Concert Diaries Chapter 30 ~ That Time We Won in Vegas

October was the magic month.  I'd planned my vacation around a bunch of Gavin DeGraw's northeastern tour stops.  There were lots of late nights, early afternoons standing in General Admission lines, meet-ups with old friends, new friends made and miles and miles on the Fiesta (better known as "the skate" ...)  Each show had it's own special magic but tonight I'm taking my memories out of order.  The Northeast shows happened first but they're for another chapter.  Tonight I'm thinking back to one week ago ... the magic night I found myself in Las Vegas.

We'd (Phyllis and I) already been to one show (actually two, counting Bethel Woods back in August) when the magic doubled down.   This is how it began: 

There was an email ... Phyllis was the "potential" winner.  We don't win things so it wasn't totally clear what a "potential" winner was.










The contest involved making a donation to a charity, Make Room USA,  which I later found out works on an issue near and dear to my heart:  low cost and affordable housing.

We started planning even though we weren't sure she'd actually won.  Just in case there really was magic at work.




Excited is an understatement.


I, of course, throttled back because that's what I do.  I convinced myself that Phyllis was in a "pool" of "potential winners."  That way we wouldn't be too disappointed when the truth came out.

There was paperwork to be filled out and notarized.  Apparently that's what happens when you win more than $10 on a scratch off ticket.

We started to dream a little.









Dreaming sometimes involves a little wine.  We had no idea how things like this work.  We didn't know when they'd notify her.  I started to get nervous.













My nerves get rattled on a lot of levels but finances is always one of them.  I'm a paycheck to paycheck type of girl.  The prospect of a weekend in Vegas, as amazing as that sounded started making me wonder how I'd get through it, money-wise.  The subtitle of this adventure began to be known as "Two Broke Girls do Vegas."  We vowed we'd figure it out.

It may have involved ramen (which I didn't even do in college.)










The email finally arrived declaring Phyllis the official winner.  We were going to Las Vegas to see Gavin DeGraw in concert at The Cosmopolitan Resort.  We finally allowed ourselves to become 100% excited.

This news arrived on top of the concerts we were already attending in October.  Our concert karma was having a major boost.

The details began to be revealed.  We would fly to Vegas on Friday.  A car would meet us at the airport and take us to The Aria, the resort where we would stay. A car would pick us up the next day to take us around the corner to the Cosmopolitan to meet our host for the night.  We would all go to Gavin's meet and greet for pictures.  We had VIP entry to the show.

I was overwhelmed with all this news.  Thank goodness we were on vacation.  Processing our good luck took a couple of days and we were still in the throes of our original plan which had seemed amazing in and of itself due to the amount of times the tour stopped within driving distance of us.  (See the next chapter.)  October truly was the magic month.

First glimpse of Las Vegas.

I worked half a day on Friday and raced home to finish packing.  We took a cab to the airport and boarded the overbooked plane for the 5 1/2-hour flight to Las Vegas.  We were met by a kind and informative driver who got our adventure started by pointing out everything we were seeing on the way to the resort.  Once at The Aria we got in line to check in ... only to be told we'd stood in the wrong line.  The check in for the "tower suites" where we were staying was behind a "magic" set of doors on the other side of the lobby.  We pressed the button and the doors parted to reveal a small lobby where we registered and received the key.  Off to the 32nd floor we went, swiped the card to the lock and entered our suite.  The Vegas magic continued when the drapes parted to reveal the nighttime view, both up and down, the glittering "strip" of resorts and casinos, restaurants, bars and clubs.  In fact, the drapes were automatically parting in all three rooms of the suite.  The views were gorgeous.  We were starving though so once we'd marveled at the luxury that was ours for two whole days, we went in search of (cheap) food.  We found luscious cheeseburgers on the first floor of the casino which we brought back upstairs.  As it turned out, I was too excited to eat much.  Once settled in for the night, I lay in bed looking at the blinking lights of the city and wondering how in the world I'd arrived there.  I turned out the light to get some sleep and the magic drapes snaked their way around the corner windows, shutting out the view and urging me to close my eyes.

Good morning Vegas!

In the morning I searched for the magic that controlled the curtains.  When I found it, I pressed a couple of buttons and the drapes parted again to reveal sunrise in Las Vegas.  Still on East Coast time, it was early.  The sun was just inching over the mountains that surround the city on all sides.  We'd not noticed the mountains in the darkness of the night before.  It was a stunning view and we were high enough and somewhat behind "the strip" so we could see for miles, unobstructed, in each direction.  Directly across from us (our windows revealed three sides) was The Cosmopolitan, our evening destination.  We wondered why they were sending a car.

We enjoyed exploring a bit of Las Vegas in the little time we had available to us.  The Aria is a beautiful resort and casino with an equally beautiful shopping mall attached to it.  Two broke girls don't shop in stores with more diamonds than you can imagine but we had fun looking.  A monorail took us to the neighboring Bellagio where we photographed the floral displays in the conservatory and the views outside overlooking their lake.  We strolled the plaza outside of Caesar's and crossed the street for coffee and wandered past Paris.  We checked out The Cosmopolitan on our way back to The Aria to get ready.

The car collected us right on time at 5:15 but the amount of traffic and construction made the trip around the block a long ride.  Once at The Cosmopolitan we found our host for the first part of the evening, Todd Krim.  Todd works to put celebrities, in this case, Gavin, together with charities where they can help the organization promote its message and perhaps raise some money (as with the contest Phyllis had entered) as well as awareness.  He was lovely to talk to and I was really impressed with how much good both he and a friend of his who joined us do for the charities they represent.  He, in turn, seemed impressed by the depth of our devotion to Gavin who he'd met a number of times before.  For us, seeing Gavin in concert isn't a casual, occasional thing.  It's a big part of our lives.  We all got in line for the meet and greet.  I felt my nerves kicking in the way they always do anytime I'm going to meet Gavin.  He and his music have meant to much to me since I found him.  I'm convinced I'd still be living in a time tunnel of some sort, stuck in one place caught between wondering who I really was after single motherhood and whether there is life after for a single mom once her kids have grown.

The meet and greet was a quick one ... when you win a meet and greet, you're not given the same amount of time as those who pay for it.  We'd had paid meet and greets and quick moments after some of the shows on this tour already (again, stories for another chapter) but it was still lovely to have the opportunity to say hello once again.  It always is.  I wish I could someday get relaxed to the point of not feeling frozen in his presence but I doubt that day will ever come.

Since we were at the end of the meet and greet line, we weren't sure we'd be able to find spots up front.  But, a few of our friends had saved us spots right on the rail in our favorite location (we like bass players and drummers).  Our "tribe" looks out for one another and we help each other whenever we can.  This collateral benefit of having instant family and friends wherever you go isn't a trivial one.  I'm so grateful to Gavin for all the dozens of people he's brought into my life.  There were a lot of us in Vegas.

The concert was amazing as had been every show on this tour.  Andy Grammer and Gavin are a winning combination but the addition of Stephen Wrabel as the supporting performer was icing on the cake.  He's a sweet, endearing soul with a raw authenticity that shines through the beautiful songs he crafts and offers like poetic gems to his audience.  He'd never toured before and hasn't yet released his first album (coming soon).  It was his last night opening for this tour even though there are more tour stops before it's over.  Andy Grammer is known for pranking his tour mates.  Before Wrabel's  last number he bounded out onto the stage.  "You were the baby of this tour," he said, handing him a baby costume with goofy props.  Stephen was a good sport, donning the ridiculous outfit and proceeding to end his set with his most heart-wrenching song that brings me to tears every time I hear it.

Andy Grammer's set was as energetic and entertaining as it always is.  Andy's ability to light up the stage with the force of his positive personality, the camaraderie of his band, the exhilaration of his music ... it overwhelms me with joy every time.  I'd been to 7 shows on this tour and Phyllis, 6.  You'd suppose that we'd be bored or tired of it.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  This band lifts you up with their exuberance.  By the end of their set whatever baggage you'd carried into the room, has long since bounced off your back and tumbled away.  This is how Andy describes what goes on:  A concert is like an emotional chiropractic experience.  He says " ... if he and Gavin have done their job right, you leave feeling as though you've been emotionally adjusted."  It's the best description of what happens during a live music event ever.  And it's particularly apt for this tour.

When Gavin's set finally begins, I feel my pulse syncing up with the bass and drums the way it always does.  I breathe when he breathes.  My eyes close and the flood of music that washes over me takes me away from myself ... from paycheck to paycheck worries, from Department of Education reports and deadlines, from self doubt and guilt and the plague of stress that seems to accompany me every day.  The old songs are, by now, familiar best friends.  The new songs, particularly, the album's title track, Something Worth Saving, almost brings me to my knees ... both because it's an unspeakably beautiful song and because I wonder why there was nothing worth saving 18 years ago when my husband left.  Gavin's shows have an exciting arc.  He starts with big songs, takes it down a notch, grows it again, arcing higher each time until you feel as though you may burst.  The genius of this tour is the acoustic interlude in the middle which concludes with his personally thanking whatever service people are in the audience while individually acknowledging them, before singing his beautiful anthem, Soldier.  The set progresses until his encore, the current radio single, She Sets the City on Fire.  Several times on this tour we've been treated to a second encore:  Hey Jude.  Joined on stage by Andy Grammer and his band, it's a awesome ending to a perfect night.  Gavin's stories, his humor and his gorgeous raw silky voice have transported me to a place that is now so familiar yet always exciting as it was the first time (July, 2012, Big Flats, New York).

This night is magical though.  We are two Cinderellas at the ball at The Cosmopolitan in glittering Las Vegas.  We're still not sure how we got there but we're thrilled beyond measure to be standing, applauding and returning the love that has just flooded over us from the stage.  There are lots of our tribe here tonight.  A group photo is a must but the casino is crowded and it's hard to find a spot where we fit.  We find it on the second floor in front of an oversized crystal chandelier.  We decide we should eat since we're all starving but Phyllis and I are still on East Coast time having not had enough time to adjust to Pacific Time.  We give in to our fatigue and head back to our hotel through The Cosmopolitan one last time.  We stop in the lobby bar for a really quick drink with a friend.  We see Gavin and some of his band in the company of friends headed off, presumably, for dinner.  We aren't stalkers.  We don't follow.  We all respect him to much to intrude on his down time.

Back at The Aria we bring those same cheap cheeseburgers upstairs with us again.  It's past 1AM but this, too, feels familiar.  The number of late-night meals I've shared with friends following a Gavin concert are innumerable.  Phyllis and I relive the night and consider how lucky we are for the thousandth time that weekend.  Sleep is always an afterthought on these adventures but eventually the curtains drew themselves shut for a few hours on this day too.  It's been a whirlwind with one special memory rapidly following the one before it.

Check out isn't until 11 and our car doesn't come for us until 1 so we had time for a leisurely breakfast in the gorgeous cafe that pays homage to the Mohave desert that surrounds the city with its rocks and cactus gardens.  Our bags are packed but we're not ready to go.  It would be nice to stay in our magic dreamy bubble forever but it's time to check out.  Checking out is so easily done on line these days.  We looked over the bill (which was all taken care of thanks to Make Room USA) and confirmed we were checking out.  As though magically cued, the television turned itself off, the lights extinguished and the drapes rolled closed.  It was the literal final curtain on our magical weekend.  In the pitch dark of the room, like Cinderellas realizing their coach had turned into a pumpkin, we dissolved into peals of laughter while feeling for our bags and making our way to the elevator.  The magic was powerful but now it was showing us the way home.

I owe this special memory to my friend and PIC, Phyllis, who invited me to share in her good fortune.  We started out as concert companions but we're truly sisters now.  We've made a lot of memories together over the last few years and this one will be hard to top.  We both continue to be grateful to Make Room USA for having the contest that brought us to Las Vegas in the first place.  I hope the contest brought them as great a reward as it brought us.  I hope that those of you who stumbled on this chapter of my space here on the interwebs (bless you for reading this far ... I'm a rambler) will click the link and learn about their awesome efforts to advocate for affordable housing.

So ... we went to Las Vegas and didn't put so much as a dime in a slot machine.  But we were still winners.  We met people doing really meaningful work to help others, we met many of our west coast friends in person at last, we participated in the extraordinary live music the means the world to us, we lived the life of Cinderella for two days.  It was magic.

~~~~~~~~~~

Andy Grammer's new song:  The Good Parts
This song is an amazing tribute to relationships that go deep and stand the test of time.  I think this is Andy at his most revealing.  The place where his voice breaks a little makes me love this song even more.

Gavin DeGraw, Something Worth Saving
(Video courtesy of mad4hatter13.  xo, my friend!)

Finale ~ Hey Jude
An exhilarating way to end the perfect night of music.