Close Encounters of the MLE Kind

After a couple of days of sightseeing (and entirely too much shopping! YIKES!) around Santa Fe and Albuquerque (wow, New Mexico is beautiful!), Rock-and-Roll Knees Mare and I were ready for some Melissa fun from the second row! :-)

We got to the Sandia Casino and Resort early... since it is an outside venue, we were able to catch some of the soundcheck, which is always pretty neat... it was just the boys, no Melissa... took some pics, until a security dude came outside to tell me I couldn't take pictures... that was interesting... and of course, a sign about how strongly they felt about cameras INSIDE the venue... :-) Not that I was planning to take the camera to the show anyway, so... cool... :-)

After the soundcheck, I chatted a little with Philip, who formally introduced me to Jerry and also to Mr. Chainsaw... I shook Mr. Chainsaw's hand and said "enchanté"... :-) I totally like Chainsaw... he's a funny character :-)

At the venue, before the show, I was conversing a bit with security... you know, trying to find out what the scoop was... they said there would be no rushing the stage at all... that if anything it would maaaaybe be for the last song. Yeah, OK! :-)

So... Melissa came out and the fun began! I looked around and, except for a few folks, everybody was sitting for Come On Out Tonight. WHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!??? Oh boy, I thought... this is going to be interesting!

Luckily, the people behind us did not ask us to sit. That would have been an issue. We paid a nice little amount of money for the seats to this ROCK AND ROLL concert, and I wasn't about to sit down... so I was very thankful that nobody had a problem with us being up and dancing the night away with Melissa :-)

First sign I showed Melissa was "HEY!!! This is my 25th show!"... she didn't seem to care much, but did tell me... "Good for you" with a face like... "whoo hoo... whatever" :-) Cute... But hey! I think 25 shows are worth mentioning, even if it's ONLY 25!!! :-) :-) :-)

Later on, I showed her the one saying "As for your latest blog... THANK YOU!"... she appreciated that one and I think she said "Thank you" back... fuzzy memory though, so don't quote me on that one.

So, I think it was around the third song that I see this woman up on the freaking stage heading over to Melissa! WHAT THE FREAK!!!??? I couldn't believe it... I was soooooooooo MAD to see that!!! Anyway, the chick walks over to Melissa like she's going to dance with her, and of course the moment Melissa sees her, she just runs off to the back of the stage. I'm thinking "Where the freak is security and how did she even get up there!?? GRRRRRRRR!!!!". Then Rasta came to the rescue... dude came running across the stage and tackled the doodoohead and took her away! Now, why do people do THAT is what I wanna know!!!??? What goes through a person's mind when they decide to do the stupidest things!!!??? I don't get it. Grrrrrrr!!! I was freakin' fuming!!! What a goober! Just remembering makes me angry all over again! So... I shall move on... :-)

Melissa came back to the front of the stage once it was safe again... she was laughing about it and talking about why do people do that... and how she (the goober) would now miss the whole show... She was funny... talking about how once they get up on the stage like that, they don't know what to do... tee hee...

She then talked about how she was glad Tammy was pregnant, because there's nothing Tammy hates more than these people who get up on stage and if she weren't pregnant she would have come out there to get the goober... Then -LOL!!!- she goes on to give us an impression (is this the correct word?) of what Tammy would look like if she had come out to the stage right then... wabbling and going "Where is she? Let me at 'er!!!"... OMG, that was SO freakin' funny!!! LOL!!! Mare wrote a sign telling Melissa "You'll pay for that!" which I'm sure she did! That was the funniest thing ever!!! LOL!!!

When she did "The Different", of course I had to tell her "This song SO rocks!" :-) I have loved that song so much from the very start! And it totally kicks some major bootie live!!!

She did Stronger Than Me, people!!! That was WAY WAY WAY WAY COOL! :-)

Can't remember when it was, but Melissa was talking about Chainsaw... so I held up a sign saying "Le Chainsaw" :-) She read it and said it back with the cutest french accent "Le Chainsaw... Le Chainsaw..." tee hee...

The people on the front row in front of us, like most of the audience, were sitting throughout the show... During Scarecrow, though... a few of them got up... it didn't last long, but it was cool to see them actually getting up and moving :-)

For a long time there were about 4 empty seats behind me, so I kept trying to get Rhondda to come over, but she didn't. Eventually the seat owners showed up, so it was smart that she didn't...

When I held up my request for "How Would I Know?" she gave me a look of "OF COURSE you'd ask for that song!"... but there was no "Yes", no "No"... not even a "Maybe"... so I had no clue if I'd get my song, or if she was already planning to do another one...

I told the girl in front of me that she should try to get the pick... she had no idea what I was talking about... I think she was a Melissa virgin... :-) I told her when she was done with Tuesday Morning, I'd let her know when she could go up and get Melissa's guitar pick... I made a sign to Melissa to *pick* her... and Melissa smiled.

When piano time came, I told the girl to go up and get the pick! She wouldn't move :-) I kept pushing her that way, and she didn't know what was going on... it was kinda funny... Melissa didn't really make a motion towards her either, and just kept her pick...

I was extremely happy to hear the first notes of my song and the words "This is a song from the Breakdown album..." Yay! :-) It was a great version... with 3 "hellos"... I hadn't heard her do that since she did the 4 "hellos" in L.A... so, you may have no idea what I'm talking about... but hey! I love it when she does that! :-)

During the acoustic part, I showed the guys a sign that said "Gonna miss you boys!"... Philip and Fritz read it (Mark, of course didn't! :-) And Fritz told me he/they would miss ME... awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... how sweet is he!? I wish I'd formally met him... 'cause I'd love to give him a big ole hug and tell him how cool I think he is :-)

So... security was something else! This one girl decided she'd be brave and crazy and walked up to the stage all by herself. Next thing I know, this short sweet looking security lady turned into I don't know what... she just ran to the girl and tackled her out of there... LOL! Whew... that was interesting :-)

So, stage rush time came, and I ran up there with Mare... when suddenly I feel this arm around me... well, what do you know... this security dude totally pulled me back! WHAT THE FREAK!!!??? I couldn't believe it!!! LOL!!! I'm thinking "Dude! Have you any idea who I am!?" LOL!!! Anyway, long story short I did get up to the stage... I guess the security people eventually realized this is just how it works... whew!

(Oh, the coolest thing happened! Rhondda called me two days later from Phoenix, where she and Camille had a meet and greet with Melissa... She told me that they had actually put the sign up on the wall where everybody could see it backstage... How sweet!!! :-) :-) :-)

When I had chatted with Philip before the show, we were talking about the future for his career, and I'd told him I was sure he'd do very well... So, when Philip finished his solo, I showed him a sign that said "Yep! Great things await you!"... 'cause really, he's just an AWESOME guitarist and it's just a matter of time before the world realizes it! :-)

I'd bought some cute personalized friendship bracelets and "spirit pouches" for Melissa, Tammy AND Stephanie... I was going to give them to Melissa but figured out I may not be able to, so I just put them up on the stage. A bit later I saw a security guy grabbing them, and thought he was going to get rid of them, but he was just moving them over by the speaker... whew :-)

Melissa saw them later on and was looking at them trying to figure out what they were... I then noticed I'd left the prices on them! Ack! So, I wrote a sign with an arrow pointing at the stuff and said "Sorry, I left the prices on them!"... my not-so-subtle way to let her know they were from me... tee hee... :-)

A few people got calls from me for the "Call Me From The Tour Tour" though... :-) It was sometime during "Piece Of My Heart", that my busy phone's battery finally died... :-)

Mare and Rhondda got the Piece Of My Heart scream... It was way way cool!!! :-)

Anyway! :-) The song ended and the lights went off... she came over and was looking for me in the dark... and I'm screaming "I'M HERE!!!"... and she still couldn't see me, so then I got smart and waved one of my paper signs and then she finally saw me and gave me the pick...

OK, I don't know about you... but! When she does stuff like that, it just gets to me! That she actually took the time to try to find me in the dark to make sure I got my "25th show" pick... I mean... who does that???!!! The woman is just too freakin' sweet, man!!!

When she came out for the encore, I showed her the sign with "Here's an idea. Close the last show with 'It Will Be Me'" - That song is so beautiful! And although is a bit sad, I think it would be a very nice one to close with... sorta like saying that we'll go our separate ways, and yet we'll remain connected... know what I mean? She read the sign, kinda thought about it for a second... then shook her head "No"... and I was like "oh come on..." and she then said... "maybe..." So, maybe it is! :-)

I'd made a sign saying "See y'all on Thursday!"... but I didn't really show it to them, 'cause the girl standing beside me asked me to write something for her. So I was erasing it, when I looked up and Melissa was like all smiling at me and stuff... so I reckon she got to read it before I erased it... :-)

So, as I was saying... the girl standing beside me asked me to make a sign for her to ask Melissa for the pick 'cause it was her birthday... I told her I would definitely tell Melissa it was her birthday, but didn't feel comfortable asking for the pick... so I made a sign that said "Birthday girl" with an arrow pointing to her... When Melissa saw it, she gave the girl one of her beautiful smiles and then grinned at me... I was trying to figure out why she grinned at me and then thought maybe she read between the lines... hmmmmm... :-)

During "Like The Way I Do", I noticed Chainsaw back there in a corner and he was looking my way, so I sang to him a little... :-) At times during the song, he would be making faces at me... I was like "What, dude?!"... It was pretty funny! Like, there we would be, him making faces at me and me asking what his problem is... when Melissa would start singing again and he'd point at Melissa and be like "Pay attention! Look at her!" LOL! He's soooo funny! :-)

After "All The Way To Heaven" Melissa came our way with her pick... again she was looking for someone in the dark... I was a little slow, but then realized... She was looking for the birthday girl!!! :-) So I started pointing to her and she finally saw her... and yes! Birthday girl got her pick!!! YAY!!! :-) :-) :-)

After the guys were done, Philip came by with some picks, so I asked him to give one to Birthday girl... and he did... Needless to say, Birthday girl was having quite a happy birthday! :-) :-) :-) There was a girl behind us who had been really wanting a pick, and she was *jokingly* whining about Birthday girl getting these picks and she getting none... when I spotted a Philip pick on the stage right in front of me... so I picked it up and told her "It's your lucky day! Here you go!"... girl was happppppy! :-)

So... Chainsaw was doing his thing, picking up and cleaning the stage... I saw him get the set list and had a feeling... :-) Sure enough, funny man Chainsaw came right over to me and gave me the setlist. What a sweetie pie! Others were trying to grab it, but he did really well, so I had no issue getting it.

OK, show's over... some of us are hanging out by the stage, chatting away... Chainsaw came over and asked me if I'd gotten the setlist OK, and I told him yes... then he gave me (Mare got one too!) what has to be my very favorite pick from this tour! How freakin' cool is this pick!!!??? THANK YOU CHAINSAW!!! YOU TOTALLY FREAKIN' ROCK, DUDE!!!!

Whew... one more show and then that's it! I'm so excited about the Greek show! And yet, I know it's not going to be easy to come back to reality after what has turned out to be one of the best summers of my life!