WILD NIGHTS, PARTY LIGHTS, CITY'S GOT YOU ALL TURNED ON SUSAN/SUZIEQ IN AZ'S REPORT I could sit here quoting lyrics ad naseum, because so many are fitting: Come on by after the show Come on by room 234 Come on by we'll let the good times roll But oh, you're meanin' so much... Because you're movin' 'bout a mile a mile a mile a mile a mile a second Couldn't be the nights with the drinkin' crowd when it was too late to be too young... Five A.M. and I been wonderin' if I'll ever be sleeping ... I do my vocals in the van I do my singin' where I oughta Hopin' it's enough for a Guess Whooligan's group like you Planes are goin' up Planes are comin' down Real, real, real good! Real, real, real good! Well it's ten past three and I'm dancin' Lookkit me kickin' my heels And I'm high, and I'm happy, and I'm prancin' Got any idea how good it feels? Nothin' wrong with the road There's nothin' wrong with flyin' 'round and singin' Let's hear it for the boys in the band Gettin' my brother's Jeep We're gettin' my brother's Jeep It's twice as faster than yours are Gettin' my brother's Jeep Need a thrill a minute, need a thrill Need a thrill every minute Need a thrill Make the most of every minute Welcome to it now you're in it Runnin' out of steam now I don't have the energy I once could have bragged of I'd love to talk but I'm running awfully late You must see the sun rise with a feeling of wonder Never forgetting what it means to be free And you must have courage, you must be curious You must try absorbing all the things that you see The last line just brought a tear to my eye, because there was no way to absorb everything that I was seeing and feeling over this spectacular weekend. Only the highlights remain. And I still haven't come down off my cloud. I finally attributed this to the fact that I am constantly reliving the events due to working on this website and seeing the photos and reading the reviews over and over again. Maybe once this site is put to rest, I will be able to put my feet back on the ground. But I will never forget all the smiling faces that I saw this weekend. You all have made my life fuller and richer, for being a part of this great time. I can't thank you all enough for that. Anecdotes? I have a few. *LOL* But they will have to wait, as I am tired. I will be adding to this as time permits. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH Up at 5:30...starting on the sleep deprivation already. Friday had been a hectic day (there seemed to be a strange shortage of airhorns in the Chicago burbs, and it took me a few hours to locate said noise-making devices as I was hell-bent on using one to call TGW back for an encore...I wonder now if they even heard the airhorns backstage...) with a large family dinner culminating in the normal, rowdy, laughing-until-we-are-crying-or-snorting-beverages-out-our-nostrils routine that seems to take place only when I am home. Needless to say, I did not get to bed early enough on Friday night, and I was too keyed up to sleep anyway as "it" was starting. I had a zillion details to remember, and kept running through everything in my mind to make sure all of our bases were covered. I packed my worldly possessions (check list: signage, airhorns, cameras, film, concert tickets for St. Louis and Chicago, airplane tickets for St. Louis, FTF liner notes for Rette, seating chart for Chicago, contact information for everyone...plus hotels, venues, contacts at Rosemont, etc., hotel confirmations, laptop, Chicago road and public transportation maps, itinerary, kitchen sink...it seemed that I had everything) as I wouldn't be returning to my mom's until Tuesday sometime, and having packed the necessities for Saturday night in St. Louis in a separate duffel bag, I headed out for the airport at 7:15 to pick up Clare. Armed with my brother's Jeep Wrangler (now adorned with "Guess Who" written in the back windows, and a "Guess Who Concert or Bust" sign) and my mom's cell phone, I was ready! Within the hour, I was to rendezvous with 4/5 of the rest of our party (Clare, Mark W. and Ray P./Mr. Santa Claus Cap). The fact that Ray was meeting us at my sister's house, 10 minutes from O'Hare and 5 minutes from Rosemont, was a blessing, because he was another ex-Chicagoan who knew his way around. The pressure would be off me, which was great because I hadn't lived there in 16 years and was winging it. At 8 am Saturday morning...O'Hare was eerily quiet, as it had been when I flew in on Wednesday afternoon. Other than the fact that Clare was the ONLY person standing outside Terminal 2, I couldn't miss him due to photos I had seen...and the Bucky Beaver sign he was waving. I attempted unhooking my seatbelt to jump out of the Jeep and give him a hug, but it wouldn't "come undun". I was trapped. My hero, Clare, got in the Jeep and untrapped me. *S* After a tremendous hug, we slung his luggage into the back of this miniscule version of an SUV, and headed off to my sister's on schedule. Along the way, when I am trying to merge in 6 lanes of traffic and find my way out of the airport, the cell phone rings and I ask Clare to answer it. It's my mom. *S* I hear Clare telling her what a great organizer I am...and simultaneously Clare is subjected to my mom telling him "control freak" as I am spouting in stereo "she's going to call me a control freak". *LOL* We pull up to my sister's house and she is already outside waiting for us, frantic. "Ray called and had car problems and can't make Chicago so you need to call a taxi or something to get to Midway or I can drive you no scratch that I need to be somewhere 30 minutes ago but Alaina can go with you and drive the Jeep back and I can pick you up tomorrow morning when you return what are you going to do this changes everything." I am calm at this point...I think this was my only calm moment the entire weekend. I reply, "No problem. I will drive us to Midway." (Hahahaha...I had lived in Chicago for my first 28 years and had only been to Midway once...so this was a very ballsy answer.) I count my blessings that I hadn't taken the back seat out of the Jeep the day before, go and set it up, rearrange the luggage, and we wait for Mark to arrive. (I don't know if Clare was ready to meet my family...Chaos the Shit-zu who gets, errr, "overexcited" when he sees me, my sister, my mom on the phone, and my two teen-aged nieces. Clare already had a slightly glazed look in his eyes, but he was strong. I just hope he doesn't think that my family is a typical American family. *LOL*) Mark arrives, everyone hugs, we meet his mom's penpal and hug, we stow his luggage in the Jeep, I get directions to Midway from my sister, my sister leaves and I get real directions to Midway from my 18-year-old niece (warning Clare that you never, ever, ever get directions from my sister), and off we go, with the RBTC CD playing on the stereo. I had a religious moment, somewhere on the south side of Chicago, when I heard the opening chords to American Woman. I got the impression that Mark, in the back seat (I'm sure he was biting his fingernails because I didn't know where I was going, plus I was driving on the wrong side of the street from the wrong side of the vehicle, and driving a vehicle I wasn't familiar with that seemed to have square wheels no less) got a little nervous because I cranked up the volume, started singing, and, worse yet, dancing...in the driver's seat. Thankfully, we were off the freeways/tollways at this point, and part of the time were sitting at red lights. *LOL* By some act of God, I delivered us safely to Midway airport. The adventure continues. No sign of Ruth Ann when we first get there, and we go and stand in the tremendously long lines for Southwest Airlines. Mauro comes to our rescue, as we had no luggage to check. Oops...Mark has no photo ID. I swear on a stack of Bibles, Torah's, communist manifesto's, etc. that he is no terrorist, he's a Guess Who fan...and they agree to let him on board as long as we are escorted to the gate. We meet up with Ruth Ann, who is also whisked through the red tape, and head on out to security. I had no clue that there was going to be mortal combat over my hi-speed film...6 rolls...in a ziplock bag. "We will not hand check anything, this film must be checked through with luggage or x-rayed here." Sure...my options are...subject this to your x-rays here and lose $50 of film or check it and have it x-rayed there and lose $50 worth of film. Duh. I was then informed that at Midway, they DON'T x-ray the luggage, so my film would be safe. (Oh...so you don't x-ray luggage at Midway...meaning anyone could plant anything in their checked luggage...hello...major security breach here to be telling me this you morons!!!!) Needless to say, Mauro had to take me all the way back to the ticketing counter, find a box for my very dangerous 6 rolls of film which were okay to ride on the plane...just not in my possession...and then back again through security, for my second same-sex frisk of the day (I kept requesting a male security guard to do the feeling up, but that was a no go) to meet up with the other Whooligans again. We all get seats together on the plane, and soon we are in St. Louis. It was wonderful discovering Jim/TLL and entourage waiting for us, and put a huge smile on my face. But we had another designated driver to look for, Rette, who had been sweet enough to offer to shuttle us from airport to hotel. But alas, it wasn't Rette who did this fearless duty, it was Donna/DelieDietz...and we finallly located her, and hugged, and then split our load up and made it back to the hotel in St. Charles. Ruth Ann and I checked into Room 234 (I love that room number!) and headed upstairs to freshen up, and attempt to contact Ray. It seemed like mere minutes before we had to be in the lobby again to head on out to Lewis and Clark's. On the way, I had the honor of having TLL's very cute son Jimmy sit on my lap due to an overcrowded vehicle. I can only hope it was as good for him as it was for me. *S* Meeting Roast Beef, Carl, Dawn/Star Baby, Rette, Delia and family, and everyone else at L & C's was a hoot. We never have enough time at these pre-concert dinners to talk enough and mingle enough and just relax enough. Everyone is thinking about the concert to come. But still, it was a riot, and I thank Carl for setting this up. We head off the the concert...and I get to hang with RB and Carl...I pack away my 35mm camera (sigh) due to security restrictions and manage to make it through security with my digital intact as I used a sweater and insulated vest in my purse as subterfuge...they were too busy telling me to take them out of my purse and carry them to frisk me as they had the person before me in line. *LOL* Before the concert, RB and Carl and I were checking out the seats, and I saw Gary K. and managed to say hello and talk for a few minutes. Then, I was standing and talking to Clare and Ruth Ann when someone comes up behind me...it was Sam. *S* It's always great to see Sam, but in between groups he is often way too busy to talk, so this was nice. Finally, it's time for the concert to begin. I was lucky enough to be sitting next to Mark Wilson, over on the left in the sixth row. Since I was busy yapping with Hawk during the Cocker portion of the concert in Toronto, it was nice to be sitting in my seat and finally experiencing his portion of the show. I have to say I enjoyed it tremendously...his voice is strong...his screams are still legendary...and the sax player really added a lot to the show, IMHO. Cocker is simply a great prelude to what we were all there for...and I couldn't wait for that to begin. It had been a month since Toronto...and I can't tell you how ready I was to hear TGW again, and to be there with Mark as he experienced his first GW concert ever. Watching Mark react as the boys came onstage...and seeing his eyes shine with joy and sometimes with tears...well, it's an experience I can't describe. St. Louis loved TGW, and they were up, they were on, they were pumped. They seemed more animated than in Toronto, and BC was more vocal with more ad-libbing. I noticed that everyone played the crowds more than in Toronto, coming far forward on the stage at times. I can't give a note by note account of the show, because I simply sit there and feel rather than analyze. But I was wowed, once again. Yes, I even enjoyed the hell out of Wolfman...they upped the tempo (or so it seemed to me) which made it rock better, and the addition of the animated wolfman on the amp near us made me laugh. American Woman also seemed to have a slightly increased tempo and I thought that it was slightly longer than I remembered it. It seems like these concerts are over before you can blink your eye...and that simply leaves me starving for another one, and another one. After the concert, we all meet up and plan on going to a bar back in the downtown area of St. Charles. It appears that I am the only one who enjoyed the punk songs being played at this bar, but that's okay. *S* After about an hour or so of the head banging music, we head on out to the try and meet up with Gary K. at the hotel he told us to meet him at...but when we get there, we find out that the bar there had closed. We go outside to regroup, and after we decide to go back to Room 234 (come on by) to party, a huge bus pulls up and catches us all in the headlights. We laugh...feeling trapped...and feeling like a bunch of middle-aged groupies. Stopping at a convenience store for a bag of goodies and a bottle of wine, we reach our hotel and have a wonderful time sitting around talking about the concert, life in general, and just about everything under the sun. Before we know it...it's nearing 3 am, and we have to leave for the airport at 7, so we say our fond farewells to Jim/TLL and Nickie, Charlie/Roast Beef, Carl/Little Beef...and try to get at least a few hours of sleep. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH 6 am or nearer. Time to get up already? Ruth Ann and I didn't turn the lights out until 3:30. We did not get glamorous...we simply got dressed, packed up, and headed on out to the airport, planning to shower once we got to the Orgy Hotel/Best Western. Our flight was delayed due to fog at Midway, so we all got something to eat, and then napped for a bit waiting for our plane. Unfortunately, somewhere between the hotel and where we ate breakfast, I noticed that I had lost one of my silver earrings...and went back searching all through the airport. This was sad because I had designed and made those earrings, and they were one of a kind. Oh well. We had enough guardian angels this whole weekend taking care of us, so I can't complain that one was snoozing when my earring fell off. Finally, we boarded the plane, and I believe all 4 of us slept the entire way to Chicago. Ruth Ann was by the window, I was in the middle, and Clare had the aisle seat. We laughed about sleeping on each other's shoulders and trying not to drool too much on each other. Talk about becoming close friends in a short time... I managed to get us kind of sort of lost leaving the airport and taking Ruth Ann to her car...but thankfully Ruth Ann had a better sense of direction at that point and we managed to make it back to the tollways and head back to the O'Hare area...listening to the last hour of the GW being featured on Rock & Roll Roots on 97.1 THE DRIVE. All of our emails to Bob Stroud, the DJ, must have paid off. Wooohoooo Whooligans! First stop was back at my sister's house as Clare and I had stowed luggage there...the things we didn't need to take to St. Louis with us. Getting in the house was a minor problem as my sister had left a cryptic note about the alarms, and I was not ready for the SWAT team to show up...not yet anyway. We finally get to the hotel and check in, and I ask if Ray P. had arrived. (I had not been able to connect with him yet, even though in my very detailed contact information I did have his cell phone number.) No, not only had he not arrived, he had canceled his reservation. We were sad to find this out. My room (234) was not ready yet, so Mark came along with me for a trip back to my sister's house for something I had forgotten there. Once in my room (Mark had gone to watch a football game), I tried contacting Ray again, and even got online to send him an email. But I was running very late and still had to shower and get presentable...out of breath when I finally raced down to the lobby to meet up with the rest of the Whooligans. The first person I saw was Shelley, my twin. *LOL* Stay tuned for more.... Susan (SQ)

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Last updated: October 10, 2001