Photo and scan courtesy of Sherri--THANK YOU!
My father passed away on Rick's birthday and my heart was hurting so much that I almost did not go to Branson. My father died 56 years young and it was very unexpected that he died so quickly. A few weeks before he passed, I was able to tell my dad about getting a chance to see Rick in Branson and he was so excited for me. I did know if he would have been alive, he would be telling me to go. So I took that to heart and went to Branson.
Second, before I get further into the story, I want to thank my good friend, Sherri, without whom I would never have been able to attend either show. Sherri, you are one amazingly awesome person for all you did, and I will never forget you or the incredible trip we had (hey, did you order another Coke or was it STRAWS??! LOL!)
Getting on with the story, Sherri and I both live in Ohio and we had been chatting on email for nearly a week about the Branson shows. We ended up saying to one another that we should go--LOL! So after locating some great tickets and finding a place to stay, our plans were in place. OMG! We were actually going to see Rick in Branson!!! Sherri and I drove a good 11-12 hours to get there from Ohio and believe me, it was SO WORTH IT!!!
Not many people knew before hand that I had crocheted Rick's dog Ron for each and every guy in Rick's band, but added unique features to each dog to represent their own attributes. Dave's Kritter had sunglasses and a goatee, Derek's Kritter had long, blonde hair, Ronnie's Kritter had black, curly hair. Rodger's had a top hat. I also made one for Lance with a baseball cap. I crocheted these for the guys because they each do such an incredible job every show and I in some small way wanted to thank them for all that they do.
I also made a Kritter for Rick that had a bouquet of red roses in one paw and a foam guitar in the other. His Kritter also had a foam headphone/microphone thing attached to it and a pair of shorts that I wrote "Happy Birthday, Rick!" on! You can only imagine how fun it was trying to hold them all up for Rick to see! LOL!
Luckily, Rick saw them right after "State of the Heart". He was further away from us, but looked down to me holding them and said, "What the h*** is that?! You have to bring those down here!" So I walked to the end of my row and handed them over to Rick, who was standing in front of me on a chair. HOLY COW! I was standing near Rick! :o)
Rick asked me if the Kritters were his dog, Ron, from Working Class Dog. I told him yes. So he asked everyone in the crowd if someone had a Working Class Dog album to hold it up so everyone could see what the dog looked like. Rick then says, "She crocheted these dogs to look like my Ron." (Okay, at this point I was really freaking out because he knew I crocheted them, and not knitted them! ROFL! I know, the little things sure excite me! LOL!)
So then Rick asks me why I made so many of them. I told him there was one Kritter for him and one for each guy in Rick's band. Rick said, "AWWW" and then he told everyone in the audience what I had said. Rick asked the crowd, "Who has long blonde hair??" and everyone said, "DEREK!" LOL! So then Rick introduced Derek and threw his Kritter up to him. He then did the same thing for each person by introducing them and then throwing a Kritter up on stage, one for Rodger, Dave, and Ronnie. Rick commented on Ronnie's hair by saying, "The great Michael Landon is no longer with us, but his hair sure is!" ROFL!
Then Rick asked me where Matt's Kritter was. Well, as I said before, I made a Kritter for Lance thinking he was going to be the one at the Branson shows. So I told Rick, "I thought it was going to be Lance instead." Rick said to everyone (and Matt) that I thought it was going to be Lance there. I told Rick, "I will make one for Matt. Don't worry, it's on the way." And Rick asked, "Are you coming tomorrow night? Can you bring Matt one tomorrow??" And I, of course, said, "YES!" LOL! Then Rick asked me how I would design one for him, like what I would put on it. I couldn't think of any one thing except, "Well, I would make it with blonde flippy hair!" ROFL! Rick was laughing really hard and he says to the crowd, "She said she would make it with blonde flippy hair!" And at that point, everyone, including myself, was laughing so hard!!! LOL!
Rick then holds up the last Kritter, the one I made for him, and told everyone that one was his. He asked me what the foam thing was and I told him the microphone thingy--LOL--and he laughed. Then he looked at the Kritter's shorts. Well, I had to put the Kritter's tail in the shorts in, shall we say, a provocative way. Rick holds the Kritter up to the crowd and says "I can see it's anatomically correct!" And everyone was laughing! ROFL! He then threw his Kritter up on stage and told me that they were awesome and then said thank you to me. I told him that he was very welcome. HOLY COW! I had a conversation with RICK! Can you believe it??! I waited over 20 years to talk to him and it finally happened! WOO HOO!
I adored the Saturday show. Both shows were great, but to hear Rick sing "Souls", "Fire", "Alien Virus (man does that song ROCK or what??!), and "Superstition" was absolutely amazing. Rick was so "on" that night. That is one show I pray someone taped because he was just incredible!
Rick saw the Matt Kritter during the show and asked me to bring it to him. He was laughing, as I am walking up there, and he asked the crowd if anyone was there for the Friday concert. Of course, there was loud applause from those who were there, and he explained how I had made everyone in the band a Kritter except for Matt. He asked Derek and Ronnie to show everyone theirs. He asked Rodger, but his fell down off the drum stand and Rick said, "I think Rodger's ran away!" And then he asked Dave to show everyone his, but Dave said he took his with him--LOL--and Rick said I also made him one, but I didn't have one for Matt because they keep rotating the bassists on tour. He then said to the crowd that he asked me how I would design Matt's and he said I told him, "With blonde, flippy hair". LOL! I couldn't believe he remembered what I said! WOW! So then he said, "Here ya go, Matt! Here's yours with blonde flippy hair!" and threw it up to Matt. Matt was so cute when he got it, too. He was laughing and then he put it on his microphone stand, where it stayed for nearly the rest of the concert! LOL!
Then I hand Rick the s/d/a/a dogs. He told everyone that they were dogs that had the s/d/a/a faces on them. He looked at them and smiled big, then bundles them up and yells to Ronnie. As he was throwing them up there, he says, "I'll keep those!" and then Ronnie got them! LOL! He thanked me again for the dogs and I again said that he was very welcome. I talked to Rick AGAIN! HOLY COW! LOL!
What a great two nights! OMG! I got such an incredible gift both nights, and I truly felt like my dad was there with me, watching me from Heaven. I am so happy I was able to make that trip! :o)
The best part, in addition to the Rick concerts themselves, was meeting so many wonderful fans. Thanks to all of the great people I met (and if I left you out, I am deeply sorry. It wasn't intentional): Sherry from Tennessee, Cindy and her family, Josie and Janie Hernandez, Jos (though I am sorry I missed her purple boa! LOL!), Kendra, Charlotte, Allycen (hey Ally--Wasn't that cool you saw me in Walmart??! LOL! I told you that place ROCKS! ROFL!), Donner, Renata, Viv, Patti, Rani, the Rodger Carter fan club (AWESOME shirts by the way! You guys ROCK!) and so many more people not on the list/message board. It was so nice to finally meet people face to face, and I found that everyone was exactly as I thought them to be: nice, warm, sweet, and friendly. All of you are wonderful people. I hope you know that. :o)