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Above and Beyond the Ticket Price

After the concert we stood around marveling about the new song, talking about the heat, and deciding what to do next. Outside there a large crowd of people were hanging near the back gate that lead to the stage door entrance - around a corner but just next to the front doors. There were already a couple of bouncers guarding the gate - BIG bouncers. Little Kathy47 strode past the bouncers with her bag full of goodies, they watched her with disbelief... it was a funny sight to see. She waved them away, "Oh it's okay, they're expecting me." The bigger big bouncer gave the old "Yeah, uh huh, and they're expecting all these other people too", roll of the eyes look, "Ma'am, ma'am. Just sit right here on this wall (where I can watch you)." Kathy sat just past the bouncers on the wall… I watched with tickled curiosity, this bouncer was so big, and he didn't know that Kathy has taken on bears twice his size before… she wasn't intimidated at all. She pulled a bottle of her kickass homemade wine out of her goody bag and walked past the bouncer to show me the label. This really got him going, good thing he was a good humored guy as he chased after her… "Ma'am, ma'am, put that away", rolling his eyes in even more disbelief. She answered "It's okay, It's mine."

I guess someone would have gotten in trouble for swinging this 40 proof wine around in the streets… probably something to do with bootlegging liquor or something. Watching this scene was straight out of a comedy sketch.

Greg Trooper, Dave Jacques, and Jason Wilber came out to calm the masses. They rubbed elbows with us all. There was a couple who had traveled all the was from Australia just to see the show, I was standing around trying to get some shots of people in the crowd when Jason suggested that I take a picture of he and Dave with the Australians. Tee hee… he's such a cutie, and you could see the squeaky little thrill on their faces when the flash went off.

"Reeda, Kathy, Crusher? John would like to see you." I'm getting all mushy and nervous, wondering if I should grab stuff for people to get to get signed… instead I grab Ralph and look for Lyla, I know they have wanted to meet John for a long time, and had never had the chance. I also think to myself that John would get a large charge out of meeting Ralph… I tried to take him along, but was told… "No, just the names I called." I looked at Ralph and said "Don't leave, don't move" if worse came to worse, I would resort to begging John for a brief moment with Ralph, Lyla and Zach… oh shoot, the names started flooding in of people who I knew wanted to just stand inches from him for a second or two…

We were led down a green cinder block hallway that had lots of doors on either side, and put into a small room with mirrors, table, and broken clothes rack. John entered looking refreshed and not at all like a man who had just poured himself all over the stage for the past two hours. He literally beamed… I can't put my finger on it, but he reminded me of a chocolate sundae (don't ask why, I don't know). He was just yummy. Kathy gave him the wine she made, we told him to drink it, it is awesome… John if you have read this far, seriously, open it up and have a sip… it doesn't taste like wine… and it packs quite a buzz, so only do a shot or two. You don't have to be a wine drinker to like it, and I'm sure it's full of vitamin C. He and Kathy talked about all sorts of stuff and I gave up trying to butt in. He just looked good, all seemed to be just right in his world. The Road Boss who reminds me of the Hare in Alice in Wonderland peeked in and said, "John, I think you could see the rest of the people and be done in 20 minutes." John looked at his watch and nodded that he would do it. I said that I had counted the crowd and there were only about 40 people out there… that was 30 seconds apiece! John stood as if he were going to head toward the door… that was when I realized that I didn't say anything.
"Um John, just a minute"
"Yes Reeda?"
"Here I have to give you this"… I handed him a box and he opened it gently. It was a miniature handmade replica of his dog made completely out of Alpaca …
John looked tickled. "This looks just like her, my boys are gonna love this!" He touched it and read the note, and it was just fun to watch this big shot of a man look like such a little kid. I asked him about the new song, and he said he hadn't named it yet, that they had played it a bit in sound check and yes this must have been the first time he played it in public. He said he now had 2 songs for his 'new album'. I mentioned the Irish radio program that I had listened to earlier that week that had another 'new' song on it. He and Phillip Donnelly sang "Your Love is Like the Lone Ranger" and then he named the other two songs… I'll remember them in a minute… so that's 5 new songs in my book even though the Lone Ranger song was really written in 1984 - but if we haven't heard it from his lips yet… then it is a new Prine song (isn't it?). Okay... so a bit more rattling, a peek at his little boys who had doubled in size since the last time I saw them, it must be so hard to be on the road so much, you can tell that John loves being a dad. It really was time to get out… I wish we could have drug him along to the Soiree the next day, but, he has to earn a living. With a hug and a kiss we went back out to the cool night air and to the hard core Prine fans who had waited for what was now an hour and a half. The bouncer announced "Ten at a time" and started counting people back. Ralph took my camera with wide eyes and an even wider grin, and I told him to shoot at will.

Everyone kind of bounced out after seeing him, sharing their brief moments with him, showing what they had autographed. Amazed at what a neighborly kind of guy he was. One by one, big and small… they were hopped up on Prine. This was above and beyond the ticket price, this was a special and rare occasion and I just want to say thank you John… you did more than you will know by giving us that extra time.

Then here comes Lyla, this was her big chance, she was finally going to meet John. She had just left for a minute to move her car and just beamed as she headed back to the area that John was at. The big bouncer stopped her and said "We're all done" and she couldn't go back. This woman has fire red hair, and you could see the sparks. The bouncer was kind of humored as she called him several choice names, to his face! We all kind of looked at him wondering if he was going to take her on when he said, "Talk like that will not get you back to see him," and then this big mean looking guy, turned his head, waved her from behind, and said "I don't see anything." Julie and I thanked him profusely... after all we were riding back to town with her, and knew that it might have been a really quiet or ugly ride home. Lyla was ecstatic when she came out, bubbly and so apologetic. She was just a glowing ember of that raging fire just moments before. (thank goodness)

Mostly everyone had gone into the bar next door, or out to their Soiree duties or just plain off to bed. A small group of us headed over to The Space to see what was happening. They were cleaning up from their evening and it was pretty quiet. We had some cappuccinos and Julie made herself at home behind the counter to learn their totally secret recipe… Brian figured we were a bunch of old geezers that couldn't handle the late night  excitement but being the wonderful guy he is, kept the doors open and we hung out till about 2:30 am. Brian Frain and his bunch are just the nicest bunch of funny haired young kids you will ever meet. (I must be getting old, because he and his friends really are grown men to the average 'kid')

Lyla drove us back the dark and quiet road Lawton, and I was ready to hit the campground  after mixing up a huge bucket of coleslaw, but, Julie made me go to bed… sheez… our husbands even called from the campground getting themselves and "Barbara Lewis Hair Krispy Beaurehog" toasty around the campfire jamming. Dang… If I knew my way out of a paper bag, I probably would have driven out there, but, I knew that I would get lost in some pesticide covered vineyard and it wasn't an appealing idea at 3:30 in the morning. I laid down on Rich's side their bed and told her I was going to "just stare at the ceiling until she woke up." That was the last thing I remember threatening as Laverne and Shirley "Schlmeel schlmozzled" me to dreamland.

What a great night!

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