The biggest fan

I guess I should have left the hotel a bit earlier...but, maybe things wouldn't have been the same if I had. Entry to The Coach House was supposed to start at 6:00 pm, and I was told by the box office via phone to be there early to get a good seat. Well, I forgot about RUSH HOUR! It was only about 5 miles to the venue, but the fast route...the freeway...was jam packed with cars. So, I asked my GPS for an alternate route, which got me there by 6:00. But, there was already a good line of people waiting to get in. When I got to the seat assignment guy, he looked over his chart, then told the usher where to put me. I think it may have worked to my advantage that I was alone. I don't think they're used to people flying solo, because I ended up having a choice between two adjacent seats. I selected one, but the other one was basically mine, too...more room for me. My view of the stage was not too bad, although there WAS a rather tall guy at the nearby table who had a big head and would end up making it harder for me to see John Ondrasik at the piano.

I elected to eat dinner there, so I opted for the grilled tilapia with pineapple salsa. It turned out to be just so-so, and would have been slightly more palatable if they didn't put CILANTRO in the salsa...I HATE cilantro! As I scanned the crowd, I noticed Augie Nieto and his wife Lynne in attendance. John mentioned at last night's show that Augie would be there. Augie is the subject of John's song bearing his name. He has ALS...Lou Gehrig's disease...founded his ALS research charity organization, Augie's Quest, and is truly an inspiration. Not too long after, I saw John's wife Carla had arrived. I was hoping to chat with her tonight. While waiting for the show to start, I conversed with a lady across the table from me. Turns out John is her cousin, or something like that. Then, Carla came by and started talking to her...and noticed me sitting there. "Hi, Wynne!" she said. Carla proceeded to tell the lady I was John's biggest fan...hey, I won't argue with that! I asked Carla if John told her about the bottle of wine I gave him last night. Carla thought it was cool, especially the UCLA Bruins wine bag it came in! I'm hoping to eventually hear how it tastes when they get around to drinking it!

When opener Matt Hires took the stage, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. The crowd was VERY noisy...I could barely hear him singing, and forget about hearing him talk. I know, this happens a lot to the opening acts, but I think it's rude. If you want to talk, go to a bar or something...some of us want to actually hear the music! Thankfully, and not surprisingly, the chatterboxes piped down when John came out. He seemed a lot more chipper than usual. John's set list was the same as the last show (see blog Making things right). John tells the same stories for certain songs, but I never get tired of hearing them. He DID have a new one, though...about his appearance on Lifetime's Army Wives, and his stress of having to learn a line for the show. SO FUNNY! Because the lighting on the stage was pretty dim, I didn't have a whole lot of luck getting photos of John. The one you see above is one of the better ones.

When the concert was over, I went over to Carla to say goodbye. As she did at last April's Tuacahn show, Carla asked me again if I ever get tired of hearing John's stories. And, as before, I told her "No." I asked her if SHE ever gets tired of hearing them, and she replied, "Sometimes." But, she DOES like hearing the ones about her! I told her that I would be at tomorrow's show at Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, then bid her a goodnight. I'm pretty sure John wasn't doing a meet and greet after tonight's show...he didn't say he would while on stage. But, that's OK...I already got at least one photo of him with me. Last show of the tour for me tomorrow...like usual, it will be great.