So much fun was had by all, I don’t even know where to start. As much fun as I had at Fan Fair 2002 and the
Pennsylvania road trip, the week after Fan Fair, I think this last road trip was the best. Just to jog your memory, me and
three friends went to see Kenny perform in Albany, NY; Holmdel, NJ; Syracuse, NY; and in NYC on the Today Show. It
seemed that if we weren’t at a concert, we were in the car driving to the next venue city, but we sure had lots of fun
doing it.
At first, we didn’t think we would ever get to Albany for the first show. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but
it really stinks trying to get off this Island of mine. The traffic going through or around Manhatten is just horrible.
Eventually, we did get over the Throgs Neck Bridge to the US mainland. We were happy to finally be off Long Island, but
it didn’t last long. I had a different co-pilot doing the map reading for this trip. My regular co-pilot was asleep in the
back. Well, my new co-pilot just about got me lost twice, and we were still in the NYC area.
So we wound up getting to the venue late. Carolyn Dawn Johnson was already on stage and the winners were already
selected for the evening’s GM meet and greet passes. So, I didn’t get backstage to meet Kenny and neither did
Renee. I feel really bad about that. I was in charge of getting her back there, and I failed big time. Will you ever forgive
me Renee?
Naturally, we wound up missing all of Carolyn’s set, but we made it to our front row seat, Jen and I that is, for Phil
Vassar. So glad that I found those seats on e-bay. They were excellent. Thank you so much Terri, for telling me to go
for those seats, it was well worth it. We really enjoyed Phil Vassar and his band. Since I’ve been taking guitar
lessons, I have really been paying attention to the guys when they play. Phil’s lead guitarist, Jeff, was absolutely
phenomenal at every show. Not only do I like it when he sings the high part from Jackson Brown’s song Stay , but I
loved it every time (for all three shows they were at) he opened up on the song Athen’s Grease, off of Phil’s new
album. Which reminds me, I still need to purchase that new album. I haven’t heard that song since the NYS Fair,
and I really miss hearing it. The Albany show was the fourth time I was seeing Phil Vassar. I think the material from
his new album just put him over the edge in my book. I enjoyed his show the first three times I saw him, but he didnâ
€™t have that much time allotted to him. That changed with the three shows I just saw him at. He had more time and
did a lot more with it. He really got the crowd pumped up, especially me.
Then there was the break between Phil’s and Kenny’s set. Boy, I could have gotten into so much trouble,
without really trying, but I managed to avoid it. You could say that mother nature saved me. That is all that I should say
about that one. Then again maybe I should say more. Just before I left for my road trip, I stopped at the webpage that
sells all the chesney merchandise, where I could not believe my eyes. They were selling ladies underwear, then again it
could be unisex. They are black, they say the good stuff on the front, and they are also thongs. Can you imagine? Well,
my friends and I were on line to get beered, when I noticed a young “lady� wearing a pair of these nifty things on
the outside of her jeans. We all found it funny, but I was the only one who found it funny enough to say something to
this “lady�. So, I gently tapped her on her shoulders, and asked “aren’t they supposed to be worn on the
inside?�. I thought I was funny. She didn’t seem to mind, at the time. Then like I said, mother nature called.
So, I left my friends waiting in that line for beer. When I got back, it turns out that this “lady� finally thought of
something to say to my comment, and surprisingly, she wasn’t happy. I say, if you didn’t want anyone to remark
on what you we wearing, then why wear it. It’s all about timing. Apparently, I had it.
On to Kenny’s set. Before the Albany show I had seen Kenny 8 times this year. Three of those times were not an
actual concert, but he did sing and the band played, so that counts as seeing him. My point is, I’ve seen the screen in
the beginning of his show, before this road trip, five times and I still get so excited when that light goes on. I love that
opening part and that silhouette. If you’ve been to a show this year, you know what I’m talking about. If you
haven’t, let me know, and I will send you a good picture I have of that from the Wallingford show I went to in March.
So, Kenny comes out doing his thing, and I’m in the front row. How cool is that? He’s doing the first two songs,
Young and She’s Got It All. He’s dancing all over the stage, singing his little heart out. I had a shirt that I had
wanted to give to him. I was hoping to give it to him before the show, but since we were late in getting to the venue, I
didn’t win a backstage pass. So, I had to give it to him while he was on stage singing. I knew enough not to bother
him when he first came out. So, I waited patiently until I thought the moment was right.
He had just started on his third song. Whatever that was. I stepped up to the stage as he was dancing himself down to
my side, and I just stood there with the shirt in my hand held way up high. He came right over to me, grabbed the shirt,
and held my hand, all while he was still singing. He was so sweet. He went back to center stage and opened up the shirt
to see what it said. He then held it up to the crowd. The crowd went nuts. The shirt said I Love NY. That was pretty
cool. Then Kenny goes over to Tim Hensley, who is playing the guitar, and puts it right over his head. So there’s
poor Tim, playing his guitar, without missing a beat, a chord, or a strum and Kenny changing his wardrobe for the
evening. As soon as Tim had a chance to stop playing, he put his arms through the sleeves and wore my shirt the rest of
the night. The rest of the show was great. Kenny had two surprises planned for the audience. The first was Brett
Michaels of the group Poison, a hairband from the 80’s. He came out with an acoustic guitar and sang Every Rose
Has It’s Thorn. That was so cool. Kenny said that he used to cover that song a lot in his earlier shows. Brett sang
most of the song, and encouraged Kenny to sing one of the verses. Poison had played at this venue the night before.
When Brett was done, a whole bunch of really big guys came out on stage. It was some of the members of the New York
Giants, who hold their training camp in Albany. Apparently, Kenny got to participate in their practice earlier in the
day. Way cool for Kenny. So, the members of the Giants who were on stage, sang the chorus for Every Rose Has It’s
Thorn, led mostly by Kerry Collins, their quarterback. Being from New York, I am a Jets fan, but I do follow the Giants
also. I couldn’t tell you who else was on stage with Kerry. I Just can’t recognize them without their uniforms on.
Being in the front row was absolutely fantastic. Hopefully, I will be that lucky again. Being up front, there are things
that you have to contend with. Like the cameramen. I love the footage that is shown at all of Kennys’ shows, and
these guys do a great job with that. I never realized how big those cameras were before this show. I now know. They are
big. The guy working on our side of the stage must have hit me at least 10 times with the back of his. He didn’t
meant to. There just was not enough room. When the show was over, I had to ask him his name. I felt he hit me so
many times, that we should at least be friends. So we are friends now, and he gave both me and Jen guitar picks for
being such good sports. I got my first guitar pick from a show and it said Kenny’s name on it, whoo hooo.
Unfortunately, I lost it before the night was over, boo hoo.
When the show was over, we wanted to check out the Albany nightlife. Since we were staying at a hotel right by the
venue, we had plenty of time to kill, and no one wanted the evening to end just yet. So we went up the street a bit to a
place called Jillian’s. It seemed nice. Naturally, I walk right up to the bar to order a beer. As I’m waiting for the
bartender to bring me my drink, I notice right next to me Tim Hensley. He was hanging out with some friends. Yes, that
would be the same Tim that is my favorite band member. I just love his guitar playing. So, I had to talk to him.
Especially since he wore my shirt all night on stage. He was very nice. He even asked me if I wanted him to give the
shirt back to Kenny. I told him that he could keep it. I had another NY shirt that I could give to Kenny. We talked a bit.
I told him that my friends and I would be going to the next three shows also. He thought that was pretty cool that we
traveled so far to see them play. Before he left to get back to the bus, he told me that he would wear my shirt at the next
two shows. How cool is that? Tim would be wearing my shirt. So glad I gave it to Kenny, and Kenny just so up on things
to know that Tim is my favorite band guy.
There wasn’t too much nightlife in Albany. The bars all closed at midnight. That’s no fun. At least after the
Scranton show, the bar we found was open until 2 am. So, we headed back to my car and held a little impromptu tailgate
party then.
The next morning we headed for Holmdel, New Jersey. The drive wasn’t bad from Albany to Holmdel. We just
loved driving the Garden State (a nickname for Jersey) Parkway. I didn’t quite understand why they had toll booths
every 20 miles or so. It was very annoying to keep slowing down for them. That is, until I realized, or noticed, the signs
that they had up at all the toll booth plazas advertising the evening’s show. After that, we couldn’t wait to get to
the next toll booth. When we got to the next one, I rolled down my window and reached out and grabbed the sign. We
had three more toll booth plazas to go through after that. One didn’t have a sign. So, we ended up with three
signs. One for me, one for Jen, and the third, I gave to a friend that we were meeting up with in Holmdel.