Dreams Can Come True
Mom, you wouldn't believe it. Not only did my best friend Steph and I get to tour the stage before the concert Saturday night and spend time with Alice afterwards, I got to be ON stage during School's Out!
I drove to Biloxi, Mississippi Friday. I left very early, of course. I did manage to get some sleep and was only a bit disoriented when starting out. I used the cart to get my packs down to the car and started out in the dark and Garmin took me over some strange roads that Georgia calls "highways". There were times where I didn't see another car for 20 minutes or more.
I got to the hotel early, Steph and I forgot about the time differences between Alabama and westward and Georgia eastward so I was early. I sat in my car reading until Steph got there. We unpacked cars and went out to dinner across the street at a little Mexican place.
We went to a salvage store Sat. (Steph finds the best places) and got ready for the concert and short drive over to the casino. Thanks to Garmin we didn't get lost and made it in plenty of time to find where we were supposed to be, get our tickets and wander around a little. The clerks didn't know about the pre-show tour so I hung close to the time advised in the email I had gotten.
I saw William, my cop friend originally from Mississippi. He and his fiancee and her daughter are HUGE horror fans and major Alice Cooper fans. I've been wanting to meet them for awhile and adopt all three of them. He came in looking for the stage manager, with the 9 year old with them, he and Trish couldn't walk through the casino until very close to the time when the doors would open. The manager promised she'd come and get them before the doors opened. He's well known to the crew. I asked about timing of the pre-show tour and she said it was right then.
The venue was the theater at the Beau Rivage which seats 1,569 (not counting the floor space). Amber, one of the personal assistants, took over and led us on the tour. There was only 5 of us so we got to really take all of it in, including getting our heads into the guillotine and taking photos with FrankenAlice.
I also got a sticker and was told that I was the "balloon winner" - huh? OMG!!! I was told that after Alice got his head chopped off that I should be stage left and I'd be led backstage and told what to do. Oh wow, I never dreamed I'd ever get on the stage at the same time as the entire band and Alice Cooper!!!
I spotted William and family and went over and said hello and got hugs. "This is Barbara Cooper, she's all over my timeline, the really cool person!" Awesome!
Steph and I took places at the barricades and then the doors opened and some idiot chick tried to muscle me out and her 6'5" boyfriend was helping and we had an hour to go before the concert. Ugh. I knew I couldn't stand there for an hour and through the concert and be sure to be upright for my stage call (LOL). I sat as close as I could to the stage and Steph.
The band was fantastic and Tommy leaned forward and gave Steph one of his picks.
Of the 5 of us on the pre-concert tour was a guy with a female friend who had never been to an Alice Cooper or hard rock concert (same as Steph). She got Alice's whip during the concert.
I made my way up to the exit with my VIP laminate and "balloon winner" sticker and was shown backstage. We watched "Eighteen" from stage left - I was less than 5 feet away from Sheryl who was providing backing vocals offstage. I didn't say anything or take flash photos, she was working and I wasn't going to disturb the magic.
We worked our way to the other side of the stage and Kyler told me where to move out to, how he'd hand me the balloons and advised me not to move close to Alice - those swords and knives are sharp and he's focused on the crowd and balloons heading back his way.
I couldn't believe it! I could see William, Trish and Jamie.
Then it was my turn and I managed to get out onstage without tripping and tossed the balloons out and managed to get them out to the crowd. After the last balloon I watched for a moment and then we went around to stage left and I went back into the exit I had gone through into the audience area again. The concert ended and Chris and friend (the young couple) came dashing up - her eyes were wide and she was smiling ear to ear - "OMG that was amazing!!! I can't believe this!" Then Steph and the other gentleman with us made it up and we were led through the maze to backstage and given our goodie bags and asked to wait while Alice dealt with some celebrities and high rollers from the casino.
The second group that would go through saw us being led in and there were some definite glares. I also spotted William, Trish and Jamie and they waved like crazy.
Those celebrities turned out to be Kevin Sorbo, Denise Crosby and Sam Jones (Flash Gordon). Wow! We waited patiently, still riding high on the concert energy. The celebs went into a back room and Alice did a quick handshake and photo op with the high rollers and then they moved the table over and we sat down and waited. Calico and Chuck walked by, playfully posing or "dodging" the camera shots Kyler was grabbing and Nita went by, all smiles and gorgeous as hell. I wasn't on stage that long and I looked like a drowned rat. She looks fantastic!
The couple met and talked with Alice first and he signed the goodies and was great, as always. I went up next and I got the backpatch that I made signed (Alice and Kyler were impressed with my handiwork) along with the goodies and I remembered that I wanted to thank him for being an inspiration in soberiety.
"Since....1986," Alice said.
"1987 for me."
"Good girl! Wait, when did you get sober, when you were nine?!" he asked.
I love this guy. He even signed my forearm. Something he said cracked Steph up during their meet-n-greet. The five of us were....like instant friends. I exchanged FB names with Chris like I had with someone I sat next to during the concert (so I could see her photos).
Alice brings people together - good people with few people being jerks in my experience.
I was still grinning like a fool when I went to sleep Sat. night and the next morning.
Steph and I checked out of the hotel, hugged tightly and packed the cars up and I headed back home. I thought about finding a hotel for the rest of the day and night a couple of times. Driving home was a bit brutal on the body and I was tired.
I made it home a little after 6pm, threw all my stuff in my room, showed Jackie the goodies, checked my email and FB (the wi-fi in the hotel sucked) and died.
I'm still recovering 3 days later (Steph too).
I got to spend time with Steph; meet William, Trish and Jamie; met new friends; met crew; toured backstage; got onstage; and talked with Alice again.
Totally worth it!!!
Not in any kind of order - here are the pictures
Alice's clothing and some of the knives for the concert
Steph with the head used in the guillotine gag
Glen Sobel's drum kit
Okay, yes it feels odd having one's head in a guillotine, even if it is just a prop
Chris Pace getting photo bombed by Ryan Roxie
Chris' friend was blown away by the concert and Alice
ME tossing balloons out during School's Out to between 1,500-1,600 people
"Eighteen" - stage left
School's Out!
Me and Kyler
Balloons - an item on the bucket list I didn't know was there!
Brutal Planet - Kyler getting the curtain out of the way, Nita, Glen and Tommy!
Amber - so bubbly and friendly!
new friend with FrankenAlice!
Steph, me and....there's something behind us, isn't there?
top of the world, Ma!
Sam Jones from Flash Gordon and football fame
Jamie and Alice - he handed her one of his canes during the concert
Trish, Jamie and William (who got broken halves of a cane)
getting ready for the concert
the goodies from 10/13/2018 - the photo center is one I've had since 1987 that has a patch from my jeans I wore to my first concert - with blood stain.
Certified! By Alice and Nurse Sheryl!
Chuck Garric, Calico Cooper, Kevin Sorbo, Ryan Roxie, Sam Jones and Denise Crosby is off-camera
Calico
Chuck is such a loveable teddy bear!
Ryan and Calico
Ryan and Nita!
Trish, Jamie, William and Amber
Way to parent!
Trish and William!
I couldn't find a backpatch in 1986 so I embrodiered one. I got it signed Sat. night. Alice and Kyler loved the work!
ticket stubs, bits of ribbons from concerts, dollar bills off the sword, signed dvd/cd covers, my photo with patch of jeans.... treasured!
I have the entire band! Yay! It also includes picks, a dollar bill and my "balloon winner" sticker
more signatures
guitar picks from the band
set list for the night
I drove to Biloxi, Mississippi Friday. I left very early, of course. I did manage to get some sleep and was only a bit disoriented when starting out. I used the cart to get my packs down to the car and started out in the dark and Garmin took me over some strange roads that Georgia calls "highways". There were times where I didn't see another car for 20 minutes or more.
I got to the hotel early, Steph and I forgot about the time differences between Alabama and westward and Georgia eastward so I was early. I sat in my car reading until Steph got there. We unpacked cars and went out to dinner across the street at a little Mexican place.
We went to a salvage store Sat. (Steph finds the best places) and got ready for the concert and short drive over to the casino. Thanks to Garmin we didn't get lost and made it in plenty of time to find where we were supposed to be, get our tickets and wander around a little. The clerks didn't know about the pre-show tour so I hung close to the time advised in the email I had gotten.
I saw William, my cop friend originally from Mississippi. He and his fiancee and her daughter are HUGE horror fans and major Alice Cooper fans. I've been wanting to meet them for awhile and adopt all three of them. He came in looking for the stage manager, with the 9 year old with them, he and Trish couldn't walk through the casino until very close to the time when the doors would open. The manager promised she'd come and get them before the doors opened. He's well known to the crew. I asked about timing of the pre-show tour and she said it was right then.
The venue was the theater at the Beau Rivage which seats 1,569 (not counting the floor space). Amber, one of the personal assistants, took over and led us on the tour. There was only 5 of us so we got to really take all of it in, including getting our heads into the guillotine and taking photos with FrankenAlice.
I also got a sticker and was told that I was the "balloon winner" - huh? OMG!!! I was told that after Alice got his head chopped off that I should be stage left and I'd be led backstage and told what to do. Oh wow, I never dreamed I'd ever get on the stage at the same time as the entire band and Alice Cooper!!!
I spotted William and family and went over and said hello and got hugs. "This is Barbara Cooper, she's all over my timeline, the really cool person!" Awesome!
Steph and I took places at the barricades and then the doors opened and some idiot chick tried to muscle me out and her 6'5" boyfriend was helping and we had an hour to go before the concert. Ugh. I knew I couldn't stand there for an hour and through the concert and be sure to be upright for my stage call (LOL). I sat as close as I could to the stage and Steph.
The band was fantastic and Tommy leaned forward and gave Steph one of his picks.
Of the 5 of us on the pre-concert tour was a guy with a female friend who had never been to an Alice Cooper or hard rock concert (same as Steph). She got Alice's whip during the concert.
I made my way up to the exit with my VIP laminate and "balloon winner" sticker and was shown backstage. We watched "Eighteen" from stage left - I was less than 5 feet away from Sheryl who was providing backing vocals offstage. I didn't say anything or take flash photos, she was working and I wasn't going to disturb the magic.
We worked our way to the other side of the stage and Kyler told me where to move out to, how he'd hand me the balloons and advised me not to move close to Alice - those swords and knives are sharp and he's focused on the crowd and balloons heading back his way.
I couldn't believe it! I could see William, Trish and Jamie.
Then it was my turn and I managed to get out onstage without tripping and tossed the balloons out and managed to get them out to the crowd. After the last balloon I watched for a moment and then we went around to stage left and I went back into the exit I had gone through into the audience area again. The concert ended and Chris and friend (the young couple) came dashing up - her eyes were wide and she was smiling ear to ear - "OMG that was amazing!!! I can't believe this!" Then Steph and the other gentleman with us made it up and we were led through the maze to backstage and given our goodie bags and asked to wait while Alice dealt with some celebrities and high rollers from the casino.
The second group that would go through saw us being led in and there were some definite glares. I also spotted William, Trish and Jamie and they waved like crazy.
Those celebrities turned out to be Kevin Sorbo, Denise Crosby and Sam Jones (Flash Gordon). Wow! We waited patiently, still riding high on the concert energy. The celebs went into a back room and Alice did a quick handshake and photo op with the high rollers and then they moved the table over and we sat down and waited. Calico and Chuck walked by, playfully posing or "dodging" the camera shots Kyler was grabbing and Nita went by, all smiles and gorgeous as hell. I wasn't on stage that long and I looked like a drowned rat. She looks fantastic!
The couple met and talked with Alice first and he signed the goodies and was great, as always. I went up next and I got the backpatch that I made signed (Alice and Kyler were impressed with my handiwork) along with the goodies and I remembered that I wanted to thank him for being an inspiration in soberiety.
"Since....1986," Alice said.
"1987 for me."
"Good girl! Wait, when did you get sober, when you were nine?!" he asked.
I love this guy. He even signed my forearm. Something he said cracked Steph up during their meet-n-greet. The five of us were....like instant friends. I exchanged FB names with Chris like I had with someone I sat next to during the concert (so I could see her photos).
Alice brings people together - good people with few people being jerks in my experience.
I was still grinning like a fool when I went to sleep Sat. night and the next morning.
Steph and I checked out of the hotel, hugged tightly and packed the cars up and I headed back home. I thought about finding a hotel for the rest of the day and night a couple of times. Driving home was a bit brutal on the body and I was tired.
I made it home a little after 6pm, threw all my stuff in my room, showed Jackie the goodies, checked my email and FB (the wi-fi in the hotel sucked) and died.
I'm still recovering 3 days later (Steph too).
I got to spend time with Steph; meet William, Trish and Jamie; met new friends; met crew; toured backstage; got onstage; and talked with Alice again.
Totally worth it!!!
Not in any kind of order - here are the pictures
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