Elton John

Merriweather Post
06-September-1998
Columbia, MD

I finally understand the ticket buying system so my husband and I decide we will get in line at a local record store near our home. We pass the store the day before the tickets go on sale at 2 PM and there are already 10 people in that line! Talk about depressed! We go home and begin to call other outlets and it is really looking bad! Most have lines in front of them already! I tell Mike to call the outlet that is near my job. He calls and they say that do not have a line yet! We rush out of the house with our sand chairs and a cover. We arrive at the store to find 3 guys waiting and that there are a total of 7 on this list that they have in hand! We sign the list! We figure we are in pretty good shape, better that we were anyway! By 10 PM, several other people have arrived but not the other four that are signed to this list! IN COMES MARY! She is a FAN and has LOTS OF STORIES! I sit and listen!!! I am not worthy of being a fan when I hear all her Elton tales!! Mary keeps this group that is in front of us in line! (They turn out to be kids buying for a scalper!) She also informs these guys that they will wait in line WITH US, not anywhere else, and that the other 4 will find the back of the line!! They do not FOOL WITH HER!! Morning arrives and we have survived the night...many stories could be told about the night!! Mike holds our spot so we can run and get a cup of coffee and use the bathroom at the coffee bar across the street! Mary asks me if she can pay me $50 to buy her a ticket. The fan club president is coming to stay with her and she wants at least one decent ticket. I told her there was no need, that a true fan would never charge another. I would indeed buy her the single. She gives me the money required to buy the additional ticket, which I give to Mike and explain to him upon our return to the line. The 10 AM hour finally arrives and Mike is last in the line of four that is led into the store. I wait outside because it is a small store. The tickets are now selling and the next four are led in the store. Mike finds his way out and he says to me "The clerk said I did very good!" Upon hearing this, I take the tickets and look at them and lo and behold, there in front of me is ROW DDD, THE ORCHESTRA PIT! I look at the other two and they are Row O right. THERE IS ONLY ONE PIT SEAT!!! I just want to cry!! Mary has the two tickets she was buying and comes to me and says "How did it go?" I hand her the orchestra pit seat. HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE!!!!! We have to rush home as we have club seats to an Oriole game. As we drive home, I say to my loving hubby, "WHAT HAVE I JUST DONE?" and he replies, taking my hand, "The right thing dear!" In the days leading up to the concert, I have my hair cut at Mary's shop and I get to see some of her Elton memorabilia and hear some more stories. They are amazing!! I just know I have to get close to him! The night of the concert arrives and we get to the pavilion! I am scanning the crowd for a friend of mine who was given seats at the last minute. We don't see her, so we go to look for our seats! I see Mary and the fan club President Stephan standing at an entry way by the stage. I have seen him on a web page of his that I looked at and I know it is him. I yell down to Mary....but she doesn't hear. Mike, who has also seen her, yells. Mild mannered Mike, the quiet man I married, sounds like thunder when he yells! SHE HEARS HIM!! She begins to walk our way. I look at Mike and say "Wouldn't it be cool if she had a pit seat for me?", at which time he replies "Bulls**t, that is not going to happen!" Gee thanks Mike, I think...JUST GO AHEAD AND BURST MY BUBBLE!!! Mary and Stephan finally make it up to our row and she introduces us to Stephan, then says to me, "I am going to make your day" and I reply "Why, you got a backstage pass?"...she says "It's just about as good!" and hands me the pit seat I bought her. Seems Stephan got two pit seats for the two of them and she had the extra and earmarked it for me! Wasn't that nice?!!! When there is no ticket for Mike though, I feel terribly guilty!! He knows this is my dream and tells me to go ahead! (THANK YOU DEAR!!! XOXO) I gallop down to the pit area where 2 ushers block my way. I flash the ticket and happily say "AH HA,I CAN SIT HERE!!" I want to scream to the world!! They move to let me by without even tearing my ticket! I am now sitting in this incredible 4th row seat! There is a couple by me that I hug like I have known them for years. Mary and Stephan are sittingon the other side of me! The only way life could be better is if Mike were in the pit with me. OH WELL, have to make the best of it! The first song begins, but in my joy, I don't even remember what it is because I am crying tears of joy! Elton walks across the stage. He is SOOOOOOO close! I can't move though because I am pretty much wedged in! He goes back to the piano and begins to play once again. I notice two men in front of me who look like the last place they belong is an Elton concert. Then I notice men coming over and checking Mary and Stephan's tickets. "What is all this?" I think to myself. I later find out Tipper Gore was in the audience that evening! The two strange fans turn out to be Secret Service. My new found friends Kathy and John have yellow roses. She takes them to him and gets a "touch". We scream and yell upon her arrival back from the stage! John runs up and gets his program autographed! This is too much!! The front area begins to clear out, including the Secret Service who never comes back. In the meantime, I get a pick from John Jorgenson...a added bonus from the evening! I almost catch a drumstick that I motion by pointing to myself that I would like to have and it is heaved my way.....but I miss, and a guy behind me gets it! Elton again walks across the stage. I have nothing for him to sign, but I am determined for him to know that I am a big fan! So I vault 4 chairs to get to the stage, but I stop 4 feet short of "THE ONE"! I can't move! I try, but my feet won't go!! Elton looks as if he is waiting for me to come over..but I just can't do it! I am awestruck!! I yell "I LOVE YOU ELTON!" once again, and he smiles and nods. "THE ONE" has seen me and I couldn't be happier! My quest begins to touch ELTON!!!! br>

Circle Of Life
Grey Seal
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Honky Cat
Tiny Dancer
Levon
I'm Gonna Be A Teenage Idol
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Daniel
Rocket Man
Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Crocodile Rock
Your Song
Recover Your Soul
Mona Lisas and Madhatters
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Simple Life/The One
Philadelphia Freedom
Something About The Way You Look Tonight
The Bitch Is Back
Saturday Nights Alright

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Great Balls Of Fire

Bennie And The Jets

Review Provided By Sharon L. of Baltimore, MD
Visit Her Website at
www.members.tripod.com/IslandGirl/index.htm