June 7, 2003 - Livermore, CA
Tuesday, June 10th, 2003 On The Road With MaggieMay... The magic had left Konocti Harbor and we decided to leave too, and seek our fortunes elsewhere. We shanghaied another maintenance man slash bellhop, packed up our full-size car and traveled over to the Lodge to check out. I'm used to desk clerks being startled when I leave after only a few hours in a room, and try to reassure them that everything's fine, just a change in plans and not that we're streaking out of their run-down family resort just as fast as our little legs will carry us. LOL Eduardo was young and handsome and earnestly gave us directions that would allow us to avoid the mountain road in the dark. I laughingly told him we'd come back and "get" him if he set us wrong, and he willingly offered us his home phone number. (We declined, though I thought about it a few minutes.) We're gonna get him. We're going to string him up and play Johnny Mathis albums until he screams and begs our forgiveness. Hell, *I* will sing Chances Are myself until he foams at the mouth. He's a dead man. Chances are, 'Cause I wear a silly grin, The moment you come into view... My older sister Cam played that damn song 500 times a day when she fell in love, and I suffered serious emotional damage from it. I *know* how to hurt people! I'm absolutely SURE Angel and I got it right. We even had him write it down for us, jic. How THEN did it happen that we ended up on that damn mountain road in the pitch dark at midnight? Eduardo has some "explaining" to do! LOL Was it bad? I drive in the shadow of death, but I will fear no evil. Humph! I was fairly terrified in the back seat and for once, I DIDN'T fall asleep. Our huge car kept going off the road a bit as we careened down the mountain, and each time it did, I could feel it and knew, just KNEW a fiery end was near. We crawled forward at a snail's pace, screaming in terror when another car rounded the corner and came straight at us. Our mammoth vehicle took up the entire road, and we'd lurch onto the soft shoulder, trying to avoid a head-on collision and teeter precariously at the mountain's edge. It never ended. The steep winding road went on for EVER. It couldn't get worse, and then, it did. Our driver announced she was feeling a bit "sick". Nauseous. Her co-pilot was concerned and immediately suggested she pull over and let her drive. Pull over? Pull over WHERE??? The only thing we *could* have done was stop in the middle of the darn road like some lost and confused cow about to become car hamburger. We must have driven for thirty miles down that God-forsaken mountain. And barely lived to tell the tale. The bottom was no better. We didn't know where we were or how to get to civilization. I knew we might be stuck out there for days, without food or water. sigh We finally found an *open* gas station (after passing a few useless ones that had closed for the night) and drew straws to pick who had to go in and get directions. I forget which person it was, but it was futile. She came back shaking her head and with no idea how to get us back on track. I suddenly felt hungry and quickly offered to go in for a second shot. I could see FOOD through the windows and God knows, *I* needed it even if my fashion-plate friends did not. The employees were running around, vacuuming and counting money, and it was apparent that they were going to try to "close" on us. I grabbed what provisions I could, lest we again be lost on the mountain. It seemed entirely possible. We got a second set of directions (strangely similar to the first) and returned to the car. Things were pretty close in my back seat, but Angel smilingly opened my door and plopped the biggest bottle of water I had ever seen on my feet. I suppose it was intended to secure me in and protect me from falling out of the car. Eventually, we found a highway and raced at top speed away from our own Blair Woods. THE VENUE Wente Winery is a beautiful place. This ain't no Konocti Harbor! (Nor a Kahunaville, but I still can't bring myself to talk about THAT. Maybe some day, when I've healed.) It reeks of money; you can smell it on the air and see it growing among the grapes.  The contrast between
Wente and Konocti is so pronounced that the mind reels. Wente is pretty
damn impressive. AND expensive. It's without QUESTION the most
expensive concert ticket I've ever bought without contributing to some ticketbroker's
Porsche payment: $240. Can you BELIEVE that? You better not be
just a music lover, you better be a RICH music lover for this place.
Well...I suppose the rich have "needs" too! LOL There's a culture around
The Moody Blues that belies the importance of money. It's one of spirit,
of humanity, an egalitarian vision that binds us to the music. We should
try to be understanding. It's *not* the fault of the rich that they
have money! They're merely misunderstood.I've been thinking 'bout our fortune, And I've decided that we're really not to blame... LOL!!! We're living THAT line at Wente! Well, they say you can't take it with you and there are worse things than to leave a week's wages for a poor working American at Wente. It's quietly elegant from the get go. Even their SIGN is lovely! I would have liked to have gotten a photo of it, but Wente had a number of security guards there to insure that not even the Wente Winery sign would be photographed. sigh Just take my word for it! There are several hacienda type buildings, flowers, and little walkways with beautiful towering (rich looking) palm trees interspersed here and there. The effect is very tasteful. The guard examined my bag for the dangerous cameras, and I've wondered what they would do if they found a firearm in there. I *used* to carry one (and I had a license) in my youth and DID have my bag checked one night before a show. No comment was made. Thank GOD, it was a Walther and not a Leica! Heaven forbid! Why did I stop? It made my purse too heavy. HAHAHAHA Hey, it was a gift from my husband - the gift that REALLY shows "trust." We had not planned to *do* dinner, I'm traveling with some very healthy people who make good life decisions and are not swayed by a gourmet meal. Yes. I'm in hell. (Just kidding girls!) We had made better time than we had expected though, and *had* to hang out SOMEWHERE, so I suggested we use the time profitably and "relax" in the restaurant. I could smell food, GOOD food and I knew it wouldn't bother me a bit for them to sit and watch me eat. I have a Golden Retriever. They were confused at the restaurant, but we used that against them and talked them into a table. None of the three of us had been to Wente before and didn't know what to expect. I have to say we were QUITE surprised to be seated at a table and look out the window at our dining "entertainment", which was 
Justin Hayward doing something with his guitar. This went
on for quite some time! One of the three (not me!) suggested we move
over to the window and push our little noses up against the glass and wave
at him. I knew instinctively that that wasn't a "good" idea.
LOL The restaurant was right against the side of the stage and the
guitars were on their rack outside the window. I was happy when he
finally left and I could move my full attention to the meal before me.
It truly was excellent. I don't like to drink before a concert because
I don't like to fall ASLEEP during the concert, so I passed on the $16 per
glass Chardonnay. I promise never to complain about my husband's $5
glass of wine EVER again!Our dinner, or rather MY dinner was finally finished and I moved on out toward the concert area. Apparently different types of dinner packages with ticket are offered. Some people eat in the restaurant and some eat at tables behind the rows of chairs in front of the stage. You gotta go for the full gourmet meal in order to get the seats in front. There are rows of tables and then MORE tables in a raised area farther back in the venue. I don't know what those people ate! They looked happy. I don't like a big meal before a concert, but it *was* delicious and I happily ate it and rolled rather than walked into the venue. The chairs at Wente are not the hard plastic ones you're subjected to at Humphrey's or the Mountain Winery! These have a bit of padding to them and are much more comfortable. I didn't catch how many chairs vs tables there are at Wente, but full seating there is 1800. The Moodies turn out was around 1275 and looked like a big crowd to me. There are two sections of chairs separated with a WIDE center aisle. That aisle had to be the width of 6 to 8 seats. My seat was the first seat in the left section, first row and I was nearly to Graeme. It seemed a waste of space to me. Even the grass under the chairs was thick and soft. LOL There was a fence/gate in front of me about 4 feet away, and then a paved walkway beyond that running in front of the stage that might have been 10 feet wide. You're quite a ways back from the stage in the front row there. The stage was interesting. Someone had told me a "bush" was in front of the stage and I imagined a hedgerow of sorts. Rather, it's a FLAT bush with a few red flowers trained against the front of the stage. The stage looked to be 5 feet high, high enough that people could see in back and not so high that my neck hurt from looking up. The stage isn't very wide, and it's open and uncovered. There's a stand of lights in front of the stage and stretched all the way from one side to the other and lights in back. I didn't notice the speaker setup. THE FASHION REPORT GE - Two ladies shirt, black slacks JL - Black tank top with white, long-slvd linen shirt over it (unbuttoned and untucked), leathers, boots JH - Blue long slvd shirt with snaps, tshirt underneath, black jeans Norda - Long Black jacket, (shirt underneath), black slacks Bernie - Black see-thru top, black slacks, jacket Paul - Stunning white shirt and black jacket, black slacks Gordon - Black leather shirt, white slacks Mike Keys - Just Kidding! LOL Kim N had a good look at Justin's blue shirt at Humphrey's and told me that she thought the shirt had SNAPS instead of buttons and that this was the reason for the "puckering" effect on the button placket. I think she's absolutely right. She's much more familiar with irons than I am (I REFUSE to become familiar with an iron. Feminists *don't* iron!) and said that you can press and press a placket with snaps and it will still looked puckered. OK. One tormenting fashion question is explained! THE CONCERT This concert will ALWAYS stand out in my memory because it was without a doubt, without QUESTION, the coldest damn concert I have EVER attended. I've sat for hours at football games in the SNOW and been warmer than I was at Wente tonight. I froze. The BAND froze. WE ALL FROZE! It was god-awful. There wasn't a thing you could do about it. I had been warned it would be cool. This was beyond my comprehension! It took me an entire pot of hot coffee to warm up afterward. I hope every member of the Band found a hot tub and thawed. It was almost humorous! It's a beautiful place, dinner was delightful and then you have to try to get SOME enjoyment out of a concert, when all you can think is: Please God, let it be over SOON! I would have been willing to sacrifice The Other Side of Life. Tuesday Afternoon! ANY SONG. Thankfully, they played thru without an intermission. I don't think I could have stood it much longer. Thank God for Singer! It warmed me up a little bit. It might have helped (at least, helped ME) if it had been a standing, dancing crowd. I don't push my luck - I stand if the crowd stands, a "when in Rome" policy, developed on the last UK Tour. But no! They didn't STAND! They were too STUFFED to stand! We were all full to our gourmet gills with filet mignon and garlic mashed potatoes, double cut pork chops and creamy polenta. We couldn't get up. I'm sure those $75 bottles of Syrah had something to do with it too. No, we sat and froze. My hands were so cold I couldn't clap. I didn't bring the gloves I had put in my luggage and had to hide my hands in my sleeves, jerking them out at the end of songs for quick applause. And if you think it was bad in the AUDIENCE... I have never felt more sorry for anyone on stage in my life! What troupers! I don't see how they were able to play, though they did and did WELL. The concert (oops - the 2003 setlist was played in its entirety and without an intermission, thank God!) started smoothly and they carried on valiantly, as if oblivious to the temperature and stiff breeze rushing across the stage. Justin came up to the mike for The Actor and while I can't remember his exact words, said: It's COLD!!! (rubbing his hands together to warm them up) We're thinking about lighting a fire up here! You sit back and look at the gig list and think oh! It's June in California! I don't need to pack a heavy coat! The Moody Icicles then proceeded to perform a fine rendition of The Actor and every succeeding song on the setlist. It was a great concert put out under hilariously adverse conditions. They didn't get paid ENOUGH for *this* one! LOL I felt so bad for the Girls. The cold wind seemed worse on their end of the stage and poor Norda kept rubbing her right hand against her clothes, possibly to regain the feeling in it. I bet that flute was darn cold, too! Poor Bernie! There was some kind of smoke machine over on that side and the wind enveloped her in the smoke to the point where I actually lost sight of her a couple of times. She'd reappear with her billowing curly blonde hair out of the mist, like some Greek goddess taking shape in front of mortals. The effect was cool, but I'm sure unintended. LOL The venue people moved an umbrella heater over to the Girl's side of the stage and I hope it helped. It looked like it had gone out after a bit. Justin's hands HAD to have been cold and I decline to make any critical comments on his guitar work tonight. It was excellent and a miracle considering. Something, perhaps the absurdity of it all, was tickling him and I caught him looking down and grinning several times, as if he was trying not to break out into laughter. JL seemed unaffected by it. If he was cold, you couldn't see it. He HAD to have been! It didn't appear that Graeme or Gordon or Paul were bothered much by it. In fact, Paul took off his jacket at one point. He must be hot-blooded! LOL If there are any particulars, they were frozen in my brain with the rest of me. All I can remember is that I was cold! How can you be looking at a magnificent palm tree and be that COLD! It's too funny for words. The concert mercifully ended, I glanced at Justin's back as he went off the stage and grabbed my purse, relieved that it was over and I could get out of there. At least Konocti Harbor was WARM! LOL I said a sweet goodbye to a dear friend and exchanged the fond hope that we would see each other again soon. It's time to move north and join the people who chose to attend the concerts up there. I'm unable to attend The Britt and the Eugene concerts - sitting in line is just not fun without SueC's witty companionship, so I'll be missing those two. I hate it and will be thinking of everyone there tonight, knowing you're having a great time. I hope it's warm! LOL I'll see everyone in Portland at the Schnitz on Friday. MaggieMay And the flames are getting higher, Every day... Photos on this page courtesy of MaggieMay |
Portland