Bammies from the hospitality suite

Posted by Chiquita

OK, let's see now...As I say I didn't get to see all that much of the show, so this is more of a report of the goings on in the hospitality area where I was stationed most of the night.

First off, the ticket they gave me for my best friend to use was a GREAT seat, I had scoped it out the night before at the prep meeting, and since it was free I was afraid it would be way the hell in back, but it was front row balcony, absolutely dead center, so I was really happy that my best friend got such a good seat. In fact, it was so good they decided they had to set a video camera on it instead and told her they'd have to move her. We were both VERY annoyed, but they ended up seating her at a table on the floor instead, so we didn't complain after that!!

Before intermission it was fairly slow in the hospitality area, but I saw Kenney a few times, and said hi and got a big sweet hug and we talked a little bit. He got interviewed by a couple of groups, one of them was a channel in San Jose by a big tex-mex looking guy with really cool hair but I don't remember the name of that program. And I couldn't really hear what they were saying during the interview, but I saw it happening. Kenney was wearing a groovy turquoise jacket and black jeans at that point.

Just before intermission they moved me from the slow end of the room to the "media room" which is the very restricted area in the HS where the press takes pictures of everyone, and intermission of course is when it gets SWAMPED right there, and I had to be very strict and vigilant (HAHAHAHAHA!!! Some of you know why that's funny!) and check passes for people trying to walk through there, which seemed to be everyone. My friend and I had been supposed to meet again in the HS during intermission but since I had moved and she couldn't get in w/out talking to the right person, we missed each other.

But after intermission I saw Kenney again (he had changed from the red suit back into the turquoise javket ensemble) and he said she had found him and said hi, and that she had been looking for me. She and I never did meet up again till after the show was mostly over, cause every time I came out to the audience to look for her it turned out I was remembering her table # wrong so I didn't see her. I knew the band was going to play imediately following the intermission, so I was able to run out for a break then and see them play SOTD, and I loved it!! That's my definite favorite from the new album so I was very glad they played that. And as luck would have it, AFTER they played that, which was their only actual performance, I ran into my 2 other friends who had a table about 3 tables back from the stage, dead center. Damn!! I couldn't have found them in time to get up close for SOTD, now could I?? But they gave me a glass of champagne which was sweet, and I was glad I got to say hi to them. I kept running back there at key points during the show after that : )

Blue Darlin and Faye and Libra and NS, I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to meet y'all at any time! Dinner will be fun though..

OK, then what...Chris was fairly cozy w/the cute blonde lady host and put his jacket on her, and after the Third Eye Blind dude gave his speech, Chris asked the lady "Now WHAT do you say if someone tells you such and such" and she said "you use the F-word!". LOL!!!

Finally it was time for the Outstanding Male Vocalist award, and I was so glad he won it!!! (This may have been before he put his jacket on the lady, not necessarily in chronological order here) and I howled and whooped for him. : )!!!!! Unfortunately, I don't remember his acceptance speech, but I may have gotten it in either the radio tape or the video tape that a friend was making for me. I haven't watched or listened yet. Was it included in the webcast or was that all behind the scenes stuff? And were the 2 webcasts different from each other, anyone know?

Anyway, after intermission, Chris was in the HS on and off all night and on and offstage all night too, so I was jogging back and forth, when he left the HS I'd go to the auditorium to see him onstage, when he left the stage I'd run back into the HS to see him again, so I got an eyeful of him in his mirrored suit : ). He got interviewed by EVERYBODY!!!! I mean EVERYBODY...I couldn't hear alot of what he was saying, but in the KGO interview he was talking alot about cleavage and peekaboo slits, and I heard him mention Bob Wills several times in different interviews, so maybe he was talking to all the interviewers about the upcoming Hall Of Fame thing. And at one point towards the end, he was getting interviewed again and they asked him something about the Bammie and he held it up and said "I like to carry a phallic symbol with me everywhere I go!" I was ROTFLMAO at that point, needless to say, and my friend had been allowed into the HS by then as well, so she and I were following the crowd up and down trying to hear all the interviews with him. He was getting mobbed for autographs and pictures, and he was very sweet and patient, and Doug had a tough job of keeping him on schedule to get back onstage ontime and all, but at one point he saw me and smiled and then made the funniest goofy face and a really sweet cryptic comment, and later I was able to get his autograph one more time and my best friend also got the chance to say hi and shake his hand and she had never met him before and was impressed with how sincere and appreciative and nice he was.

Here was someting that I'm bummed about though. At some point my laminate pass had broken off of it's clip, and that was what I had hoped to have Chris sign IF I got the opportunity, but since it was gone, I had to just have him sign the Bammies program schedule instead. That wasn't as cool, so I was a bit dissapointed but the autograph he wrote was very sweet, so I won't complain!!!

I saw Doc Renneker in the HS and Chris called out to him and came over and talked with him for awhile too, and Doc was walking with an asian lady who I'm not sure who she was. She was wearing a pretty gown that was fitted and black down to the waist, strapless I think, and had a floor length, full pleated lavender kinda maybe sharkskin skirt. She was fairly pretty, and it was not the bellydancer or Bai Ling, and I don't know if she was more friends with Doc or whatever. I don't mean to imply ANYTHING here at all, I'm just reporting so please no one freak out about this part, OK??? And Doc was wearing a big dark colored sweater, for anyone who cares ; ).

I had just bought a glass of wine, and we were watching him get interviewed when a girl swung around and sent it flying full force, and it splashed all over everything. I had only taken one tiny sip so far and I was really looking forward to the rest of it, and I was also annoyed about losing the $5 I had just spent on it, but oh well!

That was almost the end, and we saw Chris head back for the stage so we went to see if he was playing in the jam session, and he was, and so was Kenney, so we went up close to the front and watched, but the jam only lasted 2 songs.So after that we went to check out the after party which was fairly dull except for the music (i.e. no band members there or anyone we wanted to look at!) so we were on our way out when we ran into Lani and Hannah and a woman I'd never met before.

Fashion report: Lani was in all black, cute and tight and strapless above the knee, and Hannah was wearing a pretty strapless pink sort of Cinderella-style silk full ballgown. Very pretty! My friend was wearing a back evening suit w/tall strappy black sandals and black flowered lace stockings and I was wearing a teeny red burnout velvet dress w/rhinestone spaghetti straps and red patent leather highish-heeled sandals. Another thing I was bummed about was the fact that I had lost my cute little rhinestone clip out of my hair that night. But oh well.

That's about it, but for the record, Bam has absolutely nothing to do with setting the prices of the drinks and snacks, that's a function of the venue I think, or maybe the suppliers of the edibles, and Bam is also not the main coordinator of the event, most of that is done by the Bammies Office which is a separate entity, which would explain why the receptionist at Bam Magazne might not know who all is on the bill. That's about it, thank God!!!

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