The Center for Performing Arts is magnificent, especially for a high school auditorium. We had enough time that we were able to wander around until we found a side entrance and parking lot. There were two tour busses parked there. Two guys were playing football in the parking lot (turns out they were not local high school kids, but keyboardist, John Beck and drummer, Steve Luongo.) One bus could only be Todd's - it had a postcard of Hawaii on the dash. Lots of empty pizza boxes on the ground beside too - must have been the official Abbey Road preshow dinner. We asked a gentleman with an official looking tag if he had seen Todd and he very apologetically told us he was with John Entwistle and couldn't help us. We sat on the curb and waited, and after a bit, another polite young man came across the parking lot and told us Todd was still on his bus - why didn't we hang around for a few minutes. It turned out, we saw later, that this helpful gentleman was Godfrey Townsend. Not much longer, about 10 minutes before show time, Todd stepped off the bus and headed our way. I stood up, heart pounding, hands shaking (what can I say - I think he's incredible!) and asked if he would sign my cd for a friend who had to miss the concert. He very politely asked where on the cd I'd like his autograph while I desperately tried to think of something remotely intelligent to say. The best I could do was to tell him I loved the Boston show, to which he replied, "Let me think....nope - no changes from Boston." That was good enough for me! With the cd signed, and a special memory of Todd standing shoulder to shoulder with me while he signed it, my night was already made in heaven.
This show was better than Boston - mostly because of my autographed cd, but maybe because the tour was coming to an end, and possibly because it was being recorded. I'm looking forward to owning that recording, if and when it's ever produced. Todd and the rest of the band were gracious and polite to this fan, nearly human (they eat pizza and play football in parking lots), but not quite. I was with wizards and true stars - what a night!
