CHRISTMAS ROCKS!!!!!!! (Las Vegas!)

He's such a great sport.


Me, Brian and Mom (GinnyD)

Thanks for making it an AMAZING Christmas, Brian.

that's darling - love it!
Merry Christmas!

C

Wow! That's so cool!

Ok Andi, spill the beans. Tell us the whole story of you and your mom's night with Brian.


Awesome Pictures!


Ross

Great stuff Andi

Nice shots.

Be carefull... some ladies may be so jealous and mad at you now....


By the way.... Setzer wearing boots!!! that´s not very common... awesome!!!


Andi, 2009 has been YOUR year..... it´s going to be hard to beat it!!! nice memories that will stay with you forever.

Sorry couldnt resist toonin the toon
Merry Christmas to y'all
l

awesome!!!! She´s gonna LOVE IT.

If I was Andi, I would actually professionally print it in a large size, frame it, and hang it up at my room.

Hey thanks ya'll! Just got home after the long drive from Vegas. Kbilly, your pic won't load... sounds like I'm gonna freak when I see it though

Since the album cover contest, I have very strongly felt the need to convey my thanks to Brian in person, to tell him how much having my photo on his record means to me. After my recent hospital adventure (and his too), "short time to live, long time to stay dead" has been ringing loudly in my ears, even moreso than usual. Sometimes, ya gotta live each day like it's your last.

So, even though I'd already purchased tickets for the show, at the last minute I decided to give myself and Mom the Christmas present of a lifetime - I purchased the Meet & Greet for the two of us. In the past 16 months I've seen Brian 10 times in 4 different countries. Knowing Vegas was likely to be the last time for a while, I needed to really make it count.

In addition to getting all the behind the scenes scoop that I love, I did indeed get to tell Brian just how much the Lonely Avenue cover means to me, mom and I both got our LP covers signed, and of course I wanted to make the most of it and get some memorable photos, rather than the standard "pose and say cheese" shots!

Mission accomplished on all counts!

More details after the holiday madness - in the meantime, everyone have a wonderful, WONDERFUL Christmas!!

Love you guys!!

yes. You are gonna LOVE your "tuned-up" picture.

If you still can't see it, let me know and I'll email it to you.

The show itself was abbreviated - nothing from Lonely Avenue was played, which was highly disappointing!! Brian announced that it was a sold out show, but there were a number of seats around us that were empty, and from my view the crowd was pretty sedate until Rock This Town, when they finally went beserk. Security were tightasses and wouldn't let people near the stage (one of the band members even remarked to me afterwards that they were being jerks.) Still, the band were total professionals and played a great show from start to finish.

For you RMC!



I bought a program in LA, before I'd decided to do the Vegas meet and greet - but when I did the M&G I was pleasantly surprised to receive a different program. The red one is from Los Angeles, purchased at the merch table, the green one is from Vegas, given to me in my Meet & Greet "goodie bag" (not sure if it was also for sale at the merch table, but I don't think so). Photos and layout inside each is completely different, with the green one having more Lonely Ave shots. Very cool.



My purchased merch, stuff from the Meet & Greet, some candy canes from Bat Santa...



More photos and stories to come.

Oh yeah!
That's the kind of sugar papa likes!!

Thanks for sharing Andi, looks cool!

xoxoxo
Jon

PS - did you finally get a response from the Japanese store???

Andi wrote:

The show itself was abbreviated - nothing from Lonely Avenue was played, which was highly disappointing!! Brian announced that it was a sold out show, but there were a number of seats around us that were empty, and from my view the crowd was pretty sedate until Rock This Town, when they finally went beserk. Security were tightasses and wouldn't let people near the stage (one of the band members even remarked to me afterwards that they were being jerks.) Still, the band were total professionals and played a great show from start to finish.

For you RMC!

Thank you Andi! Very cool that the programs are different.

I think you made the right decision to do the meet & greet. You both deserved an extra special evening.

kbilly, I finally got to see your 'toon - that's fantastic, thank you!!

I thought I'd post some photos from the whole Meet & Greet experience. Now having done it, I think the tour, the merchandise and of course the chance to chat with Brian and get photos and autographs makes it well worth the money, if you're a hard core fan. If you're interested in the backstage production stuff, it's absolutely fascinating.


Production assistant Brian Hendrick guided our tour. Very friendly guy who obviously likes what he does very much. Look for him onstage causing trouble as the Grinch!


Front of House engineer Jimbo Neal will tell you all about how the whole show is wired for sound. I'd say he's got the most important job of anyone, but really, it's a team effort. Without any one of them the whole thing falls down.


Monitor engineer Eric Scott makes sure Brian and everyone else onstage can hear what they need to hear - themselves, each other, etc.


Drum tech Bobby Gilcken, who has been with Setzer since 1989. He's a fantastic character, plays some fantastic characters, and has some very entertaining stories.


Guitar tech Ty Sweet also has some great stories, and knows everything there is to know about Brian's guitars and amps. Some folks here would probably want to spend the entire backstage tour with Ty, he's a wealth of information!


Tour manager Jerry Levin wrangles this whole multi-million dollar business. Listening to him talk, it becomes plainly obvious that he takes his job very seriously and absolutely loves what he does. He too has some fascinating stories to tell, and given how much responsibility he shoulders, I was very impressed with the amount of time he was willing to spend with us. Amongst the fans who have encountered him over the years, Jerry has been known for being a bit of a hard-ass, but two things about that: #1, Setzer needs someone like that in that role, and Jerry is extremely good at what he does. And #2, Jerry's affection and appreciation for Setzer is evident in his storytelling. I have a lot of respect for that and am very glad I got to hear him talk about what he does.


Next stop, the band green room. It was a quick walk through there on our way to our last stop, meeting Le Setz, so a lot of people breezed through. I had to stop to say hello to some of the friends I'd made in LA, and to get a photo with one of the kindest people I've ever met, saxophonist and music director Tim Messina.


During the last bit, the Meet & Greet itself, I finally had the opportunity to tell Brian how much the album cover means to me, having my work associated with his. He said "it really was the best - we got thousands of entries. But honestly, it was exactly what I wanted." That totally thrilled me. (For the record, I also asked him what HIS favorite song is on the new album - it's "My Baby Don't Love Me Blues." 'Cause it's sexy, he said. )


fabdad, THANK YOU so much for sharing your shots of me and Brian, and allowing me to post them here - I really appreciate it, and I lovelovelove them!!

This isn't the whole story, I don't want to spoil it for other people that might want to do the Meet & Greet. From what I've seen from others' reports, the tour and the personnel you meet might be a bit different, the stories are different - and a lot of it has to do with how "interactive" YOU are - they are happy to accommodate your every question, so make the most of it and learn everything you can!

It was special for me - I've known some of these folks' names and exchanged pleasantries with some of them at many previous shows, so getting to hear them talk about their responsibilities, telling stories of their years working for Setzer, and seeing just how much each of them really loves their job was quite a treat. None of them get the kind of recognition they deserve for the amazing show they put on each and every night of each and every tour. But you really get the sense that they wouldn't want to do anything else in the world.

In case anyone is wondering if I completely manhandled Brian for the "Christmas Rocks" photo, well... I guess I did! But I asked first Here's the whole story:

I asked him if we could get a photo together, but have a little fun with it - he said, "sure, what do you have in mind?" I held up the program with the cartoon on it and said "I wanna do this." At first he didn't get it - then it dawned on him and he laughed and said "OH! Cool! Okay, what do we do??" I said, "you just stand there with your hands on your hips and look like the King of the Whole Damn World and I'll hold onto you from the back and look hungry." He laughed and got into his pose, waiting for me to grab on! I think he's got a great sense of humor about this kinda stuff, and even allowed multiple takes to get it right. I tried to "look hungry" but I just couldn't stop grinning - I couldn't believe he was letting me do this!! Some people have suggested I should've gotten even closer, but I knew if I did, we would've fallen over.

When it came time to have Brian Hendrick get the photo of me and Mom with Setzer, we stood on either side of him and I asked Brian H. to give us a 1-2-3 count. On 3, Mom and I both kissed Setzer on the cheek (obviously we planned it in advance but didn't tell him). He straightened up a little bit and his grin widened and I swear he giggled. After the photo, he exclaimed, "I got kissed!"

He's so friggin' adorable.

Thank you for being such a great sport, Brian. Made my millenium!!

Sensational Andi, I'm so happy for ya, looked like a blast.

Thanks so much for sharing, Andi!

Looks like someone's feeling like the Queen of the Whole Damn World!

talldave wrote:

Looks like someone's feeling like the Queen of the Whole Damn World!

Brian always makes me feel like that.

Love is in the air....

The Vegas show was great! Not much more to add from Andi's posts. I do want to say the meet & greet ended up being special treat. Everyone takes something away different from those things. Was it pricey? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. If the opportunity comes up and you have the cash, I would recommend it!