Close Encounters of the MLE Kind

Tuesday Night, March 2, Las Vegas, Hard Rock Hotel

Due to foul weather in Las Vegas, the flight from Los Angeles in to Vegas was delayed by one hour. We get to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at 5:20 PM. The tickets were under my name, so I go get the tickets while cookie monster goes off to check us in to the Hard Rock Hotel and take the bags up to our room.

I ask the ticket distributor where the fan club line is, and she informs me that it’s around the corner to her left, on the leopard carpet. I ask if she’s sure, and she says Yes. So I hold up my arm and point to where she is talking about and ask again “It’s over there?” and she says Yes. I went over to where she said to line up . . . and there wasn’t anyone there.

It was a little Twilight Zone-ish, but not entirely unbelievable, that no one was in the fan club line yet. Each city and each location is different, and fans line up at different times. And, the ticket distributor was very positive in her response, so I sat down on the carpet, and was trying really hard not to fall asleep. A woman walks by and asks what I’m doing, and I say that I’m in the fan club line for a concert. She says “No, that’s around the corner.” I said No, I was exactly where the very certain ticket distributor told me to be for the fan club line, and she said other Hard Rock Hotel staff members told her to stand around the other corner, and we’re both certain we’re each in the right place, and she goes back to the other line, which I’m told about 20 people are in. A few minutes later, someone else came by, and we had the same conversation. Deb came by and asked what in the world I was doing, and I told her the story, and she went to sort the whole thing out.

Finally, the Left Hand at the Hard Rock Hotel communicated with the Right Hand at the Hard Rock Hotel, and I woke up/looked up to find a herd of people walking towards me and then around me. Turns out the fan club line was where I was sitting. I was slow getting up (exhausted, and everything hurt), and people were lining up behind me. One concert go-er I know walked up and said something to me like “No Honey, we’re first in line, we’ve been here since 11 AM.” I immediately backed up, I had no problem whatsoever with that. Another woman farther back in line, the first woman I’d had a conversation with about which line was which and where, said “Looks like you made a good call!”, and I sensed she said it in a way that implied ‘You Lucky Duck – you stood your ground and now you’re in front of the line!’.

The only problem was, I didn’t feel so lucky. I whispered to Deb, “Maybe we should go to the back of the line.” She disagreed with me, her reasoning being that we were in the right line, I’d been in the right line for awhile, and it wasn’t our fault the Hard Rock staff were daft about where fan clubers should line up. Plus, I also know that for Deb, the concert experience sometimes has been really awful if she’s stuck in the middle of the crowd, because for some reason, I think because of her small stature, people tend to pick on her and shove her around and fall on her and other things I don’t seem to be able to keep from happening to her. I thought to myself “Well, I guess we were in the right line, and I should stay here for her.” We struck up a conversation with the two couples in line behind us, and they were very friendly couples from out of town, and we did bring up the whole ‘line’ thing, and if I recall correctly, they did not bring up the fact they were in the other line for some time but were now behind us. From what I could tell, they didn’t have an issue with being right behind us in line.

But the whole ‘line” thing was still killing me. My conscience was virtually eating me alive. I looked around at all of the other people in the fan club line, some of whom looked like they might really enjoy the concert from the front, and some that looked like they were headed straight for the bar or straight upstairs or straight to the raised area in the middle of the room. Fact of the matter was, I didn’t know where they would be headed, but I thought they should get the option before I did. I couldn’t . . .I just couldn’t . . . shut off the voices in my head telling me to go to the back of the line. After about ten minutes of thinking “Should I stay? Should I go? Stay? Go? Stay? Go?”, I finally whispered to Deb “You can stay here if you want to, but I’m going to the back of the line.” Deb was enjoying her new found concert buddies, and they were enjoying her company too, so she chose to stay. I went to the back of the line, and resolved myself to the thought that, oh well, I guess I don’t have to see every concert from the front row, I can enjoy it from farther away too, and besides I’ll probably end up standing right behind Deb anyway.

7:00 PM. When they open the doors and let us in, me and another concert buddy Kim decided to start out running for the middle of the room. However, off to the right side of the stage, I see Deb. And do you know who was standing beside her? No one. The entire rest of the area to the right side of the stage was completely empty. I went and stood next to Deb. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Right up against the stage, really close to my perfect Happy Place (in front of Mark), and right next to Deb. It was like it was meant to be or something. I’d done what I felt was the right decision for me, and Deb had done what she felt was the right decision for her, and it all worked out in the end. It was kind of weird, but weird in a good way. I knew I would now be able to fully enjoy another concert without reservation.

8:15 PM-ish. You know the routine. Hurray! Melissa time! Phillip makes funny faces at me.

Since we’re close to Mark, he looks at me and Deb, and we smile and wave. He smiles back. After the first song, he looks at me, puts his hands up to his head, and mouths “Where’s your hat?” He was referring to the red beanie hat I’d worn once in SF and twice in Anaheim. I responded “I don’t know!” which wasn’t an accurate response but an easier response to give than trying to figure out a way to non-verbally communicate “I had it in San Francisco and Anaheim because it was freezing cold waiting outside for hours, but I don’t need it in Las Vegas because we waited in line inside and it’s not freezing cold inside!” My hand gestures are not that extensive, so I settled for the “I don’t know” response back to Mark.

Phillip’s still making smiley and funny faces at me. He was being extra silly about it that night.

Two songs later, Phillip did the same thing as Mark. My smiley-silly-playful-guitar-playing-pal Phillip puts his hands up to his head, and mouths “Where’s the hat?” I give him the same “I don’t know!” and raise my arms up in the “I don’t know” position. He copies the gesture. I shrug my shoulders, and he shrugs his shoulders too. I laugh, and he laughs, and we’re laughing, and he’s making funny faces, and I’m making funny faces, and we’re exchanging this fun kind of energy, and I don’t know where the motivation came from, but I whip out my black Sharpie marker, unfold my piece of paper with notes on it, pick half a page that’s empty, and write on it really big “ ROOM 275!

” and held it up towards Phillip for him to read. I had a HUGE smile on my face while doing it.

Phillip just busts up laughing. He’s laughing and weaving back and forth that the nutty girl in the front row he’s been making faces at got over-excited and gave him her room number. I can’t believe the nutty girl did it either! I am SO NOT like that (giving out my room number or phone number to Rock Guitarists) - I’m practically the antithesis of that really - that I immensely cracked MYSELF up. I was laughing really hard at my audacity. Deb, Kim, and another concert friend are laughing at my boldness too. None of us can believe I did that, most of all me. They finally stopped laughing after a bit, but I couldn’t.

Poor Phillip, he’s such a sweetie, he couldn’t look at me for the next few songs. We finally made eye contact again, and we smiled at each other. He made some more funny faces at me throughout the rest of the show, so it was cool.

Shout Out To Phillip! “310-555-6969!”

I’m not much of a sign person myself, but Deb had this really great idea to write a Thank You sign for the band, and I thought “Oh that’s a perfect thing to do!” It took us awhile to decide upon the right message to Melissa and Phillip and Kenny and Mark, and we finally came up with a sign reading “Thanks for the first 12! Next stop . . . Dallas! – Camille + Deb”.

About halfway through the show, Deb held the sign up. Melissa came over and read it and gave us huge thumbs up and said “Thank You!” and we said “Thank YOU!”

Then (this is something I still can’t believe happened), Melissa came even closer, bends over a bit, looks straight into my eyes, and asks “Can I talk you in to coming to New York?”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A micro-nano-milli-second later I blurt YES! She looks at me and confirmed “Yes?” I said “YES!” and Deb said “Yes!” too and we were nodding our heads like crazy and giving her the thumbs up.

Wait – this was just totally one of the coolest things that has happened to me ever in my life, can I share that bit with you again?

About halfway through the show, Deb held the sign up. Melissa came over and read it and gave us huge thumbs up and said “Thank You!” and we said “Thank YOU!”

Then (this is something I still can’t believe happened), Melissa came even closer, bends over a bit, looks straight into my eyes, and asks “Can I talk you in to coming to New York?”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MLE walked away, and I looked at Deb and said “I guess we’re going to New York then?!?” She and I look at each other in stupid-happy disbelief. In fact, I had to double check with Deb: “Wait – did she just ask us if she could talk us in to coming to New York?!?” Deb confirmed it, so did our other concert friend, and so did Kim. I said to Deb “I am so frickin’ HAPPY right now I can’t even deal with it!” I was brought back to earth a bit when Deb said “I’ll have to double-check my schedule.” Oh right, that whole “we do actually have other lives which include day jobs and families and pets and what-nots and we have to work all of the details out” thing. I said I don’t care, I’m single, I’m going, wild horses couldn’t keep me away, not even a Spring Sale at Target.

As if I have a choice in the matter. You try to say No to those soft, gentle, caring, nurturing, deep abyss brown eyes of Melissa’s that encapsulate you and draw you in to her seemingly un-endless soul. It’s like getting sucked into a black hole. There are no defensive options – “uh oh! – pull is too strong! – shields up! - red alert! – warp factor ten Scotty! - too bad! - in you go!”

And do you know what? Even if she wasn’t looking into my eyes, let’s say she was talking to me but looking at the ceiling or the floor or the wall or Trace or whatever, I hold this particular individual in such high regard she could stare off into space and finish the question "Can I talk you in to . . . " with just about anything and I would say YES. Just don’t anyone here tell Melissa I said that or she may try and talk me into carrying her luggage or polishing her guitars or washing her car or some other mundane task I’d actually rather not do. The answers would be YES, YES, and YES, by the way.

Our friend Kim made a sign that night too. Her sign read something about it being her 40th show, and she didn’t have a pick yet, so would Melissa please have Mercy on her and give her a pick. At the tail end of Mercy, we helped Kim hold it up so Melissa could read it. Melissa did read it, and she liked the sign, and she handed Kim her pick.

You shoulda seen the look on Kim’s face. Her face and smile were exploding with joy and her eyes were full moons. We immediately gave Kim high fives and pats on the back. She was sooooooooooooo happy. She was shaking. She was fumbling around with the pick and shaking and taking stuff out of her pocket and looking for the envelope the ticket came in and shaking some more and found the envelope the ticket came in and she fumbled with the pick and despite still shaking managed to gingerly place the pick in the envelope the ticket came in. I noticed Melissa looking back at Kim and witnessing it too. I knew, and I knew Melissa knew too . . . the pick had found its home.

Shout Out to Kim: “Way to go, Kim!”"

During the solo part, Melissa was looking around for a Soldier Man she had been talking to earlier, and I think she did find him, and I’m not sure what happened, but she didn’t end up playing a song requested by him. She wandered over closer and closer to us, and Kim wanted to request I Will Never Be The Same, so all four of us shouted out “I Will Never Be The Same!” Melissa said “Ooooh, that’s a good one.” Then she looked at me and Deb and said “I was going to do your other favorite one, but OK.”

I didn’t even remember a few shows ago requesting Deb’s favorite song You Can Sleep While I Drive, and Melissa telling Deb and me she would play it at a later show. As to how in the world she can remember which fans request which songs, I’ll never know.

Anyway, she played I Will Never Be The Same, and I thought, how cool, we get to enjoy the Shouting Out A Request and Melissa Playing It experience again. Kim was still shaking.

We also got to experience again Tigger-ing along with Melissa during Come On Out Tonight. I’m not sure who enjoys that more – her or us. She might actually enjoy it a touch more than we do because I usually end up banging my knee against the stage really hard and my knee is twice its normal size and black and blue and totally hurts- ow.

During the I’m The Only One Phillip solo, Mark and Melissa started messing around with each other again. They went to sit down on the drum stage, but then didn’t sit down and stood up again. Then they went to sit down again, but didn’t sit down and stood up again. Then they finally sat down. Phillip, as usual, was going to town during his solo. He was moving around so much so that Melissa had to get up from the drum stage and move out of the way before Phillip landed on her lap.

During Like The Way I Do, I was doing silly dance gestures with my arms and hands. I was doing this crab-claw sort of thingy, and much to my amusement, Phillip started doing it too. That was really cool.

We wanted to make sure the gang (Melissa, Phillip, Kenny and Mark) knew we were serious about going to New York, so I took the sign, modified it to read “Thanks for the first 12! Next stop – NEW YORK! - Camille + Deb” and held it up for them all to read. Melissa read it, and she gave us two thumbs up, and we gave her thumbs up right back at her, and she gave us more thumbs up, and we gave her more thumbs up right back at her.

Then she did something that really touched me.

She held up three fingers, then used her other hand to fix it so she was holding up two fingers, then she fixed it so she was only holding up her One pointer finger. It was a reference to the last Anaheim show where she “fixed” my Mickey Hand during I’m The Only One so it was only holding up the One pointer finger. (