Leap Day at Disneyland: The Magic and The Madness

When Disney announced its "One More Disney Day" promotion - both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom would stay open for 24 hours for Leap Day - I knew I had to be a part of the history. Several days have passed, and I'm still recovering, but I'm really glad I did it!

My boyfriend Dave and I decided to approach the event realistically and acknowledge that we weren't likely to make it through 24 hours in the park. We booked a hotel room at Paradise Pier for Tuesday - Thursday. That way, we could check in the night before the event, get up early and go right into the park, and then already have a room available for an afternoon nap. We could also crash on Thursday morning after the park closed at 6am for a few hours and avoid driving while exhausted.

As the event approached, there wasn't a lot of communication from Disney about the schedule or special aspects of it. Finally, about a week before the event, they started to do some blogging. They announced they'd be giving out 2000 commemorative ears to the first 2000 people to enter the park. Fans could line up at 10pm the night before to have a chance to get the ears - and they did! For those of you who think Southern California is always warm, let me tell you, February evenings can be pretty chilly. I think the temperature was in the mid 40s that night. These people are the true die hards! Disney also announced there would be a 1am Fantasmic, an extra nighttime parade, costumed characters in their pajamas (we were hoping to see Darth Vader in his pajamas - no such luck), and special food items at many of the eateries. Blue Bayou would be open til 4am. We started to get pretty giddy about all the possibilities.

Tuesday night, we drove down and checked in at the Paradise Pier. We were excited to find out that our standard room on the concierge level had been upgraded - we would now have a top-floor suite! Our check-in clerk asked if we were celebrating anything, so I said "Cohabitation. We just moved in together." She came back with special buttons that had "Cohabitat!" written on them. Disney will celebrate any occasion, even "Living in Sin"! We also received 2 instant fast passes each. The hotel suite was nice and roomy. This was my second time staying in a Disney hotel, and the first was the Grand Californian. Paradise Pier is certainly not up to that level, but it was still a nice hotel. You can get a nice view of DCA from some rooms, but we had the Anaheim view.

We walked over to Trader Sam's in the Disneyland Hotel for a late dinner and drinks. The Tiki Room is my favorite Disneyland attraction, so this bar is perfect for me. The wings and ahi poke were tasty, and so were the cocktails. After two tropical drinks, I was pretty buzzed and had no problem falling asleep.

We didn't want to exhaust ourselves, so we slept til 6:30am (the park opened at 6am). We enjoyed the free continental breakfast provided at the hotel for the concierge level guests, and then walked over to the park. There was no line to get in, and we were excited to receive a free "One More Disney Day" pin. Of course, the 2000 commemorative ears were long gone by time we arrived at 8am. Luckily, there was plenty of schwag you could buy in the stores including t-shirts, hoodies, and ears with the "One More Disney Day" logo. We got hoodies and had the store ship them to our room - that's another cool advantage of staying at a Disney hotel. I quickly found myself overwhelmed by all the costumed characters roaming around the entrance to Main Street. We got pics with Pluto and Donald.

The park wasn't busy during the morning and afternoon. We were able to walk up to most rides and wait times were 10-15 minutes at most. Even the big rides like Space Mountain and Indiana Jones had wait times around 45 minutes. We took advantage of the small crowds to explore the whole park. I rode things I'd never ridden before like Storybook Land Canal Boats and Pinocchio's Daring Journey. We even ventured into Toon Town, although Dave warned me it was dumb. Indeed, it was pretty dumb, but we got our pic with Mickey in his house. Mickey pointed to our "Cohabitat!" button, and I was a little embarrassed to explain it to him.

We stopped for lunch at Village Haus, where they had added a Chili Cheeseburger to the menu for the day. This item had been on the menu as "The Woodcarver" for many years. We thought the food was just OK. We ventured onward to Frontierland and Critter Country, meeting Woody in Frontierland and Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore at Critter Country. Dave discovered the bakery in Critter Country also had the special Leap Day cupcakes. Yum!

After visiting the Haunted Mansion with no wait around 4pm, we decided to go back to the hotel to rest for a couple hours. As we were leaving the park, crowds were streaming in. We asked the cast member at the exit if he expected it would reach capacity and he said "Not at all. You don't have to worry about it." Famous last words...

We had some friends meet us at the hotel and checked out the free happy hour on the concierge level of the hotel. Around 6:30pm, my friend Heather and I went over to DCA to ride Tower of Terror. At this point, we could tell the crowds were swelling. Even though we had a fast pass for Tower of Terror, they said the wait time would be almost an hour. It was 2 hours for people without a fast pass. And DCA was closing at 8pm. After Tower of Terror, we exited DCA into a huge crowd. Lines to get into Disneyland were snaking back and forth across the entire plaza between Disneyland and DCA. Everyone how had been in DCA was now trying to get into Disneyland, plus the after-work crowd had arrived. Dave and our other friends were already in Disneyland, and we were about to give up and go have dinner in Downtown Disney when we noticed they were getting ready to open the exit gates to let more people in. We quickly got to the exit gate before folks in the giant line noticed and got in. There was definitely some Disney magic at work for us!

From other reports, it seems Disney didn't bank on the large number of season pass holders who would show up after work for the night in the park. They had not fully staffed the park. Huge traffic jams arose on the 5 and on the roads around Disneyland and the parking garages. There were long waits for trams from the garages to the gates. Cell phone reception was lousy, and it took a while for us to find Dave and our friends inside the park. We met up with them where they were enjoying the special mac and cheese hot dog at the Refreshment Center at the end of Main Street - another special food item that Dave thought was just so-so. We went to the Tiki Room and over to Space Mountain and Star Tours. Luckily, we had fast passes for those rides, as wait times were approaching 2 hours.

I started to get super-tired around 10pm, but I pressed on and went on a few other rides. We stopped for food at the Mexican place. The crowd crush was really draining for me, especially toward 1am when people began flooding the New Orleans Square area for the 1am Fantasmic. We saw a bit of Fantasmic while in line for Pirates. We also saw Olympian Shaun White walk by us after exiting Pirates, with Disney security and a big group. Dave and I decided to give up around 2am and head back to the hotel. I am bummed that I crapped out and didn't stay to find the Disney characters in their pajamas, eat at Blue Bayou at 3am, etc. On the way out, we saw lots of sleeping people in the grassy areas and various alcoves. It looked like the homeless had invaded Disneyland. I felt bad for security - it must be tough to tell who is just napping vs who is passed out drunk.

As we were leaving, we saw there were still huge lines to get into the park and at the ticket windows. We didn't realize it, but the park had reached capacity and closed for a few hours that night. They did open the gates again around 2am and many people stayed until 6am. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed a good night's sleep with our late check out at noon.

Leap Day was an amazing event, and I hope that Disney will do it again, but with better preparation for the evening rush. The daytime hours were some of the best I've ever experienced with no lines, great weather, an abundance of costumed characters, and a crowd that was really in a great mood. The evening crowd had more drunk people, rowdy teens, etc. By that point, I was just too tired to put up with it. All in all, I feel this was a great way to spend my bonus day this year - leapin' forward with Tigger!

See all my pics from One More Disney Day

Read about the pandemonium on Micechat

Read More......

Concert Review: A Decade of Difference

The Clinton Foundation celebrated "A Decade of Difference" with a huge fundraising concert at the Hollywood Bowl (Oct 15, 2011). Celebrities still love Bill Clinton, and they were abundant on the stage to pay tribute to him on his 65th Birthday. Hilary and Chelsea were seated with him.

The show kicked off with a surprise set from Stevie Wonder! Good thing we were on time. Stevie and his band played "Overjoyed", "Superstitious", and "Signed, Sealed and Delivered." It was pretty amazing.

Celebrity presenters who introduced bands or clips about the foundation included Laura Ling (the journalist who was once jailed in North Korea), Jason Segal, Maria Bello, Ellen DeGeneres, Colin Farrell, and Ashton Kutcher.

Kenny Chesney played a few acoustic country tunes. Clinton later thanked him for making him not be the only person on stage that night with a Southern accent.

K'Nann was next up. I hadn't heard of him, but I found him really likable. He got the crowd going with a singalong for "Wavin' Flag" and Bono joined him on stage for a song. He grew up in Somalia and spoke about surviving the war there.

Then came Juanes, who I also didn't know anything about, but I dug his virtuoso guitar playing and rockin' tunes. Hailing from Colombia, he added to the global atmosphere.

The crowd got fired up for Usher. He opened with the Beatles' classic "With a Little Help from my Friends." He had his full band and back-up dancers. Everyone was on their feet for "Yeah" and "Caught Up." Even Hilary was gettin' down.

.

Many girls in strange outfits in the audience got on their feet to greet Lady Gaga. She and her piano were perched atop a strange treehouse-like structure. The atmosphere was electric as she played a slow version of "Born This Way" and then segued into the upbeat usual version, calling on a fleet of dancers and musicians.

She expressed sadness about Clarence Clemmons' death as she started to sing the song he played on - "The Edge of Glory" - and she suggested Bill come up on stage and play sax. I think we were all secretly hoping he would do that during some point in the evening, but no such luck.

Gaga was warm and entertaining and, of course, provocative. Fully blond, she said she was going to have a Marilyn moment, and I fully expected her to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President." Thankfully, she refrained. She did mention that we should all have "A Bill Romance" and then substituted that phrase into "Bad Romance." She flirted with both Bill and Hilary.

All out of breath from dancing, she panted through her own American Dream story, talking about being in a tiny apartment four years ago and dreaming that just one person would believe in her. I'm sure it sounds hokey, but after watching Gaga in the interview she gave at Google, I do think she's being genuine. I was impressed with her piano playing and singing, too. She whipped the crowd into a frenzy and President Clinton later quipped he thought Gaga might give him a heart attack.

After an intermission, they showed an amusing celeb-studded film about celebrities brainstorming for ideas for the foundation. Ben Stiller, Matt Damon, Sean Penn, Kristin Wiig, Ted Danson, Mary Steenbergen and Kevin Spacey were in the film.

Chelsea came out and gave a short tribute stating that her parents were her heroes, and she introduced President Clinton who talked a little about the foundation and thanked everyone who appeared that evening. I did cringe a bit when he jokingly referred to Laura Ling as "a girl I once picked up in North Korea." Some folks in the crowd began a chant of "Four More Years" while Clinton was speaking.

The show concluded with an acoustic set from Bono and The Edge. They kicked things off with "Desire" and then "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Bono described them as one half of the band U2, and there was some amusing fumbling as The Edge had trouble finding the drum track for "A Man and A Woman" on his Mac. Before launching into "Sunday Bloody Sunday," they talked about how President Clinton had united Ireland and his other contributions toward greater world peace. They brought out a string section. Bono said rock n' roll was such a male-oriented universe, it was nice to occasionally hire a string section because string sections often include girls. They played "Staring at the Sun", "One" (with a snippet of "Happy Birthday") and closed with "Miss Sarajevo" in which Bono did an admirable job with Pavarotti's opera solo.

It was a magical evening at the Bowl!

Watch the concert on Yahoo!

Read More......

House of Davids Estate Sale

The King of Hancock Park is selling his castle and all its contents. After driving by this house for years, I couldn't resist the chance to go inside and maybe get a souvenir.

For those not familiar with this story, Norwood Young, a former Star Search winner and R&B recording artist has a home called Youngwood Court, aka "The House of Davids" due to the fact he has placed 17 statues of David on columns in front of the house. The house has caused much consternation among the quiet, wealthy neighbors over the years. They disliked the accoutrements, the drive-by tourists, and the parties. Now Young is looking for a fresh start after publishing his autobiography last year that describes a lot of the pain that led to all the partying, plastic surgery, and excess.

The estate sale is running 2 weekends. I was there for opening day on Oct 15. I had read it would start at 9am and imagined people would be there even earlier, but I slept in and got there around 11:30am. There was a small line, and I realized that the sale hadn't begun. Some girls in hot pink outfits were setting up a champagne bar in the driveway. The gal in line behind me had an email that said the estate sale would be kicking off with a champagne and massage reception. 'Cuz that's how Norwood rolls.

I didn't realize it at the time, not being aware of what he looked like, but Norwood himself came out to tell the line they would be opening a few minutes late. And then Sharon Yost who was running the estate sale came out and explained we would be entering through a side gate to the backyard and would be expected to leave that way too. We were told to not partake of the champagne or free massages as those were for a separate event going on. Hmmph.

I was in the first group of 25 people to be let inside. Once in the backyard, I noticed the faded painting of Norwood on the bottom of the pool. Lots of statues were for sale, as well as a large variety of Christmas decorations. They were even selling picnic plastic cutlery and containers of margaritas salt. Yes, everything must go at estate sales, but it's a little strange when the person isn't dead.

Inside the house, I checked out the home theater, adorned with Norwood-centric artwork, including a strange 3D portrait of him as a lion that kind of resembled Ron Perlman in Beauty and the Beast. Lots of glassware was for sale on the bar. I noticed what would become my only purchase - Norwood glasses - adorned with a logo and images of David. A good souvenir for $10 each, and a fine addition to my wet bar!

Next up, there was the dining room. The lucite cocktail rounds are suspended from the ceiling, with track lighting on the floor shining up, and lucite dining chairs. There's an 8' tall sequined Michael Jackson glove that can be yours for $5000. The entrance hall had a white grand piano with a Norwood puppet on top of it, and 2 huge "Alice in Wonderland" chairs. They were $500 each. There were 2 bedrooms on the first floor with furnishing for sale. I don't know how to really describe the house's design aesthetic - "Nagel meets Elvis" maybe?

At first, we weren't allowed access to the upstairs Master Suite because Norwood was in there. Then he came down and greeted some of the guests and the reality TV crew. We could then take off our shoes and ascend the dirty white carpeted stairs to the master suite. It had a large sleigh bed and a nice balcony overlooking the pool.

Back downstairs, I watched Norwood's manager show off Norwood's bejeweled pimp cup to the reality TV crew, stating that Norwood would drink his tea from it. I took my glasses to the cash register and overheard someone asking the cost of the David statues. The clerk said she thought they were $1000 each, but the price was probably negotiable.

The price of the house is probably negotiable, too. Originally, it was listed at $2.4 million but now it's listed at $1.795 million. It's hard for me to imagine who will buy it. I'm not sure it's a tear down, but it would need a gut overhaul if purchased by anyone who didn't like marble floors and soiled white carpet. It's allegedly 7 bedrooms and 4800 sq ft on a third of an acre. Some rooms were closed off, but it didn't seem that big.

Next weekend, expect to see Norwood's clothes and kitchen stuff for sale. We were told they didn't have time to get everything sorted before this weekend. It's definitely worth the trip, and I bet there will still be a few Davids left for purchase.

While Norwood seemed upbeat, there was a strange, dark vibe in the house. I felt my previous celeb garage sale experience at Pam Anderson's sale was more fun. Maybe Pam's shabby chic furntiure is just easier on the eyes than a giant Michael Jackson glove?

You can see all my pics here.

See the estate sale info, with lots more pics.

Read More......

Concert Review: Tony Hadley / Men Without Hats

Tony Hadley /Men Without Hats

Fremont Street Experience, Las Vegas, Nevada

August 20, 2011

Ahh, Fremont Street. It's not just a street; it's an experience. Deep fried twinkies! Daiquiris in footballs! A zipline! It's kind of like Orange County Fair meets Atlantic City meets the Star Wars cantina. But for one special night in August - Tony Hadley really classed up the joint!

Nina Blackwood is hosting a series of 80s concerts on Fremont Street this Summer. While the list had many awesome bands like ABC and Howard Jones, I picked Tony Hadley because I'd never seen him before. Of course, if I lived in Vegas I'd be there every weekend. Nina pulled up to host the show in a DeLorean. Over our heads, we noticed a large moon being circled by an MTV-esque moon man and Elliott and E.T. on a bike. T-shirts with slogans like "Fremont Say Relax" were being sold. This all put me in a great nostalgic mood.

Men Without Hats opened the show. Singer Ivan Doroschuk is the only remaining piece of the original band, but his voice was really all that mattered. He looked a bit like Bret Michaels in a black cowboy hat and leather pants. I got a bit bored during their set, since I only knew their two big hits, which they did dutifully play: "Pop Goes the World" and "Safety Dance."

During songs I didn't know, I got distracted by a strange love triangle - semi-drunk guy and girlfriend and really drunk and/or high man who could barely stand but wanted to dance with the girlfriend. The boyfriend seemed to alternate between yelling at the drunk guy and helping him stand up. I eventually decided they must all be roommates at the same crackhouse. I got more intrigued watching a group of high school kids near us who were screaming the whole hour for "Safety Dance" and when they finally got it, they actually formed a conga line and did the safety dance. You can see the kids dancing in this video - and you can see Elliot and E.T. riding around the moon above the stage - but you'll have to forgive the horrible audio courtesy of my iPhone. I promise it sounded a lot better in person.

Many people wandered off after Men Without Hats and a smaller but enthusiastic crowd greeted Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet. I got reintroduced to Tony recently watching one of the recent Glastonbury concerts on Palladia and was really impressed with his voice and song choices. He reminds me a bit of Tom Jones, in that he picks interesting and timely cover songs, puts his own spin on them and is a bit loungey. And he still belts his own classics with gusto.

Tony surprised the crowd with a cover of "Somebody Told Me" by the hometown boys The Killers. He went back in time with "It's a New Day" and back to the future with "Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters. He got in the Vegas spirit with covers of "That's Life" and "Suspicious Minds." He also covered Duran Duran's "Rio" and U2's "With or Without You" which really brought me back to Live Aid, since all those bands were there. Spandau Ballet really had awesome outfits at Live Aid. The sax player looks like he's a Laker fan. (Check out my reflections on watching Live Aid as a kid vs watching it 20 years later.)

Tony played the big Spandau Ballet hits like "Only When You Leave," "Gold," and "True." The crowd sang along. He also delivered an emotional version of "Through the Barricades", explaining to the US crowd that the song was about the troubles in Ireland. He chatted a bit during the set and was utterly charming.

Poor Tony was sweating up a storm, wearing a suit in the 98 degree Vegas heat. But he never even took his jacket off. That's just how debonair he is! The Rat Pack would approve. He was sipping some whiskey on stage, so maybe that took the edge off. He seemed happy to be in Vegas and said he'd never played there. In fact, this is his first US tour since 1986! He played for about 90 minutes, which was more than I expected from a free concert. His band sounded great and also features drummer John Keeble who was also in Spandau Ballet. I had a totally awesome time. That much is indeed true.

Read More......

American Idol: Top 13 Address Their Icons

Well, I wasn't planning to watch Idol this year. The last few seasons had been so plodding. I wouldn't have kept watching them if I hadn't been wagering on it (and last year I won the pool!). And without Simon, I really felt the show would fail. But I have to admit, I've kind of enjoyed the judges so far, even if they don't really have very distinctive viewpoints or specific critiques. They have good chemistry. And the crop of talent this year is actually pretty impressive. Here's my thoughts on last night's show.

Lauren Alaina - "Any Man of Mine"

Young Lauren idolizes Shania Twain. She's got a booming voice, and she's likable. This song didn't really let her stretch but the performance was solid.

Casey Abrams - "With a Little Help From My Friends"

Casey let Joe Cocker possess him, and the results were very entertaining. This kid definitely doesn't look like an Idol, but I think he's the Taylor Hicks oddball of the season and he could go the distance. He's goofy and soulful, but he's also a damn good singer. Plus he brought the stand-up bass onto Idol - that was a first.

Ashthon Jones - "When You Tell Me That You Love Me"

Ashthon's very pretty and capable. She's got awesome hair, like her idol Diana Ross. I can't say she really stands out for me at this point. Barry Gordy came to see her. I wonder what he thought. The spelling of her name is hard for me to get over. It reminds me of when people named Thomas shorten their name and spell it "Thom".

Paul McDonald - "Come Pick Me Up"

This cat is part folky, part cheesy. He's hilarious to watch with his epileptic dance moves (again, I felt the presence of Taylor Hicks). His voice is unique. I can't say I love it, but it's something different. He's like Bob Dylan meets Barry Manilow. He sang a Ryan Adams song and J Lo admitted she didn't know who Ryan Adams was. His oddball qualities and alternative song choice may hurt him.

Pia Toscano - "All By Myself"

Pia went for the high degree of difficulty by tackling Celine, and she pulled it off really well. Her dress would have looked better without the strange drape in the back - seemed like a tail, like an unfinished Project Runway outfit. The girl really can belt it out. She'll be around for a while.

James Durbin - "Maybe I'm Amazed"

Yay for James! Last week he brought Judas Priest to Idol, which I thought was awesome. And now he tackled my favorite Paul McCartney song. James does evoke Adam Lambert but he's got his own style too - more rock, less theatrics. I love to see a little glam rock make a comeback. James has the touching story too - with his Asberger's and Tourette's issues, and young son. I'm rooting for him.

Haley Reinhart - "Blue"

I thought Haley's performance of the Leann Rimes song was too old-fashioned and kinda boring. Technically, it was fine, but her performances have left me cold so far.

Jacob Lusk - "I Believe I Can Fly"

I think Idol wants this kid to win, letting him come out with a full-on gospel choir. He's definitely talented, but I feel he oversings every time and tends to pick the cheesiest anthems like "God Bless the Child" and now this R. Kelly tune. And if you're wondering what spa Jacob is concierge at, it's Burke Williams since he mentioned the Hunter's Retreat in his spa spiel. What does a spa concierge do anyway? Get you theater tickets while you're being wrapped up in leaves and exfoliated?

Thia McGia - "Smile"

Even if Thia doesn't know who Charlie Chaplin is, she managed to pull of a good performance of this song (the Michael Jackson version). She's cute and young but not radiating a ton of personality yet. Still, she could be this year's Jasmine Trias and make it pretty far.

Stefano Langone - "Lately"

Stefano's took on a tough Stevie Wonder song and did OK with it. I thought the performance was somewhat cruise ship-ish, but the judges slobbered all over him. J Lo particularly seems to have a crush.

Karen Rodriguez - "I Could Fall in Love"

Karen brought a Selena tune to Idol, but she didn't sing with much verve. Her performance was so muted that I wondered if she might be ill (the producer made a comment about her needing to rest her voice before the show). She didnt seem to try for the big notes as she has in the past. I was disappointed, as I've been a fan so far, but I think she could be in danger.

Scotty McCreery - "The River"

Scotty is a bit of a one-trick pony, but it's hard not to like him when you hear that big Randy Travis voice coming out of the little kid. Here he tried a challenging Garth Brooks song and performed it really well. He's going to be around for a while.

Naima Adedapo - "Umbrella"

Naima is very pretty and unique. She definitely brings something new to Idol, and I was glad she got chosen to be a wild card. She didn't seem totally comfortable with this song, but her dance moves were fun and her reggae twist made it her own. I like her attitude.

Predictions

Bottom 3 - Karen, Paul, Haley

Going home - Haley

Read More......

Rocky Horror 35th Anniversary Show

Thursday's all-star tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show was a night out that I am going to remember for a long, long time. It was definitely one of those "only in LA" events, and it was all for a great cause - The Painted Turtle, a camp for special needs kids.

Lou Adler, who produced the movie, put the evening together, and called in some favors from many of his famous friends to put together an all-star cast that accompanied the shadow cast. What made this a must-see for me was the inclusion of Jack Nicholson, who shared the narrator role with Danny DeVito. To my knowledge, Jack hasn't performed on stage since his high school plays, so this was really special to see. Jack and Lou have sat next to each other at Laker games for over 30 years, so I imagine that friendship plus the good cause prompted Jack to get involved.

The event took place at The Wiltern. Dave and I were running a bit late so didn't have any time before the show to mingle and check out everyone's great costumes. We came dressed as Time Warp party guests. Upon arrival, we got t-shirts and quickly made our way to the balcony where the show was about to begin.

Adler and director Kenny Ortega (best known for his work with Michael Jackson, including This Is It) did a terrific job of staging the show in a way that paid appropriate homage to the movie and the cult experience of the movie. The movie played on a big screen, and an all-star shadow cast reenacted it on stage (the all-star cast appears on the new blu-ray and is comprised of the best shadow cast members from around the world). Then they'd pause the movie to have the celebrities come out and actually speak the lines or sing the songs live, sometimes on their own and sometimes accompanied by the shadow cast.

Matthew Morrison and Lea Michelle kicked things off as Brad and Janet, fresh from the Rocky Horror episode of Glee. Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls was a sexy usher. Then there was a huge ovation for Jack Nicholson, who came onstage and settled into an easy chair for the opening narration. Listening to Jack read again reminded me of listening to my old audio cassette of him narrating The Elephant's Child - if you can find this, it's really cool, with Bobby McFerrin doing the music. They won a Grammy for it. Personally, I could listen to Jack read the phone book.

The second narrator was Danny DeVito, who instructed us on how to dance the Time Warp. Evan Rachel Wood played Magenta and Lucas Grabeel (High School Musical) was Riff Raff. Melora Hardin was Columbia. Most of the audience got up and tried to do the dance, although it wasn't easy being packed into theater seats.

Julian McMahon (Nip / Tuck) made a great Frank N. Furter. He really got into it and seemed to be totally comfortable in the costume. He wasn't dreaming it; he was being it. My only regret about the evening was that our seats were in the balcony. I wish I hadnt cheaped out and had sat down closer. It was hard to tell who the celebs were from our vantage point, and we weren't able to pick up a program until after the show. We totally missed Ricki Lake, and only noticed her during the curtain call (and I'm not sure who she played).

Jorge Garcia (Hurley from Lost) knocked it out of the park as Eddie. He can really belt. And George Lopez was daring as Dr. Scott, sporting the fishnets. There were some audio issues during his scenes and part of his dialogue was lost.

Jack and Danny returned to the stage to do the final narration together, to another big ovation.

Lou Adler brought everyone out for a curtain call and talked a little about The Painted Turtle. He then surprised us by calling up a couple of notable folks from the audience: Barry Bostwick and Tim Curry. The theater went nuts for Tim and the shadow cast on stage was truly starstruck. Then everybody did the Time Warp one more time, although Tim and Jack slinked off stage.

There was a costume ball afterwards, catered by Wolfgang Puck. Admission was $500, so we passed on that. We had a terrific time. I hadn't seen the movie in a few years, and it's always good to revisit it. I have been feeling a bit down lately about the lack of creative output in my life, and the movie reminded me that I just need to get off my butt and do it. Don't dream it; be it. I've been singing that everyday since the show.

Thanks to Lou Adler for putting together such a spectacular event!

Click here for the zap2it.com photo gallery from the show.

Read More......

Hole is Reborn

I approached the Henry Fonda Theater on Friday with some trepidation. The return of Hole seemed likely to be a trainwreck. I was just hoping it would be an entertaining one, like the one in The Fugitive, as opposed to one where I'd have to avert my eyes.

I caught the last couple songs of the opening act, Little Fish. The singer seemed like she had been cut out of the Courtney Love mold, except British. She had a pretty enthralling barbaric yawp.

Courtney emerged after an operatic overture, right on time, surprisingly. She was backed by the all-new Hole. There was also a guitarist on the side of the stage covering for the notes she missed or when she was too overwhelmed to strum. She introduced the rest of the band but told us he wasn't really there.

The first song was "Pretty on the Inside" which morphed into "Sympathy for the Devil" - quite a ballsy start. The show was less than an hour, which is pretty typical for Hole, but it was packed with classic material and songs from the new album Nobody's Daughter, due out on Tuesday.

At one point, a fan asked for "Gold Dust Woman" and she said they could play it. After some guitar changing, they took on the challenge of recreating the cover tune, and it was awesome. I remembered that it was Hole's version of that tune that made me want to start listening to Fleetwood Mac and now the Rumours CD never leaves my car's CD changer.

Hearing "Violet", "Miss World", and "Doll Parts" again brought up a lot of memories. I practically wore out my Live Through This CD in 1994-96. The first time I went to a concert by myself was due to a compulsion to not miss the show when Hole came to town, so I ventured to a small club in St. Louis - Mississippi Nights - by myself. I remember seeing Courtney walk in with Frances Bean in her arms. Both mother and daughter were wearing ratty fur coats. This was less than a year after Kurt's suicide. The set was raw and fierce, and Courtney slammed St. Louis with the comment: "I can see why T.S. Eliot left."

She revisited "Malibu" and "Celebrity Skin" off the Celebrity Skin album, and I recalled seeing her play at a college in Connecticut in 1998 in support of that album. She was transformed into a smoother, prettier Hollywood wannabe. I didn't like that Courtney as much, although the music was still good.

The current Courtney seems a mix of the two. She looks like she's had quite a bit of work done. Her hair started out as a almost too-perfect bob that made me think of Anjelica Huston's sleek do, but as the show progressed it got mussed and tucked haphazardly behind her ears and she looked like the old Courtney. She joked that the gown she was wearing had originally been intended to be worn to an Oscars show. It was a beautiful gray dress, but she wore a too-small black bra under it and was busting out all over - still a juxtaposition of the glamorous and the trashy.

I have to say I liked some of the new songs. "Skinny Little Bitch" recalled the catty Riot Grrl early Hole songs, while "Pacific Coast Highway" is more of a melodic pop song like "Malibu" although with lyrics like "I'm driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with your gun in my hand" it's not exactly pop. Courtney brought out Linda Perry, who wrote some of the new material, to play keyboard on one of the new songs. The new album promises to include a lot of meditation on Kurt's death and her various struggles with family, daughter, and substances.

I had a great time at the show. It was fun to relive all the old songs with a crowd of rabid fans shouting out the lyrics. There was even some crowd surfing! It definitely felt like a return to the 90s. I'll pick up the new album. I'm not sure how this comeback will go. I can't see her getting through a whole tour, as it seems like it was taking all her energy to complete this 50-minute set. There didn't seem to be much chemistry between Courtney and the new band, and I definitely missed Eric and Melissa. But, hey, good for Courtney for giving it another go.

After ending with an acoustic version of "Northern Star," Courtney commented, "That wasn't so terrible, was it?" No, Courtney, not terrible, but not awesome either.

My review of Hole's 1998 concert

My Courtney Love Choose Your Own Adventure, written in 2000

Read More......