to call you."
C: "My secretary? Ha. So, are you coming tonight?"
Me: "Of course!"
C: "Good. Who's all coming with you?"
Me: "There's four of us. Me, Lee, Brenda & Melissa."
C: "So, wait...how many total? 4?"
Me: "Yes, 4. Oh, and we invited Kate."
C: "You did...oh, fuck you!"
Me: *giggle*
C: "Well, here's the deal. You'll get in, no matter what. Even if I have to pay for the tickets myself."
Me: "What? No, you don't need to..."
C: "No, it's all right. Because I love you and I want you to be there. But you have to get Thomas socks and bring me booze."
Me: "Socks and booze. Got it."

He also said that they weren't going to be able to stay long, because they had to drive all the way to Indy. They had a bunch of record label people that they were meeting around noon, so they needed to drive all night so they'd be ready on time. He said he'd be able to hang out for a little while after the show, but not long. I told him that I understood, and that I'd just be happy to see him. There was some more jabber and I gave him the appropriate names to put the tickets under. I confirmed the order of socks & booze ("Do you want vodka?" "Yeah, vodka. Well, and if you wanted to get some Jager too..."), adding cigarettes on, of course. Because I always get my Fast Tommy cigarettes. He told us to meet him at the Midland Theater around 6pm or so, then we hung up.

I relayed the conversation to Lee, who then passed it along to Brenda & Melissa. We were all happy to know that we'd be getting into the show, because I was a little worried about that. They're not allowed any comps or passes for the tour. Thomas always manages to come through for me! Now that we had a timeframe, Lee & I figured out what time we needed to be ready to leave, then continued power lounging for a while.

Inevitably, my phone rang. I knew who it was before I even picked it up. "Yes?" "Hi! Remember me??" "I'm trying to forget." Chad wanted us to join them for lunch at Gates Bar-B-Que. Gee, if you had said that when I talked to you earlier, it would be fine. But, Lee's aunt's house is an hour outside of the city, so it wasn't going to happen. Chad sounded genuinely upset that we wouldn't be able to join them. He told me that we were definitely hooked up for the show, and that we'd be getting photo passes too, so we could take photos for them. Sweet!

As long as I had him on the phone, I reminded him that I wanted a copy of the CD he made with Keri Kelli. He said he'd burn it for me, and made sure that he'd already given me the new Stimulator CD. I told him that he had, and that I already had the new songs memorized. I also asked him about the Faster tour, since I wanted to confirm that it wasn't going to happen. He said it wasn't, then went into a huge monologue about why it wasn't. Which I didn't really pay attention to. He told me again to be at the theater around 6, and to call when we got there.

Photo passes! *happy dance* My boys sure do know how to take care of me.

Lee & I dicked around the house for a while, before finally getting ready for the evening. We opted for cool attire, since it was approximately the temperature of the sun outside. Our first stop was to the local Pamida. Wow. There's a place that hope has forgotten. We wandered around aimlessly for a little while, before honing in on the sock section. I grabbed two packs of super-nice Dickies socks for Thomas. I also vaguely remembered that he'd been yelling about wanting me to bring him a cookie while at the bar in Nashville, so I grabbed a package of White Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Nut cookies too.

Then we moved on down the road to the liquor store. I spent nearly $70 on two bottles of vodka and a big bottle of Jager. Since I am Chad's Jager Bitch and all. Yes, I know it was an obscenely large amount of money to spend on booze for him. But I knew I had money stashed for the gas to get home and enough to survive the next week, so I wasn't worried. It is my money after all, and I can spend it how I choose. We also stopped by a gas station to grab a few packs of Marlboro Medium's and we were set.

We ended up getting down to the theater a little early, so we decided to stop for something to eat, since it seemed like a good idea. I was a little worried about what the heat might do to us without proper hydration and nutrition. So, we drove around looking for a Subway. While driving, Brenda & Melissa called to say they were at the Midland already. I guess they decided to wait around for us while we ate, which we quickly did and drove back to the theater.

The Midland Theater marquee

I lugged my heavy bag of booze out of the car and walked around the outside of the theater. We found the girls, then began the epic quest of tracking someone down. After three calls to Chad and two to Thomas, I finally got some results. "Thomas, we're melting out here. Where do you need us to go?" He said he'd be out in a minute, so we waited around in the God-awful sunshine for him. He finally came out and gave hugs to the rest of the girls. Then he turned to me and said "I fucking hate you!" I was very confused about this, and managed to stammer out a question about why. Seems he had a nasty hangover the morning after the Nashville show, and blamed it on me. I assured him that there was no way he had felt as awful as I had. I mentioned not being able to count how many times I had thrown up, and he laughed at me.

I handed him his socks, cigarettes and cookies, which he was very appreciative of, and unloaded the bag of booze on him. He said that Chad had been "bellowing" about it not being there yet. Whatever. He explained that we’d be getting two photo passes with our 4 comps, and one of us would be using Chad’s camera. I told him that Lee & I would be taking photos. He gave us the usual rules (you can only be up there for three songs, etc) and told us everything would be up at the box office soon. He had to go back inside, so we all went to hang out in front off the theater.

I could tell that something was wrong with Melissa & Brenda right away. They both started pouting that there were only going to be 2 photo passes, and starting talking about maybe leaving. I mean, I understand. Chad didn’t know what was going on when I talked to him. I’m sure Thomas did what he could, but could only get two passes. And since I arranged everything, I was getting one of them. And since Lee takes lots of photos at shows and knows what she’s doing, and she was the one I was staying with, she was getting the other one. There was no question about this in my mind. Pouting was not going to change anything. Still, there was some whining about not being up front and not being close. Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out what the problem was, since it was only going to be for three songs anyways. It wasn’t like it was for the whole show. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to be able to see the show, since we were getting tickets.

I just don’t like when people act like that. I am ALWAYS appreciative when someone helps me out with getting into a show. Even if it’s just a $5 shitty bar show. I always make sure to say thank you and offer drinks, or whatever I can do, so that it’s known I appreciate the help. I was especially thankful on this tour, since I KNOW it was hard for Thomas to get the comps for us. And, I knew very well that neither Melissa nor Brenda would be able to afford the tickets on their own, so I was a little perturbed. Especially when it looked like they might leave. But I shook it off. Maybe the heat was just making people squirrelly.

We stood outside in the heat for a while, then figured out that the Box Office was in a nice little air conditioned office next to the theater. Yeah, I was all about hanging out in there. Of course, our comps & passes were not ready the first time we asked. Well, after we explained a few times that we should have photo passes, and that we were “with the band,” they finally figured out that they weren’t there yet. Okay, no big deal. We could wait. In the nice air conditioned area. They had some pictures of the theater on the wall in the office, and I was a little surprised. It was small! Like, an actual theater. It completely reminded me of the Morris Center in South Bend. I was a little curious as to how they were going to get the DD set onto the small stage.

While we were hanging around, I saw Chad walk past the office and ran outside to grab him. Not literally. Well, maybe a little. =) He was carrying my New World Idols CD (yeah, that’s really what he & Keri were calling themselves) and a drink, and I relieved him of both. I promised Lee that I wouldn't drink much, mainly since I was driving and she couldn’t drive a stick if she needed to drive back, but also because I had no desire to make that big of an ass out of myself again. So, I just took a few sips of Chad’s drink. Honestly. And anything I did drink, I sweated right out anyways. He also gave me his camera, since I’d be using it to take photos during their show. He had a ‘beaner attached to it and I promptly hooked the strap around my wrist so I wouldn’t drop it.

We took some photos, since I thought it would be good to get them done before he was all sweaty. Not that I don’t like SweatyChad photos, but I have a lot of them.

awwww….Me & Chad

Melissa, Brenda (hiding), Chad & Lee

Then, my camera promptly did something weird and rewound the almost new roll of film. Ack! I was freaked out that these photos wouldn’t turn out, but obviously they did. Lee took some photos of her camera to replace mine, but those ones didn’t turn out as nice.

Chad hung outside and talked with us for a while. Apparently, all of their stuff had broken that afternoon and they’d been scrambling to replace it. That made him rather crabby. Plus, the DD crew had been there nearly all day trying to figure out how to stuff their huge stage set into the theater. Lee couldn’t resist commenting on Chad’s hideous orangey-brown pants, with colorful stripes running down the legs. Yeah, they were that fugly. He told us about how he & Susan had been having some battles about who was the biggest diva in the band. She insisted she was, since she was the girl, but he insisted that he was, since he had way more shit than she did. They had all gotten separate dressing rooms in St. Louis the night before and had fought over who got the bigger one. This was accompanied by Chad doing an amusing sashay and saying “I’ll be in my dressing room” in a very diva manner.

I kept nipping off Chad’s drink, even though there were cops wandering around. Sprite…yeah, there was Sprite in there. I made a comment about how we’d had a bonding experience the weekend before in Nashville and he started to laugh. I told him that he was lucky he’d slept through most of my puking, and he agreed.

I thanked him for the CD, and he asked me if I needed anything else. I told him that Lee mentioned new Motochrist songs, and I would like those. Melissa also mentioned something about wanting the first Moto CD, so he was going to run back and burn those for us. Since we were talking about Moto, I decided to use my new patented Impressing Cute Band Boys™ technique, and played my “Someday” ring tone for him. He grinned like an idiot when he heard it, so I also played Stimulator’s “Feelin’ Alright,” which I had been sure to add before I left for KC. He was SUPER excited about that one, and kept telling me that I needed to play it for Susan. I promised I would, and he soon disappeared back into the theater. I walked back to the car and put my CD away, so I wouldn’t have to carry it around.

We went back into the box office, and eventually, our stuff was ready. Holy crap! Our tickets were soooooo good! I’m talking 8th row, dead center good. I don’t know how the hell Thomas pulled it off, but there’s still no way I can thank him enough. I was really glad that I bought him the good socks, instead of cheap ones. =)

Not long after we got our stuff, Thomas walked by the office, along with Geoff & Sean. I flew out of the office and gave Thomas a huge hug and thanked him profusely. He made sure that everything had worked out and we had everything we needed. Geoff and Sean both said hello and I got hugs from both of them. I asked them for pre-sweaty photos also. Thanks to Lee for taking these, since we still didn’t know if something was wrong with my camera.

Geoff & I…yummy guitarist, indeed

Yo! Sean! The camera’s over here!!

Apparently Chad had already been flapping his gums, because Sean asked me about the ring tones. I’m always up for another round of Impressing Cute Band Boys™! =) I played “Feelin’ Alright” for him and he did seem to be impressed. At this point though, there was quite a line forming to get into the show, and Thomas was worried about the guys being out there, so we all moved to the side of the building. Into the direct sunlight. Yeech.

Thomas told me that Geoff was very jealous of his brand new socks, and Geoff said it was because they were the good kind. I told him that he should have said he needed socks. I would have brought him some too! I told Thomas about how I’d told Chad that we’d invited Kate to the show, and he kind of giggled and said that was a sore subject right now. Then he thanked me for doing it.

I looked over to my left and noticed that Sean was apparently video taping our entire conversation. “Uhhh, you’re not filming this for your little website video, are you?” Which means I’m probably destined to be in there now that I asked that. The other girls were kind of trying to hide from the camera, but I guess I don’t really care. The heat got to be too much for everyone though, and they all went inside. I didn’t blame them.

We walked back to the front of the theater to wait in line, and then Chad came back out with our CDs. It was kind of like an early birthday for me! Adoration was given, then he went back inside. I threw my new Moto CD into the car, then we went inside since the doors were finally open. I walked right through, but Lee got hassled about her photo pass. And security had to be called to figure out what was going on. You’d think these people had seen photo passes before, but maybe not. Maybe it was a night of new people. I don’t know. But we explained that yes, we knew we had to stay out of the way, and yes, that we could only be up front for three songs. They also told us that we wouldn’t be able to use a flash, which sucked. I knew my camera wouldn’t work well without it, and I had concerns about Chad’s. Lee thought her camera would be okay though.

We finally got in, and it was kind of warm in there. I wasn’t so excited about that. But the theater was gorgeous! Once inside, it completely reminded me off South Bend. Big band, big stage set, little tiny stage. We found our seats and they were AMAZING! I was soooo excited!! We were in the perfect spot. Not too close, so you can see the whole stage, but not too far, so you can still everything perfectly fine. I suggested that Lee & I take the aisle seats during Stimulator, so that we wouldn’t have to climb over Brenda & Melissa when we were going up to take photos & when we came back. Then we could switch for Duran Duran. This caused more whining, since Melissa was afraid she wouldn’t be able to see. Even though people wouldn’t be standing during Stimulator and she’d be able to see fine. Believe me, I’m short. I understand needing to be able to see. That’s why I wear boots with a big heel, so I’m a little taller. But I was already sick of the whining, so I said fine. We’ll just climb over you. No big deal.

Since we were just sitting there, I went up front to talk to the security chick about where we’d be able to stand. I wanted to clear it all up before the show started, so I’d know. And I got another blank look and she had to call someone else over. Seriously, people. It’s a photo pass! Not anything out of the ordinary. We finally got it worked out, and I went back to our seats.

I got bored, so I started playing with Chad’s camera. I’m not ashamed to say that I looked through all of his photos. Most of Chad’s photos had Chad in them, which amused me to no end. Or his brand spanking new drum set. Many of the goofy, drunken photos made us laugh hysterically! Ohhhhh…there were some real winners in there. Including Chad & Thomas in stupid cowboy hats. And Carole, the chick I met at the Faster show in LA, was in a photo from the LA Stimulator show.

Stimulator finally got on stage, and after a little technical problem, they played a great set. I thought it was way better than in Nashville. It was the same set list, but it just sounded better. Susan was still doing the spastic dancing, but it was toned down and her outfit was a thousand times better. No green in sight! Lee took some really great photos, and here’s a few of them.

Susan Hyatt

Geoff Tyson, with Thomas in the background

Sean Tichenor & Chris Aidan

Chad Stewart…you can even see a little bit of his fugly pants. At least he didn’t wear the goofy scarf this time.

Lee & I hung out up front for our three songs, then went back to our seats. Where we proceeded to cheer and act like little fangirls. There were a lot of people in the audience who really getting into their show, which makes me so happy. I really, really want this to work out for Chad! Their music really is good and the new CD fits together really well. They just need the right breaks and they could go really far.

Susan introduced the band, which she hadn’t done in Nashville, and there was much cheering from our area. Especially for Chad, of course. I think she was a little scared. =) The guy sitting in front of us turned around and commented that “you girls have some lungs.” We explained that we knew the drummer, and he told us that he thought the band was pretty good.

After their set, we drifted out to the merch booth and played “Waiting for Chad.” Susan came out first, and I went over to say hello. I played my ring tone for her, since Chad had insisted, but I think she was a little mystified about it. However, I do have to say that she was much nicer this time. Definitely not standoff-ish like she had seemed in Nashville.

Chad and the rest of the band came out and there were sweaty hugs all around. I told Chad I’d hang on to his camera while he schmoozed the crowd, and told him that I’d looked through his photos. He was like “No, that’s fine! Of course, you can look through them.” I also told him that I wanted a couple of them and he laughed. He said one the pics of him & Thomas was from heavy metal karaoke, where he’d sang “Bathroom Wall” & “Sister Christian.” I started laughing, and he said that he had it all on DVD and he’d make me a copy if I wanted. I told him I never believed that he’d actually send it to me, but if he was serious, I’d email him to remind him about it when he got home. Because I really wanted to see it! I love to hear Chad sing.

It was really, really warm in the theater lobby. Everyone looked rather wilted and sweaty. So, of course, we did the photo thing. ‘Cause why not?

Susan & I – I look so sweaty & frizzy!

Chris & I

When I asked Chris for a photo, I also apologized for my drunken stupidity in Nashville, but he said there was nothing to apologize for.

Sammich! Geoff, me & Sean – Lee took this one too

Chad started whining that he lost his purple Sharpie, so I gave him a black one from my purse. Which I never got back, of course. Brenda said something about not meeting the other guys in the band, since she was kind of standing in the corner, so Chad started dragging people around for introductions. Then he had this bright idea that we all needed to be gathered together for a couple photos.

Another Lee photo – the only people who look remotely attractive are Melissa, Chris & Chad, the rest of us look like we’re posing for mug shots or something. And this is the better photo.

Duran Duran was going on stage soon, so we got ready to go back inside. Chad said he’d come out and hang with us for a few minutes after he’d finished packing up. We made sure to give him hugs, just in case he didn’t make it back out, and we went back to our seats.

When the temperature is already in the triple digits, and the theater is already warm, stuffing a huge lighting rig into it and keeping it flashing for most of the show doesn’t help much. The dreadful heat is really what I remember most of the DD set. I actually had to sit down a few times and I left to go outside once so I wouldn’t pass out. We all ended up drenched in sweat! We really didn’t smell too good. I would put my arms up to clap, and put them right back down since I was repulsed by my own stench. Ick!

DD played songs. I don’t really remember what they were or what order they were in. The ones you would probably expect that they would play. Chad did, in fact, come out and dance like a dork with us for one song. He, also, was super-sweaty and it got all over me when he hugged me. Normally, I’d be okay with ChadSweat, but I didn’t really need any more. It was all good though, because he brought another drink with him. I didn’t care about the alcohol at that point. I just wanted to be hydrated, so I kept grabbing it from him. He leaned down to me and thanked me for everything I’d did the past two weekends. Which I translated to “thanks for bringing me booze.” Well, and I know he appreciates it that people like me are willing to take time off of work and drive all over just to see his band. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think it was appreciated. I told him it wasn’t a big deal and thanked him back. He finally had to go though, so we went through another round of hugs and goodbyes. I was upset that we hadn’t gotten to see Thomas again, so I told Chad to make sure to thank him for us. He promised he would, then disappeared.

We made it through the DD set without anyone fainting, which seems like a miracle. I took a few covert photos at the end of the set, since security had kind of given up at that point. A couple of them turned out, which made me happy!

John Taylor, Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes & Andy Taylor

Nick, Simon & Andy

We stood around outside for a while, waiting for the crowd to disburse, then said goodbye to Brenda & Melissa before leaving for the boondocks again. We popped the New World Idols CD in and Lee & I giggled over the cover of “Uptown Girl.” (which I later found out is on the Agent Cody Banks soundtrack) It’s actually a really good CD, even if they did record it in Keri’s mom’s living room.

We made a food run, then chilled out in the blessedly air conditioned house. We HAD to shower the stench off before bed, and I burned copies of my new CDs on Lee’s computer for the girls before I crashed out.

Sunday, July 24th
I got up surprisingly early, and since Lee wasn’t up, I lay in bed and read a book. I wanted to leave around 2pm so it wouldn’t be too late when I got home, and I actually did manage to leave on time once again. I woke Lee up to say goodbye, then hauled my stuff outside. I silently thanked my parents again for letting me borrow their car, because I never would have made the trip back without the air conditioning. The heat was really brutal! But, I got home okay, switched cars, and made it home with plenty of time to watch Crossing Jordan.

And that was that trip. I’m really going to make an effort to finish my LA trip journal soon, even though it’s three months later. I promise. There will be plenty of good stuff in there!