After Tonight

Kevin Hart @ Mandalay

I went to see Kevin Hart tonight @ Mandalay. Rodney hooked a bunch of us up in a suite. Sounds fancy but it's pretty standard stuff. It's more like just a space to throw friends in with booze and sometimes grub. 

We started off the night @ Stripsteak. I passed Rodney on the way there. He was headed to the casino cage with the production manager to get some cash. "They're holding 4 seats for us @ the bar," Big Rod informs me. I get to Strip and Monica the bartender greets me with a big smile, "Welcome back." I look behind me and there's Pete Rose with a really thin, young Asian girl. Monica tells me that she shoo'd him away from the seats at the bar because she was saving them for us. I rarely shy away from anyone and he was only about 3' away from me so I looked at him and said, "Hi Mr. Rose." He just smiled from underneath his cowboy hat and said hi back. 

Ohio State was only a couple shots back from Syracuse as we both watched the game. He'd talk to the tv like we all do. "They haven't hit a 3…" he scoffed. For a while his companion was away, first in the bathroom, then I have no idea where so he was sitting alone at the table for a while. It's spring break time so there are lots of 20-30 somethings around Vegas, and Stripsteak was no exception. There's only 1 tv in Strip and it's right in the corner near the wine closet where I was sitting - so naturally that's where the boys gathered. I watched the 5 of them slowly tell each other, "Hey, that's Pete Rose." It was kind of comical. I literally counted to 10 and made a bet with myself. "I bet they ask for a pic with him before I can count to 10." I got to 8. "Miss, would you mind?" one of the 20-somethings asked me. I was amused by their enthusiasm… it didn't hurt that they were all tall and cute too AND he called me Miss instead of Ma'am. One of the guys handed me his iPhone. I looked at Pete and asked, "Is this ok Mr. Rose?" He nodded & smiled. I snapped the pic and the boys said thanks. Pete winked at me and the festivity was over. 

Rodney and his girlfriend finally show up with the new guy Justin. For reasons I'm still unsure of we end up leaving and head to Border Grill. Possibly one of the worst dinners I've had lately. Decor was fab but the service was mediocre and the food was not tasty. Granted, I'm not a Mexican food fan so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. In general it was just not very good. I got the ceviche octopus special. To me ceviche means raw but cooked from the acid in lime juice. But @ Border it's fried like calamari. To the waiter's credit he did tell me, "If you like calamari, you're gonna love this." I just didn't catch the fact that it was fried. I also ordered the ahi tuna. Dry. I realize I'm being a spoiled brat. If I tried to make ahi or octopus at home, well, yeah, first of all that would never happen but I'm sure it would be crap. The guac there was delish! As a whole though not a reco from me on this one.

Warning at the entrance

After dinner we meet up with more of Rodney's pals and make our way to the suite at the Events Center. There's a bar in the suite so everyone belly's up. I go with Jamie to a couple9 of seats and we wait for the show to start. 

The 1st couple of comics were pretty funny. On the way in there were signs on every pillar warning against taking pics, video, tweeting or talking on a cel phone. Inside the events center the voice of god kept reminding the audience. The 1st comic reiterated the same prohibitions, ad nauseam. Christ. We get it. 

…on every pillar. Really?

The sound was pretty bad from where we were. It was hard to hear because the suites are located high and on the sides. The speaker clusters are not positioned for us so you can really only make out some of what the comics were saying. If they got really loud or spoke really fast you really couldn't understand them. It was easier when the camera did a close up of their faces on the side screens because you could read their lips and figure it out. 

Kevin Hart comes out around 9.15p-ish. He's a funny guy. Good story teller. I stayed until about 10.00p. I wanted to get out of there before show break. Not a fan of sitting in the garage for 30 minutes trying to get out of that place. I also know that he's probably going to do a show in our building later this year so I wasn't too broken up for missing the last 20 minutes. 

I hopped in my car and on the drive home thought about the night. It was a great time by all accounts but I felt really alone. Not lonely, but alone. Everyone there was paired up except for me. Normally I don't mind but After Tonight I felt kind of icky. I hope this feeling passes... and soon. It probably doesn't help that I'm watching that ridiculous movie The Notebook as I write this either. Lately Nicholas Sparks has been ruining my life. I really need to stop watching this garbage. 

Honey

Tonight was Trubes' birthday. We kept to our regular routine of TWR: Tuesdays with Rodney so Trubes, Sumo, MP, Rodney, Trubes' friend Andy & I all headed to Fiamma for dinner and drinks. I don't know when this started or who started it but this past year we've been occasionally ordering sushi from Shibuya, the restaurant across the way from Fiamma. It's kind of high maintenance and rude of us to sit at the bar in one restaurant and order food from another and have it delivered but Fiamma is really good to us. I'd go to Shibuya but it doesn't have a bar. Even though I'm not drinking alcohol for the next several months I still like sitting at a bar versus a table any day, and that includes a sushi bar.

We ordered an obscene amount of sashimi, peppers, cod, rolls & nigiri. It was so delish. I've loved sushi since my childhood best friend Terri introduced it to me in college. Of course I'd had it before but she is the one who took me to an authentic Japanese sushi restaurant called Origami in downtown Minneapolis in the warehouse district. This was WAY before sushi was trendy and in every strip mall in America. It's still there and one of my fave places back home. Terri and I went there last time I saw her when I was back in the Twin Cities. But lately, I've more than loved sushi. I've been craving it. This much sushi isn't good for me. I need to vary my diet a little more and get balanced. At least it's lean protein and healthy. 

Trubes' birthday desert surprise
courtesy of Jon from Fiamma

Since it was Trubes' birthday Fiamma couldn't let the night go by without a little goodie. Did I mention they're really good to us? Actually it's Jon the bartender who takes such great care of us. He, like Bill, Gretyl & Ali @ Seablue, has become a friend. Last Christmas Jon was so sweet he bought us all Christmas gifts. I got chocolate and candles. Simple and sweet. Perfect.

Everyone took off while Rodney and I stayed for another hour or so and caught up on gossip, our lives and weekend plans. He's got Kevin Hart @ Mandalay Bay on Saturday night. I'm gonna go and hang out in one of the suites but not sure if it will be solo or if I'm gonna ask M to go. He comes into town on Thursday for the ACMs. I haven't seen him since last year's show. He asked me out to dinner on Thursday night. At least I'm not drinking and won't blurt out something like, "Come on Honey, so what's the deal? Why did you send me roses on Valentine's Day last year and then proceed to talk about some girl you are 'kinda' dating back in LA." This should be interesting...

Best For Last

Arrived at LAX this afternoon after a bumpy start out of LAS. The wind was causing serious delays. We were stuck in line for takeoff for about an hour but at least we got off the ground. Flew Delta so I got the upgrade on the tiny plane. I booked all 4 of our tickets so I felt a little guilty for leaving the other 3 behind. Oh who am I kidding. I had no remorse for getting bumped to the forward cabin. I got them exit row seats. If they want to travel the country following a world renown trumpet player racking up frequent flyer miles they're more than welcome to. 

We arrived around 4ish @ the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Los Angeles. Tiny front desk. Actually reminded me of The Martin lobby (pre-reno) here in Vegas where Tequila-guy has a home. The representative tells me don't have a king room available. Instead stuck with 2 queens. I'll live. DQ and Nathalie got kings though. Grrrr. I guess that's my karma trade off for 1st class.

View from Room 2268 @ the Ritz

My view was great. Overlooked the Staples Center, Nokia Theatre and LA Live. The Ritz is contained on floors 22, 23 & 24. I am not certain but I believe the lower floors are the JW Marriott and the upper floors are The Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA Live. Kind of like how in Vegas the Four Seasons is atop Mandalay Bay and how Mandarin Oriental has residences within their hotel - but this is all combined in 1 complex. I liked the small boutique-feel within this massive complex. 

Decor of the room is great. Warm yet modern. Crisp clean lines with a tad bit of hip decor. Fresh tulip & lily trumpet buds. Huge HDTV with the standard irritating remote that you have to push buttons more than twice to get the channels to change after navigating thru the menu. The remote wasn't dirty but I didn't get the sense that anyone had cleaned it in a while either. 

Bath/Shower combo

Loved the decor of the bathroom. Again, totally reminded me of The Martin only with the dominant colors reversed - but similar color scheme. Since I had 2 queen beds in my room my bath/shower combo was a little different than the king rooms. In the king rooms the tub is separate from the shower but BOTH are within the glass. So you walk thru the shower to get to the tub. Kinda cool. 

So the Ritz was by far one of the best hotels I've ever stayed in - but here's the deal. Do the people who pick the fixtures and design the space actually think about functionality? Again, one of the BEST rooms I've ever stayed in and it was beautiful but take a look at the shower. Look at where the bath faucet is. It's hard to tell from the pic and to tell how big the lip of the tub is but you have to literally get INTO it to turn it on. I don't know about you but I like to turn on the shower and get it warm before I hop in. And even if you just run the tub faucet to get the temp right you still have to be IN the tub to reach the  faucet - that is unless you've got the wingspan of Kris Humphries. And the glass partition is permanent. Even being careful I still got water all over the floor because 3/5ths of the shower is open. That's peeve #1. 

Looks lovely

Peeve #2. The double sink. It was so sleek & contemporary. At first glance I loved it. In fact I thought, "That's something I'd put in my bathroom."  Then I went to wash my face. *Bamb* Smacked my forehead on the spout. That prompted a very loud, "FUCK." Ok, you could claim user error on this one but again, unless you're 6'6" you'd prob hit your head too. So you have to lean to the side or to the front which leads to water getting everywhere. And the spout is so high that even when you wash your hands, water splashes all over. Gorgeous, not practical. I guess who cares if you're in a hotel, right? I care. Get it right. I bet housekeeping cares too. They're the ones who have to clean all the water spots from the sink, mirror and floor. 

Robe wrapped so nicely

Peeve #3. The placement of the robe(s). The pic you see is a reflection in the mirror. That room with the frosted glass houses the toilet. It's on the other side of the double sink - across from where the bath/shower is. I get why they put it there but doesn't it make more sense to put it near the bath? I don't know about you but when I get out of the shower it would be nice to have the robe handy and not have to walk across the bathroom to get it. The other robe was in the closet, which I understand because it's the backup, but come on. By the loo? There was space to put it near the tub. Details.

Peeve #4. Same pic. The tv in the mirror. It's the new thing. Great except that the only channels you get are the 'Los Angeles Infomercials' about what to do in town. At least give me the local stations so I can get the weather & traffic reports or see who won Ohio.

Ok. I realize these are fatuous nitpicks. Even to me. It's just something to write about. These are the things that go thru my mind. If I ever get a chance to design my own space - I mean REALLY design it - these are the kinds of details I think about. 

Now the Best For Last - the beds. The bedding was delish. So soft but somehow crisp. The down pillows were steal-worthy. I could have laid in bed all day. Sadly, while I was trying to fall asleep all I could think about was the last time I was in sheets like that was the last time I was with Counselor. (I need to stop interjecting him into every Goddamn post.)

In the morning I ordered Eggs Benedict. I'd been jonesing for them for months. Bene in a lux bed did not disappoint. Thank you Ritz. Thank you.

Hard Habit To Break

MGM Grand Garden Arena
dressing room hallway

Today is going pretty well. Just your typical award show kind of drama. Credentials & wristbands are always a bit of a cluster. There are so many issued and every year when we think we have it down, there are always exceptions, changes, additions, subtractions. Some of it necessary, a great portion of it ridiculous, but all of it manageable.

Reba's dressing room

This year we had some oddities with who could and who couldn't eat in the Chipotle catered crew room. What should have taken 10 minutes to solve ended up taking 2 days. I blame the fact that the production manager who normally handles the full show went over to Mandalay to run the Sugarland & Rihanna portion. It was the right thing to do for the show but sucked for us, the house. He's just tremendously talented for handling things before they spiral out of control. By the time it got to me it was already a mess so I called him and he came over to fix it. You really never know how good someone is until he's gone. I think that's a lyric in the sappy Chicago love song Hard Habit To Break.

Is Blake Shelton in there?

I spent the majority of the day in my office working on Morales vs. Maidana stuff, the event we have immediately following the ACMs. I was also working on some high profile events that haven't been announced yet so I'll leave it a mystery. That's the cool thing about working for a major arena. There aren't many acts that we DON'T get simply because you don't pass up Vegas. There's too much money involved. About every hour I popped out to make the rounds, get some fresh air, a little exercise, stretch the legs. 

Door to rehearsals

Around 4ish I was up in catering checking out the catering fiasco and noticed a performance on the screen. I managed to catch Rihanna and Jennifer Nettles' rehearsal from Mandalay Bay. I'm not a fan of either but good God can those girls sing. 

8.30p Right now the team is getting ready for Taylor Swift's closed sound check. It means we have to sweep everyone out of the arena except non-essential crew. The good thing is I know all the hidden places in the arena where no one can see me so just because someone is telling me I can't, I'm probably going to watch it. It's childish, I know. But I'm pretty tired and need to entertain myself somehow. 

But Beautiful

Unlit stage

It's about 4.30p on Friday, the first full rehearsal day of the Academy of Country Music Awards. I'm sitting in the back of the floor of the ACMs. It's so amazing to look up and see this enormous stage engulfing the floor and ceiling of the Grand Garden Arena. To think of the perspective from boxing, to hockey to supercross to ACMs, it's pretty amazing. It's so hard to explain the scale of the stage. It's like being a Barbie in a dollhouse. None of it is real, it's all kind of just chunks put togehter but that all work in perfect harmony to create this amazing false reality - But Beautiful.

Lit stage

When the show lights are off and the house lights up the actual set is gray, white and chrome. Very bland. Much like the color of concrete. But when the set is in action it comes alive with depth, vibrance and motion. 

At the Grand Garden Arena the house seats are green, teal really. I hate the color but because the MGM Grand's trademark green, it works for us. And when the show lights in the house hit them, they look fantastic!

Backstage looking towards
dressing rooms

The week has gone by quickly. No real drama to speak of. Not sure if it's because this is my 5th year on this show and we're just good at it or if there's something different this year. While things have gone smoothly, there's definitely a different feel - there's a camraderie that's missing this time. We all still get along famously but somehow it feels a bit disjointed somehow. I can't quite put my finger on it but something is definitely off. Maybe because there's no drama there's nothing really to bond us together. Everything is just kind of swimming along nicely. Nothing wrong with that.

Wanna know where Toby's sitting?

It's amazing to see this all come together though. 2 prerig days, 6 load in days, 3.5 rehearsal days. 300+ stagehands, 300 ushers, security, EMS & metro officers and countless of us nameless, faceless schmucks like me behind the scenes making little things happen to accomplish the same goal. It's really kind of cool.

The arena is quiet. They're on a meal break. A group of special needs kinds are funneling into the arena to watch the rehearsals. What a fun experience for them. I've been doing this for a while and even I'm blown away by the magnitude of this stuff sometimes, I can't imagine what it must feel like for them. 

Just spoke to Katie, the ACM social network PR person. Very cool. No issues with my Tweets. In fact, she loves that I'm Tweeting, especially behind the scenes pics. Stuff she doesn't have time to get to, the stuff only someone like me has access to. 

5.30p the crew is back. Rehearsals commence. People and equipment buzzing on stage. 

Fans waiting for glimpses
of their favorite country singers

5.50p JaneDear Girls, The Band Perry & Sara Evans are getting set to do a rehearsal for their tributes on the live taping for Girls' Night Out on CBS. 

This is the first time I've really parked my butt in the arena and watched any part of the rehearsals for this show, ever. It's funny that when I was Mandalay Bay to watch Chris Botti's rehearsal for the Latin Grammys last year I was at full attention - and I had butterflies. This time I have zero intrest in the bands performing other than that they put on a great show for the fans. I'm not even sure who they are - and that's ok. I don't think you have to like every type of music to appreciate them as musicians. But I love watching the people who are lucky enough to have guest passes to see their favorite artists perform. They have a glow. And I recognize it. It's a rush to see your favorite performer live and in person. You feel like you're privy to a secret or an inside joke. 

Blake & Reba's view as they
hit the stage

After a to go box from Chef Eric at Seablue I'm finishing up some blogging and work. I missed Darius Rucker & Martina McBride's rehearsals but am going to try and catch Toby Keith's coming up in about 30 minutes - if they're on schedule. He's performing a song that sums up where I would like to be right now. 

Lola's Mambo

2010 Latin Grammys

On PBS now is David Foster & Friends shot at our sister property Mandalay Bay. It's funny to see our venues on TV. I'd love to have Botti headline the Grand Garden with his gaggle but I don't think it's in the cards. He's got a standing relationship with Station Casinos and it seems to be a good fit. Then again, I kinda prefer to see him at other venues anyhow. Last thing I want to do at a Botti show is work. And I've been disappointed by too many artists or been turned off by their management/tour reps to the point that I don't even listen to the band's music anymore. I don't want that to happen to Botti... at least not yet. I'd like to think he's not that kind of guy and wouldn't surround himself with people like that but you never know. Let me get thru The Year of Botti first. Then he can turn out to be an asshole.

Botti with Guerra on 'Lola's Mambo'

I did manage to catch Botti at the Latin Grammys last November 11 at Mandalay Bay. My pals over there knew how I recently discovered him and gave me a head's up that he was performing. I love that we have such a great relationship between arenas. Anytime I need something, they're there and vice versa. It's nice to hook up people who spend every waking moment hooking other people up. It's very gratifying somehow. 


Botti opened the Latin Grammys with Juan Luis Guerra playing 'Lola's Mambo." That was juicy. Very 'Breakfast (Burrito) at Tiffany's.' He played less than a minute and absolutely killed it. I remember I was caught up in work, looked at the clock and thought, "Crap he goes on in 15 minutes." I  hopped in my car, zipped over to Mandalay and slipped in the side door for Botti's 45 second bit and then drove back to work at the Grand Garden. Membership has it's privileges.

Botti warming up at rehearsal

I caught his rehearsals the day before too. He was very low key. He carried his trumpet in a kind of worn leather backpack-ish satchel. That surprised me for some reason. I figured he'd show up with it in a hard, black rectangular case with brass flip latches like a 6th grader. It's funny the expectations we have for people. He looked a little hung over too. He probably wasn't. Probably just tired but maybe, just maybe he went out the night before and got drunk on sake. Hmmm?