My Weekend -- Lt. Dan Band / Gary Sinise / Jeff Vezain (YAY!)
I owe emails and replies; many apologies. I have been very busy. This weekend especially, as I went to see Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band (starring the fabulous Jeff Vezain) twice. Whooo Hooo! Had a fabulous time, of course. Details and photos under the cut for anybody who's interested!
Jehn, Krystle and I headed out early because we didn't want to be stuck driving through a tornado like 2006. Usually Jehn attends Day Two of the Lt. Dan Weekend Extravaganza, but this year she is running the Around The Bay Race (30K -- I would die) on Sunday, so we switched it up and she came to Fridays show. This was Krystle's first time seeing the hotness of Jeff Vezain. Luckily, we made it to the venue unscathed.
Above: Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls
Since we were there so early we had time to grab a bite to eat, and do a little shopping. Jehn found a wallet that she loved (but that apparently smelled really disgusting... not that I could tell because I stuck my nose RIGHT INSIDE THE PURSE and still cannot smell a single thing. Man, I hope the new meds I'm on start working soon.) Krystle bought a small black purse simply because she needed something to put her cell phone and wallet in. She got a good deal though, so I couldn't really purse-chastise her. ;)
Before we went into the Avalon Ballroom, Krystle wanted her photo taken with Gary.
Above: Krystle with Gary. Sort of. Little did we know this was just a prequel to the main event. :D
The show was really good. Started out with the usual clips from Forrest Gump. The music starts up for "Uptight". Gary comes onstage to lots of cheers. And we are on the edge of our seats anticipating the singers. Last year, Jeff shocked the hell out of us by cutting his long gorgeous beautiful hair. What would he do this year?
So here they come. New Blonde Girl. Gina. And Jeff.
JEFF LOOKING THE BEST HE HAS EVER LOOKED IN HIS LIFE.
Above: Jeff Vezain. GOOD LORD.
So yeah, now Jeff has a sort of "Keith Urban"-ish 'do, but it's a little more layered and it looks fabulous. Crisis averted!
But alas, no Mary Anne! I don't know if she's left the band or what. But apparently New Blonde Girl is here to stay.
Now about three songs into the show they always do "Lady Marmalade", where Gina and Mary Anne New Blonde Girl go into the audience to get women to be "background dancers". Every year, Jehn says she wants to do it. Every year, Jehn chickens out. This year, I'd told Krystle about it beforehand, and she really wanted to go up. Jehn said she'd go with her, but ultimately she chickened out again! So when this part of the show started, Krystle wasn't going to go -- she didn't want to go by herself. Having only about twenty seconds to convince her, I went for the Tough Love approach -- I told her that this was her one opportunity to sort-of-kind-of "meet" Gary Sinise, and if she didn't do it it was on her head and she better not gripe about it.
She went onstage.
Jehn risked the wrath of the Very Mean Security Guard to snap a photo as Krystle was leaving the stage.
Above: Krystle really gets her photo taken with Gary. :D
Krystle was giddy when she got back to her seat. She said a lot of the women on stage were REALLY fangirly, but she was proud of herself for only saying, "It's an honour to meet you. I think you're fantastic." She only wanted to shake Gary's hand, but he pulled her into a hug.
I was also giddy when Krystle was onstage. So happy for her! Aaaand I noticed that she kept watching the back riser where the background singers stand (Gary hides up there to escape the fangirls) and that Jeff, who was singing backup on that song, kept looking at her. A lot. When she got back to the seat, she said that Jeff winked at her. TWICE.
JEFF THE HOTNESS VEZAIN WINKED AT MY BABY NIECE.
During the traditional "bring a man onstage during 'Natural Woman'", New Blonde Girl was really good. Very sweet with him. I felt my black proprietary heart melting toward her at that moment. I was almost going to start calling her Julie. Then later in the show she had the audacity to sing "Rock N Roll", which COME ON, and I went back to hating her again. Stupid New Blonde Girl.
Overall, everybody sounded great, and at the end of the show Jehn snuck out the camera in an attempt to get a group shot. The Very Mean Security Guard spotted her and yelled, "You! No!" I think perhaps she thought Jehn was a dog who piddled on the sofa? Jehn, bless her, kind of snorted and said "Whatever", and took the shot.
Above: New Blonde Girl, Kimo, Beth (on drums), Gina, and a teeny bit of Jeff
Thanks Jehn and Krystle for a fabulous night!
It was right back to Niagara Falls the next night for the second show, this time with Jen of the Awesome Fabulouness.
We got into Niagara Falls a little later, so there was no time for food or shopping. There was, however, time for photos! When we were driving in the car I told Jen that she reminded me of the dark haired girl in The Matrix (it was the sunglasses), so I made her bring the glasses inside for a photo op.
Above: Jen, not actually looking very Matrix-y, but the glasses still remind me of it!
This nice man saw us taking the photo and asked if he would like us to take one of the two of us together. OF COURSE WE WOULD.
Above: Me and Jen, pre-Jeffness.
I wanted to get a shot of the inside of the casino lobby -- I am always thinking in scrapbooking terms these days, and it's like "oh, I need a random location shot" -- so I stepped back to get a longer view. The man that took our photo saw me and started waving! By the time I snapped the shot he had stopped, but he's the guy in the dark jacket sitting beside the woman in the pink top/white vest. Hee!
Above: The casino lobby, and our photographer.
I have no balls when it comes to Very Mean Security Guards, so I didn't take any photos during the show.
I have to say, though, that the show was AWESOME on the second night. New Blonde Girl only sang twice, which is always a bonus. Gina sounded PHENOMENAL -- she was looking VERY sick by the end of Friday's show... there was one point where she and Jeff were up doing the backing vocals, and they always have these elaborate little "moves", and Jeff was doing his dance moves and Gina was barely managing to stand upright. So it was great to see her back on her game on Saturday.
And Jeff was a fireball of energy up there! He was swinging the hair and dancing and literally JUMPING around on the stage. He got his song back ("Rock N Roll") and KICKED ASS, as well as doing all the songs he'd done the previous night. AAAAND... okay, there is this little hip movement staccato pelvic thrust thing that Jeff does that was sadly missing from his repertoire on Friday night. And on Saturday, he did it. Three times.
He did it with such enthusiasm that at one point, he knocked his own mic pack off.
Yes, I am rather obsessed with that Patented Jeff Pelvic Thrust. YOU WOULD BE TOO IF YOU SAW IT.
We had a fantastic time. Thank you, Jen, for seeing the show with me and for being such an awesome friend!
So now the band probably won't be back till next year. I can't wait. Oh! And Jehn has video! I just need to get it. :D
... and now my crazy New York trip is now less than two weeks away.
I love my life. :)
Jehn, Krystle and I headed out early because we didn't want to be stuck driving through a tornado like 2006. Usually Jehn attends Day Two of the Lt. Dan Weekend Extravaganza, but this year she is running the Around The Bay Race (30K -- I would die) on Sunday, so we switched it up and she came to Fridays show. This was Krystle's first time seeing the hotness of Jeff Vezain. Luckily, we made it to the venue unscathed.
Above: Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls
Since we were there so early we had time to grab a bite to eat, and do a little shopping. Jehn found a wallet that she loved (but that apparently smelled really disgusting... not that I could tell because I stuck my nose RIGHT INSIDE THE PURSE and still cannot smell a single thing. Man, I hope the new meds I'm on start working soon.) Krystle bought a small black purse simply because she needed something to put her cell phone and wallet in. She got a good deal though, so I couldn't really purse-chastise her. ;)
Before we went into the Avalon Ballroom, Krystle wanted her photo taken with Gary.
Above: Krystle with Gary. Sort of. Little did we know this was just a prequel to the main event. :D
The show was really good. Started out with the usual clips from Forrest Gump. The music starts up for "Uptight". Gary comes onstage to lots of cheers. And we are on the edge of our seats anticipating the singers. Last year, Jeff shocked the hell out of us by cutting his long gorgeous beautiful hair. What would he do this year?
So here they come. New Blonde Girl. Gina. And Jeff.
JEFF LOOKING THE BEST HE HAS EVER LOOKED IN HIS LIFE.
Above: Jeff Vezain. GOOD LORD.
So yeah, now Jeff has a sort of "Keith Urban"-ish 'do, but it's a little more layered and it looks fabulous. Crisis averted!
But alas, no Mary Anne! I don't know if she's left the band or what. But apparently New Blonde Girl is here to stay.
Now about three songs into the show they always do "Lady Marmalade", where Gina and Mary Anne New Blonde Girl go into the audience to get women to be "background dancers". Every year, Jehn says she wants to do it. Every year, Jehn chickens out. This year, I'd told Krystle about it beforehand, and she really wanted to go up. Jehn said she'd go with her, but ultimately she chickened out again! So when this part of the show started, Krystle wasn't going to go -- she didn't want to go by herself. Having only about twenty seconds to convince her, I went for the Tough Love approach -- I told her that this was her one opportunity to sort-of-kind-of "meet" Gary Sinise, and if she didn't do it it was on her head and she better not gripe about it.
She went onstage.
Jehn risked the wrath of the Very Mean Security Guard to snap a photo as Krystle was leaving the stage.
Above: Krystle really gets her photo taken with Gary. :D
Krystle was giddy when she got back to her seat. She said a lot of the women on stage were REALLY fangirly, but she was proud of herself for only saying, "It's an honour to meet you. I think you're fantastic." She only wanted to shake Gary's hand, but he pulled her into a hug.
I was also giddy when Krystle was onstage. So happy for her! Aaaand I noticed that she kept watching the back riser where the background singers stand (Gary hides up there to escape the fangirls) and that Jeff, who was singing backup on that song, kept looking at her. A lot. When she got back to the seat, she said that Jeff winked at her. TWICE.
JEFF THE HOTNESS VEZAIN WINKED AT MY BABY NIECE.
During the traditional "bring a man onstage during 'Natural Woman'", New Blonde Girl was really good. Very sweet with him. I felt my black proprietary heart melting toward her at that moment. I was almost going to start calling her Julie. Then later in the show she had the audacity to sing "Rock N Roll", which COME ON, and I went back to hating her again. Stupid New Blonde Girl.
Overall, everybody sounded great, and at the end of the show Jehn snuck out the camera in an attempt to get a group shot. The Very Mean Security Guard spotted her and yelled, "You! No!" I think perhaps she thought Jehn was a dog who piddled on the sofa? Jehn, bless her, kind of snorted and said "Whatever", and took the shot.
Above: New Blonde Girl, Kimo, Beth (on drums), Gina, and a teeny bit of Jeff
Thanks Jehn and Krystle for a fabulous night!
It was right back to Niagara Falls the next night for the second show, this time with Jen of the Awesome Fabulouness.
We got into Niagara Falls a little later, so there was no time for food or shopping. There was, however, time for photos! When we were driving in the car I told Jen that she reminded me of the dark haired girl in The Matrix (it was the sunglasses), so I made her bring the glasses inside for a photo op.
Above: Jen, not actually looking very Matrix-y, but the glasses still remind me of it!
This nice man saw us taking the photo and asked if he would like us to take one of the two of us together. OF COURSE WE WOULD.
Above: Me and Jen, pre-Jeffness.
I wanted to get a shot of the inside of the casino lobby -- I am always thinking in scrapbooking terms these days, and it's like "oh, I need a random location shot" -- so I stepped back to get a longer view. The man that took our photo saw me and started waving! By the time I snapped the shot he had stopped, but he's the guy in the dark jacket sitting beside the woman in the pink top/white vest. Hee!
Above: The casino lobby, and our photographer.
I have no balls when it comes to Very Mean Security Guards, so I didn't take any photos during the show.
I have to say, though, that the show was AWESOME on the second night. New Blonde Girl only sang twice, which is always a bonus. Gina sounded PHENOMENAL -- she was looking VERY sick by the end of Friday's show... there was one point where she and Jeff were up doing the backing vocals, and they always have these elaborate little "moves", and Jeff was doing his dance moves and Gina was barely managing to stand upright. So it was great to see her back on her game on Saturday.
And Jeff was a fireball of energy up there! He was swinging the hair and dancing and literally JUMPING around on the stage. He got his song back ("Rock N Roll") and KICKED ASS, as well as doing all the songs he'd done the previous night. AAAAND... okay, there is this little hip movement staccato pelvic thrust thing that Jeff does that was sadly missing from his repertoire on Friday night. And on Saturday, he did it. Three times.
He did it with such enthusiasm that at one point, he knocked his own mic pack off.
Yes, I am rather obsessed with that Patented Jeff Pelvic Thrust. YOU WOULD BE TOO IF YOU SAW IT.
We had a fantastic time. Thank you, Jen, for seeing the show with me and for being such an awesome friend!
So now the band probably won't be back till next year. I can't wait. Oh! And Jehn has video! I just need to get it. :D
... and now my crazy New York trip is now less than two weeks away.
I love my life. :)