"Big and Bad
as We Can Be"
(pic link on
de bottom!)
That was the plan.
I hit the road at 1pm on Friday October 1. S’posed to take 3 hours to get to Foxwoods in CT, but hey 5 ½ hours later (I heartily smite thee, Mapquest!), I pull into our hotel room. I have to meet Mary and Rose at 6pm, but hey, 6:45 is close enough, right?
After parking, and shrieking to myself for the MILLIONTH time that yes, I SAW the stupid stop sign – hasn’t anyone in CT heard of a Jersey stop? – I make it to the casino.
This is indeed a strange place, I say to myself. If Disney did a casino, it would be Foxwoods. Everything was very touchyfeelyhappy, and just had this weird aura about it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but hey, if BBVD is there, it’s okay with me!
So, it’s 7pm, and I pick up my tickets. Just waiting around, and who do I see just waiting around, but Glen? He spots me, calls me by name (!) and gives me this HUGE hug (don’t let him fool you – he’s a strong guy!). He was looking for his nephew, and I was looking for Mary and Rose, so we chilled together for awhile.
We talked about all kinds of stuff – Baby Girl Shumaker made her appearance on September 28th, and mother, baby and Big Daddy Dirk are all doing fine.
He thanked me for sending that Conan tape to them, and said they even brought it with them to watch on the bus. We were on the lookout for our various cohorts, and he described him as “taller than me”. I pointed out – very gently – that myself excluded, most people were taller than he. We then proceeded to have a very animated shoe discussion, with him swearing that in his boots, he would tower over me. Being 5’3 myself, I don’t doubt it.
While we’re talking, the merchandise guy comes over to us, and asks Glen to cover the table while he leaves for a minute. Normally, that’s Dirk’s domain, but Glen was covering for him this trip. Awwww.
So we head over to the table, and I park myself in one of the chairs. He hands me a couple of stickers and a kickass BBVD patch. What a sweetie.
So we’re selling BBVD swag, and I’m having a great time answering questions and stuff. It was so funny – everyone was really excited to be there, but NO ONE recognized him without his suit and trumpet – what a hoot.
By then, his nephew showed up, so he went off to visit, but promised to see me after the show. Yay. I got on line, and waited for Mary and Rose, but by 8pm, when the doors opened, they still hadn’t showed. Eeesh.
So I go inside and score us some kickin’ seats at a table right smack up against the stage. Yeeeeeeah. The people already sitting there were a wee sketchy, so I went back outside to wait for them.
By then it was around 8:45 – 15 minutes to show time! And Mary and Rose still were nowhere to be found. I ran into Smirkers (in a KILLER red dress), and her friends, and finally left their tickets at the box office and went back to the strange people, geared up for a night of Voodoo.
The lights dim, and their prelude music starts up (gotta learn the name of that tune!), when I look back and see Mary heading down the stairs, guided by an usher, with Rose close behind. Yay!!!
Up goes the curtain…
And out come the guys.
In a word, WOW. DAMN. WOW. WOW.
What. A. Show. The new material is IN-CRE-DI-BLE. I’ve been singing it all weekend long – the new cd is going to be bigger and badder than anything they’ve ever done.
The setlist (in no particular order and as best as I can remember it):
Big and Bad
Mr. Pinstripe Suit
Jumpin’ Jack
Some Things
Who’s that Creeping
Big Time Operator
What’s Next
You and Me…
Mambo Swing
Jump with my Baby
Minnie the Moocher
King of Swing
I Wan’na Be Just Like You
So Long, Farewell, Goodbye
I’m sure I’ve missed a song or 2, but darnit, I can’t get Big and Bad out of my head! Oh, what’s a girl to do…
As usual, Jump with my Baby was the loooooong, extended piece that culminated with a parade o’ Voodoo through the audience – awesome. Each guy took a long solo at some point during the show, with Josh and Kurt FINALLY getting some more stage time. Perhaps the ONLY thing I would have changed, was to bring back "Boogie Bumper" - that's such a good intro piece.
Dirk wasn’t there, but his sub, Ron, was grrrreat. He was a little nervous, but did a wonderful job. Scotty even pointed out that the stage was a bit unbalanced – Ron is the same size as Glen! He did a funky little Dirk impression –
“He’s going to kill me when he finds out I’m doing that, but I’m going to keep doing it until he comes back!”
He’ll be back on 10/19 – think Scotty’s days are numbered?
There are even two *new* Voodoo Daddies - Mike on trombone and Ron (yes, another Ron), 'nother trumpet. Two HUGELY talented and very, very cool guys. And, in the grand tradition of BBVD, they're also very, very nice.
It’s amazing how far they’ve come since the last tour…not that they weren’t great the last time I saw them, but it’s hard to explain. Now, they’re established and EVERYONE knows how cool they are – they’ve arrived.
But, they’re still the sweetest guys on the planet. The meet n’ greet is still a major staple, and they’re genuinely happy to be out with the fans. They take the time to learn people’s names, shake hands, take pictures, and have conversations with anyone that wants to. They don’t leave until they’ve spoken to every last person. As Scotty says “If you don’t leave a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy show happy, then we haven’t done our jobs!”
And speaking of the meet and greet…
- Got another big hug from Glen
- “Hey!
I know you!” – from Kurt. He showed me new pics of his son,
who was a year old on 9/30 (“It’s a boy, in case
you couldn’t tell” – says Kurt, brandishing the standard nekkid
baby pic).
“We had a big
party for him the other day too. He cried the whole time” – Glen
“That’s ‘cause
he has taste” – Kurt
While this is going on, Josh is giving Glen bunny ears while taking a pic and Glen grabs Kurt’s butt while he signs an autograph.
“Hey hot stuff! Sweetie pie! Sweetie PAH!”
Snarf.
- Kurt and I discussed Thanksgiving dinner. They’re going to be in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade here in NYC (with a BIG float and 90 seconds of airtime – Yay!), and I invited them all for dinner at my house. He said he’d come if I made him a tofu turkey and then launched into a description of a veggie turkey he made last year, complete with ketchup blood, which he then proceeded to hack up into bits.
“Oh, so you’re
one of those INSANE veg-heads!” – says I.
“Yup” – he says
proudly.
Uh huh.
- Andy, Smirk and I discussing
the next day’s show:
“It’s some kind
of fair or something. Go nuts! Crowd surf, mosh, whatever!
Start a riot!” – Andy
Moving on…
- Get a hold (literally) of Scotty (this would be the time to point out that we got Big Bad hugs from all of them when they saw us. Awwww). Before he could say anything, I made him show me his socks.
Um, what?
In Roseland, the man was wearing a royal blue suit, black shoes and GREEN SOCKS. Hello?
So, I had to ask. He obliges and pulls up his pant leg to reveal some very snappy black dress socks. Okay, but that still doesn’t explain…
“Oh, I know! Those are my Docker socks! My shoes that night were a little too big, so I had to wear thicker socks. They’re black – they just LOOK green in the light! I don’t even own green socks! I mean ::models suit:: come on! Look at this!”
(photo review reveals a pair of VERY green socks. Sure Scotty. The light.)
But hey, he looked slick as hell, so who cares?
I gave him a kiss
on
the cheek for matching his socks for the night.
But hey, I have to take it as good as I give it – he countered back with a complaint – Karl won’t let him see the Conan tape ‘cause I gave him custody of it (I did, too)! So now it’s up to me to see that Scotty sees this tape on the bus.
::salutes::
Yessir, Sgrt. Scotty Sir.
- FINALLY find Karl, who immediately pulls out a STACK of baby pics – what an angel. Already has his Daddy’s big brown eyes. I also made him promise to show Scotty the tape – I can’t take all this pressure!!
After that bit of business, we talked for a loooong time – he’s such a cool guy!
A tidbit:
- Tonight
Show appearance 10/22/99 – the same week the album comes out.
This is a HUGE deal – not only is it a Friday show (which is a BIG
honor alone), but it’s the last show before a week’s vacation. Jay
loves them and offered them the slot as soon as the release date was set.
Yeah babeee!
By now, it’s around 12:45 and Karl was tired (I think he just wanted to go watch Conan!), and we were hungry, so we parted ways until we were to meet again.
So we went to hunt for food in this strange, strange place called Foxwoods. No easy task – I’ve never been to a casino that HAD A LAST CALL!! Aaaaii…
We found food, ate, and made a quick decision to leave this place. It was just SURREAL.
Back to the hotel…
Sleepsleepsleepsleepsleepsleepsleepsleepsleep…
Time for Springfield!
After a nourishing breakfast at IHOP, (this crazy state has never heard of egg and cheese on a hard roll), and getting gas (and dammit, I was such a damsel in distress too – you mean I have to get OUT of the car and do it myself?), we set off for MA!
Took for-bloody-ever. Yet another quirky New England characteristic – they like to give you really good directions, but neglect to inform you just HOW LONG IT’S GOING TO TAKE.
Eeesh…An hour and a half later, we’re there.
3 bucks to park (heh heh…it’s *45* every time I do it in NYC), and we walk past the Cop-In-A-Box and into the Big E.
And what a big…um…something it was.
Well, it WAS big.
It was interesting…very, very interesting. We got there around 3pm, and it was hopping – food and arts n’crap and animals as faaaar as the eye could see.
We stuck out pretty badly, with our cel phones and all. And so did Scotty, as we spotted him from a mile away. He was the only man who (a) wasn’t wearing a t-shirt with some sort of *witty* saying on it, and (b) who ELSE would wear a fedora in broad daylight in Springfield??
(this’ll be important later on)
We walk around for awhile and stumble upon Karl practicing in the back of a truck. Verrry cool. I was going to throw some change at him, but I needed it for tolls.
So we walk some more and get directions back to NJ – it’s going to take about 3 or 4 hours. Oh well…
We go and see all the animals. Mary wanted to buy a cow (moo), but we talked her out it. We petted all ‘em too – lambs and goats and cows and pigs…the very STRANGEST and sickly humorous part was all the recipe cards and meat posters hanging over the pens. Lawdy, lawdy…
(they had signs for <--milk cows and -->beef cows. Heehee.)
I took a picture of the Mr. Sausage stand with the little top-hatted and spectator-ed sausage on the sign. And got a shot of Mary, holding a cup of coffee, standing in front of a hot tub, thinking vewwy naughty thoughts.
By now, it’s getting late, around 5pm, and people are already beginning to get seats – it was first-come, first-served bench seating. So, we go and sit. Right down in front. Good move on our part, as it filled up FAST. We even witnessed a fight for front row seats (we didn’t do it, we SWEAR!)
Rose went back to the car to get her jacket (it was FREEZING up there), and I went to get something to drink while Mary held our spots. I’m walking along and run into Scotty, who greets me warmly.
Funniest thing – He’s dressed all in tan - sweater, t-shirt, SHORTS (crazy Californian!), and matching sneakers and fedora (his socks were dark brown), and his silver frame glasses (oh lordy, I’m done for…glasses?!?). We’re talking and he starts looking around, like he was being hunted. Suddenly, he leans close to me, and reaches down into his shirt and nearly tears it off! Anyway, after making sure no one was looking, he pulls out his…
“Have you seen
this?”
…backstage pass! (you people have sick
minds).
He looks around again, gets even closer, and shows it to me – the pass is the new cd cover and is wonderful – the art is amazing!
But wow, he’s acting weird. Not that I *mind* having him thisclose to me, but what’s going on?
Turns out, he’s been MOBBED all day long. The poor man can’t even wander the grounds in peace! Oy, such is the curse of being Scotty Morris!
It’s nearly 5:30, time for soundcheck. He invites us to stay for it, so I go back to Mary and share this with her. VERY big smiles.
The boys begin to wander out on stage to get ready – Josh is practicing with headphones and Karl and Andy and Kurt are being silly. We get a wave and a smile from Karl and the 16 year olds next to us nearly wet their pants. Glen comes out and gives us a big hello too.
Scotty wanders out, and we witness, first hand, what he was talking about. The audience was PACKED with young girls, all screeeeeaming his name.
“SCOTTY!!! OMIGOD! SCOTTYYYYYYYY, I LOVE YOU!!!”
Being the sweetie that he is, he braves the crowd and descends the stairs and signs stacks of autographs and snaps tons of pictures. He even comes out from behind the gate (and nearly gets torn apart), and meets all the little kids.
Soundcheck was on the main stage and a whole bunch of people were already sitting there, so it was like a bonus concert. They were only going to do one song (“Big Time Operator”), but did “I Wan’na Be”, as an extra. I got some great pics too.
“Don’t tell anyone we did soundcheck in shorts!” – Scotty
Well, *shame* on me!
It’s now 6pm and Rose FINALLY comes back (she got lost!), and we’re talking to the girls next to us. Yes, Scotty’s hot. Yes, Scotty’s cool. Yes, we know the band. Yes, Scotty’s hot. Yes, you love him. Eeesh…
The show starts and it simply ROCKS. It was high energy, swinging, badass, big, bad and incredible. The crowd was much better than the night before and the boys just fed off of it. It was the same set list, and true to his word, Scotty did his little Dirk-dance again. Once again, good pics were taken.
We weren’t supposed to stand up and dance, but by ½ way through the show, the crowd was on its collective feet and jumping around. It was great.
The show ends around 9:45 and they announce the meet n’ greet will take place in a few. One by one the guys come out to cheers and when Scotty comes out, the place goes NUTS.
It was pure insanity – some girls were crying!
So we hang back a bit – we weren’t in any hurry. Weren’t going to get home until reeeally late anyway, so it didn’t matter what time we left.
The crowd was pretty much following the guys down the line, with a big chunk focused around You Know Who. Some woman got up close to Glen, points at him, lowers her hands and yells,
“Look! He’s so *cute*!”
We almost died laughing. Poor Glen!
We work our way to one end, and find Andy and talked with him for awhile, and laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He began hopping around on the grass:
“Hey, Scotty stepped on the grass! I want some!”
I hand him my water bottle:
“Quick, touch
it! Wow, Scotty touched my water bottle!” – me
“Sell it on
eBay, fast!” – Andy
Okay, so we were bad, but it was TOO
funny.
And while we’re being naughty, a girl comes running up to Andy:
“OMIGOD! Can
I have your hat??” – girl
“Um, do you
have $500?” – Andy
“No” – girl
(very confused)
“Then sorry,
no. This is the only black hat I brought with me” – Andy
He gave her a hug and let her try it on, but it was strange. And after that:
“OMIGOD, I LOVE
YOU” – ANOTHER girl
“Well, thanks”
– Andy
“Do you have
ANYTHING you can give me!?!?”
“Um, a hug?”
– Andy
So he does, and she shows him her sunglasses Scotty signed for her, and started crying, she was so excited. He very politely offered to sign them as well, and she freaks out as he does so. Wow.
(Now, I know at MY first Voodoo show, I was excited, but I DID NOT cry. I got a hug from Scotty and I lived!)
The crowd is beginning to die down, and we’re now talking to Glen, who’s hooked us up with some backstage passes. Yeah babee! His niece is tearing around while he’s being The Kid and keeps knocking him over. She was very cute.
We go and find Karl, who shows MORE baby pics and is still meet n' greet-ing away...
“Do you have
ANY article of clothing you can give me?!?” – yet another girl to Karl
“Uh, not really.
I can sign that poster for you though” – Karl
“OMIGOD” - girl
(That seemed to be the word of the night)
I kidded him for becoming Rock Star Karl. He just rolled his eyes and smiled. He also offered to escort us backstage, as we didn’t have the actually passes on us, we were just on the list:
“Hey, is it okay
if I take some friends backstage?” – Karl to security
“As long as
they’re with you, it’s fine. It’s your show, do whatever you want!”
– security
(Hey Philly, you listening?!?)
So we go back with Karl (and yes, it was fun to see all the girls “Look, THEY’RE GOING BACKSTAGE! SCOTTY’S BACK THERE!! OMIGOD!!).
THIS is where all the very best stuff happened.
But I’m tired, so no more for tonite.
Just kidding.
We go back and hang with Karl for awhile. We even got to meet Glen’s sister, who was so sweet and very happy to be there. His little nieces were still running around, getting all the guys autographs and asking who they were and what they played. The guys were SO cute with them. It was adorable.
(inner girl: awwwwwwww!)
Backstage highlights:
- Scotty marches right over to me and demands to know why Andy’s leaving Late Night. We talked about tv for a long time and he makes me promise to tell Conan that he has the funniest show on television. Yessir, Srgt. Scotty Sir. The verdict: Conan and Jay are cool, Dave is insane, SNL is getting better, but has weak music and Kilby “is an asshole” – Scotty. I wholeheartedly agreed.
- Once again, he was slicked up to the 15’s, all back in the tan threads with the matching fedora and DARK BROWN socks. I just looked at them:
“Hey, they’re brown!” – Scotty.
Eh, better than green.
- Mary went to fix her hair, and her shirt went up a bit, revealing her whale tattoo. Scotty leans in and asks to get another look. We talk about tattoos for awhile (he doesn’t have any – YET)
- Karl and I got into a college-war, a little friendly competition.
- Then we ALL (even Karl!) gave Scotty grief about being the newest Backstreet Boy and all his young fans. That led to meeting a roadie that worked on the BBoy’s cd – turns out HE sang a whole bunch of lead vocals on it.
- Scotty does a mean Triumph impression
“Doesn’t exceed
13 inches?!? Well, *IT* does!”
- The new cd has a surprise on it. And that's all I'm saying. :-p
- Another book like the “Swing This” book, is coming out, with a forward by Scotty. Kewl.
By now, it’s very late – midnite-ish. They have to drive to Cleveland that night, and we have to drive back to NJ…it’s going to be a long night for all of us.
It’s also still freezing (damn Smarch weather!). Mary and Rose are passing Mary’s jacket back and forth, but I’m numb, so before we leave, we get hugs from Karl…
Awww…
And Scotty:
“I’ll give you
a hug to warm you up”.
Wooo…warm now!
We bid our farewells, and make appointments
to see them again soon, and then we all had to go our separate ways. They
get on the bus, and we go back to our cars. It’s a 4 hour drive from
Springfield to NJ. We made it in 2 hours, 45
minutes. Heh heh…
WHAT a weekend.