Haley Reinhart Opening For Steven Tyler July 7th

[Tusk]

On the Meet and Greet sign up sheet, there was six? Seven names? I think Jay had said they prepared for 50. Tyler's Meet and Greet fans were still out near the merch booth. Their meet and Greet had started late. There was a bit of concern Haley wouldn't get her time for her M&G.

When it was time, an official asked us to follow him back stage. There we saw maybe 20 other fans already there (including Haley's friends)... a better number than 6

When Haley stepped out of the trailer, I think I heard some gasps...she looked stunning, as usual. They told us to put our phones away, that the photos would be taken by their guy, then posted on their website. We can get our photos there. I greeted her, she thanked me for the Troubadour videos, I told Haley to kick some ass and hurried back to reclaim my spot at the front, the act before Haley was already performing, the crowd had thickened in the front of the stage, but they all let me take my spot

The two female act before Haley included a daughter of Rod Stewart (more on this later) They were pretty good, the other gal was country, Rod's daughter was more rock. They had just signed to a label and had fans there, "The Sisterhood Band"

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Haley was magnificent on stage. I'm really enjoying this more 'rocker', aggressive attitude she's been singing with, complimenting the sweeter, lighter mood of Last Kiss Goodbye. Recognisable songs like White Rabbit, Creep, CHFIL and Can't Find My Way Home really made an impression on a crowd that came to see Steven Tyler perform. How Haley mixed her originals w/ those favorites appeared to be the perfect balance, if one song didn't do anything for you, the next one will. I think that could've been a reason she was well received, at least around my area. As I was videoing, I could hear people saying "wow", "she's got a gorgeous voice" "she's so pretty"... I did not hear one negative thing, unless you mean "she was on Idol" a negative (Haley talked about how much Idol and meeting Steven, him being behind her on her season, meant so much to her)... Haley will never burn bridges and that has paid dividends for her

(I don't remember who, but someone told me they overheard someone asking "where is she from?" and another answered, "she's that Idol who got in the bar brawl" )

But in general, Haley was up to the task, her set list created perfectly for the crowd she would be performing in front of, and left a very good impression

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I want to make a disclaimer. Although I believe Steven Tyler is still an incredible performer, he really ROCKED his set and sounded amazingly great. Most rockers of his caliber can't sing like he still does....he's really marvelous and at the top of his game still

That being said. I've listened to Aerosmith for over 3 decades, the Eagles, Zeppelin, all those classic bands (OK OK, The Beatles are still something I listen to, they are "The Beatles" after all, all those other rock bands owe a debt to them, but I wouldn't pay $$$$ to watch McCartney on an HD monitor from nosebleed seats). In my mind, since following Haley, I think I've 'moved on' from the classic rock stuff I've listened to for decades, getting to experience extremely talented, youthful, energetic talents like Haley, PMJ, Morgan James, Casey etc....that's the type of music that I connect to, that moves me. It was a hard thing for the Tyler fans around me to understand (until they saw Haley perform, and me shooting "Did I tell You?" looks at them, at which they'd nod lol)

The disclaimer is to explain why I ended up leaving my spot at the front row before Tyler came on. I had what I came for, and more. Haley was spectacular, there was an unexpected Meet and Greet, got to see the Reinharts, all the boxes were checked.

Also, behind me, there was this young kid, I think he had down syndrome, his name was Anthony, I fist bumped him on his name. Apparently he made some kind of impression at the Ribfest, previously, somehow got on stage w/ an act and was a hit. The video showing this had apparently gained over a million views. Some of the set up people on stage knew him. The security behind the fence we were standing in front of him knew him, gave him high fives, he was getting alot of love. I tried to lean a certain way so he could see, as he was shorter than me. He was so in the moment, he couldn't help but sing when Haley tried to get the crowd involved on Let's Start and Expensive Taste. He was yelling "I Love You" and "What a voice!"

At any other show, I might have started tensing up, will my mics pick him up?...he was singing off key and loud, but with so much joy and enthusiasm. BUT, I had, at this point, framed my mind that I was there to have a good time, and this included w/ the fans around me. I was able to relax and enjoy the moment. What my phone picks up, it picks up. Even if I get perfect audio, there's no guarantee they'll ever be posted, they'd have to be cleared through #TeamHaley. This changed mind set, something I conditioned myself to think from the beginning of the day, allowed me to relax and not worry, enjoy the show. These people were here to have fun and the young man, Anthony, was having a blast. I could not be upset at that, the day was perfect, light breeze and everyone was enjoying themselves.

So these two things factored into my decision to leave my spot. I gave it to Anthony, he looked shocked at me "are you sure?" yes, I'm sure, have a great time! I thanked Al and Tricia keeping my spot, told Tricia to enjoy the "Fnck" out of her first time seeing Tyler live, to which she gave me an exuberant "Wooooooo!". Said my goodbyes to the others and headed to the merch booth.

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At the Merch Booth, I got to talk a little more w/ Rich, the tour manager. I told him that Haley had told me (in Idyllwild) that they might've recorded the audio to Haley's Better tour, Lincoln Hall show. I told him he should look at Babbs' and my videos, especially Babbs. It was my opinion that it was one of the best shows that we video'd and that IF this board audio existed, we'd gladly give them our video from Lincoln Hall to use with the board audio (if it existed)....Rich revealed to me something they're considering doing at Haley's shows into the future (I had mentioned the Troubadour audio in context of sound board audio).

At the booth, a couple other Reinhart friends offered to take over the booth for Patti. Angie had to leave after seeing a couple Tyler performances, because she had a gig to go to. So w/ someone watching the booth, I accompanied Patti to go watch Tyler. She didn't understand why I wasn't already doing that lol.

Earlier, I learned that Harry WAS going to try and get to the show. Rich and family friend Bill, were trying to give him directions, which entrance, to get his access. He was still 40 minutes or so away. I told Patti after returning from watching a couple Tyler songs (the only one I recorded was his Beatles medley, in hopes he might bring Haley in on Oh Darlin'), that I would wait with her. I wanted to say Hi to Harry.

As things wound down, they began packing up the Merch, I had made friends w/ another Reinhart friend, I hadn't met before. Harry had arrived and was w/ Haley, but behind the gate that led to back stage where we took out meet and greet pictures. I needed a special pass. The Reinhart friend, I think it was "Rick", told me to grab some things, and follow him. He nodded to security that I was w/ him, I was helping him load up their stuff....I was in the back... . We went to the dressing room to drop of the stuff. Harry and Haley was supposed to be there. I followed another Reinhart relatives (too many names to remember! I've run out of storage space!) to go out and look for them. Eventually, we found them. Haley, Harry and the band went out to the front. Harry had got there in time to catch Tyler's encore, a medley of "Walk This Way" ending w/ Zep's "Whole Lotta Love".... they were having a ball, all with big smiles on their faces, laughing... I took a couple of pictures.