Loving this Chicago traffic...everything is 2 hours away but only 20 miles.
Ok, details about Thursday night at the Vic and all our dirty secrets/habits. We went to dinner at Trader Todd's about 2 blocks from the Vic. The five of us, Himm, Babbs, Pennylane, Pat and Buzz. We were the only people there...can't be a good sign at 5 pm can it? Himm had to go back to the car and ran into Casey on the street. He's got a great photo of Casey in his wild ass tie dyed T-shirt.
I asked if it was Happy Halien Hour and the barmaid said they can't have Happy Hour in Chicago by law
We got in the Meet & Greet line about 5:40 and there were about 15 people ahead of us. I think there were about 40 people for the M&G. We all were thrilled with the M&G, plenty of autographs/pictures with Haley and Casey and the PMJ cast. We kind of hogged the photo time because we did shots with each one of us and then as a group. Some of the others commented to us that we really must be Haley VIP fans. :rolleyes Haley did her little Bill voice from F is for Family. I think it was almost an hour when the M&G ended and then we had another hour to wait for the concert. Standing for 4-5 hours is not easy for us crazy Dad fans.
The concert started right on time, 8 pm. I have to say that the PMJ performers are really incredible...another one of these "even better in person" observations. We all know that about seeing Haley live...and let me add, Haley had a special glow about her Thursday night...sweet home Chicago. Everything moves quickly, in fact when the MC comes out there are only a few seconds before the next performer is at the mic. I had trouble starting some of the videos at the beginning because all of a sudden Haley was there. Typical Team Haley Fans, whenever Haley was performing the four of us had arms up and cameras going
Ariana was just incredible live. She targeted Himm and me because we were front and center, and seasoned veterans
Babbs and Pat had a good laugh, even Harry asked if I had the red face going...she definitely had me tongue tied.
The show lasted two hours and we did ok because we thought, based on what Himm had said, it would go a lot longer. There was a lot of hanging around after in the lobby, until security moved us out to the sidewalk. The cast came out in the lobby one and two at a time and mingled with people buying PMJ merchandise and looking for autographs/photos. Haley and Casey didn't come out until later when everyone was outside, so most of the audience was gone by then. Haley obviously attracts a lot of attention in a crowd, but because most people were gone at that point, it was a more intimate group of family and friends. Maybe it was 11-11:30 when a group of about 20 of us, including the Reinharts, walked the two blocks to Schefield's Restaurant/Bar for the post party. Eventually, the group included Scott Bradlee, Adam Kubota, Casey, Haley, the Reinharts, family and friends...and a few of us crazy Haliens.
Harry commented to me that he was really impressed with Haley's Creep version that night. He said that she had made some subtle changes within the melody that were really incredible. I asked him at what point did he know Haley was going to have this type of future...he said when she was 11 years old he realized it..."she was turning heads".
We had a great time...bought some drinks for Harry, Casey, Adam (getting ready to take the bar exam...so it's not all about the bass). They were all fun to talk with and so appreciative of their fans. Scott Bradlee is just such a down to earth, approachable, easy going guy...I'm really impressed with his people/business skills, not to mention his amazing musical talent. Haley was so radiant and beautiful...she really was emotional being with her family and close friends.
We partied until 2 am and then the five of us made the drive back to Wheeling, didn't take two hours at that time...maybe 30 minutes. Wish you all good have been here...
