12.19.11 Chris Botti @ The Blue Note - New York, NY

Botti doesn't disappoint

Once again Chris Botti subdues his crowd into a jazz coma. And I mean that in a good way. He's got some new peeps on this one, save Billy Kilson & Lisa Fischer. Geoffrey Keezer on the piano, Assia Ahhatt from the Ukraine on violin, Carlitos Del Puerto on bass and (after much guesswork and google, I think) Leonardo Amuedo on guitar.

Venice

When I Fall In Love

Emmanuel

Flamenco Sketches

You Are Not Alone

Hallelujah

Look of Love

The Very Thought of You

Italia

Indian Summer

My Funny Valentine

The 10.30p crowd

You just can't beat the Blue Note for jazz. It's easily the most intimate music joint around. Unpretentious, friendly and entirely New York. As I was standing outside with the 10.30p crowd waiting to get in, Greenwich Villagers walked by saying, "Someone good must be playing tonight." It was a perfect NYC night. Not too cold, no wind, overcast. After seeing a half-dozen Botti shows I will never again see him without an orchestra or outside of the Blue Note. He's good but once you hear him with the backing of strings, horns & reeds, there is no comparison. The Blue Note is the only place that can rival the monumental feel of an orchestra - because it's so intimate. If your only option is to see Botti with just his band - go. But if you can hop a flight an hour to see him with an orchestra or in NYC over Christmas, it's worth the trip.

Mussels @ Barrio 47

Before hitting the Blue Note I drop by Barrio 47 in the West Village. I say West Village like I know the place when in truth I'm a lost soul in NYC. But that's the fun part, discovering. My pal & COO of Golden Boy Promotions David and his wife Kim's brother-in-law owns the joint. I had a couple drinks and the mussels. Yummy. It's a tiny place (albeit normal for NY) but adorable. I highly recomend. It's on the corner of 8th & West 4th.

My seat

Around 10.45p I make my way into the Blue Note. Table 7 on the end. Perfect. Great angle and I was on the isle. I couldn't have picked a better seat. The girl across from me was telling our table-mates how she was there for the 8.00p show. Kinda went on about the show, seemingly showing off her knowledge of Botti. "He does an homage to Miles Davis," she says. While I love exposing people to CB and my journeys, when hearing about my Year of Botti, it comes out as borderline stalking. So I kept my mouth shut.

Jeremy Plotnikoff, Botti's tour manager is doing his thing, setting up the stage, checking the drums. He walks by me and gives me a little kiss on the top of my head, "Hi Amy." I feel kind of like an ass that he recognized me, like I was just busted but it's sweet. I look over and see Bobby Colomby, Botti's manager, with some peeps on the upper level. He looks like he is having a good time. Hard not to at this show. Good gig repping Botti.

The sound quality at the Blue Note
is amazing. 

I order a bottle of my favorite wine, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and sit back to enjoy. I'm actually surprised they have it. The Blue Note, while wildly popular for jazz is not know as a culinary or vinous mecca. 

He opens not with his normal Ave Maria 90 second note-hold but instead with Venice. It's a little more upbeat. Better with the Latin feel of Carlitos and Leonardo. 

Assia Ahhatt pops up in her gown for Emmanuel. She's dark & mysterious. The kind of woman who is beautiful but a little scary, who might lock you in cel with whips & chains, and you'd like it. Very Lucy Lawless a la Xena, Princess Warrior. God I hope she doesn't google herself and find this blog. I have a feeling she could kick the shit out of me.

Botti & band

One of the best surprises was Botti's rendition of Michael Jackson's You Are Not Alone with Leonardo. So soulful but subtle. It was by far my favorite song of the night, might be my favorite, to date. He mentioned at the m&g this song would be on the new album. If all the other songs sucked I'd still pay $14.95 for that song alone. Yeah, Ms. Zoffee actually got teary-eyed but I blame the Chateauneuf and the wafting musk of someone near me. I don't cry. At least not that you know.

About 1/2 way thru the set I look behind me at the bar. It's packed. Packed! I am surprised that it's that crowded at 11.00p on a Monday night. It's a testament to Botti's drawing power. Even though he's doing a 2+ week stint at the Blue Note, NYC can't get enough of him. There were a couple of empty seats at the table on the side behind the stage but that's about it. Earlier in his run the tickets are a little cheaper than later. I paid more for my wine that the ticket.

Lisa Fischer belts it out

Lisa Fischer belts out Look of Love. It's one of my favorite songs but honestly when Botti & Fischer perform it, I think it's too fast. I've said that before so my critique is no surprise. Better slower. It's like they can't keep up with their own pace. Rushing. But to each his own. I'm sure most people love it. I'm just a whiny, ungrateful bitch. 

Fischer has an amazing range. It's shown off by Italia, better known sung by Andrea Bocelli. It's not my favorite on the setlist but still brings a standing ovation by some in the crowd. She's so beautiful & talented. I've seen her in that dress before and all I can think of is, she's got to have on Spanks because there isn't a body part out of place! Ah, the things girls notice.

Cicely Tyson's birthday

Guest star of the night, Cicely Tyson. She is so tiny. Great looking lady, spunky. Botti gave a very warm welcome and we all sang Happy Birthday while the manager brought her a cake. Hard to tell by the pic but that's her in the back.

The night ended with My Funny Valentine. It was a short set but packed with energy and emotional tones. Botti caps off the evening by greeting his guests upstairs with pictures and autographs. There are probably 25 people up there. I wait about 10 minutes and Botti takes a photo with yours truly. After, Jeremy asks me about my buddy Mick Treadwell. I have a feeling Micky chatted me up a bit more than I deserved. Jeremy is a kind soul, warm smile. I have no idea how he handles the traveling schedule but kudos to him. What a way to see the world, 10-fold.

I head back to the Washington Square Hotel for a couple hours sleep before hopping on a flight back to Vegas & my haunt at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. God WSG has great sheets & robes. Short trip. Perfect trip. City to city 27 hours. I'm typing this on my MacBook Air and am glad to see Delta has  an outlet because I've only got 41 minutes of power left. Too bad both outlets in my row don't work. Bastard. Where's an ethernet cord when I need it. (End note: the flight attendant fixed it; he turned on the outlet. Jackpot! I'm glad I asked.)

The Year of Botti

My Year of Botti has come to a close; bookends at the Blue Note. I had an amazing time and am so grateful I had the means, time and opportunity for this spectacular journey. In the end I learned to appreciate my life much more than I could ever appreciate the sounds from Botti's trumpet but then that was the goal - find truth in myself thru music. Thanks to the many restaurants, hotels, plane rides, cabs, bars, symphony halls & concert venues who took such great care of me along the way. And to Chris, Jeremy, Billy, Mark and the entire Botti crew, thank you for a sensational trip. I owe you one. Cheers. -Amy

So I realize this post is incredibly late but... well, no one reads it anyhow so fuck off.

The Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight was epic - or so I've been told. I was drunkety-drunk drunk drunk. Not terribly but enough to not really care about the actual fight.

I got tot work around noon, pretty normal for me on fight day. I don't need to be there any earlier unless some idiot sponsor is hounding me, in which case I don't actually come in, I have my Savior Dave Westbrook handle it! But on this day, Dave was bored out of his gourd. He may not like days like this but I LOVE them!

So I get in around noon-ish (which anyone who knows me really means 1.00p-ish. I'm usually pretty prompt but when it comes to coming into work unless I'm picking up the boss-man Dan Quinn for lunch, my + and - is 60 minutes.

Nothing exciting going on but there's a different kind of spring in my step today. Big time fight days are always fun for me. The entire week. It's where I came from. It's full of the ridiculous characters that make up my professional past. Love (and despise) them!

So the day goes on like any other fight day. Anthem rehearsals, HBO tech check, NVAC pow wow. But today for  me, personally, is a little more special. Tequila-guy is supposed to show up. Now let me preface this by saying, I get tickets for lots of people. Tickets for shows that have been sold out for months, tickets that no one can get, but I have them. So I have 4 top price tics for Tequila-guy. Let me be clear: he NEVER asked me for them. I offered them up. I offered them up about 3 days prior. So come Saturday around 6.00p-ish I don't hear from him so I shoot him a text. "Not to be a nag but are you coming tonight? If not I need to unload these 4 tics." He responds something like he's sorry but he's got food poisoning. Whatever. So you're either puking or shitting. Still you can take 60 sec to send me a goddamn text to let me know you won't be needing the $5,000 in tics that I'm holding for you. Asshole. But I digress.

So I get doors open at 3.00p. It's not that I'm a control freak and have the need to do this on time; more so I want to relax and hang with the Brain Trust (Trubes, DQ & Zippy). Around 6ish Big Rod comes over. His birthday is only a couple days away so I'm especially attentive. He finally parks in his special spot I always hold for him next to the building (which much to my dismay he doesn't do for me @ Mandalay!) and we head to Fiamma.

We get to Fiamma and 

11.07.11 Pacquiao vs. Marquez Arrivals @ MGM Grand - Las Vegas, NV

Team Marquez Arrives

And so it begins. Fight week at the MGM Grand. Pacquiao vs. Marquez. Here we go...

Today we had the first of 2 arrivals. Juan Manuel Marquez arrived almost on time (around 12.10ish) in the signature Top Rank wrapped bus with the fight art and Marquez's name plastered around it 360 degrees. 

Great public turnout

As I've mentioned in posts past, the arrivals aren't really a true "arrival." Most times the fighter has already been on site for a day or 2 or isn't even staying at the MGM. (Pacquiao for example loves our sister property, Mandalay Bay so he stays there when he fights in Vegas.) The arrivals are a media event staged for the press & the public to hype the fight. Normally we do both main event fighters in one day but for whatever reason the promoter wanted to split the days: Marquez arriving today, Pacquiao arriving tomorrow. Not a big deal; just a pain in the ass operationally because what we normally do in one day we have to do twice. But such is the life of working under other people's direction. 

Mariachis!

I was surprised at the public turnout for Marquez actually. For a Monday we prob had a couple hundred people lined up around the barricade in the lobby of the MGM Grand. Looked great. Nelson Valdez had his Mariachi band set up like clockwork. Those guys are very fun, playful. Hard workers too. Until I came to Vegas & worked the fight game I never knew how in demand mariachi bands were. Who knew? Then again I am from the Twin Cities where our version of Mexican is Taco Bell. (Ok that was harsh but you get the point.)

Nacho Beristain doing an interview

The whole thing didn't take very long, maybe 35 minutes? Marquez did his interviews in the ring with various media outlets. Nacho Beristain, Marquez's trainer did his thing too. He looked more bored than anything. I don't think this kind of hoopla is up his alley. 

Bob Arum, the Bob-Father

Then there's the Bob-Father, Bob Arum. Not sure who coined that but it's an awesome nickname. Who knows, he may hate it but if you've read anything about Bob, it's pretty accurate. He's the master of promotion. I don't know Bob personally and although I'm sure he recognizes me as someone who works for the Grand Garden he doesn't know me from Adam. But I've been around this game long enough to know he's one of the smartest men around. Manipulative? Sure but I think that's a skill, a gift. I often consider myself to be pretty good at manipulation too. Certainly not even close to his level but I do ok. In my eyes manipulation is just another way of saying you're good at persuasion, or as my new twitter pal Chris Saldana calls it "Signs of a leader!" 

Lobby of MGM for Marquez arrival

All in all a pretty uneventful event. Next up Manny Pacquiao's arrival. Tomorrow. Same time, same bat channel only there will prob be a couple hundred more people there hoping to get an autograph, a photo or a simple glimpse of the Congressman. Hope to see some of you there too!

Time To Say Goodbye

While The Year of Botti is technically over (no more Botti concerts on the horizon) a couple people have reminded me (thanks @jerkstore23) that Botti isn't the only topic I've covered on my blog. So I'm gonna try and go back to writing about my take on the the shows at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. I'm sure I'll do the occasional rant about my idiotic love life (after all I am still me) but I'll try and keep it to a minimum. 

Up next we have Pacquiao vs. Marquez III. "Grand" arrivals being tomorrow with Juan Manuel Marquez live in the lobby of the MGM Grand @ noon. Pacquiao makes his entrance Tuesday @ noon. Presser is on Wednesday @ noon but only open to credentialed media. The weigh in is Friday with doors @ 1.00p; fighters hit the scale around 3.00p. Pacquiao & Marquez weigh ins will be live on ESPN. I think the hit is at 3.15p-ish so if you can't make it to the Grand Garden tune into ESPN. We're also playing it live in the sportsbook. The fight is Saturday night. Doors to the arena are at 3.00p. Undercard fights start around 3.05p-ish. We go live on HBO PPV at 6.00p. There are 3 PPV undercard fights before the main event. 

The Year of Botti was a blast and a great experiment but as with everything it too has ended. Thanks for the great adventure CB. But for now it's Time To Say Goodbye. 

10.08.11 Chris Botti @ Green Valley Ranch - Las Vegas, NV

Ditching out on my show in the MGM Grand Garden Arena tonight to see my last Year of Botti show. Screw Journey, Foreigner & Night Ranger. This is Botti in MY town! :)

If you're in Vegas and like 80s rock, head to MGM Grand Garden Arena. If you've got class, style & taste, head to Green Valley Ranch for Chris Botti. Tweet me & say hi @amyzopfi.

10.01.11 Kings vs. Avalanche @ MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

Kings arrive. Boys in suits! 

Just realized it's been a long time since I've posted. Lots of stuff happening in my personal life but no one but me cares so I'll try and back-post the events since Groban.

The past weekend we had the boys of hockey. The LA Kings vs. the CO Avalanche. I actually hate hockey as a sport. Zzzz. And I'm from Minnesota so I realize that's sacrilegious but man, do I LOVE the hockey players. Those boys are beautiful human specimens... and the best part, they arrive and depart in suits. Good suits. And they're so polite.

The guys from the Kings exec office are great to work with too. Every year it's a pleasure. No coincidence their home is Staples Center, my 2nd favorite venue on earth. Of course the MGM Grand Garden Arena is #1. They direct deposit money into my account twice a month. 

The team making ice.

Sprinkler-thingy.

Once of the coolest things is to watch them make ice. We went from on of the biggest nights in music history with iHeart Radio the weekend before to freezing water and driving Zambonis @ the arena. We have a system in the concrete floor that chills it enough to freeze water. We have this sprinkler-type thingy (yep, that's the technical term) with white paint mixed in and they just spray it along the perimeter of the dashers and work inward. Much like the route the Zamboni takes. Couple of layers of that, then they paint on the logos, then more ice. In total it takes about 4 days for us. 

George Bennett on the ice

Look closely. See the cracks?

1 perk of my job is access & having fun when I can so I brought George Bennett in to play on the ice. 1st mistake, I walk out onto the ice with him IN heels. Yeah, I didn't think that one through. I take 2 steps and c-r-a-c-k! My heel dug in and a series of massive spider cracks split the ice just as if I walked out onto Lake Calhoun in spring in Minneapolis. I freaked out. I thought for sure I screwed up the ice and Matthew Ball, our resident ice guru would hate me. But the damage was already done so I tried to get George Bennett to play. He had no interest. The hair on his paws were sticking to the ice. It was funny. Anyhow, turns out the ice cracks all the time. We have to keep it so cold that it is prone to cracking. They fix it before the game. Whew. Crisis averted. But in my apologetic email trail they managed to fuck with me and tell me they'd have to start all over. I love my guys. Wouldn't be any fun if they didn't fuck with me. 

I wanna drive a Zamboni...

So meanwhile, as we're doing hockey in the arena, we're also doing a boxing event in the Marquee Ballroom at the same time. Luckily hockey and boxing are manageable or I'd be out of my mind. There's only 1 of me and it's hard to be in 2 places at once. I'll post Nishioka vs. Marquez separately. 

And on top of it all, my big brother David came into town for a couple hours. He flew in from the Twin Cities for 8 hours, primarily just to accumulate miles but also to have dinner with his favorite (only) sister. So after getting doors open for boxing and then hockey, I meet him at my Happy Place, Seablue and we had a great night of goodies.

We love the hockey fans!

Next up @ the Grand Garden is Journey with Foreigner and Night Ranger but Chris Botti is playing @ Green Valley Ranch the same night so the plan is to get doors open for Journey, head to GVR for Botti and head back to the arena to close the show. That's the plan anyhow. It's the end to the Year of Botti so I hope nothing goes wrong at the arena or I'm hauling my ass to Phoenix to see him @ Danny Zelisko's joint with Mick Treadwell. I'd actually go just to see Mick and skip Botti. Love Mick. To death. 

Not sure what I'm gonna call this blog after the Year of Botti is done but I'll think of something. Or maybe it will just have to remain the Year or Botti. I kinda like the sound of it. And his music really did inspire me to travel, live and forgive. All things worthy of a girl's blog title. 

08.20.11 Josh Groban @ MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

Crowd at intermission

Tonight we have Josh Groban and Elew (Eric Lewis) in the house. I like Josh's music. Honestly, never heard of Elew but kinda excited to check him out. Kind of a jazzy funky artist. We'll see. We just opened the doors about 30 minutes ago and the crowd is moving in slowly. We're expecting a little over 6k tonight which isn't a huge crowd but the arena feels nice and intimate with the drapes up. 

Groban picking people out of the
audience

Earlier in the day I was out backstage when Josh arrived with his dog Sweeney I think. Much like most artists he nonchalantly headed off his tour bus and headed to the dressing room. Later while he was on stage doing his sound check I walked down the dressing room hallway and saw the pooch. His assistant was throwing a rope toy down the hall. I asked if I could pet him, and she said, "Sure." He's a cute dog. Of course, can't compare to George Bennett but dogs, like kids, we all think ours is the best. 

It's 7.10p now. The meet & greeters are getting ready to head back by my office for their big pic with Josh. We've got several casino guests who are a part of it so my guys are giving them a little VIP treatment, escorting them back. I'll pop out to say hi and make sure everything is fine. It's more just face time for me. My guys run this building better than anyone. That's why I can step aside and let them do their thing. I'm NOT a micro-manager. I hire people who can do the job and then step back to let them DO their job. Otherwise, what the hell's the point. 

Elew rocking the ivories

M&G went well. A little debacle with a casino guest canceling but word never trickled down to us. Oh well. I spoke to the guest and he was all good. Just another day of jumping thru hoops. 

Elew was cool. Different that what I expected. All instrumental. He rocked contemporary music and laid in the occasional "Peanuts" theme and the like. 

Groban hits in about 10 minutes. I'll stick around for the 1st song or 2 then I'm off for dinner upstairs. I told Alison I'd head to Nob Hill but I should prob stay a little closer to home so I'll prob hit Seablue instead. Never a bad thing to hit Seablue.

Groban singing Broken Vow

Got back to the arena around 1030ish, just in time to hear a bit of Machine and then my fav Groban tune Broken Vow. Truth be told it's only my fav because of Chris Botti. I heard it first on Botti's Live from Boston show on PBS. In my current heartbroken state, yes, tears came to my eyes. Luckily I was sitting in an empty row in the back of the floor and it was dark so no one could see my eyes well up, but yeah, they did. I miss Counselor. The wound is still fresh. He has probably moved on, not even thinking a thing about me but it still hurts. I might need more than a week to get thru this one. Anyhow, back to Groban.

Groban with the 'couch' gag

He is definitely engaging with the audience. He's much like Buble & Botti in that respect. Love that about these kinds of performers. Makes the show so much more personal. 

Last song is coming up soon. He's doing a "runner" which means he goes directly from the stage to his car or in this case his tour bus. We LOVE runners because it means they're not hanging out in the dressing rooms and we can clear out our staff. Nothing worse than after parties when we have to stay for 2 hours after the event because the bands wanna party. Now days that rarely happens but because we're Vegas it happens more often than most venues. I guess you take the good with the bad.

All in all a good night. It might have been great but I'm in a funk so I should prob have waited a week or so before posting this but I wanted to get words down while they were fresh in my mind. I'll prob go back and edit out the poor-Amy parts later but for now, to all, goodnight. 

Groban Set List

Straight To You

Changing Colors

February Song

You Are Loved

Oceano

Alejate

Bells of NYC

Higher Window

Alla Luce

War At Home

Live and Let Die

Voce Overture

Voce

Falileo

Wandering Kind

If I Walk Away

Weeping

Machine

Broken Vow

Per Te

Play Me

You Raise Me Up

I'm Alone Again

I'm Alone Again. Completely alone. Even my temporary roommate has moved out. After 4 months of living a way-too-good-to-be-true lifestyle I've come back down to earth. It really was too good to be true - or at least too good to sustain. But it was true. I lived every minute of it. From the Tequila-man to the secret guy to Counselor - every minute of it. But the one I'm sad about losing is Counselor.

Counselor's gone. I'm heartbroken, regretful, humiliated and wiser. I knew this ending was inevitable, I was just hoping for a different one. He made it crystal clear I should stop hoping. Yeah, life goes on. I mean we've all got 2 choices when faced with pain: either blow your goddamn head off or move on. I've gotten over him before, I think I can do it again, and he won't likely be the last one. It just sucks being that dumb girl. It ain't so fun.

I'm giving myself 7 days to cry, bawl & feel sorry for myself. Then I'm back to doing what I should: living. I'd like to be angry and say I wasted the past 4 months on this asshole but in all honesty, in the aggregate, I had more fun with him (and the others) in the past 4 months than I had in the whole year prior. He's a good guy at heart. I'm just damaged and I miss him. But I've learned a lot about myself and about what makes me happy and about what I need in a relationship - friendship or otherwise. And I can't be upset about that.  

In the words of my dear friend Burt Watson, "Right decisions don't come easy." 

07.14.11 Chris Botti @ Davies Symphony Hall - San Francisco, CA

Botti & Whitfield: Hallelujah

Another fantastic show. Botti and his crew lay it on the line every night when they entertain the masses.

By the time I got to Davies Symphony Hall I was toasty. Dinner at Bourbon Steak in the Westin St. Francis courtesy of my friends at Seablue. Note to self: wine flights are never a good idea before a show, Botti or otherwise. But let's avoid stating the obvious. It's so gauche.

Davies Hall is lovely. It was a perfect summer day in San Francisco. Still light out. I wish I'd taken a pic of the square where the Symphony is located. Old, austere buildings a la NYC. So beautiful. Makes me wish I didn't live in the adult Disneyworld called Vegas. Oh well. That's what travel is for. I arrived around 7.30ish. Lots of people milling about. I think there was a show at the Opera House too. Once again the average age was prob 50. SF has a higher class crowd than at any other place I've been. Lots of money roaming around here. It felt liberally snooty but not stuffy.

The lobby of Davies Symphony Hall

I get my print at home ticket scanned and head up the stairs to the bar. Yeah, not a good idea but it's already too late. Bubbles. $11 per glass. Not bad actually but I've got Vegas mentality. No drinky inside the hall though so down the hatch it goes.

I head to my seat. Yeah, it's good. No idea how I got it but I did. Front row, end of the row, house right - directly in front of the stairs they walked down to head to the audience. The only downside of my seat is that I can't really see the orchestra in full. The loge would have been better. Walking the stage doing his checks is Botti's tour manager, Jeremy Plotnikoff. I think he patted me on the head as he walked up the stairs.

Me with Billy Kilson

I nestle in and the orchestra starts taking their seats. Then out walks Billy Kilson & Mark Whitfield. They're chatting. I have lots of liquid courage in me so I scrunch my finger at Billy to come hither. He does. I ask him if he'll take a pic with me. He obliges. What a doll. He doesn't hang out to sign or take pics after the show so I'm pretty happy I got this. Mark is warming up 5 feet in front of me. I snap a pic of him too. "At least let me know so I can pose," he says. Or something like that. I snap another one. Good man. Thanks for humoring me. He doesn't do the lobby-dance either so double coup.

Whitfield goofing around

The show was much like the rest - and I mean that in a completely complimentary way. I know some people have seen his show upwards of 50-100x. I'm at like 4 I think and it never gets old. The familiarity is comforting. Even his banter, much the same, is charming. I think that's a testament to how good his music is. Like an old standard you can listen to over and over and never tire of it. You hear different nuances, tones, each time. Yeah, I'm sure Botti and band get bored playing the same shit over and over, night after night, but you wouldn't know it. Occasionally Kilson's face can't hide his boredom but that's his charm. And you simply cannot beat the backing of a live orchestra. The fullness. It's like Thanksgiving Dinner. The food can be perfect on its own but when you add the laughter of family, that's what fills the soul. That's what the orchestra does for Botti. His band alone is excellent but add the orchestra and you've got a layer that surrounds the room with goodness.

A couple of surprises. Once in particular. Tonight it wasn't Caroline Campbell or Aurica Duca on the fiddle. It was Lucia Micarelli of Treme fame. Holy shit. Very cool. She's got a much different presence on stage than the other 2 women I've seen play with Botti. Hard to explain. She's more seductive, richer. The other gals can play the violin like nobody's business but Lucia brings more theatre and drama to the stage. Prob why she's a musician turned actress.

Botti on the floor

Lisa Fischer heads out and I take this opportunity to make a beeline for the loo. I know it's not good taste but I had to go. No way I could sit thru her song and not pee my pants. Poor timing. I know. Before I head back in I hear one of the ushers say something about intermission. I've been to enough shows to know it's coming soon so I wait. I don't want to make a scene by going in while they're performing. It was bad enough I made my exit when I did. I did have a fun conversation with the staff there though. It's fun for me to talk shop with other venue kids around the country. It was funny, the bartender was complaining that they weren't on schedule for the intermission. "They're 20 min late," he says. For the patrons, we don't care. But for him this is a job. I get it kid. I'm the same way. When McCartney is on stage and deviates from his set list all I can think about is him doing a runner off the stage and into his caravan, I wanna go home.

The 'young' musician

I head back in for the second half. Great. Botti does the snaps with Lisa on The Very Thought of You and is right next to me just like in St. Louis. Again, I'm continually amazed I was able to just purchase this front row seat online. I come from the world of massive promoter & casino holds, VIP ticket packages and all the other bullshit that steals excellent seats like this from average people. It's one of the great things about Botti but also a testament to his niche. He's big enough to sell out 200 shows a year (or whatever) but not too big to fall prey to the promotion-monster. Good boy. Keep it that way and you'll keep your fan base.

At some point Botti asks if there are any young musicians in the audience. A guy yells out from the loge behind me, "I am." Botti chides, "How old are you?" I think the guys said, "37." He was old, almost my age. Kinda funny. Anyhow, he was the chosen one for the Nessun drum assist. He was actually funny. Not as funny as Joann the "Amen, hallelujah, praise Jesus" gal in St. Louis, but still good. He made the gag work. In hindsight given the average age of the audience, he was a kid.

Me & Botti

Show's over so time to head to the lobby for the money shot. Proof positive I am actually at another Botti show and can continue this ridiculous blog. His autograph line was pretty long. It moved quickly though. The group who stuck around after for a pic was much smaller, usually is. Botti was a trooper, put up with my drunken shenanigans and pursed his lips for a pic with me. Lovely chap. His right hand man Jeremy was good for putting up with me too.

Botti hits Vegas in October, just before my birthday. I've already got my team working on it. I've got some good friends in high places. At least for this show I get to take friends so they can hear the sounds of Botti's crew. I have an invite to head to the Phoenix show the next day but I'd end up hanging with Mick all night instead of watching the show, and truthfully, I'm not sure his tour manager wants to see me hanging backstage with the promoter. Those two worlds colliding would prob make him uncomfortable.

So the Vegas October date may be the end of The Year of Botti. Not sure what the hell I'm gonna call this blog after but I'll figure it out. 

07.14.11 Bourbon Steak - San Francisco, CA

So here we go. Next stop on the year of Botti is San Francisco with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. When I originally booked this I was supposed to have a fight on Saturday so I planned on a short trip. 26 hours. I prob should stay in SF a litle longer and explore the city but truthfully I kinda just wanna see Botti and get home. But I'm going to try and relax, forget about my adolescent bachelor-type behavior for the past 7 days and just live in the moment.

Somehow when I went online to purchase the ticket I got front row center, house right. Perfect. Not sure how that happened. Maybe just smart luck. I'm excited to see another Botti concert with an orchestra. When he's here in Vegas @ GVR he's just with the band. Still a good show but you can't beat the sound of him backed by strings, horns and reeds. Simply amazing. Full. I've seen enough shows to know he doesn't disappoint. Although sometimes he's off his game a little, or the audience doesn't connect. Then the show is still good but lacks that spark that keeps you coming back for more. Can't wait for the chills with the snaps on The Very Thought Of You.

I'm sitting at gate D36 at LAS. We're a couple minutes from boarding the short jaunt. I miss traveling. I miss the rush of an upgrade, of anonymous glances, everyone wondering what everyone else is doing. I'm connecting thru LAX to SFO. Yeah, I prob could have booked a direct flight on a discount carrier but my miles are all on Delta and I'm still a travel snob. I'll go 3 hours out of my way if it means I can get the upgrade, even on a 1 hour flight. It's more about the access it gives you thru the airport than on the plane. And I like the solitude and isolation of being on a plane. It's like a moment trapped in time. You can't go anywhere so you might as well sit back, relax and enjoy the time to think about all the things you want to do in life. To dream.

People are leaving Vegas for home. I'm leaving my home from Vegas. People counting their money, recounting their tales of their lame-ass version of The Hangover. Most prob had a good time. I'm sure some have regrets of cheating on their wives, losing more money than they can afford and just want to get back to reality. This is my reality. Scary. Fun. I've been living a rock-n-roll lifestyle the past week. Like irresponsible stuff. Nothing I can't recover from but things out of character for me. There's no way I can sustain this but for now it's my life and until I have to, I'm not gonna apologize for it. Although I prob should apologize to the tequila guy. I called him the wrong name all night.  Terrible. If I were a man and did that to a woman, I'd get crucified. 

Now sitting at CPK @ LAX. Flight delayed out of LAS, then connection delayed due to fog in SFO. Fog in San Fran? What are the odds. I'm still good though. Got plenty of time to check in & make it to Bourbon Steak @ the Westin St. Francis. It's a Michael Mina restaurant so my pals form Seablue are hooking me up. Can't wait. But if there are too many more delays I'll never make it to the show tonight. I'm fully anticipanting the Sommelier @ Bourbon is gonna fill my glass til I can't stand. Pace yourself girl. Pace yourself... she says sitting sipping on her 3rd cocktail @ LAX.

Arrived at the Inn at the Opera. sweet little hotel. Quaint. Reminds me of Washington Square Hotel in NYC around the corner from the Blue Note. Von, the front desk guy was adorable. I think I kind of overwhelmed him with my lack of need. I came with a bag, no car, no luggage, no need for coddling. Just gimme my room key & wi-fi code and I'm good. I snuck outside to grab a cigarette before heading up. I caught up with the hotel manager. We made small talk about the bar. "When does your bar open?" I asked. "Well, it's not my bar." "Leased?" I said. "Yep. If it were my bar it would be open already." Good man. Very good man. So far I'm liking the hotel.

Just got a knock on the door for turndown service. Lovely. Time to freshen up from my much-too-long trip here and head to the bar for a glass of red before heading to Bourbon for dinner. Melissa text me. It's comped. It's so nice to have people taking care of me instead of being the one taking care of people. I guess this is called karma. Good karma I hope.

I'll post a full recap of Bourbon and the Botti concert late tonight. Can't wait for the Symphony. It's a good day!

Holy crap. Bourbon was incredible. Rodney & AJ took such great care of me that it was obscene. I had foie, ebi, marrow & wagu skirt. And with each, a wine pairing. Surprisingly my fav was a Reisling reco'd by AJ called Prager. I never knew they could be not-sweet. So yummy. The wagu was great as wagu should be. The foie delish but if you know me you know I do not like fruit mixed in with my stuff and this came with some sort of jam concoction around it. Blech. But the foie gras torchon (underneath circling the stone fruit) was like amazing sex-good. It's prob the same thing as the chicken liver they used to have at Seablue before they got rid of the tapas. I could eat that stuff all day.

Marrow was good. Small portion, nice presentation. But a nice surprise were the little fried marrow tater-tots. They're not called that but that's what they looked like. Sick-good. Little marrow explosions in your mouth. I would love to know how they fry those crispy but still keep the insides squishy.

Rodney sent out an ebi dish for me. The white fish was good but the better than the fish (with a subtle white chocolate sauce that didn't overpower) were the little chorizo medallions. I'm gonna get my foodie card pulled right now but give me a stack of White Castles with a box of those gobblers and I'll go to the electric chair happy.

Oh, did I mention the wine? Christ, I'm blaming AJ for getting me drunkety-drunk-drunk (more on that later). I'm not a big wine aficionado. I know what I like and rarely do I do pairings. But man am I glad I did. I didn't realize that wine changes in your mouth depending on the food you just took a bite of. Acidity and some other technical stuff AJ tried to explain. I didn't really care. All I know is that sweet became not sweet in 1 bite - and then back to sweet again. Huh? Crazy.

So right about now I'm feeling way too good to go to a Botti concert. I toyed with the idea of not leaving Bourbon and catching Botti another night. But I scooted my butt off the barstool, said goodbye and thank you to AJ & Rodney and headed to the cab line.

2011.06.24 Rush @ MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

The opening sequence of Rush

Had an amazing night. I'm not a Rush fan but the production team is stellar. Very laid back, cool, Canadian. My good friend Tony is the head of venue security so we got together the night before for dinner. Reminisced about old times, old tours, new tours. Good stuff. Later in the evening his pals, Brian a lighting director and Ray a gear supplier joined us. 

Rush on stage @ MGM Grand Garden

But back to the concert. Like I said, I"m not a rush fan but man, do they put on a great show. A perfect combo of lights, performance, guitar, drums and vocals. It's hard to be a fan when the audience is so into it! 

Is that a monkey?

Tom Sawyer

Encore from stage left

No big incidents to speak of. The typical drunk 50 year olds who think they're in their 20s. We had 1 guy pee - yes whip out his wanker and pee - all over the row in front of him. This is what happens when old people try to act young. I know because I'm only 10 years from being one of those 50 year olds. But I have to believe that no matter how old I am I'm not peeing on anyone - well, at least in public :) or maybe when I'm 80 and wear Depends. 

We've had Rush in the building several times. It's a low maintenance show. Good crew. No VIP parties, lame tours, packages. Just a straight up rock show. It's nice to have one of those every once in a while. 

All in all a great night. Just what the doctor ordered before the circus better known as Britney Spears. Night night.

For a couple more crappy photos from my CrackBerry head to my FB page. 

If Only For One Night

It's been a while since I've posted anything substantive. I kinda lost focus for a while but am trying to get it back. Turns out it's easy to fall back into bad patterns but not so easy to get back to doing the hard things in life. But I'm working on it. 

So the plan was to blog something every day for a year. It's just not realistic for me to do that so I'm not gonna beat myself up or backtrack and make stuff up just to appease my OCD. I'm only gonna write when I have something to say or when I feel like it. This is my life and I get to make up the rules - and break them when necessary. 

This weekend is Rush and Britney Spears. Looking forward to Rush because Tony is the security director for the tour. He and his wife have become great friends of mine. Tony is usually out with Aerosmith but I've had him in the building with J-lo and some others too. I'm excited to see Britney too. Her show is getting decent reviews and it seems to be more dancing & theatrical like Gaga or Madonna than your typical rock band. Talk about 2 different types of music though. Rush and Brit are 2 opposite ends of the music spectrum.

The countdown is beginning to my next Chris Botti show too. About 3 weeks and I'll be in San Francisco. He's playing with the San Francisco Symphony. So excited. I need a Botti fix. I need out of Vegas for awhile, If Only For One Night.

Craftsteak

Another amazing dinner at Craftsteak last night with R & J. The skirt steak is so yummy. The fried artichokes were kinda bad but the corn, oh my god. Get the corn! Delish! Seablue is still my home away from home but Craftsteak is fast becoming my vacation get-away! I became the Foursquare mayor last night too! Hee hee. It's the little things in life that entertain me. 

I created and maintain the new @MGMGrandGarden twitter account so follow me there too! 

Ugh, I had a little too much fun tonight though. Tomorrow is gonna be rough. I know I said I was going back to healthy-me but it's proving to be more fun to be the old-Amy. We'll see. There's got to be a balance inside of me somewhere. 

Zzzzz

Zzzzzzz. I'm sick.

Love Won't Let Me Wait

George Bennett @ the arena

Started off the day with a sore throat and the beginnings of a cold. Shot myself full of Tylenol Cold & Flu and hit the road. George Bennett went to the groomer and I hit the shoe stores and got a pedicure. I had to run to the office for a bit so George Bennett got to run around the empty arena for a little. He loves that. It's one of the rare opportunities he gets to run free, hard, wild. I feel bad he has to be on a leash so much.

So when he finished running around the arena we headed back to my office. He knows the way so I thought, "Eh, no need for a leash." There was absolutely no one in the parking lot, so no one in the office - I thought. I open the doors to the admin offices and he books into the conference room. I hear a scream. Shit. We're not alone. Turns out DQ was having a meeting with the folks from a show we've got coming up. George knows how to jump onto the chair to get onto the table - that's how he gets to the top of my desk to sit. So hoppity-hop he goes. It was mortifying. Luckily the client was a dog lover and asked me to put him back onto the table so he could get a pic. Everyone had a good chuckle and I headed out tail between MY legs. Quel nightmare. 

A gift from Brian

When I got to my office there were goodies for me. Brian with McCartney's crew left me some great bottles: 2 rose champagnes, a red and a white. All excellent bottles, more than I'd ever buy for myself (or anyone else). I think they were probably left over from Paul's dressing room but hey, I could care less. I like good wine just like the next girl - and bottles given as gifts (even regifted) are just as lovely. A pleasant surprise indeed. 

All in all a good day. Got some great shoes. I'm excited to show D. He's the current flirtation. There's a lot wrong with me liking him because I kinda work with him. Not directly but enough to give me pause. Not sure how much longer I can keep up the flirting with him though without pulling the trigger. He's such a good man. Those are hard to find. And in my current state - Love Won't Let Me Wait any longer. I need a good man. I'm done with assholes... at least I think. 

Crazy Love

In church today I saw a dad kidding around with his son a couple pews in front of me. They were joking around about something, horsing around. My dad and I fool around like that in church too. Even me at 39 and him 75+ he knows how to get me to laugh in church. It made me miss my dad. It kinda choked me up. I also saw a man with his arm around his wife tenderly squeezing her during the service. It was so obvious even though I could only see the backs of their heads they were still in love after all these years. All this love around me. Crazy Love. What's that phrase? Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. 

Time to get back to it. I've been slacking for the past week. Ok, who am I kidding, since Easter. Time to get back to the blog, to the workouts, to the sanity, to me. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. 

06.10.11 Paul McCartney @ MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV

McCartney

The public date for Paul McCartney was tonight. It was truly an amazing show. Coming off the high of a successful private date last night I was confident but cautious about the public date tonight. All the same concerns: sound check VIP party, getting butts in seats before he hits the state, crazy fans, staff taking pics of the icon, you know, the usual.

We had an unusual situation with this show. The door time was our normal 6.30p but the showtime was 7.30p. Our normal start time is 8.00p. Of course it's printed on all the tickets, on all the advertising and people are told this when purchasing tickets - but we all know - people are morons so we were all worried people would arrive late. As it is, Vegas has a notoriously late arriving crowd. 

A rock legend on stage

To add to the mix, McCartney had to be wheels up by 11.00p. This meant he had to go on no later than 8.00p. This sounds like a simple task but when we're talking about loading 13,500 people into a building when we know they're a late arriving crowd and that Paul won't go on stage if there are open seats in his eyeshot - talk about pressure. 

I think this was Give Peace A Chance

But before the show I was helping with a special group of kids. McCartney invited about 40 kids from the Nevada Blind Children's Society to be his guests at the show. Lots of artists do charity world but rarely have I seen ones go to this level and NEVER have I seen the Tour Production Director handling it himself. Lonnie and I worked out parking backstage next to the arena for the parents, escorts for them past the metal detectors and into their seats for the show. We warned them about some pyro concussions during Live and Let Die and made sure they had the escort out of the building after the show. As an added goodie I hooked them up with programs and McCartney tee shirts. Truth be told, I was given them for free to give to my staff but these kids will appreciate it more than my staff will. 

McCartney puts on 1 hell of a show!

So after getting the kids into their seats I headed to deal with the meet & greet for the casino. We got 4 people approved to get a quick pic with McCartney as he headed to the stage. (DQ and I were supposed to get our pic taken too but sometimes my job gets in the way of my personal opportunities - it's not the end of the world.) I had my team go out to get the m&g guests from their seats and have them escorted backstage. I was at the hip of Barry Marshall, Paul's manager. On the way to the meet & greet he paid me an extraordinary compliment to the President of Entertainment. He said he was going to bring me to work with him in London. Now how serious he was, who knows but for Barry to say that was a big deal. Barry doesn't shell out random compliments. He doesn't have to.

Even Yoko & Olivia Harrison
were there

But tonight the professional stars aligned for me. Barry & I scanned the seats from stage right minutes before Paul walked to the stage. 7.50p, all the seats were filled and he was smiling at me. In his most sincere, sweet british accent, "Well done my dear. Well done." I don't need pats on the back but comments like this from Barry are things people in our business work for and hold dear.

8.00p Paul hits the stage and I watch the 1st song from stage left, my favorite spot. A huge sigh of relief.

Live & Let Die

I watched some of the show, more tonight than yesterday. I caught Live & Let Die with the pyro. Awesome. Totally cool. Also caught Hey Jude. To hear 13,500 people singing in unison is something I can't explain. It's palpable, electric. It moves you. I got choked up and I'm not a McCartney OR a Beatles fan. 

The 2 encores were coming to a close so I headed backstage to make sure it was clear. I ran into Barry again. "You always keep so calm under pressure. You do your job extraordinary well. How do you do it?" he says to me. "I drink heavily," I half-jest. He cracked up and gave me a high-five. Barry's a proper Englishman so for him to high-five me was quite a moment. 

The end to a great night

My team and I pulled off quite a feat. To the outside world, no biggie. 2 Paul McCartney shows. To people in the industry who've had McCartney, they know what we did. And I'm so proud of us - the MGM Grand Garden Arena.







Set List

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
JUNIORS FARM
ALL MY LOVING
JET
GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE
SING THE CHANGES
LET ME ROLL IT
LONG AND WINDING ROAD
1985
LET EM IN
I’M LOOKING THRU YOU
AND I LOVE HER
BLACKBIRD
HERE TODAY
DANCE TONIGHT
MRS VANDERBILT
ELEANOR RIGBY
SOMETHING
BAND ON THE RUN
OBLA DI OBLA DA
BACK IN THE USSR
I GOTTA FEELING
PAPERBACK WRITER
A DAY IN THE LIFE
LET IT BE
LIVE AND LET DIE
HEY JUDE

DAY TRIPPER
GET BACK

YESTERDAY
HELTER SKELTER
SGT PEPPER