Yesterday we took off around 9:30am picking up Jennifer around 10. By a few minutes after noon, I was at the stadium and left the girls parked behind a parking barrier and headed to Will Call. Ray told me to go to Window 7 and I walked up and it was if they were waiting for me. I picked up our 57 VIP passes and wrist bands and we were out of there in ten minutes.
We headed over to the Brown Palace and they had two of our three rooms ready. They said they upgraded me but after checking the rooms, we put Jagger and Ava in ours and took theirs. They arrived a few minutes after we checked in. Ty and Jack showed up 20 minutes later.
We walked across the street after going in to Ships Tavern and getting no service for about 15 minutes. I told the girl I didn’t have time to wait so we just left. She comp’d our drinks. We went to La Loma, a Mexican restaurant we’d always go to when we lived down here. Maurizio, a waiter from the old location, recognized us and came over and marveled at the boys and how big they now are. We ate and rushed back across the street. The hotel is packed and the band is staying here too so lots of Metallica t-shirts and people around. I know a lot of guys in James inner circle so it was like a mini reunion.
At 4, we headed down to Churchills where we had half the lounge booked out. Jagger helped me immensely managing getting all the right people the correct number of passes and wrist bands. The girls were right outside at a big table away from all the smoke. We all hung out for 90 minutes or so before heading into dinner at Ships Tavern. Earlier Eleni was getting her hair done and I told her about the poor service earlier, and someone from the spa overheard our conversation, so when we showed up this time, they had 4 waiters standing by for our table of 20 to take care of us, service was great. I didn’t really eat. Jag had some friends show up as they bought their own tickets and I told him I could give them the VIP passes and Snake Pit wrist bands if they bought their own tickets, which they did.
We took a Mercedes bus that held around 15, (we squeezed in 18) to the stadium. Melanie wasn’t going to go but a few hours before the show decided she wanted to now go! I told Marty to buy her a ticket, and I’d try to get another set of passes. Wasn’t happy about that as I’d have to track down Ray and hit him up for another set of passes, which was a pain in the ass. We all walked in a VIP entrance and then took a private elevator down a few levels. Melanie, as I said, was short a VIP pass so I had to talk a security lady into letting her go with us without credentials. Thankfully I was convincing as she let us through. We headed to the Friends and Family lounge where we ran into a bunch more people I know. Finally, after the second band, I walked over to the tunnel under Section 129 which is basically the backstage area. After dodging a bunch of crew, moving out Limp Biscet’s gear and taking Metallica’s guitar racks to the stage, I found Ray and grabbed a couple more sets of passes. Another guy in our group was short a set so I asked Ray for two. He always takes care of me; remember years ago he called Elton John’s manager and got us 9th row at Elton’s show in Denver.
We hung out with friends backstage and headed back ten minutes later so we didn’t miss the start of the show. When I walked back into the F & F lounge, we ran into Paul. He’s a former 26 year JP Morgan exec who manages the bands money. He’s helped Jagger out for years and we’ve known each other for at least 5 years, having meetings on Zoom and talking often, but never meeting in person. I texted Jag who came back in to meet him too. By now the show was 10 minutes or so from starting and the Snake Pit was filling up. Paul walked us out past some other security and took us right into the middle of the pit. We could have got to the same place but it would have taken us a bit more time.
Ten minutes later and 80,000 plus people were ramping up with excitement as the intro was starting. You’re so close it’s like you’re five feet from them. Here’s Robert.
It’s electric when the band starts and 80,000 people in unison are freaking out. Marty, Melanie, his brother, sister and brother in law had never been to a show and didn’t know what to expect. They were shocked. Here’s Kirk,
He’s playing a famous guitar known as Greenie as it was Peter Green’s (founder of Fleetwood Mac), 1958 Les Paul that’s been owned by a number of guys including Gary Moore and others. Kirk finally bought it for a nice $2 million when it came up for auction. In the guitar world, it’s one of the most famous guitars out there. And here’s James, literally 3 feet from us. That’s Jagger in front of us.
15 minutes before the show was due to end, Ava was getting dizzy so Lori and I took her back to F&F to get some water and something to eat. After the show it was like a zoo getting back to our bus. You couldn’t believe the mass of people. Once we made it to the bus, all was good. Our driver took us back to the Brown and dropped us off on the corner. I had him take Marty’s brother, sister and brother in law back to the Ritz. Robin, his sister, (yes that’s her name and Marty’s mom’s name is Lois, too weird) kept joking/bugging me for a meet and greet. Well as soon as they took off and we walked into the Brown, James came out of the elevator! Bad luck for them, ha. He gave me a big hug and said thanks for coming, which I said of course, and then he told me, we broke the record! He was excited and I asked what record, and he said for the most people at a concert at Mile High. I asked who had the record and he laughed and said Taylor Swift, we both laughed and high fived. Here’s me and my lovely wife,
By the way, that’s my jean vest from 1972. Lori hates it but literally over 25 people told me how cool it was and asked me where I got it, so there! Here’s Jack and Ty, they’ve known each other since grade school!
And last, Jag, Ava, Max and Ethan. Max and Ethan were so appreciative for the VIP access, as was everyone else.
One more of James. We thought about going Sunday but it’s a lot of work.
He and the band are off to London to play Ozzy’s last concert July 5th. We thought about going but as he said, it’s a long way to go to play 5 songs. That’s all they play.
8am now, we have to get moving and drive straight to Yampa to pick up Harley. Great time, lot of work, but fun. Hope all’s well. James is excited to get off the road. In about ten days we’re getting our bows out and going to start practicing for our elk hunt in September. He’ll be back like the 8th.
Time to hit the road and rock and roll streaming the show off our phone into the radio. God Bless.