MotherSaid's Review
Grand Casino
Hinckley, MN
February 10, 2006
Despite dire predictions of snow, I managed to get to the casino
( 1 1/4 hours away) just before it hit. As I was unpacking
my bag, I looked out the window and noticed it starting to snow.
I went up a day early to be able to spend some time with Miracles,
from Georgia, and Erin and her mom, Pam from here in MN. Just
as I was walking up to the hotel entrance a car pulled up, and
out steps Miracles. Though she claims not to do cold,
she arrived safe and sound. We were registering when Erin
and Pam arrived. M's and my room was ready, but Erin &
Pam's wasn't, so they left to head to the casino for some lunch.
After settling in, we took the shuttle over to the main hotel
and casino and got something to eat also. After lunch M
and I were in the ladies room, and I hear her yell "I
found one". "You found What?" There
on the inside of the stall door was a great Air Supply poster.
Not to be outdone, I checked all the stalls and found another
poster. Now we both had one and couldn't be happier.
We then checked all the other bathrooms in case we could find
one for the other gals, but no luck. Apparently we had found
the only two that were not being guarded by security.
The guys had arrived from Winnipeg at around 11:00 AM, and I'm
sure were resting and getting ready for the private show
they were giving that night for the Diamond and Platinum card
holders. Now you all must know by now that an Airhead never
gives up. We had been trying for several weeks to find a
way into that private concert. All telephone calls and e-mails
met with a definite NO. We were discouraged, but not defeated.
M and I decided to try one last time at the VIP Lounge.
I thought M had a better sob story than I did (flying up from
Georgia and all), so I let her do the talking this time.
We could not believe our luck when we met this absolutely darling,
little gal who told us she would put our names on the list and
let us know at 6:00 PM if there were any empty seats for the concert.
She even took M over to get her a players card, since this was
how she would find us at 6:00. Well, now we knew we had
to be gambling for her to find us, so that is what we proceeded
to to. We found some nickel poker machines and spent our
time there. M did alright for herself, and I even came out
ahead. It was now 6:20 and we were starting to worry.
Just then, around the corner comes our guardian angel and tells
us that she has gotten permission for us to go into the show when
it would start . . . at 7:30.
She said to just find an open door and go in and take any empty
seat we could find.
This private concert also included a very fancy dinner, but we
had absolutely no expectations of taking part in that. Since
the dinner had started at 5:00, we thought it safe to go in right
after talking to our new best friend. We found an open door
and just walked in . . . the security guard didn't say a word.
We looked around and spied two empty seats at the second table
from the front, directly in front of the stage . . . can you believe
our luck? We sat down, and the people at the table immediately
started talking to us. It wasn't long before we realized that
they must be running late, because they had only eaten their salads.
They hadn't even been served the main course yet. Within
minutes, a waitress arrived with our salads. We told
her that we had not come to eat, but she was insistent, as were
the people at the table, that we should eat. Yup, you got
it right. Not only did we get a free concert, we also got
a very delicious dinner. M and I had all we could do not
to burst out laughing at our luck.
Just before desert was served, Erin and Pam arrived also...this
was turning out to be a GREAT night. After the door prizes
had been given out, three people from the table right in front
of the stage left, and we moved up so we were now right in front.
Erin and Pam then took the seats that we had vacated. Life
was good . . . lol . . .
The lights dimmed, and the guys took the stage. They started
off with "Power of Love" and then "Just As I Am"
These are the two songs I had been waiting for. If the concert
had ended right there, I would have still been happy. Russell,
in his new red leather pants, sang them to perfection. I
had waited 20 years to hear these songs live, and it was worth
every minute of it. The rest of the set was as follows:
Even The Nights Are Better
A Little Bit of Everything
Here I Am
The One That You Love
Lost In Love
Every Woman in The World
Making Love Out of Nothing At All
All Out of Love
It was only an hour concert, so 7 songs had to be cut. Even
though this was not your typical Air Supply crowd, they all seemed
to be enjoying themselves . . . and the guys put on a great show.
We were able to talk to everyone briefly after the show, and then
M and I joined Jed for a late dinner . . . remember, he hadn't
had dinner yet. We decided that all we were doing that day
was eating. By then it was late, and we were all tired -
so we called it a night.
It is now Friday, the day of the concerts. My daughter-in-law
and granddaughter were expected to arrive by early afternoon.
I had reserved a room in the main hotel, attached to the casino,
for Friday night - so I packed up and began the fun job of cleaning
the 5 inches of new snow off my car. I unlocked the car,
put my luggage in the back and put the car keys in my jacket pocket.
After getting the car cleaned off, I reached into my pocket to
get my car keys and my pocket was empty YIKES!. Somewhere
along the way they had fallen out of my pocket and were now buried
in the snow. Luckily I had a second set of keys in the car.
I moved the car and started looking for the car keys. I
looked everywhere with no luck. By this time I knew I was
late, and B & J would be waiting for me in the hotel lobby.
I had to give up and go over to the other hotel. While I
was explaining why I was late, Mike and Jonni walked by.
Now, let me explain . . . J's only request was that she get to
meet Jonni and get her picture taken with him (this was
her first Air Supply concert). I saw this as the perfect
opportunity, and both Jonni and Mike agreed, even though they
said they had literally just gotten out of bed . . . lol . . .
they still looked great. J got her picture taken with each
of them, and they went on their way, but she was now a happy camper.
Now I still had to face the fact that I had lost my car keys.
B said we should go back over to the other hotel and she would
help me look. I called M and told her we were coming back
and she said she'd meet us out front. Would you believe
it only took B a couple of minutes and she had found the keys?
So off we go to get checked in and changed for the concerts.
M gets a phone call, and it is Graham. He asks if she will
sell merchandise for the two shows....they had lost the person
who was scheduled to do it. M agreed even though she had
never done it before. I agreed to help her since I had done
it once in Vegas, and it really is a two person job. I honestly
don't know how only one can do it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Meeting new people and answering
their questions was really fun.....but also hard work.
We had a great night and sold a ton of the new CD/DVD "The
Singer and the Song", shirts and pictures. All the
shirts they had were new for this year, so this was my first opportunity
to see them. I ended up buying one for J for her birthday
next month. Are you getting the picture yet? . . . lol .
. . I see a new Airhead being born.
Selling sure cuts into any picture taking time. I usually
like to take pictures of everyone I'm with before the show starts.
As it was, I got to my seat just as Russell started singing
"Power of Love". I quickly dialed my sister on
my cell phone and told her to listen. She called me later
to thank me. She loved it and wanted so badly to be there
with us. I told her it was my Valentine's Day present to
her.
Both sold out shows were fabulous. The band was in good
spirits, and the audience was so pumped up. They were on
there feet singing and dancing. The guys fed off of this
and really had a good time. I wish I had written down the
song list, because I'm not sure how many were cut from these concerts.
I know we did not hear Miracles, Goodnight, the bands solo, or
We Are All Children. Each show lasted 75 minutes, with
a break in between. Graham promised everyone that there
would be a Meet & Greet after the second show and they would
stay until the last person had gone through the line . . . and
they did. May I say that it was a very long line and, even
though Sparky wanted to be out of there by midnight, they did
not make it. They had to call ahead to Indiana and let them
know that they would be late the next day.
Both Adam and Sparky told me that we could see the tour bus
as soon as they had all their luggage on board. This was
a first for me and I was very excited. I was also thrilled
that I could do this for B & J. The bus has everything needed,
just not a lot of moving around room. It had 12 bunks (3 high)
takes up most of the center of the bus. There is a bedroom
in the back that they use for everyone to hang out in. A
sofa, table, and a very small galley kitchen make up the front. Don't
worry, they don't have to cook, the venue feeds them. There
is a bathroom in there also, but I missed seeing it. They
all say they are enjoying the bus tour and it is going very well.
This is something they have not done in many years.
If you are lucky enough to have them come anywhere near
you, make every effort to go see them. You will not be disappointed.
They are still the best band out there and listening to them is
like pure heaven.
Until the next show,
MotherSaid