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Las Vegas Review

London UK - Las Vegas USA. 17,000kms in a weekend.......you're kidding, right?

No....we did it. Anything for Stevie. We made T-Shirts especially for the trip saying how far we had come to see Stevie Rock-A-Little. We even made cards to hand out with our email addys.

Disaster - Stevie very sick. August 25th Concert postponed. Had to cancel everything at great cost and wait for a new date.

Surprise - Two dates! Wooohooo!

September 11th - The world in shock. Stevie very upset. Tour nearly cancelled. Is Vegas still on? Flights changed meaning we would be late for the first show.

October 5th - We left Milton Keynes early to miss the traffic. This was a very good move as we were put on an earlier flight to Las Vegas. Once on board we noticed that Stevie's Storytellers was being shown as part of the in-flight entertainment! What a great omen! By the time we checked into the hotel we had been travelling for 21 hours. We took showers and headed for the show. This was my first Stevie concert in 12 years and Louise's 2nd (she had made it to Boston this year)

We got to the Aladdin early to meet up with various Internet buddies. Hello to Mishi, Kel, Jules, Kristin, Michelle, Courtney, Donna, Angela, Livia, Tori. We decided to try for better tickets...unsuccessfully. We now wanted to find a way to get our gift to Stevie, the gift being a beautiful painting called Rhiannon. After speaking to the right people we found ourselves waiting at the backstage door. After a while we were told that we couldn’t see Stevie before the show as she was doing a sound check (we had guessed as much) and after the show she would be with her family. We were told to return Saturday at 5pm.

We went back to the theatre, purchased some merchandise and met John Kinney! He is a real gentleman and even signed our tourbooks.

To say that Stevie rocked on Friday night is an understatement. We danced the entire night and had a great time much to the annoyance of the people behind who wanted us to sit. They threw ice, beer and lemon slices at us but we had not travelled 6500miles just to sit down! And we told them as much!!

As Fall from Grace came on we picked up our bags ready to get to the stage. We noticed security getting into position to stop this from happening. We made it almost to the stage but were held back by very heavy handed guards who refused to let anyone but the golden circle approach the stage. Stevie came towards us and the crowd pushed forward and I was almost strangled by the security guard pushing us back. One man grabbed Stevie's hand so hard that it clearly hurt her. Louise managed to touch her hand but I just couldn't reach. As Stevie went along the stage Louise managed to put the cute toys we had brought with us onto the stage. They were two pigs and a bunny rabbit all of which walked and wiggled their noses! Waddy picked up the little pig and put it on the piano! We have since found out that Waddy kept that pig and Stevie claimed the white bunny!

It really was an amazing show and Stevie rocked...but the security guards were way out of line.

October 6th - We arrived early at the Aladdin again - too early to go to the stage door as instructed. So we brought a drink and sat down outside the limo rank. After a few minutes Louise spotted Brett Tuggle coming out of the hotel. Almost immediately Lenny Castro came out and waved when we called him. I turned my head and to my amazement saw Sharon Celani coming out. She was very friendly and signed out tourbooks and agreed to a photo despite having no make-up on! As we were about to take a photo Mindy Stein walked out! WOW! So she signed our tourbooks and we had pictures with both of them. They read our t-shirts and were amazed how far we had come. They were both lovely ladies.

We then went to wait at the backstage door. After standing there for around 15 mins a limo pulls up. The door opens and we see curlers!! Huge curlers! It was Stevie - no make up, hair in curlers, green tinted shades and she still looked fabulous!! Stevie got out followed by her two yorkies (very cute). A few other people got out one of whom was Sheryl Crow who seemed to have a mobile phone glued to her ear! We waited some more and could hear the sound check. I tried to imagine Stevie singing Fall From Grace in her curlers!!! It was at this time that Stevie's security guy came to talk to us. We told him how far we had come and showed him the painting. We asked for just 5 mins of Stevie's time. He took the painting to show to Stevie's assistant and on bringing it back told us Stevie couldn't see us as she was having a massage. He told us to return after the show. Lori Nicks was wandering around, as was Sharon who waved at us!

So we headed back to the venue and waited for some friends. We saw Lenny Castro wandering by and he also signed our tourbook.

Our seats weren't as good on Saturday but we planned to enjoy ourselves. We swapped seats several times as we wanted to be able to dance and first we had a man in crutches behind us and then a pregnant lady! Eventually we settled right in front of the sound console.

The show was amazing and it was an added bonus to see Sheryl Crow. About half way through the show we were permitted to move to some empty seats that were around 6 rows back. We were in front of Sharon and Mindy who saw us waving the British flag. They laughed and waved at us!. We also saw Stevie's mum and dad in the audience looking very proud. Her mum looked frail but funky in cream snakeskin pants!!!

Once again Security seemed tight so we didn't try to get to the stage. AT this time a guy came up to us and asked us how big a fans we were. He had read our shirts and handed us backstage guest passes!

After the show we headed for the backstage door. We were stopped by Aladdin security a little way back from other people. We saw Stevie's parents leave in a limo and then saw a white limo pull up. Once again we spoke to the security guard who finally let us through. There were around 20 people waiting and we were told not to rush Stevie when she came out and that she would approach people.

Stevie appeared - she looked amazing and I couldn't believe we were this close. She spoke to a lady and then headed for the limo. My heart sank as I thought we had missed our opportunity to talk to her. As she got into the limo Lori Nicks looked across at me and said, "Has she seen you yet?".... "No" We were asked this again by two more of Stevie's people and then we heard "You two only" and were beckoned to the other side of the limo as the security closed ranks around the other people. This was our private Stevie moment. The window was down and there she was smiling. She held both our hands and said, "Hi, How are you?" I told her it was nice to meet her (quite an understatement don't you think!!) We were with her for no more than 2 minutes. We gave her the painting and she said "This is soooo beautiful" I asked her to sign our tourbooks which she did willingly and then Louise noticed Sheryl Crow in the limo and asked if she would sign also. I noticed Stevie's yorkies and they were so cute with little bindi jewels in their fur!! As Stevie handed the books to Sheryl we were told 30 seconds. Stevie said, "Quick sign, they came all the way from England" She said she had planned to come to England but it got cancelled. She seemed genuinely sorry about that. Someone behind me shouted, "Stevie, have you seen their shirts?" so I turned round for her to read.

Louise told her about another painting waiting for her in Sheryl Louis' office and I told her about my daughter Rhiannon. We thanked her, she held our hands and thanked us for coming looking us right in the eyes when she talked to us. And then she was gone! As the limo pulled away we saw her showing the painting around. Unfortunately we had no time to get a photo of her.

Our excitement didn't stop here. We stuck around with the band and crew. Chatted with Lori Nicks (she was adorable) who seemed genuinely surprised when I asked for her autograph. She was very down to earth and friendly as was everyone else. We also got autographs and photos from Scott Plunkett, Chris Nicks, Al Ortiz and more with Mindy. At this time I remembered a bracelet made for Stevie by my 5 year old daughter Rhiannon. I spoke with Lori and she said she would get it to Stevie. She put it on her wrist and took a photo of Rhiannon. Chatted to Mindy and asked if she saw our British flag and she said " Yes, didn't you see me wave at you?" Of course we had but I just wanted to check it was us she was waving at! Scott overheard and said that he had seen us also!

We really didn't want the evening to end. I can still se Stevie looking right into my eyes and holding my hands and Louise feels the same. It was a moment we have both dreamt of and will cherish forever.

Thank you Stevie for your music, your poetry, your courage and for spending those special moments with us

Pip Fidler and Louise Beard

Here are some autographs and pictures taken by Pip and Louise in Vegas. You can click on them to see the larger image