April 25, 2016- Chiller Theatre Show

We were at this event longer than I thought that we would be, partly because Tony was doing a lot of talking with people. Also, he and Mike spent like 20 minutes picking out DVDs that they are going to try to resell at the flea market. They got a deal of only .50 each. 

   I guess that I am glad that I went. At the beginning of the day, I was sort of wishing that I could just stay home and watch the tennis and Mets game. We did see Kerber win the Stuttgart tournament before leaving then watched part of the rebroadcast of the Barcelona tournament final which Nadal won.

   Mike actually got the same two autographs that I did which was a bit surprising but I was glad that he did so. First, we went to Robert Pine. He seemed nice. Mike and he were chatting about westerns which Mr. Pine was a guest star in a lot of. We found out that he is buddies with Robert Fuller, who is in another favorite show of ours,” Emergency”.

   Mike got to shake his hand which I am a little jealous about. I hadn’t even thought to stick out my hand to try to do so when I was saying “Nice to meet you”, probably because I am not usually a touchy-feely person.

   We returned to that living room area later on to get Larry Wilcox’s autograph. I had been debating on doing so when walking around and observing the stars. I figured why not since I have one of them. Neither of us were interested in getting that of Erik Estrada. He was charging $20.00 more than the other two.

   I don’t know why, but Mr. Wilcox shook my hand twice. He did say that my hand is cold. I said something dumb in reply to that- they are always cold. I should have said often and not always.

   While we were waiting on that line, I saw this boy of about 7 or 8 years old getting excited about meeting Robert Pine. That was so funny and cute. That it about how old my brother and I were when we started watching “CHiPs”.

   We forgot to go back to the outside area to see the salvage truck from “Sanford and Son”.  We did see the Monkees car earlier but that wasn’t there yet. It was cool seeing Demond Wilson who played Lamont in this show that our family used to enjoy watching.

   It was interesting seeing Kevin Sorbo (“Hercules”), Ernest Thomas and Danielle Spencer (“What’s Happening”), Bernie Kopell (“The Love Boat”), George Wendt (“Cheers”), Marc Price (“Family Ties”), Nana Visitor (“Deep Space Nine”) and Max Baer (“The Beverly Hillbillies”).

   A few of the Rocky Horror Picture Show stars, including Barry Bostwick, were also there. Tony had thought about getting their autographs but didn’t. He had been on line for Rob Schneider’s but after an hour gave up on that. He said that he must have been running late on the photo op session upstairs.

   We saw some music stars- Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork from the Monkees, Weird Al Yankovic (the song parody guy), and Martha Davis from the Motels. Tony was disappointed that Meatloaf and Alice Cooper weren’t there. They were the other 2 days.

   I was talking to a lady who had an adorable pug puppy named Winston while waiting for my brother to get done in the restroom. I felt less nervous talking to her than I did to the stars, probably because a doggie was the major part of our conversation.

   I wish that I hadn’t been afraid to ask if I could buy the nice “CHiPs” cast shot that was on Mr. Wilcox’s table. Even Michael Dorn was in that shot. Mike was lucky that he got to meet him. If I hadn’t been afraid to go to these shows with him and Tony in the past, I would have to.

   Mike said that maybe I could find this for sale online. I hope so. I would have paid $5.00 for it but not $10.00 which he said he bets that would be what they would have charged if they agreed to sell it to me.

 

 

Concerts

I never was really that into going to concerts until 2000 when I saw Bon Jovi for the first time. I did go to a few in 1991, or was it 1992? My brother wanted to see Styx and didn't drive so he offered to buy me a ticket if I took him. I wasn't that into them but I did like some of their songs. Major disppointment to us both that they did not do Mr. Roboto. No Tommy Shaw either. This was at the then Garden State Arts Center. We saw John Denver there a couple of months later and Rod Stewart at the then Brendan Byrne Arena shortly after that. I saw the Oak Ridge Boys at Great Adventure a year later.

I enjoyed that Bon Jovi show in Philly so much that I just had to see them again. My boyfriend took me and we joked about Bad Medicine alot. He tried getting tickets for the Meadowlands but they were sold out. We saw them in Camden about 8 months later. I don't think that he was too pleased when I told him that I got tickets to see them at Giants Stadium for later that week. It was a last minute thing. Part of the reason I did this is because I was mad at myself for not using the binoculars at the Camden show. We got there late and missed a little of the opening act, Sugar Ray. I loved the fireworks at the end. This show was taped for a VH1 special that we watched.

I went with this same boyfriend to see The Monkees at a small club in Delaware and Brian Wilson at the PNC Center. He also got us tickets to see Duran Duran at the latter venue in the summer of 2000. I refer to it as the Simon and Nick show because it wasn't the 5 original members. Embarrased to say that I really wished that John were with them then.

I went to see Mellencamp in 2002. My brother was supposed to go with me but he was in the hospital. My mom came with me so the ticket wouldn't go to waste. She knew nothing about his music but said that she enjoyed the show. My brother did get to see him 3 years later at the same venue - PNC Center. We went to the Hall and Oates concert there a couple of months later. I went to 2 shows there that summer also but I never told him about them- Donna Summer and Duran Duran. Maybe I should've, but I just wanted to go on my own for a change.

We did go to the Def Leppard concert that fall at the Continental Airlines Arena. It was a very rainy day and the weatherguy Bill Evans said don't drive anywhere unless you absolutely have to. He'd probably think we were nuts for doing this. It was really scary. My driving anxiety gets worse when there's bad weather. Bryan Adams also performed at that event.

My brother went with me to see Bon Jovi at the new Prudential Center in Newark in the fall of 2007. Daughtry was the opening act. That was the seventh time that I saw Bon Jovi. My brother thinks that I've seen them 4 times. I was afraid that he'd tease me and say that I'm obsessed with them. He already does this enough. I went on my own to MSG in 2005 and Giants Stadium in 2006. I wish that I could afford to see them at the new Giants Stadium this spring but I'm saving for something else.

I have been to 7 Duran Duran concerts as well, although part of me says 6 because it doesn't officially count the one without John Taylor. That is so mean. I was so excited when I first saw him at the MSG concert almost 5 years ago. Should I be ashamed to admit that? I just had to see them again when they were at PNC a few months later. I went to one of their Broadway shows in 2007 only it turned out to be at Roseland because of the strike. I went to both of the Central Park shows in the spring of 2008 and a week before my birthday in December that same year saw them at the Wellmont Theater.

I'm usually in the nosebleed sections at these events or close to that but for the last three DD shows I was pretty close. It almost felt surreal being there. It was general admission which is why I was able to be in that spot. I wish that I could have gotten that close to Bon Jovi. I do have this crazy afterlife fantasy that your spirit gets to go to any concert or other event in whatever time period you want. I hope that this is true. God is probably laughing at me.

I definitely will be posting more about my Bon Jovi and Duran Duran concert experiences in the future. I've gone on enough about this subject for one day, plus I have some laundry to do now-real exciting.

Ooops- how could I forget about Genesis and Phil Collins? I'm sure that there are some people who would like to forget that they even exist. I had been into Genesis since 1986 and was so glad when I got to see them in 2007 at Giants Stadium with my brother. He went with me to the Phil Collins MSG show too- I think that was 2004.