Saturday, May 28, 2011

It's time to get back to Clay! Meet and Greet!


At first they had stated no cameras, but the day of the concert we got an email from the lady from PBS stating we could bring our own cameras. Not that I was truly going to leave it behind, but getting that email made me think that we would be able to get individual pictures on our own devices.

We joined others at the box office at 5:00 and then we waited. And waited. Finally we were brought in where we all signed our names and the name of our guest. In my case, my sister, Linda. We were brought into the lobby area of the theater where we waited. And waited. Annnnd waited. The guy from the PBS special was there and talked about... something. lol. PBS stuff? Eventually, Clay's bodygaurd, Jerome, came out to give/get instructions of how they were going to set up the meet and greet. Everyone was clearly prepared and ready. Or not? It ended up that we were to line up, Clay would come around and greet us and sign something and then we would get our picture taken with him. It was rushed but Clay did give each of us individual attention... twice.

I planned to have him sign my over exposed picture from Spamalot stage door. I was thinking more in terms of a way to scrapbook whatever he signed as well as I thought it being purposeful since you can't see who we are anyway. By the time Clay came out I was calm enough (from waiting) that I think I actually remember at least most of what happened. I think. When he got to me I gave him my picture and told him that our first picture didn't turn out so well. He apparently agreed because he gave it an odd look of agreement, laughed and said that's funny. lol. I told him he could just sign across the entire picture... which he did and laughed at it again.





This time around I was a little more aware too as I remember his height... I love that he's taller then I am. A lady down from us commented on how she liked his hair. Clay's hairstyle can always become a topic of conversation as he seems to change it every two weeks. I found it funny because he said that other people had said that too and he hadn't done anything too it... he had just gotten out of the shower. He truly hadn't done anything to it yet either... it was kind of amusing that people were commenting on it. At that point I had a thought that that's why we had been waiting so long? We were waiting for him to finish showering across the street at his (and my) hotel. :)

Once autographs were signed it was picture time. Mary (Clay's awesome tour assistant) and the girl from PBS were taking pictures... I think they were switching off or something... to move the line faster. Not sure. Mary got my camera though. Clay told Mary not to over expose the picture (like my poor Spamalot pic) lol. He also said it could have also just been his face [that caused it to be over exposed]. Yeah, I'm sure that was it... or not. Anyhoo. Linda was kind enough to share her picture with me so I have two pictures with Clay. When she got up she mentioned that I'm the fan, she (Linda) was just the enabler (it was so true... having Linda here/there was just great) Clay was like... "well what's that supposed to mean?" My sister of course backtracked and said that she was a fan too but.... and was cut off by Clay giving her a look and saying "mhmm.... too late now, can't take it back. " lol. I'm SO proud that I actually remember the face he gave her. Classic Clay.


He said thanks to everyone and than it was another wait to the concert. The meet and greet went by fast but it was worth every penny of that donation to PBS.

Another awesome part of the evening was after the concert. We went back to our hotel and found Jerome in the lobby. I finally got a picture with him. He asked me if it was my first concert. Apparently (and according to my sister) I gave him a weird look and he changed his question to was this my first concert of this tour. lol. I said yes, and that I would be in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. He was like... Cleveland?! He totally didn't know they were going to Cleveland - he just thought they were going to Cincinnati! He said that his daughter was going to be upset with him because he had told her he wouldn't be in Cleveland. I kindly informed him that yes, they were going to be in Cleveland on Saturday and also that they better be there because I bought tickets to a show! lol.

Linda and I didn't go back outside in time so we missed Clay coming out of the theater to the bus. There weren't that many people and he stopped to thank people for coming and took some pictures. I didn't want to look stalkerish by running out to meet him so I missed that opportunity.

All in all. It was a great night. Of course, how could it not be?



Oh, the concert was AMAZING too. Great seats.

Now... onward to Ohio!



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