My trip started in Seattle where I went to the first of four concerts on the West coast. We had front row center seats and they were great. I noticed a guy behind me and thought "he sort of looks like Bill Gates." As it turned out, it was the Bill Gates impersonator who is also in Al's video, It's All About the Pentiums. We spoke and he gave me his really cool business card. He was a nice guy and I also had my picture taken with him.
This was my fifth show of the RWS tour and this show was fantastic. I got my camera confiscated during Germs as I was taking this picture because my flash accidentally went off. What I didn't realize is that it went off twice and I also got this picture too. I also got my camera back after the show. Whew!!! During the song One More Minute Al was standing at the edge of the stage singing to me. I was so nervous and was surprised at what came next. Instead of going down the staircase to the right of the stage, he jumped off of the front of the stage and plopped right down in my lap. Oh, what fun. He then got up and stood in front of me and took the white silk scarf that was around his neck and wiped his brow and then his underarm. After this he took the scarf and draped it around my neck. What a great souvenir. I was so tickled. He also left a really long hair on my lap which I managed to picked up and still have. The rest of the show flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go back stage to see Al.
After the show, those of us with passes were taken upstairs to see Al and the band. When we walked in the door we were in the very back of the room and I was standing right beside the door with the star on it and it said "Weird Al." After a few minutes Al walked out and said Hi and proceeded to the front of the room to greet his guests.
I talked briefly with Steve Jay, and got each band member to sign my Al Team shirt. I was looking for Jon and I saw him across the room. He stuck his hand in the air and waved hello from across the room and after about 15 minutes, I finally got to talk to him. Jon has been such a sweetheart to me and as a thank you gift I gave him a tin of Penn State Bakery Cookies. We watched Al mingle with other guests then it was my turn. I walked up to the table and he said, "Hi Sue." I asked him how he was doing and he proceeded to tell me that this show was the first show he's done on this leg of the tour that he actually felt good. He had been sick when I saw him perform earlier in the month and he was having problems shaking the illness. I thanked him for the scarf and he said "sure" and that he didn't think he had already given me one. I had a gift bag for him with a few goodies inside. The band Angry Salad sent one of their CD's along with me to give to Al. Each band member signed this CD and told him they were big fans of his. I also gave him a tin of PSU cookies. I then went around to his side of the table so I could get my picture taken with him. We stuck around and talked to Jon one more time before saying goodbye.
The Portland show was exhausting but fun. We stood for eight hours. We arrived at the venue at 4:00 p.m. and then stood in line for this general admission show. We were second in line so we were right up against the stage in front of Steve Jay. This was a great spot for taking pictures. All of these were taken at this show.
I had a blast in Santa Cruz meeting all of my friends (Linda Ward, Sandy Farley and me) and more friends (the Linda's Ward) from the news group. After the show, most of our group stayed inside to see if they could get back to see Al but Carole Goetzelmann, Sandy Farley and Karen Z. and I went out and stood by the buses and were entertained by Ruben (Al's keyboardist). A security guard came out and told us to line up that we were being taken inside to see Al. When it was my turn to see Al, I told him that this was my last show and thanked him and said goodbye. He got out of his chair, came around the table and gave me a big hug and said "thanks for coming, Sue." What a sweetie! Linda Ward was taking our pic but the flash didn't go off so we quickly put our arms around each other and we did it so fast that we banged heads. Embarrassing but funny. Then it was Sandy's turn and she asked Al to sign her shirt. I think he liked this way too much. :-)
The rest of the pics on this page are concert shots. I finally got some really great photos. ENJOY!
