Wanderings... and coffee
Friday morning (which came way too early), the three of us got up and went over to the Silver Legacy. We had breakfast and walked around the casino a little, then went out and looked at all the organized chaos that made up the Street Vibrations exposition. The best way I can describe it is that it was like a craft fair. Instead of quilts and painted baked clay Christmas ornaments, though, this was all leather and chrome and Harley logos. So to me, it was like a huge biker craft show! It was really pretty cool, and for the sheer number of people crowding the streets, things were very orderly and people were very polite.
At noon, we went back into the Silver Legacy to pick up our tickets for the shows. We were wearing our Styx buttons, and I had extras, so I gave one to Donna, the woman at the Will Call area. We asked if cameras would be allowed, and Donna said that their policy was no cameras, but that it was up to the artist. We told her that this band was usually perfectly fine with cameras, and that they should talk to Keith Marks. I guess we sounded like we knew what we were talking about, and she said we should talk to Jeff, the head of security for the venue. She got him for us, and we told him the same thing about speaking to Keith about cameras, and he said he would. So we thanked him, said goodbye to Donna, and went back upstairs to the casino.
By this time, we were getting tired. While we decided
what to do next, we sat down at a table outside a coffee shop right outside the
casino entrance, that was in the lobby of the Silver Legacy hotel. We had only
been sitting there a few minutes when Karen said, "I have a funny
feeling." I looked up and said, "There's Lawrence." And sure
enough, there he was, heading in to buy coffee! We said hello to him, and he
came over and talked to us! Kelly had some of his solo CDs (yes, she had them on
her at the time - problem with that?) and asked him if he would sign them,
and he said "Sure, let me get my coffee." Well, let me cut an
extremely long story short, because there just isn't room on the internet for
the whole thing! Lawrence came back out with his coffee and sat down with us,
and we talked for about an hour. It was such a pleasure - we talked about
Styx, his solo work, the World Trade Center attacks, Logan airport, music in
general, his family, our families, 80's hairstyles, chocolate, pigs, grand
pianos, Tim Curry, Ringo Starr, Dave Amato, Neil Diamond, Alan Ladd, Jim Ladd, the Statue of Liberty,
thongs, gloves, guitar picks, modem cords, leprechauns, boots with Cuban heels, Tunica,
Vermont, Atlanta, Anaheim, Golden Nuts... you name it. What a charming person he
is! One short story - in talking about the very light security check I had
to go through at Logan airport while other people basically had to unpack,
Lawrence said to me, "Well, they profiled you; they looked at you and
figured you were okay." So I asked him, "Do I have one of those faces
or something?" And he said, "Yes, you look very innocent." Hmm...
this is probably why I get away with so much!
Anyway, finally we let him go after he signed Kelly's CDs and let us take some pictures with him. He was very gracious and engaging, not to mention he is a riot!