If you only want to read about the concert from the first day, click here. You may find the section about the sound check interesting, too. Also note that Tuesday was arrival day - TF3 didn't began officially until Wednesday...

First, let me say that CT is a fabulous group of people - the guys are as gracious as they are talented. Imagine what it must be like - people constantly taking pictures, wanting autographs & generally acting like freaks whenever you walk in the room... for 3 days! They were always pleasant & handled everything with a lot of class... It all made me proud to be a fan. :) Although there are no plans in the works for TF4 at this point, you simply must go if/when they have another one!!!

Tuesday, August 24

My flights to Chicago were all smooth – I’m sure people wondered who the chick was who was grinning like an idiot. :) I got into Midway just fine, as did Jennifer & Stephanie from Boston. Chris & Jean (my brother & sister-in-law) were kind enough to pick us up & drive us to Merrillville. It was a pretty gloomy day – but that didn’t matter. Actually, when you live in the Sun Belt, as I do, cloudy days are kinda cool.

After check in, Chris, Jean & I got a drink & had a nice visit. They were understanding that my trip to the Chicago area was about CT – not quality time with family. :) I was grateful that they made the time to play chauffeur to me and my friends and that we were able to spend a little time together at the Radisson.

Speaking of the hotel, it was very nice. Since it was attached to the Star Plaza Theatre, it seemed to be the perfect venue for the event. There was a nice pool area in the middle of the lobby and many of the rooms opened out into the area. I was glad mine didn’t though – made it much quieter! :)

After Chris & Jean took off, I spent the rest of the evening catching up with friends (Jennifer, Stephanie, Robin, Phyll, Kim G.) & meeting people face to face for the first time (Ken & Charli). Kim introduced me to Randy (aka: Flog) who let me sign the banner for CT in honor of the 25^th anniversary.

For the occasion, I’d made buttons with the infamous Homer Simpson quote. The plan was to give one to the guys & give extras to whoever wanted them. Little did I know they’d be such a hit. I was kicking myself for not making more! I could’ve partially paid for the trip if I’d made a hundred & sold them for $2 a pop. I don’t think the people at Fox would mind, do you?

When Sven came in, I gave him a button & he double-checked that Rick would get one – otherwise Sven knew his would get commandeered. :)

I didn’t stay up very late because I knew I needed some sleep before the early morning. First thing was registration & I wanted to be first in case the Rockford show tickets weren’t general admission. :)

Wednesday, August 25

Well, I was first in line for registration. As it turns out, the Rockford tickets were not in the packet. DOH! This would be a running gag for me all Trickfest. See Lisa. See Lisa get up early to get in line. Run, Lisa, run!

The registration pack was cool. I liked the TF3 shirt and there was a CD in there too – "Music for GURMS." Gurm? What’s a gurm?! Looked really interesting though – I was the proud recipient of #100 of 1000.

From what I heard, this was a very international TF. Not only were there attendees from the US, but Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden and the Canary Islands were all represented. Pretty amazing!

Today was Photo Op Day with the band. After breakfast at Denny’s with J, S, R & P, I headed for the theatre to get in line & snag, what I presumed would be my seat for the show that evening. I had been too nervous to eat much. More on that later...

When I got to the auditorium, there were already a few people there. Plus there was also a fairly substantial line at the merchandise shop. It was a real family affair – as was the whole TF. Mindy and Jenny Candas plus Holland & Ian Zander, were all there pitching in.

Pete (videographer for the event, who liked my Homer sign) pointed out to me that the backdrop was from Busted. It was nice getting to know him & Kevin from Chicago while waiting in line. It helped my nerves too - although when I finally got up onstage, my heart was pounding. This was my first time to talk to the guys face-to-face.

After introducing myself, I blurted out that I’d used IYWMY in my one-woman show. Rick was kind enough to ask me how it went, if it was well received, etc. They were all kind enough to not laugh at me and my thinly veiled hyper state.

I stayed the whole day to watch all the proceedings (and hold my seat!). Sometimes during the breaks, the guys would come to the edge of the stage to talk. After the lunch break, Tom did the cutest thing - he hid behind the background flats and peeked out several times. My attempts to get a photo of that failed miserably, though. :( Oh well...

A couple people were dressed up as "pre-beard Rick" & others had presents... The best by far was the couple that had made four "CT Dream Police Millennium dolls." Amazing. They had the dolls in boxes, looking like they'd come off a toy store shelf. Wow! Robin came into the crowd afterwards to mingle for a bit & I snagged a shot with him. :) I apologized to him for asking for what must've been the zillionth photo of the day & he said, "No problem - that's what this is about. I don't mind at all." :)

SOUND CHECK

FASHION REPORT

SET LIST

The set-up was cool – very informal with music stands and stools for the guys. Thanks to the band for letting us all sit in for it.

To my chagrin, we were all booted out of the theatre before the concert. All that hard work to secure a front spot for nothin'… DOH! I got word from the security people (Pancho was the head guy) that there would be a distinct advantage to waiting outside the main theatre entrance, as opposed to using the skywalk as those doors would be opened first. A hand full of other people had figured out the same thing...

Pancho was right. We got in first. Although the best I could do was the second row. At least it was on the aisle so I knew I could get up front once everyone made the move…

ACOUSTIC SHOW

FASHION REPORT

Rick made some presentations on behalf of the band to 3 long-time supporters: Mike Hayes, Kim G. (who gave a very nice little speech) and John Candis. They were given a personalized platinum "Greatest Hits" award... Tom speculated that John’s would be on E-Bay by tomorrow morning. :)

After a 5 minute break......

ELECTRIC SET

RANDOM NOTES (or should I say "rambling notes"?!)

I was having the time of my life. I’d scored a spot in the front row between Robin & Tom - woo hoo! Plus, the guys played one of my requests: "Carnival Game." The only problem arose during "Shelter." It was then that I started feeling sick to my stomach and weak in the knees. I tried to endure the uneasy feeling and hoped I'd feel better eventually, but to no avail.

By the time "Never Had a Lot to Lose" started, I could barely stand up. The problem was that I hadn't really eaten since my few mouthfuls at Denny's that morning & so by now my body was over it. The adrenaline supply finally gave out and....... I FAINTED!!!!!!!! To my horror, Rick & Robin saw me keel over & stopped the other guys. (I guess - that's what people told me afterwards...) Apparently someone yelled, "Oh, let her lie there!" but Rick (god love him!) said: "No, sorry everyone, she comes first. People are more important than music."

Although I was in & out of consciousness, I do remember Sven coming to me with water & a towel & asking if I was OK... Despite my incoherent protests over losing my front spot, Pancho and 2 other security guards finally convinced me to come outside for some fresh air... I kept insisting I was OK – although I was obviously pretty weak. It was hard for me to even walk up the aisle… I was pretty fuzzy & as I walked outside, I got worried that I was getting kicked out!

To make a long story longer, I revived quickly with some ice, water & fresh air. But once I recovered my faculties, I felt AWFUL knowing I’d disrupted the show! And what were people - not to mention the band - thinking about me?

I feel lucky that so many friends came out to check up on me. A nurse in the crowd came out to see if she could help. Robin, Phyll, Jennifer, Stephanie & Kim were all there too. Thanks to all of you for your concern – it meant a lot!

After the show (once I was revived, I got to see most of the 2nd set), I saw Sven & asked him to apologize to the band for me. He assured me that they were only concerned that I was OK... When Rick came out, I took the opportunity to apologize to him personally. (I also wanted to demonstrate to him that I was NOT drunk!) He smiled, shook my hand and said he just was glad that I was alright...

On my way to getting some food, I ran into Sven in the lobby. We improvised some alternate lyrics to "Stop This Game" in honor of my concert faux pas:

What a day! Heck of a way to start TF3!

Peace,

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� Copyright, Lisa Jebsen, 1999