Post by Susan on Mar 6, 2007 16:39:28 GMT -5
LEMOORE, CA .38 SPECIAL CONCERT
OMG, where do I begin. First off I would like to thank Andy for the wonderful time Randy & I had. Whom without, it would not have been possible.
We got there we checked into a motel 6 first and rested. Then went over to the Casino. We hung out and waited for Will Call to open. At first things got a little tense cuz the lady said, “.38 Special has not sent a guest list over”. Well , by 7 pm, I called Andy and he was making phone calls. At the same time I was waiting for Andy to call me back a woman standing next to me was really pissed. Seems she was supposed to be on the guest list and they told her only two people were and she wasn’t one of them. She was friends with Danny Chauncey. So, Randy went back in and the lady was SOOOO Sorry, she had made a mistake. They had been there all along and I signed for them and called Andy back. Which was a great relief to him. Thank you Andy.
So, we get our tickets and Back Stage pass’s. This really nice lady takes us back stage and says this is it. Go where you want. To your left is the bus and the right the dressing rooms. And splits. OK. What now? She turns and looks at us and says go to either place the guys are at one or some are at both. Standing there smiling. We say ok, thank you. Still pondering what to do, we just stood there. Talking to each other about where to go. You got it, never been back stage, looked like amateurs. Neither one of us wanted to bother them at either spot, they might be busy.
Of course the first one we see is John. And as before he spots us and comes over and hugs me, and we kiss each other on the cheek. John than shakes Randy’s had and say’s, “Good to see you again”. We talk and he makes us feel at ease about being back stage. At this time my breathing is getting bad due to all the walking. And I say something to Randy. Well, it just so happens that the truck is parked right there by a private gate and John to rescues tell Randy to go there, it’s faster and he will let you back in. Rather than Randy having to walk all the way back around the barricades and thru the Casino. He says just hang out, the guys are around and I’ll be back. Awesome man. I have a great deal of love and admiration for this man and his kindness to us each time he see’s us.
All of the sudden out of nowhere, there is Danny Chauncey. We say hello and he is walking around like he is looking for someone, so I told him about the woman I saw at the Casino. He says thank you, I was trying to find her to send someone to go get her, and goes to his cell phone. Job well done Susan.
As Randy & I turn toward the bus, (finally deciding to go there), the door opens and out steps, Don Barnes, L.J. and Donnie Van Zant. HELLO, I don’t seem to know what to do. As they are walking closer, I smile and say hi. They stop and greet Randy & I, and remembered us from Oroville. We chat a few and they are on their way to the Meet & Greet. There is a few folks there and we just hung back cuz they had the meet & greet, and we had the back stage pass’s. Figuring we had more time than they did. All this time Kansas is on the stage playing.
Well, everyone is done and we go up to them. At the table sits, Don Barnes, Donnie Van Zant, L.J., and Gary Moffatt.. Holding my 3 birthday cards in hand, (3 of their birthdays in June. I hand delivered them late. Usually I send them to Aunt Jane). I also made them all a Indian Head Dress. I had already made one for Donnie and Aunt Jane it to him. Don looks in the box, and says hey, these are cool. Donnie says, “Yeah I got one”. Don wants to know who’s is who’s. I said, “you 5 fight over the colors, I just made them” and we all laughed. Suddenly, I was talking with Don and Donnie like it was natural. They signed 2 cd’s and a poster which will be donated by me to the Benefit. I told them this and they were pleased to hear this. Asking about it. I of course told them what I knew of it so far.
Now, this really touching. Donnie looks up at me and asks how my health is doing. Surprised, I told him of the good news since the concert in April. He is so pleased. At the moment I mentioned, “Lung Transplant”, Don Barnes looks up and say’s,”Oh Yeah”. Now a lot of celebrities will ask a question, but are not really interested in the answer. Donnie wanted the details. He wanted to hear and he listened as I told him. With this Don Barnes say. You are gonna be fine. Your young and my father or father in law, I forget which he said, had one and he was up there in age and is still doing fine. He really seems like he is giving me encouragement and hope. And he did. Then I gave Donnie his birthday card and he tells me how thoughtful and what a, “Darlin” I am. Now for you ladies that have not heard him say that word. Its got to be the southern accent but its just music to your ears. The whole time right behind me is Randy and they are just chatting up a storm with him as I move on.
Next is L.J. And I give him his birthday card. He too appreciates it and can’t believe I did that. We chat a few words and he signs away. Now L..J is quit the gentleman. He looks at you when you talk to him and pays attention to what your saying. Again we discussed DSJ. And on to the next.
Gary Moffatt, Gary doesn’t say much. He smiles a lot and is very friendly. We chat and I tell him how much I enjoy his drum solo he does at the shows. Knowing tonight he will perform another one, just as awesome as the one’s I’ve seen before. He happily signs my items and as usual the DSJ shirt attracts questions. I am more than happy to tell him. Oh Yeah!!! Have no fear, Susan is on the job. He now knows who we are.
Next is Danny Chauncey, who is a little more relaxed, I guess he found his friend. However he is late getting to the table and rush’s in. I give him his birthday card. Danny is equally surprised and tells me what nice thing it was for me to do. We chat about .38 Special things and he is just as nice as I remembered him, but he seems to still have something on his mind. Never the less he treats me with great respect and puts his attention on me. How is that for professionalism?
As you can see. As of now we still have not Bobby Capps. That is fine. I figure he must be busy. So I walk to the side and there is Donnie. He talks to me again and I did it. I finally have the nerve to ask him for a picture. Danny is still with Randy. Donnie says sure. Do you want that with the band or just me. Well, I’m a .38 Special fan I tell him. I’d like the band to be in it too. He smiles and says sure no problem. So he rounds up the guys and is trying to get Danny when someone comes in and puts a stack of posters in front of him that he needs to sign. He does it. So my picture has 4 of the 6, (Bobby is still missing in action). Donnie puts his arm on my back and has someone come take the camera to take the picture. I was going to have Randy do it. but he is still with Danny. We take the picture. Now Danny is free and after a few others take pics, it is Randy’s turn. What do you think happens. Yep, you can tell by the pic. Danny and Bobby come out of nowhere and jump in the picture. I’m thinking, Cool. Randy is very proud of that pic. Now Kansas has stopped playing and it seems to be time for them to get ready for the show.
But Bobby takes the time to sign our items and chat a minute. I tell Bobby that I would love to hear him sing the song, “Second Chance” in it’s entirety some day. He turns to us and says. “I don’t know if I will even have anything to play tonight. The airlines lost some part of his equipment for his keyboard. He seems a little stressed and this to me seems to be the reason he is late. However still ran in to take that pic and sign things for us. And he chats a few minutes too. Seeing he is totally bummed about this. We are speechless. What can I possibly say to make this man feel better. So, Randy says, “hey thanks for the pic and autograph, I hope they find your stuff”. And Bobby heads out.
At this point I am on Cloud 9. And Randy is just amazed at the time they took to hang with us. Suddenly Randy’s phone goes off with a message. He missed a call while with the guys. He says, who is this it’s a 904 area code? I look at it and it is none other than, “Aunt Jane”. Thinking she knows where I’m at, I call her right back. I won’t get into what Aunt Jane wanted, but I said, “Aunt Jane do you know where I am right now”? She says, “No”. When I tell her she is so shocked and pleased and wants to hear all about it. I tell her bits and pieces. She wants to talk to Donnie and asks me to put him on the phone. I said he’s in the bus getting changed. OK I can do this. The one thing that both Bobby Booth and Andy told me in the same exact words was, “Act like you belong and know what your doing”. I say hang on Aunt Jane.
Needless to say, I’m not going to barge on the bus, as much as I’d like to. I ask one of the guys outside the bus if he can tell Donnie Aunt Jane is on the phone. He says, “Donnie’s busy getting ready for the show”. I’m thinking, “Did you just hear me, Aunt Jane is on the phone”. Now to me this is important. He just shuts the bus door and walks away. OMG, what do I tell Aunt Jane? Dazed I tell her he this guy said he can’t. Suddenly, ( he seems to be good at this) Danny Chauncey appears out of nowhere. I give him the phone, they chat for a few and he hands me the phone back. Wow. Aunt Jane than tells me she is riding with the police at that moment and they are arresting some guy, so she has to stay in the car and thought she would call. We talk and she says give Donnie a kiss for me and I said. Ok, I can walk up and kiss Donnie Van Zant and it’s ok cuz Aunt Jane told me to. Ok, we all know that’s not going to happen. I’ll just rely on Danny giving him the message.
So off Randy & I go to our seats. (10th row isle seats. Great seats again. And the concert begins. At this point I have talked to a couple dsj members on the phone. And enjoyed letting them hear how happy I was. What can I say about the concert, it rocked. At one point I was standing in the isle cuz when people stood up, I couldn’t see. During, “Rebel to Rebel”, Donnie see’s me in the isle and puts his hand over his heart and points straight at me. At this point I’m in Heaven. Throughout the concert the others saw me and pointed. What a honor to know that they showed me, they knew where I was. At this point I feel real good about myself and all the work I’ve put into the .38 Special Forum. I can not have done it without you all Blessings and encouragement. You let me have this Forum and let me run with it. And I’m having fun.
After the concert, we go talk to John. We than go backstage again. The guys are changing and there are two Limo’s waiting at a gate. I just stood there in aww of everything that had happened so far. John comes back there and gets me a Set List. We talk, he asked me if I’m scared about the Transplant. I tell him Yes. He smiles, hugs me, and tells me I’m gonna do just fine. We part ways cuz he has a lot of work to do. Suddenly out of nowhere, (I bet you think I’m gonna say Danny again huh?), Mojo comes out. He hugs me, shakes Randy’s hand and we talk and he takes a picture with me. Another nice, nice man. He will be by to check out the site. He promised he would.
Now the guys are outside the bus and I’m thinking, “do I go down there and bother them, or just let it be?” I decided to let them have their time. I know this will come my way again. I don’t want to be a pest. Randy & I exit out the security gate close to the truck and head to the hotel. We watch some tv, talk about the awesome time we had and go to bed. As Randy is fast asleep. I start going over in my head all that happened that night. Suddenly, I have tears in my eye’s. I don’t’ even know why, other than the fact that for a second time, “A Dream had come true for me. I have met 38 Special, and got to talk to Donnie Van Zant whom I have so much respect for. Could my life get any better than this? This is what I’ve dreamed of doing some day and here I was and DID. With that, sorry for the length and hope you enjoy this. Thank you all for time and friendship. Andy thank you for this opportunity.
SET LIST
TAKE EM OUT
ROCKIN INTO THE NIGHT
20TH CENTURY FOX
BACK WHERE YOU BELONG
WILD EYED SOUTHERN BOYS
MONEY HONEY
IF I’D BEEN THE ONE
REBEL TO REBEL
HELP SOMEBODY
FANTASY GIRL
TROOPER WITH AN ATTITUDE
DRUM SOLO
MEDLEY
PARADISE
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU
TEACHER, TEACHER
ROUGH HOUSIN
STONE COLD BELIEVER
LIKE NO OTHER NIGHT
SECOND CHANCE
CAUGHT UP IN YOU
SET LIST
CHAIN LIGHTIN
HOLD ON LOOSELY
USA/TRAVLIN BAND
THE END
This is what you wait a lifetime for
OMG, where do I begin. First off I would like to thank Andy for the wonderful time Randy & I had. Whom without, it would not have been possible.
We got there we checked into a motel 6 first and rested. Then went over to the Casino. We hung out and waited for Will Call to open. At first things got a little tense cuz the lady said, “.38 Special has not sent a guest list over”. Well , by 7 pm, I called Andy and he was making phone calls. At the same time I was waiting for Andy to call me back a woman standing next to me was really pissed. Seems she was supposed to be on the guest list and they told her only two people were and she wasn’t one of them. She was friends with Danny Chauncey. So, Randy went back in and the lady was SOOOO Sorry, she had made a mistake. They had been there all along and I signed for them and called Andy back. Which was a great relief to him. Thank you Andy.
So, we get our tickets and Back Stage pass’s. This really nice lady takes us back stage and says this is it. Go where you want. To your left is the bus and the right the dressing rooms. And splits. OK. What now? She turns and looks at us and says go to either place the guys are at one or some are at both. Standing there smiling. We say ok, thank you. Still pondering what to do, we just stood there. Talking to each other about where to go. You got it, never been back stage, looked like amateurs. Neither one of us wanted to bother them at either spot, they might be busy.
Of course the first one we see is John. And as before he spots us and comes over and hugs me, and we kiss each other on the cheek. John than shakes Randy’s had and say’s, “Good to see you again”. We talk and he makes us feel at ease about being back stage. At this time my breathing is getting bad due to all the walking. And I say something to Randy. Well, it just so happens that the truck is parked right there by a private gate and John to rescues tell Randy to go there, it’s faster and he will let you back in. Rather than Randy having to walk all the way back around the barricades and thru the Casino. He says just hang out, the guys are around and I’ll be back. Awesome man. I have a great deal of love and admiration for this man and his kindness to us each time he see’s us.
All of the sudden out of nowhere, there is Danny Chauncey. We say hello and he is walking around like he is looking for someone, so I told him about the woman I saw at the Casino. He says thank you, I was trying to find her to send someone to go get her, and goes to his cell phone. Job well done Susan.
As Randy & I turn toward the bus, (finally deciding to go there), the door opens and out steps, Don Barnes, L.J. and Donnie Van Zant. HELLO, I don’t seem to know what to do. As they are walking closer, I smile and say hi. They stop and greet Randy & I, and remembered us from Oroville. We chat a few and they are on their way to the Meet & Greet. There is a few folks there and we just hung back cuz they had the meet & greet, and we had the back stage pass’s. Figuring we had more time than they did. All this time Kansas is on the stage playing.
Well, everyone is done and we go up to them. At the table sits, Don Barnes, Donnie Van Zant, L.J., and Gary Moffatt.. Holding my 3 birthday cards in hand, (3 of their birthdays in June. I hand delivered them late. Usually I send them to Aunt Jane). I also made them all a Indian Head Dress. I had already made one for Donnie and Aunt Jane it to him. Don looks in the box, and says hey, these are cool. Donnie says, “Yeah I got one”. Don wants to know who’s is who’s. I said, “you 5 fight over the colors, I just made them” and we all laughed. Suddenly, I was talking with Don and Donnie like it was natural. They signed 2 cd’s and a poster which will be donated by me to the Benefit. I told them this and they were pleased to hear this. Asking about it. I of course told them what I knew of it so far.
Now, this really touching. Donnie looks up at me and asks how my health is doing. Surprised, I told him of the good news since the concert in April. He is so pleased. At the moment I mentioned, “Lung Transplant”, Don Barnes looks up and say’s,”Oh Yeah”. Now a lot of celebrities will ask a question, but are not really interested in the answer. Donnie wanted the details. He wanted to hear and he listened as I told him. With this Don Barnes say. You are gonna be fine. Your young and my father or father in law, I forget which he said, had one and he was up there in age and is still doing fine. He really seems like he is giving me encouragement and hope. And he did. Then I gave Donnie his birthday card and he tells me how thoughtful and what a, “Darlin” I am. Now for you ladies that have not heard him say that word. Its got to be the southern accent but its just music to your ears. The whole time right behind me is Randy and they are just chatting up a storm with him as I move on.
Next is L.J. And I give him his birthday card. He too appreciates it and can’t believe I did that. We chat a few words and he signs away. Now L..J is quit the gentleman. He looks at you when you talk to him and pays attention to what your saying. Again we discussed DSJ. And on to the next.
Gary Moffatt, Gary doesn’t say much. He smiles a lot and is very friendly. We chat and I tell him how much I enjoy his drum solo he does at the shows. Knowing tonight he will perform another one, just as awesome as the one’s I’ve seen before. He happily signs my items and as usual the DSJ shirt attracts questions. I am more than happy to tell him. Oh Yeah!!! Have no fear, Susan is on the job. He now knows who we are.
Next is Danny Chauncey, who is a little more relaxed, I guess he found his friend. However he is late getting to the table and rush’s in. I give him his birthday card. Danny is equally surprised and tells me what nice thing it was for me to do. We chat about .38 Special things and he is just as nice as I remembered him, but he seems to still have something on his mind. Never the less he treats me with great respect and puts his attention on me. How is that for professionalism?
As you can see. As of now we still have not Bobby Capps. That is fine. I figure he must be busy. So I walk to the side and there is Donnie. He talks to me again and I did it. I finally have the nerve to ask him for a picture. Danny is still with Randy. Donnie says sure. Do you want that with the band or just me. Well, I’m a .38 Special fan I tell him. I’d like the band to be in it too. He smiles and says sure no problem. So he rounds up the guys and is trying to get Danny when someone comes in and puts a stack of posters in front of him that he needs to sign. He does it. So my picture has 4 of the 6, (Bobby is still missing in action). Donnie puts his arm on my back and has someone come take the camera to take the picture. I was going to have Randy do it. but he is still with Danny. We take the picture. Now Danny is free and after a few others take pics, it is Randy’s turn. What do you think happens. Yep, you can tell by the pic. Danny and Bobby come out of nowhere and jump in the picture. I’m thinking, Cool. Randy is very proud of that pic. Now Kansas has stopped playing and it seems to be time for them to get ready for the show.
But Bobby takes the time to sign our items and chat a minute. I tell Bobby that I would love to hear him sing the song, “Second Chance” in it’s entirety some day. He turns to us and says. “I don’t know if I will even have anything to play tonight. The airlines lost some part of his equipment for his keyboard. He seems a little stressed and this to me seems to be the reason he is late. However still ran in to take that pic and sign things for us. And he chats a few minutes too. Seeing he is totally bummed about this. We are speechless. What can I possibly say to make this man feel better. So, Randy says, “hey thanks for the pic and autograph, I hope they find your stuff”. And Bobby heads out.
At this point I am on Cloud 9. And Randy is just amazed at the time they took to hang with us. Suddenly Randy’s phone goes off with a message. He missed a call while with the guys. He says, who is this it’s a 904 area code? I look at it and it is none other than, “Aunt Jane”. Thinking she knows where I’m at, I call her right back. I won’t get into what Aunt Jane wanted, but I said, “Aunt Jane do you know where I am right now”? She says, “No”. When I tell her she is so shocked and pleased and wants to hear all about it. I tell her bits and pieces. She wants to talk to Donnie and asks me to put him on the phone. I said he’s in the bus getting changed. OK I can do this. The one thing that both Bobby Booth and Andy told me in the same exact words was, “Act like you belong and know what your doing”. I say hang on Aunt Jane.
Needless to say, I’m not going to barge on the bus, as much as I’d like to. I ask one of the guys outside the bus if he can tell Donnie Aunt Jane is on the phone. He says, “Donnie’s busy getting ready for the show”. I’m thinking, “Did you just hear me, Aunt Jane is on the phone”. Now to me this is important. He just shuts the bus door and walks away. OMG, what do I tell Aunt Jane? Dazed I tell her he this guy said he can’t. Suddenly, ( he seems to be good at this) Danny Chauncey appears out of nowhere. I give him the phone, they chat for a few and he hands me the phone back. Wow. Aunt Jane than tells me she is riding with the police at that moment and they are arresting some guy, so she has to stay in the car and thought she would call. We talk and she says give Donnie a kiss for me and I said. Ok, I can walk up and kiss Donnie Van Zant and it’s ok cuz Aunt Jane told me to. Ok, we all know that’s not going to happen. I’ll just rely on Danny giving him the message.
So off Randy & I go to our seats. (10th row isle seats. Great seats again. And the concert begins. At this point I have talked to a couple dsj members on the phone. And enjoyed letting them hear how happy I was. What can I say about the concert, it rocked. At one point I was standing in the isle cuz when people stood up, I couldn’t see. During, “Rebel to Rebel”, Donnie see’s me in the isle and puts his hand over his heart and points straight at me. At this point I’m in Heaven. Throughout the concert the others saw me and pointed. What a honor to know that they showed me, they knew where I was. At this point I feel real good about myself and all the work I’ve put into the .38 Special Forum. I can not have done it without you all Blessings and encouragement. You let me have this Forum and let me run with it. And I’m having fun.
After the concert, we go talk to John. We than go backstage again. The guys are changing and there are two Limo’s waiting at a gate. I just stood there in aww of everything that had happened so far. John comes back there and gets me a Set List. We talk, he asked me if I’m scared about the Transplant. I tell him Yes. He smiles, hugs me, and tells me I’m gonna do just fine. We part ways cuz he has a lot of work to do. Suddenly out of nowhere, (I bet you think I’m gonna say Danny again huh?), Mojo comes out. He hugs me, shakes Randy’s hand and we talk and he takes a picture with me. Another nice, nice man. He will be by to check out the site. He promised he would.
Now the guys are outside the bus and I’m thinking, “do I go down there and bother them, or just let it be?” I decided to let them have their time. I know this will come my way again. I don’t want to be a pest. Randy & I exit out the security gate close to the truck and head to the hotel. We watch some tv, talk about the awesome time we had and go to bed. As Randy is fast asleep. I start going over in my head all that happened that night. Suddenly, I have tears in my eye’s. I don’t’ even know why, other than the fact that for a second time, “A Dream had come true for me. I have met 38 Special, and got to talk to Donnie Van Zant whom I have so much respect for. Could my life get any better than this? This is what I’ve dreamed of doing some day and here I was and DID. With that, sorry for the length and hope you enjoy this. Thank you all for time and friendship. Andy thank you for this opportunity.
SET LIST
TAKE EM OUT
ROCKIN INTO THE NIGHT
20TH CENTURY FOX
BACK WHERE YOU BELONG
WILD EYED SOUTHERN BOYS
MONEY HONEY
IF I’D BEEN THE ONE
REBEL TO REBEL
HELP SOMEBODY
FANTASY GIRL
TROOPER WITH AN ATTITUDE
DRUM SOLO
MEDLEY
PARADISE
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU
TEACHER, TEACHER
ROUGH HOUSIN
STONE COLD BELIEVER
LIKE NO OTHER NIGHT
SECOND CHANCE
CAUGHT UP IN YOU
SET LIST
CHAIN LIGHTIN
HOLD ON LOOSELY
USA/TRAVLIN BAND
THE END
This is what you wait a lifetime for