Suzanne and Brian Celebrity Reporters: May 2011

Saturday April 16, 2011 was the most amazing day ever!! Initially the weather was not very good. The forecast called for rain and it was cloudy and very cold. When we walked outside I had a wool coat on. The wind was whipping around and it felt like no more than 40 degrees. The wind made it feel that way. At this point I told Brian, I don't think it would be a good idea to go to Waterbury and stand outside in the cold,
(I would have to wear my wool coat in April.) As the day became early afternoon, however, I saw how much it meant to him, and we had many albums for the artists, plus I was intrigued by the possibilities. I said O.K. lets just do it.

We figured it was only around 30 minutes away. If it rained too bad we could always turn around and go home. When we arrived in Waterbury, CT it was around 2:30 p.m. We found a nice convenient non-paying parking space right across the street from where the performers would be walking in. There was only one older security guard keeping watch. He really didn't say much. We stood out there for a short time with our bags of albums. We saw that there was a big tour bus already parked in the lot. The first performer we saw arrive was guitarist Johnny A.

Johnny showed up with his girlfriend in a sporty race car that looked like he should be on the race track it was very cool. We didn't have anything for him to sign, but Brian and I both took photos with him. He was polite enough to do that, but seemed in a hurry.

The next thing we know another car pulls up Barry Goudreau guitarist from the band, "Boston" jumps out and then we see Jeff "Skunk" Baxter from the band "The Doobie Brothers". We couldn't believe our luck! We had met Barry before, he seemed to know us, he was very pleasant and quiet. He signed for us and took photos with each of us.

Skunk Baxter was very serious but cordial. He asked what our names were and said that he would sign one thing. So we had him sign one album. We asked for a photo with each of us and he said O.K.

We saw James Montgomery pass by. James Montgomery is an a US American blues musician, best known as a harmonica player, and front man of the blues band James Montgomery Band who also collaborates with many other performers. He has also served as president of the New England Blues Society. (wikipedia.com) We know James from other shows we went to. He saw us and started waving, he is very cool!

Then we saw our friend Desireé Basset, and she waved to us. Desireé Apolonio Bassett is a 19 year old American rock music guitarist and recording artist. Considered a child prodigy, she has performed alongside mainline performers such as Sammy Hagar, Living Colour, the Marshall Tucker Band and members of the Allman Brothers Band. She was named "Best Musician" by Talent America in 2005, she has released two studio albums and has performed many times on both coasts of the United States. (wikipedia.com) We know her because she lives in Connecticut, and we have seen several of her shows and met with her.

Desireé and James Mongomery's manager, John came up to us a little after Jame's walked in. He asked if we were going to the show. We said we were not able to get tickets. He said hold on I'll get you VIP passes. So, he comes out a little later, with two passes for us. So not only were we getting in, we were getting the meet and greet with all the performers! He said to wait until 5:00 P.M. to go in and get the tickets
It probably was around 4:30 P.M. and the drizzle started to be a little heavier. Since we had our passes we were able to stand inside the parking lot under an over hang. Thank God, so our albums didn't get wet and we didn't either. Shortly before 5:00 P.M., John came out again and said, I have this other pass you can put on back of the pass I just gave you. It is an All-Access VIP pass. He said you can go anywhere in the theatre! You don't even need tickets. If we wanted to, the first 3 rows were open to watch the show as well as the backstage area.

So we finally went inside. The sound check had just started. There were not many people in the theatre except for the performers on stage and a few people that worked with them. Brian and I chose some seats in the third row and watched. They played some songs and stopped periodically so that "Skunk" could tell them how it should be. He seemed to be the director of the show. I asked Brian to pinch me, to see if I was dreaming. It was so cool, but it gets cooler! After the sound check, the performers seemed to disappear. We saw a nice guy that worked there walking around backstage and asked, "Where are all the performers?" He said, "There eating." I said, "can we go where they are and flashed our pass.? He said, yes, sure" He showed us where the dining area was. It was a small room.

All of the performers and others that worked with them, maybe 40 people where packed in one room. We noticed a lack of alcohol, they run a clean show. That was o.k. we didn't want to drink anyway. We had free water or soda. The catered meal was out of this world. They must have gotten it from an Italian restaurant. There were big containers of ziti with ricotta, chicken cordon bleu, excellent salad, grape tomatoes with mozzarella balls, and dessert tray with cannolis and other Italian delights. We got to sit and Chat With Desireé Basset. We also spoke with Greg Hawkes and Elliot Easton. We saw Skunk Baxter sitting in the corner and guitarist, Gary Hoey playing the mandolin. We also spoke to a couple members of the Uptown Horns, who played with everyone from The Rolling Stones to J. Geils. We said hi to Doug Bell from Bellevue Cadillac.

Other musicians performing with the band were David Hull (performed with Aerosmith and Joe Perry Project, and Marty Richard (performed with Peter Wolf and Joe Perry Project). Also, Ernie and the Automatics and The Stompers.

In between all of this we had opportunities to interact more closely with the performers. At the VIP meet and greet, we took photos and got autographs from two Original members of the Cars: Greg Hawkes, and
Elliot Easton, Barry Goudreau from Boston, Danny Klein and Magic Dick from J. Geils, Desireé Basset, James Montgomery and Gary Hoey. We also took a photo with Charlie Farren of the Joe Perry Project.

The show was finally starting, we might have missed a couple of the opening bands, but the main attraction was starting. We decided since we had never had the opportunity to watch a show from backstage that is what we would do. It was really cool because it was like we were involved in the show not just watching it. Every time a performer had to go on stage or exit the stage we were right there and could interact with them.The show was amazing! They played songs from Boston, J. Geils, the Cars and more!

After the show, on the stage we caught up with guitarist John Butcher he was nice enough to take a photo with us. Then we spotted our friend James Montgomery speaking to "Skunk" Baxter. We waited until he was done speaking with him. We thanked him for the show. He gave me a hug and shook Brian's hand. Then we approach "Skunk" Baxter and very nicely I asked if he had any more picks. He said, "I might just have one left." So, he handed me a pick!

The show was amazing! We had a really fun time! They played songs from Boston, J. Geils, the Cars and more!
At the end of the show we walked to the lobby. Our friend John the manager, said that we were entitled to a free T shirt. So, we both got free Boston Legends T shirts!

All in all we got all access passes, meet and greet, dinner with performers, watched sound check, watched the show from back stage, got to interact with the performers, and 2 free T shirts. It was like winning a contest.

As we left the theatre, it starting pouring buckets. We had to make a run for it! We got soaked, but it was all worth it.

We really are thankful to or friend John and also James Montgomery for allowing us this privilege!! Very Cool! This was a night we will never forget!!