Thursday, December 30, 2004
I'll try to keep this summary as specific as possible about what you REALLY want to hear and to the best of my recollection
After arriving at Pechanga sometime after 2 p.m. and getting a bite to eat, my friend, my brother, and I pretty much scoped
out the resort & casino, looked for some friends of ours andof course!the Goos.
We saw Mike the bodyguard a couple times. I think my friend even tried following him in a non-stalker-ish way (if there is
even such a way). At one point during the day as my friend, my brother, and I were getting off the elevator to our floor,
we saw Mikeyes, I mean Mike Malinin. I tapped him on the arm and waved. He said Hi and he and Im assuming his girlfriend proceeded
to get into the elevator. And, yes, this means that we were on the same floor as Mike!! =D We found out later he was right
across the hall from us (one door down). My friend and my brother think they had dogs in their room since they heard barking
coming from that direction. So, we saw Mike quite a few times during our stay. I was thinking if I saw him one more time that
I was going to joke with him and say something like Mike, you gotta stop stalking usits getting out of control now. . But
my luck, he wouldnt get my sense of humor and then he'd place me on their weirdo fan list.
I think it may have been somewhere between 6:30 and 7 p.m. that I went down to pick up the tickets we bought from a Goo fan
who had an extra set of four tickets so we could upgrade our seats. As I was heading back to the room with our tickets, guess
who Im sharing an elevator with? No, not Mike this time. Robby and Greg. And their new blond bodyguard. And the opening act,
Tyler Hilton. I said Hi to Robby and that I was looking forward to the shows. I also said Hi to Greg and told him I got his
banner and placed it on my fansite. Robby, Greg, their bodyguard and some other people they were with got off on the 7th floor,
saying they got on the wrong elevators and had to get to the 17th floor (which I dont think Pechanga had that many floors
???). My assumption with this blurb was they didnt want any fans knowing what floor he was staying on, which I can understand
since they do have some wacky fans out there.
So, it was then just me, Tyler Hilton, and Im assuming his manager. I asked him if he was the opening act for the night and
he said he was and he asked me my name and shook my hand. He was very nice and, I must say, easy on the eyes. ;)
Showtime
The doors opened at 7 p.m. and the show started at 8-ish. Our upgraded seats were pretty darn good. We were in the Center
section, Row E, Seats 101, 102,103, and 104 (aisle seats). My brother had Row C in the Right section, but we gave him the
extra ticket we had since a friend of ours was unable to make the trip so he could try to get us some pictures. He was a bit
worried about security where his original seat was because he was on the aisle, just feet away from them. They were pretty
strict about cameras, too. But, not to worryWeve got our ways. ;)
Tyler Hilton was good. He played two guitars and had no backup band. He was quite witty, too. After his set, he was signing
autographs in the lobby. He was also doing this after the Goos played, too. He sold out of his CDs so we didnt get to buy
one, but I went up to him to tell him he did a great job. He seems like a real sweetie.
The Goos came on at about 9:20, I think. The show was good, but I wouldnt rank it as highly as a lot of their other shows
Ive been to. To be honest, it would probably be towards the end of my list. It seemed like John was in a crappy mood. They
played, didnt talk too much to the crowd, didnt do the band introductions, and John messed up a few songs (which, yes, isnt
uncommon, but this time it just didnt amuse me). I had my sign with me: We Made It Through The Rain and both Johnny and Robby
saw it, which was cool. I got quite a few compliments from fans on my sign, too.
OH! And guess who was sitting right in front of us at the show? None other than Papa and Mama Takac! =) It was so cute watching
them. Papa snapped pictures every time Robby sang and Mama was moving to the beat. Security was so strict with cameras that
they were giving his dad a hard time about him taking pictures. Their blond bodyguard quickly came by and informed the security
guy that this was Robbys dad and that it was okay for him to take pictures.
I think the show ended around 10:30. We decided wed freshen up and grab a bite to eat at the food court in the hotel. As my
friend, my brother, and I were waiting for other friends, I saw 3 of the guys from Last Conservative walk by, so I headed
in their direction. They were standing in line at the Pechanga Cafi and as I approached, Dave (one of their guitarists) recognized
me and smiled and said Hey! and I got hugs from TJ and Tom. My friend and my brother came around the corner to see who I had
spotted. I introduced them to LC and they said to chat with them in line, so we did. Then they asked us what we were doing
and I told them that we were waiting on some friends to go grab a bite to eat and they asked if we were going to eat at the
Cafi. They then said why dont we join them and to give my friends a call. So, we ended up having dinner with the LC guys.
Theyre such nice guys. They picked up the tab, too, with their allowance. The food took forever so I think we hung out with
them for, like, 2 hours. Since they were such sweeties and bought us dinner, we decided we were going to do something nice
for them, so the next day we had a bottle of wine sent to their room.
The guys headed back to their rooms and we hung around the table for a little while chatting. I called it a night shortly
after that since I had such a headache.
This was pretty much it for the first day. I hope Im not forgetting anything of great significance. Then, we anticipated NYE
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