Viva Hysteria, April 10, 2013

The Hard Rock Hotel, Resort and Casino,
including concert venue, The Joint,
Las Vegas, NV



My first overnight in Las Vegas was miserable.  It was one of those rooms where the temperature seemed impossible to regulate.  It was either Antarctica cold or pulsing out heat like a blast furnace.  If that wasn't bad enough, I'd been so worried about staying hydrated in nine percent humidity, (Nine!!) I'd had way too much water and was up every hour to pee.

Welcome to Las Vegas, indeed!

When I woke up at 4:30 Vegas time, I was a little peeved until I realized it was 7:30 at home.  But given the lack of rest I'd had, I stayed in bed and may have slept some, getting up about 7:30 or so.

After showering in the aesthetically beautiful, but poorly designed shower, I went in search of coffee.  The hotel was quiet, but not deserted by any means.  It was the perfect time to wander about and look at the exhibits.

Almost immediately, I found The Joint and its box office.  Duh.  It was right where everyone I'd asked, said it would be.  ((shaking my head and rolling my eyes))



The hall with the box office also contained a long display wall, the entirety of which was dedicated to the various awards--gold and platinum albums, vinyl, CDs and even cassette tapes--that had been earned by Def Leppard over the course of their career so far.  They had been donated or loaned by drummer, Rick Allen, and lead guitarist, Vivian Campbell.    (Sidenote:  While I waited alone in this hall for the box office to open, a man and a woman wandered in and began to look at the Def Leppard exhibit, perhaps casually.  On several other walls of the hall, they had displayed vintage--and I mean "vintage" tee shirts from all kinds of different concerts.  Clapton, Allman Brothers, The Cure, etc, etc.  It was fascinating.  Some of them were like, forty years old.  So cool.

At the far end, away from me, I heard the woman say, and honestly, I thought my head would explode--"I wonder who the woman is?"  I wanted to scream at her--I wanted to SCREAM at her--"Vivian Campbell is a MAN!" [Oh, and my God, he is ALL man!]  "And one of the most incredible guitar players on the face of the earth."  Dumbasses!  Okay, I'm taking a deep breath here.) 

Backing up, timewise--still early, still coffee time, in the hall, being blown away by the incredible, major awards these guys have racked up over the years and wondering why American radio abandoned them so completely throughout most of the 90's (yeah, yeah, grunge and all that--really?  Is that really rock and roll?  [ahem] No! Again, Corporate America rules and brainwashes its subjects.  Sorry, I get carried away on tangents.  If you know me--you know me.  If you don't, much as I love you, get used to it.  You never know where it might lead.)

Anyway, before all that--when I wandered into the hall the first time--there was another woman already in the hall, taking pictures of individual pieces of the display and, of course, we struck up a conversation.  Her name is Sarah and she was from Indiana, also on her own, sent by her hubs.  I'd say we got a couple of winners, all in all, eh?

She'd had a baby seven months ago and her hubs knew she wanted to go to the show--didn't we all--and he bought her the Meet and Greet package!  She was so excited!  She's only thirty and could not believe I had never seen Def Leppard in concert.  She's seen them, like fourteen times now.  Wow!!  (I'm not sure if we discussed Eric Johnson or not.  It was early.  Seeing as how I've seen him in concert about twenty+ times--well, you know.  But he's played in places I've been or have had four to six hour access to.  The DL summer date in Charlotte, 2012 doesn't count.  I was completely indisposed for anything during that time.

So, we got to know each other and hung around together all morning and afternoon, getting more coffee and a muffin or whatever, taking in all the Def Leppard exhibits and others.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the Culinary Dropout, but then she had to get ready for her Meet and Greet and I wanted to go to the Bellagio for the Dale Chihuly glass atrium in the conservatory and to Caesar's Palace for Rick Allen's "Electric Hand" exhibit at the Martin Lawrence Galleries there.  Wow!!

Rick Allen's
Electric Hand Exhibit
Martin Lawrence Galleries
Las Vegas.

Okay, this is long already.  Here are a couple of pictures.  Please stay with me.  There's more to come.

Chihuly Glass Atrium at
The Bellagio
Las Vegas



Vegas, Baby!

Elevator door at the
Hard Rock Hotel in
Las Vegas, NV

Previously:  I got to Vegas on my birthday and began to explore the hotel. Without the meet and greet package, I knew I wouldn't see any of the band members except onstage.  But really, I told myself I would be happy to share the same building with them for a couple of hours.

My body told me it was past time to have supper, and having had only a salad for lunch, albeit a very nice salad, at Chicago Midway, I was hungry.  The map of the hotel was fairly useless to anyone over forty, as the names of things were printed in teeny-tiny letters and I probably should, but don't carry a magnifying glass around with me as a general rule.

And, I wanted to find the box office right away to pick up my ticket.  How exciting!  My first Def Leppard concert--ever.  I wanted to physically hold the ticket.  On the elevator down, I figured out the "casino" floor was the first floor and, surprisingly, I didn't get too lost, too often.

But man, I could not find that box office.  And you know me, I asked for directions.  Like, twice.  Jimmy Buffett would've said, "It plum evaded me."

I did, however, find the Hard Rock Store and saw they had some of Claire Jane Vranian's shirts, as worn by Joe Elliott onstage.  Check out her website, www.ICJUK.com or on Zappos at http://www.zappos.com/inspired-by-claire-jane.  They also had some of her incredible feathered rock and roll handbags.  I looked around but I left empty-handed 'cause I needed to eat.

Right next to the store is a restaurant/bar called "Culinary Dropout" (www.hardrockhotel.com/las-vegas.../culinary-dropout ) and it looked like a fun place, even at the early Las Vegas hour.  I went in and sat at the bar.  I ordered a glass of wine and hoped to strike up a conversation with someone other than the bartenders.  Not that they weren't a lot of fun, 'cause they were, but you know.  They get busy.

Presently, I noticed a woman who I thought was sitting alone and sort of kept my eye on her, in what I hope was not a creepy way.  Hahaha!!  (I'm cracking myself up, as I have everyone else to whom I've told this.)  Really, I just wanted to see if a companion showed up to join her.  None did, and when she ordered another glass of wine, I got up to see if we might hit it off.

I had been sitting beside a large square, cement-like column, of sorts, so I had an obstructed view of the long table behind it.  When I walked around the column, I got the shock of a lifetime.  In one of those seats obstructed from my view was Rick Savage, bass player extraordinaire of Def Leppard!  He was having a conversation and a pint with another guy.  Afterwards, I had the thought that this other man was someone important to the tour, but at the time, I was basically unconscious, so he'll have to forgive me.



Rick Savage, bass player
extraordinaire for
Def Leppard

Honestly, I hope I didn't gasp and drop my jaw, but I can't swear to it.  I had on my Hysteria pick necklace and just dropped by their table quickly to point it out.  I can't even believe I did that!

"See what I'm wearing?" I asked Sav.

It took him a couple seconds, but then he recognized it and smiled.  Fortunately my feet and legs held me up. 

"Are you coming to the show tomorrow?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah.  That's what I'm here for," I answered.

"Fantastic," he said.

Stay with me,
there's more