HOB Anaheim

What’s the name that cheesy duet from the 80s with the dude from Simply Red? "If You Don’t Know Me By Now"?

Well, the sentiment applies here. If you don’t know me by now, then you’ll never, ever, never know that to avoid my babbling you gotta click here for show stuff only or here for the set list or maybe here if you’re an SR-71 fan. Rick was kind enough to pay us a visit before soundcheck, so you can read about that here.

Ahhhhhh... Nothing like starting off with a good ol’ fashioned run on sentence. LOL…

When I got the news about these 2 shows, I knew I had to be there. The HOBs in Hollywood and Anaheim are great places to see the guys and it seems the shows there are always special. The fact that Tim’s schedule for the next 4 months will make it next to impossible for me to get away just sealed the deal.

Pre-Baby J, Tim and I agreed that we’d both need time on our own. As much as we wanted a baby, we knew that some mental breaks would keep us sane and make us better parents. This has basically translated into Lisa going off to see CT and Tim playing as much golf as his schedule will allow. LOL! Works for me!!!

The couple times I've been away, I’m always all nonchalant until I leave… Monday I got all misty when I went in to get Zach, knowing that I wouldn't get that little smile first thing in the morning for a couple days...

Believe it or not, my flight from Midland to LAX only had only one stop - Vegas. I didn’t even have to switch planes! Yea Southwest!

On the second flight, I sat next to a family of 4 (the front seats were set up like a train – with the front row facing the second) and their little boy cracked me up. He was quite the chatty one – as only 4 year olds can be. Before we took off, he decided that he wanted me to sit next to him and tried to convince me to switch spots. Well, I wasn’t into sitting backwards - even for a cute little kid - so I politely declined. After asking me several times he finally gave up and called me "crazy."

I told him he wasn’t the first person to call me that. Nor would he be the last. He looked at me strangely when I asked him if he’d been talking to my husband. ;)

Picking up the rental car was fairly painless, as was the drive up to my friend Katie’s in Santa Monica. Her directions allowed me to avoid I-405 - taking Rt. 1 north following the coast through Venice Beach.

The rest of the night was spent with her and two other high school buddies of mine: Jack and Melissa. It was so great to see them all. Katie was a gracious host – she knew I wanted sushi, so she bought all the supplies and we made our own. It was perfect.

Well, the roll I made wasn’t perfect. Far from it. I don’t think Sushi Man’s gonna be hiring me any time soon. LOL!

Before heading out to the venue the next day, I stopped by Melissa’s place so I could meet her little boy, Sam.

What a doll! The last time I saw Melissa, she and I were both pregnant. It was so good to spend a little time with her family in their beautiful home. Hopefully some day we’ll get our boys together. :)

The drive to Anaheim wasn’t too bad. Traffic had lightened up, thank god. After living in small-ish towns these last few years, I don’t have a lot of patience for that crap. When at home, if it takes longer than 15 minutes to get somewhere, I don’t wanna have anything to do with it. LOL…

Surprisingly, the weather wasn’t the best: gloomy with spots of rain. I kinda liked it (Midland has 300 sunny days a year, so sometimes this Midwestern girl enjoys a rainy day!) but I felt bad for the out of town fans who’d been looking forward to some California sun.

By the time I arrived at the HOB, there were other fans already in line: Shoandra and her family as well as Celina (she and her husband Ken made those fabulous DP 2000 dolls at TF3). Because the HOB Anaheim is in Downtown Disney, there were tons of shops and restaurants. We all took turns the rest of the day holding our spots in line while the others in our group checked stuff out.

In the ESPN store, I found an excellent gift for Tim and Zach: a little grey shorts outfit that says, "I watch Sports Center with my Daddy." Perfect!

How cool is the staff at HOB? More than one of them came out to check on us and make sure we knew about the "pass the line deal." That is, buy and over priced entrée and you get in 15 minutes early. ;) Of course we all knew the score, but it was very sweet of them to make sure.

One of the servers was good enough to find out who the opener would be. SR-71. Nevah hoid of ‘em. I’m so out of it. LOL… She also found out what time the doors would open, when the bands would go on, etc. Obviously she’d dealt with fans like us before! She told us about the line for Duran Duran and Billy Idol. Those folks queued up the night before!!!!!!!! We all made a pact to not start that $hit. LOL...

Others showed up not too long afterwards – good to see them all and meet some for the first time. Janice, Zandergal, Daria, Dawn, Victoria, Pat, Elliot from Scotland, Phil, Tony, Craig and Laura… and of course, Kim G. I felt bad for his group – they’d spent some time at Disneyland that morning and there were a ton of rides closed for seasonal maintenance. DOH!!!!!! What a rip off! Of course there was no warning at the gate. :P

Anyway, I had a tasty early dinner with Kim, Lars and Rosie from Sweden, Dawn, Elliot, Pat and Victoria. Gotta love paying $16 for catfish and $5 for a bottle of beer. Doh! If you're ever there check out the ceiling above the main dining area: there are white on white reliefs of famous blues artists built into it. Kewl! HOB décor is just cool in general. They're all different. Gotta love a place that uses crushed pop cans to line a doorway!

Back in the line, you could see folks approaching. Sayuri and her friend got in from Northern California, too. Nice to talk to them for a bit. I’d met Sayuri in Vegas, but didn’t really get to talk much then. Danny S. and Mindy were there not too long after that. Later on, I discovered that I’d violated the Disney Code of Conduct by yelling, "Danny Fucking Saint!" LOL

Too bad, so sad. I wonder if there’s anything in "The Code" about screwing over tourists by closing down half the rides in your lame ass theme park?

Sorry. I’m a roller coaster girl. Places like Disneyland don’t do it for me. ;)

The wait was made that much better by a visit from Rick! Before sound check he came outside to say "hi." Of course he made the mistake of asking me about Zach, so I subjected him to a baby picture. Lars pointed out that I was just treating him like everyone else. LOL!

He confirmed what we’d heard: different sets both nights, plus new songs. Woo hoo!!!! He also confirmed that both shows were being recorded for Westwood One.

I had to laugh at us all. I can’t tell you how many lulls there were in the conversation. It was like our group got tongue tied at the same time.

The same server who’d hunted down info for us opened the door during sound check so we could hear. I remember hearing bits of "I-95" and wondering what it was...

Parking at Downtown Disney could be expensive, but it was pretty simple to get around it by leaving before my free time was up, driving out and reentering. Woo hoo! Stickin’ it to the man! Er… mouse?! Just before the show, I re-parked in section 3D because it seemed apropos. ;)

The doors opened about a half hour late. Doh! Fortunately the security guys were nice and everything was organized enough that there wasn’t that awful, frantic run to the stage. LOL…

Although the curtain was down, Kim G knew the set up and steered me towards a better spot. Thank you, sir! I owe you one.

Now usually I really dig the curtain at the HOBs. All of them are crazy quilt of velvet, silk and brocades. This one was somewhat marred by a disgusting barf stain.

I got to catch up with Miss Flis before the show. Always good to see my California buddy. She’d been good enough to purchase my tickets (and avoid the ticketbastard charges) so I bought her a drink. Just like the last couple shows I've gone to, someone mistook me for her. We must be long lost sisters. We certainly gab to each other like we are. ;)

SR-71 took the stage right around 8 and played a solid, if soggy set. My god, that singer spat more than some Shakespearean actors I’ve seen! Seriously! I had to put a napkin over my drink! LOL

When someone in the crowd asked what SR stood for, Ken helped him out. "The ‘s’ is for ‘spit’ and the ‘r’ is for ‘regurgitate.’" By then I was doubled over because I was laughing so hard.

The lead singer dude seemed peeved that we didn’t know their hit from "Dude Where’s My Car." At first I felt bad because I hadn’t seen the movie but then I snapped out of it. WTF? Why should I feel bad about not seeing that piece crap flick?!

Oh well. I thought they were OK although I know they pissed off some folks in the crowd. I think their initials are Flis. LOL… I was amused by some of his banter, so there ya go. Plus the drummer was cute. <g>

Once their set was over, Tony gave me a couple BEC stickers he’d made and we slapped a few of them on the stage and on my Homer sign.

BTW – the next time you see me, I’ll have a new sign. This one’s lookin’ pretty ratty. LOL…

The only bummer about this trip came just before the show. There was a parting of the crowd, of sorts. At first I thought it was security or some photographer. Instead it was Jeri Ryan and her entourage who were brought up front and we were expected to step aside for them.

Anyone who’s done time in a line for any band will know how well this went over. :P

There’ve been posts about it elsewhere, so I won’t take up valuable cyberspace nor waste my precious time and energy to beat a dead horse. Just let it suffice to say that I stood next to her and no, I won't be joining the Jeri Ryan Fan Club any time soon.

In one of the most surreal experiences of my CT trips, Carla came out to ask Jeri if she had eyeliner Robin could borrow. LMAO! When she couldn't produce, I was happy to oblige. Carla disappeared and brought it back shortly before curtain. Keep your eye out on eBay, kids! "Buy it now" for $50. ;)

Ya know, back in '82 when I watched MTV religiously, hoping to catch a glimpse of Robin in the IYWML video, I never dreamed that some day I'd loan the man eye makeup. LMAO!

I-95	New one! A group of us had speculated what the first song would be. We were all wrong! The only other time I’ve heard about this one was from the secret Double Door show last summer. It’s a short little jam with Robin singing "Yeah, yeah" over and over. "Hello There Part 2," if you will.
Hello There
Big Eyes	This is always fun live – the first 3 songs were a great way to kick off the set and get it in high gear.
IYWML	Rick introed this one saying it had been on 3 albums, "So sing along."
He's a Whore	I’m glad this has become a set list staple. It never fails to get me going.
IWYTWM
California Man
My Obsession	Another new one, woo hoo!
Scent of a Woman	This was played live for the first time at the Anaheim HOB last summer. I loved hearing it here again. This and "Give It Away" are the best of the new crop, IMHO.
Lookout	YEAH BABY! I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
High Roller
Special One	The fourth new song of the evening! Rick sat on a stool for this one. Not sure why…
Tonight It's You	Despite a guitar glitch at the beginning, this was amazing. I love the intro they use for this now. They had to vamp for a bit to make sure everyone was together. I love moments like that though - it's so cool to see them working as a team.
Take Me to the Top	Wow! Cool surprise! Hadn’t heard it (except for soundchecks here and there) since the 25^th Anniversary concert. But is BEC a sadist? I’ve heard RZ comment that TIY is a toughie – but this one’s gotta be a close second…Although he strained a bit at the beginning, once he got into it, Robin sounded great.
ATAS
Surrender
Voices	Call me a boob, but I cried during this one. I love this ballad so much and I love it even more when RN and RZ do the intro that’s on the DP album.
Dream Police	The police almost had to come after me after Robin knelt down in front of me. Good god. He was swaying back and forth until he got hit by a Rick pick during the bridge. I about fell on the floor when he chucked one back at RN. Bahahahaha!
Aufie	Great closer for a fabulous set!

"It's great to be back in California" was the first remark of the evening. You'd hope that the guys like CA - they've played here enough. ;)

A standard comment of Rick's these days is "Four great guys, three great chords. Except no substitutes."

Rick announced that tonight’s show was being taped for Westwood One. He didn't say it into a mic, but I heard Tom say, "Yeah, that's why I'm not singing anything!" LOL! No mention of when it’d be aired – but it had better be! I’m selfish - I want a sound board quality recording of this show!!! Rick was also quick to note that the set tomorrow would be different.

In addition to the usual mentions about merchandise and the new album to be released, he also told us that on Monday they’d taped some stuff for a new Eddie Murphy movie. No mention of the title, but an intriguing announcement nevertheless.

Instead of the usual "Kiddie Parade" Rick pulled up just one: Candice. Before asking the usual question about her favorite band, he quipped, "I think we’ve done this before." LOL… then he informed us that she’d be sitting off stage for the rest of the show and they’d give her a ride home. LOL… If there ever was a cue for "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School," this was it. ;) They set up the stool Rick used for "Special One" and she stayed up there until just before the encores.

Rick rattled off the usual suspects during his fan appreciation banter. According to him, Kim’s the head of the fan club now. LOL…

He also threw in a barb at the Angels. Apparently they blew a comeback against the Yankees. He and Tom went back and forth about this and naturally this got some boos from the crowd. Rick shut everyone up with "Well, I’m a Cubs fan!" LOL…

In one of my favorite moments of the evening, Rick noted that tonight was the 2^nd anniversary of his sobriety. In typical fashion, he lightened the seriousness by stating that he’d been taking more than his fair share of drugs and alcohol, so he quit to leave more for us.

It was a fantastic set. So full of energy. Rick, Robin and Tom were very animated – Bun E was all smiles at first. It seemed he got kinda grumpy towards the end, though. Not sure if there were technical things that peeved him or what. It all sounded great to me. :) Plus he'd put together a great set list!

Zandergal had come prepared with a sign requesting a birthday kiss. Rick played that moment up for all it was worth. He tried to pull her onstage, but settled for kissing her hand instead.

Towards the end of the show, Tom got a present from Shoandra and her family: a new Chairy! His face lit up and he placed it up on his amps right away. Of course Rick couldn't let it go without a "Pee Wee" comment. LOL!

Several of us hung out for awhile there at the HOB bar and outside the venue. I finally got to meet the ladies of Cheap Chick. They'd come prepared with flyers about their next gig and were passing out black and white buttons. Man, oh, man I've gotta see them live some day! If their sound is anywhere near as good as their look, then they'll be kicking much ass! :) Check out their website at www.cheapchick.com.

Also met up with Mark from the NG and others I'm prolly forgetting... Doh! Anyway, it was nice to relax and hang out awhile with so many friends old and new before the trek back to Santa Monica.

Flis and I chatted up a storm on the walk to our respective cars. Imagine that. LOL… By that time there wasn't a parking attendant, so I didn't pay one cent. Woo hoo!!!

I had to laugh at myself during the drive back. I was so deep in thought, it wasn’t until I hit I-10 that I realized the stereo was off. What's up with that?!

BEC	black t shirt, jeans and black CT baseball cap
RN	Shiny red suit with pin stripes and a black t shirt (I’ve heard this referred to as the "Pimp Daddy suit" - LOL)
TP	I’m gonna call this the "Johnny Cash" outfit – all black with a very sharp black leather jacket
RZ	black suit and a short sleeved black shirt with white stripes