Fan Reviews: The Guess Who, Rosemont, Illinois, October 1, 2001

NEVER KNOW HOW TO WRITE IT...
TROSS/SHERRY'S REPORT

Wow, how to follow Shelley's account.......It is so great to read how much she enjoyed herself. We all truly walk with the good spirits, having the opportunity to share these moments together.

Okay, enough mush. Back to being a brat. (Oh by the way, within 22 seconds of meeting Mr. Dan, he regaled me with a monologue on how women like BC solo but REAL MEN like TGW.)

I arrived at the Orgy Hotel shortly after noon on Monday. MY reservation was the only one they didn't have. But by golly I still got a room at the inn. I then proceeded to Room 234 and got Miss Suzie moving; we wandered off to lunch to catch up. She then said she was going to take a nap; I retired to my room (254). Shortly thereafter, a knock on the door. I look through the peephole and there's a rather large leprechaun. It's Clare !!!! He comes in; we sit and talk for a long time. At one point, the phone rang. It was Phil (kpack) and Lorrie calling to say hi. I said I couldn't talk long because I was entertaining a gentleman caller in my room. Phil said "oh, is Clare there?" It's a small world, after all...

We then moved on to dinner, which is a blur for me - so many new and old friends to catch up with. Susan's sister was truly amazed that I was still alive to tell of my travels with her sib. Got a chance to catch up with Dottie, which was great. You all will eventually see about 1000 pictures, just from dinner. It was like the Academy Awards, flashbulbs popping everywhere.

Then, off to the concert. The Theatre was a wonderful venue. A little too comfy, as others have said, for rockin out, but we all did our best to get the crowd up. Susan and I had, um, spectacular seats. Front row, put your arms up on the stage, between Bachman and Cummings, seats. The place looked totally full to me.

During the intermission between Cocker and the boys, it became obvious to the four guys sitting next to me that we whooligans might be a special breed of people. I think Susan and I organizing our signs and air horns might have tipped them off. After I described in great detail the set list they were about to hear (they were MOST upset to not get Star Baby), one guy finally said "you must be groupies". To which I gave my standard reply "groupies have sex with the band; we are fans". Without missing a beat, the guy then says "well, fans have sex with the guys sitting next to them". I thought that was a good one, and considered asking him if he ever posted on bulletin boards, lol.

Oh, the signs. I had (well, almost) as much fun looking around at the signage going up in the audience and watching the band's reaction to them as I did to listening to the music. What a great, great idea of Susan's. As they filed on stage, I was holding LUXTON FAN, and got a big thumbs-up from Luxy himself. During AW, when we held up JUST HOW BIG WAS THAT ROAST BEEF? I thought Donnie was going to fall down laughing. The spelling out of A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N was a true stroke of genius, and all of the guys were laughing. BC made at least 3 references to the NO KLONES signs, which was truly great since we were the only people that knew the secret lingo he was speaking. At one point he yelled out, "and always remember, klone is spelled with a "K". (I will tie this in to another happening, soon.)

I didn't know about his shoulder until later; I thought he looked like he didn't feel well. When he came back on, in the coffeehouse seat, he was carrying an extra mug of something to drink, which is exactly what he did in St. Paul when he was so sick. So, a combo flu/shoulder injury? Sure couldn't tell it unless you were up close and could see his eyes. His performance was A++++. The AW intro did seem longer than normal, but also more up-tempo. So, more ad-libbing going on in that one.

I thought SAMark was in nirvana and couldn't get any higher when I delivered his signed by everyone book that Sam returned to me to give to him. Well, was I wrong about that paradise thing !!! After the show Sam gave us our backstage passes. He also gave Mark the set list off the Roland, which I think Mark got signed by everyone. And I was the one that had to hold Shelley's t-shirt while people signed it. It was really funny - Wallace and Garry and Bachman giving ME instructions on how to properly position the shirt. I said "you guys do this often?". Mark really was in a daze the whole time. I felt so, so good for him.

The inside story about Shelley and Randy and the From the Fans cd, since I was the one doing all the talking, lol. I asked Randy to sign the two sets of liner notes and he perked up and said "what's this?" I explained, blah blah blah, and he said he really wanted one. I thought yeah, right, just being polite, blah, blah, blah, but it became obvious he was sincere (when he started offering me money, lol). I told him Sam had a copy for him already and he said, and I quote directly, "yeah, like him having one is going to do me any good". I then told him I couldn't let him have it because it wasn't mine to give away. He signed the liner notes. I turned around to see these absolutely shocked looks on Susan and Mark's faces: you just told Randy Bachman he couldn't have something? We huddled, decided Shelley could make another copy. I turned back to Randy and said "here, we decided you could have this and we'll just get another copy for our friend". He was quite happy and thanked me very much, at which time I said "but you can't have the liner notes" and snatched those away (they had autographs on them !!!). So, he's got this cd and doesn't have a clue who is singing, lol. (Note to someone in Cleveland - bring some liner notes and I'll give them to Sam to give to Randy.)

There weren't more than 15 - 20 people backstage, if even that many. Very tight and limited access. We spent quite some time talking to Wallace and Peterson, who both remembered the St. Paul adventures, and seemed to know every move we all made at the Rosemont, lol. I will NOT divulge the size of the roast beef; that is Susan's tale to tell. At one point I was standing in the general vicinity of Garry, who was talking to a father and son about drum-playing. The father asked him "what was all that klone talk about - what did that mean?" and Garry said "I don't know; ask her" and points to me. What was I supposed to say; he was a KLONE !!!! I just innocently said "oh, I'm not allowed to talk about that in front of band members". Then Garry said "I always thought klone was spelled with a "c". Looks of true bafflement from the father and son, needless to say.

When Susan and Mark went in to see Cummings I sat on a couch and waited. Bill wandered over and asked if I had been exiled. I said nah, just that I smelled bad. He leaned over and took a whiff of my hair and said "you're right; you do".

Then it was back to Shoeless Joe's and more camaraderie. What a truly great group of people. Even though Susan and I have repeatedly said if we ever get an idea like this again, shoot us, it was wonderful to have a hand in making that night happen. And seeing how much everyone enjoyed themselves. But, if we ever get this idea again, shoot us. We mean it !!! Thank all of you for all your thanks......and for the shirt......and the hugs.......

I can't wait to read Mark's write-up. He left today for SA, and I'm not sure when he'll be back home. Clare is at his parents, computer-less. He and I sat at O'Hare yesterday morning and talked for a couple more hours. He has tales to tell, also. Great to see Phil and Lorrie, and I sure wish I was in Milwaukee with them right now. But I am off to Cleveland on Saturday and another dinner with another great group of people (oh wait, Running Bear will be along this time). It was great to see everyone, most especially Bob T's brother who is actually older than I am !!!!

(How did Dan know if I was googling on Cummings unless he (Dan) was watching me all the time? huh? I guess the only two people standing up the whole time in the front row (that would be Susan and me) were kind of noticeable, though, right?)

Oh, so many more stories......I'll think of so many more later......

Sherry (Tross)