I was BANNED for a DAY ...and ends up rubbing elbows with a rock star

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I have been assured by the Great and Mighty TubaDiva [sup]TM[/sup] that it was a technical glitch and as you can all see, I have survived the duration of a small slice of superfluous hell on earth.

So, you are wondering just what I did while I was a social internet leper?

Glad you asked.

A good friend of ours wanted to go down town Detroit to a hip and with it concert/bar place called St. Andrew’s Hall to see ** Ian Hunter. **

Now being musically retarded and socially so not with-it or hip ( I might have been hip once for about 10 minutes 15 years ago, but I was probably drunk and didn’t have my glasses on and there were no collaberating witnesses) I agreed to go to this concert, not because I have this hankering to pay twenty five dollars to hear Ian Hunter sing the only song of his that I know (Cleveland Rocks) when I can listen to it for free every night in the Drew Carey Syndicated re runs. Nineteen years old I am not any more.

I was lured with the promise of eating out in a restaurant that has table clothes and nothing on the menu that has the prefix of “MC”. Plus, since St. Andrew’s in a block away from two of the casino’s, I bit the hook and went.

After stuffing myself with delicious prime rib and enjoying wonderful conversation with very good friends, we waddled our engorged selves over to the concert all, bought ear plugs (well worth the three dollar investment) and watched the crowd.

St. Andrews is a very intimate setting. It is (AFAIK) an old dance hall dating back at least forty years, possibly longer. Might even have been a church at one time, but that is a stab in the dark. Three levels of fun. Basement is a club. Main floor is where they do concerts. Upstairs is another club.

It is general admission. No chairs. The band’s gear is stored along one of the walls to the side. I was sitting on some of the equipment boxes giving this housewife a roadie feel to her.

Mixed crowd, older crowd. From people that looked like refugees from the sixties, escaped trailer trash, misplaced punkers, and one guy that was a dead on ringer for Riff-Raff from Rocky Horror picture show who was there with a friend that looked and dressed up like a punked out Wayne from Wayne’s world. Mostly men in the audience.

The opening act was John Eddie. www.johneddie.com . I’ve never heard of him either, but he has bumper stickers that say *Who the hell is john eddie * that sums up his sense of humor. I think opening for Ian is his biggest break so far. He and his band had a good presence on stage, amiable iwth the crowd and a great sense of humor.

His music was a cross between Eddie and the Cruisers and something else that I haven’t been able to peg yet. (sorry, I warned you I am a retard in music.) I give him a seven out of ten. ( Only Sinatra has ever received a perfect 10 from me.)

After his set, my friend and I wandered out to the lobby for fresh air as smoking is allowed inside. We never went back in. Ended up watching Ian Hunter from the lobby and could see him just fine and naturally, could hear him just fine.The man barely interacted with the crowd and what in the hell is going on with his hair?

Anyways, my friend and I ended up talking with the guys from the ** john eddie band and their roadies **, for the better part of two hours. If I had been 19 or so, I would have been agog. At the advanced age of 34.9 ( my birthday is the 27th)it was more of a curiosity of mine that lead to a ton of questions and not being anything but Shirley Ujest.

They thought I was a reporter. Heh.

Ended up getting two cd’s. One for free from them and it is not half bad. And autographs, which I have never understood the appeal of them, but I told them I hope to be able to sell them on EBAY in the future and earn enough for that condo in Vail. Too bad I didn’t have a camera.

When **Ian Hunter ** finished, he was escorted out through the front doors by me. I stuck out my hand and shook his because I felt obligated to shake a man with really insane hair’s hand. I mean, since Einstein is dead and all.
So, my accidental banning left me to rub elbows with two rock stars.
Oh, and I lost all of my $5.55 that I gambled at the casino.

2

In the words of ARose, “Bitchin!” Sounds like a kick-ass way to spend a day being a social internet leper.

Damn, that was just fun to read. :slight_smile:

3

Thank you. Thank you!

I await a call from Rolling Stone.

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Hey Shirley

I was just posting in another thread about Philadelphia when I opened yours. John Eddie is one of the many Philadelphia musicians that never broke out of the city. His biggest break (one that he failed to capitalize on) was getting a record produced by Springsteen, I believe, but that would have been back in the 80s or early 90s. Ian Hunter, on the other hand, was the lead singer for Mott the Hoople (All the Young Dudes, All the Way from Memphis, the Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll, etc.). The guy is close to 60 now, I think, so he may not have all the oomph he used to. That said, he is/was quite the rocker.

5

Hmmm, this sounds like my ex-husband. :eek: Was he wearing tye-die? Did you see him dance? Was it really strange?

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Shirley, that was a wonderful post. You’re a gifted writer.

You now have a stalker. I’ll be reading your posts whenever I see them. :slight_smile:

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Aww… I miss St. Andrews now. :frowning:

DC has some advantages over Detroit, but a concert venue as good as St. Andrews isn’t one of them.

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Am I a huge loser for not having a clue who Ian Hunter is? And yes, I do live under a rock :confused:

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Hey Shirley and Opal

I almost forgot:

Ian Hunter’s song “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” was covered by Great White.

Don’t blame Ian, though. Blame whoever signed Great White to a record contract (wretched hair metal band).

10

Did you remember to say, “It’s OK, I’m with the Banned”?

11

I knew who Ian Hunter was only because he is one of those names that has been around forever. I figured he did truck loads of drugs and groupies in the 60’s-early 80’s, sobered up and now is touring to refresh the coffers.

What? like the Stones & Aerosmith are touring for artistic purposes.

Ian Hunter is 61. Sang good. Played well. But since he really did not interact with the audience, my tongue in cheek guess was that he was lip sync’ing, like Brittany.
I mean, who could tell with his bizarre bad perm strange colored blonde hair and psuedo Aristotle Onassis Glasses he was wearing.

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Written by the Great and Powerful Shirley

Re-reading this, it makes it sound like I was his personal bodyguard. Heh.