I was correct, and I was in an area where I could see the back entrance of the stage when Smithereens guitarist Jim Babjak happened to come up the ramp, with his guitar slung in a soft case on his back. He said hi to me, and I returned the greeting, and then said "White Castle Blues!" He paused and smiled.
"White Castle Blues" is an obscure Smithereens song that he co-wrote several years ago, which was a bonus track on their first full length CD (it did not make the vinyl). I've always liked that song. It's a bit out of the Smithereens mold; with him doing the vocal on it and having fun with it. He then remarked, "you have one here in Vegas, don't you?" I said we did, but it's on the Strip, and since we locals don't go to the Strip I had not been to it yet. We chatted some more for a few moments, and then he went on to proceed with the soundcheck. The bass player, Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion was already there, and drummer Dennis Diken and singer/rhythm guitarist Pat DiNizio (also the frontman for the group) joined him shortly thereafter.
Once Jimmy got his guitar plugged in and verified that it was in tune, he treated me to a short burst of "White Castle Blues". Then the other members soundchecked their instruments, and they also played a short burst of "Only A Memory" to get the vocals all balanced out.
After that I got to chat with Pat DiNizio some, and with Jim. There were a few other fans there. I had to explain that this was my first time seeing them although I'd been following them since 1988. It was simply a matter of them and me being in the same town at the same time. In my San Jose years I would be away on a business trip when they came through. That was how it is, and they wanted to know if I was going to stick around for the show. I said I would, even if it was past my normal bedtime. They would be taking the stage shortly after 9:00 PM and would play a 50 minute set.
Pat obliged my request to pose for a photo with him. He did ask me not to post this on the internet, and out of respect for that wish I won't post it here, but he was OK with me emailing it to Sheila. They went back to an RV were they were presumably going to rest up some. Jim said he needed to get out of the heat, but would see me again later on.
Through an interesting sequence of events, when I was back there at 7ish, one of the fans from another of the bands who had seen me at the soundcheck gave me the VIP wristband so that I could be in the section closest to the stage. I went in, and a security guard came up to me. I thought I was going to be asked to leave, but he was there to tell me all three band members were doing a meet and greet backstage, and if I wanted to meet them then go ahead and go back.
I felt bad that I didn't have anything for the Smithereens to sign, but Jimmy said "hang on. I've got a picture in my guitar case I can give you." He returned five minutes later. The Thrilla jokingly gave me a hard time for not having a silver sharpie on me, but that I could purchase one. I asked him how much, and he said "five thousand dollars!". It was either Jim or Pat who said "don't listen to him", and I came away with an autographed color photo of the band.
They took the stage at about 9:10 PM. In that short of a set, they obviously couldn't have played all the songs that they wanted to play, but they did play their well known tunes, and blended one of them with a medley by using a couple of songs from The Who. It was one excellent show, and afterwards they signed autographs and CDs at a booth on the opposite side of the Fremont Street corridor. They had CDs on sale too. I bought one of a live show that I didn't have, and one from Jim Babjak's side project. Jim personalized it for me, and Dennis signed that one as well since he had played on it. We chatted some more, with me indicating that I would try to catch them in Arizona later this year.
After I got home all full of adrenaline, I visited their websites, and discovered that Jimmy had his email address up there, so I wrote him to thank him again for providing me that picture, and for a great show. I logged off and tried to get some sleep after that.
It wasn't until the next morning that I saw his reply. He wrote me back from his hotel room shortly after midnight using his iPhone! Now how cool is that?! I plan to write him again shortly, but I want to give his CD a second listen before I do.
They play in Sahuarita AZ on Friday, the 11th of September. Plane fares at this time look doable but I can't commit to this until early August. I'll have to burn a vacation day and fly down there the night before, but I'd like to have Sheila with me the next time I see them, and this is so far the best way to make that happen.
As stated previously, Pat asked me not to post the photo of us together, but I have one from the soundcheck I can share with you.
