Playlist:
- Why Does This Always Happen to Me?
- When I Was Your Age
- Don't Download This Song
- Buy Me a Condo
- The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
- Craigslist
- Dare to Be Stupid (Grateful Dead version)
- I'll Sue Ya
- One More Minute
- Velvet Elvis
- Let Me Be Your Hog
- Midnight Star
- Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me
- Mr. Popeil
- Nature Trail to Hell
- Jackson Park Express
- Eat It / I Lost on Jeopardy / Amish Paradise / Smells Like Nirvana / White & Nerdy / I Love Rocky Road / Like a Surgeon
- Encore #1: The Elements (Tom Lehrer cover)
- Encore #2: The Saga Begins
The Golden State Theatre venue has lovely detail work and an upper balcony, where we sat in row double-O, dead center. Seats in that section chafed on my knees (I'm over six feet) but otherwise comfortable.
Before entering, we got tickets from will-call. While there, the CID Entertainment guy with the purple sequin jacket came in, making multiple requests of theatre staff to put out tabling materials for the VIP experience. He claimed the VIPs might ask for a refund if they didn't have tabling out, but the theatre staff just kept deflecting his concerns, eventually telling him they would show him that nearly everyone had already received their packets, to which he meekly said, "OK" and accepted his fate. I guess they'd heard it all before and didn't want to do it for the act du jour.
Once inside, we purchased a tee shirt for Dawn, two popcorns, and an Angry Orchard hard cider (apple?). We looked around the ground floor and then went up to our seats.
Emo Philips opened and did very well. One heckler kept acting obnoxiously but he shut him down.
- They don't make theatres like this anymore, not since they abolished child slavery laws
The person to my left seemed bored; he had his elbows on his knees and head in his hands for a good portion. We thought maybe he was a younger fan and wanted more recent stuff (?)
After the show, we looked for Dawn's friend, Lydia, almost giving up before running into her and her boyfriend Mark outside the theatre. While walking around the block, we passed Steve Jay walking in the opposite direction on a smoke break. Lydia asked for and got a hug, while Mark invited him to join us and he politely declined. Dawn mentioned later she extended her hand but he declined to shake it...maybe he's a germophobe (?)
Outside the theatre rear entrance, we paused by the tour buses where a number of fans had gathered. We settled-in at a booth in restaurant Turn 12 Bar and Grill, which faced the tour buses, so Lydia and Mark could eat (pizza) and keep an eye on when Al appeared. Mark and Lydia had two complaints: 1) The tour priced out the hardcore fans; and 2) Play something other than The Saga Begins. Lydia enlisted another fan waiting outside our window to alert her with his signature animal noise, to which he politely declined to share but agreed to tap on the window instead. Lydia eventually went outside the window and pressed her face against the glass and made a silly face (beaver?), leaving the rest of us to eat. Mark went outside to find Lydia and returned to tell us she had found her way into the theatre via the back entrance and was in line to meet Al. Mark invited us along and we slipped into the theatre, dodging roadies moving wheeled equipment boxes down the ramp. After only a few moments, a tour staff member busted us and we left. Mark seemed to feel guilty, apologizing to us and two other people the tour staff member had also dismissed for lack of a VIP pass. We hung around outside in the cool air. Lydia recognized one of the roadies (Gonzo?) and walked over to say hello. We saw the tour staff member walk over to the bus, dump her backpack, and return to us. I think Mark and Lydia had considered going back inside but Lydia declined saying the tour staff member would be back, and her intuition was correct. The tour staff member firmly said she didn't have to do anything for us, she wasn't a nice person, but she was going to punch our event tickets to let us get one item signed by Al, when he got to the bus. Lydia mentioned her first concern, about pricing, and the tour staff member said the promoters set the prices, so she can't change it. By the time Al came out, he said "hi", and the tension had left the air. The two other people who had gotten kicked out for a lack of pass also were allowed to get one item signed. The guy from CID entertainment who we had seen at will call had appeared, sans purple jacket, and also was in a good mood. We had all tried to determine what to get signed. Dawn got her ticket signed. Lydia got him to sign her gold sneakers (while wearing them, after a bit of back and forth reassuring the tour staff she could lift them safely for Al to sign). Mark got the inside of his phone cover signed. I got the inside of my wallet signed (they teasingly threatened to steal it, by shutting the bus door). After that, we said our goodbyes and drove back to Santa Cruz.
My favorite song: Dare to Be Stupid, in the style of The Grateful Dead. Dawn's favorites: One More Minute and The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota. It was awesome to hear the Elements Song by Tom Lehrer, which seemed fitting because Tom taught at UC-Santa Cruz and has a home there.
Lydia and Mark were heading on to Turlock the next night for the May 19 show, and hoped to hear Yoda (a wish fulfilled!) instead of The Saga Begins.