(Note: A few bits of this are from my already posted first report after seeing Lucy on her debut on Saturday night)

Okay freefalling--no notes for this one. People were asking me if I was going to take notes at the concert--right--standing up in the unlit daarkness, jammed in with 350 other fans with no physical boundaries (like the edges of the chair) to keep people separated, so therefore most likely being so wedged in that either your arms were up or they were down--no room for bent arms, no elbows poking out to the side like you do when you write-and I'm supposed to take notes. I suppose I COULD have put the pen in my mouth and my pad on the head of the person in front of me but I'm just too shy and retiring to do that. (And possibly too short.)

Of course I was going to the con anyway. But it was particularly sweet this year since Lucy would be performing again as she did a couple of years ago in Seattle when she was in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". More Lucy time is always good. A nice little bonus for fans.

We of course had tickets for both nights. But having been a little slow on the uptake for the first night (like not seeing that the ticket were available for purchase in the first TWENTY MINUTES or so that they went up on Creation's site), all the VIP sitting seats were sold out by the time we realized they were for sale. So the first night we had what we called the "standing" seats. i.e, standing room only.

Our little group decided we would all take the bus to the show. It just sounded like that would a lot of fun. I was primed-I was sure the bus ride was going to be a blast. Indeed, I even figured I would take a bottle of Coke, drink some off and then top it up with Jack Daniels for the ride. But I forgot.

When Bonnie comes to the cons with us, she’s always the person who just loves to get on line early and stake out our claim for space. Without Bonnie, we’re totally hopeless. We were visiting friends, eating dinner, checking out the vendor tables, wandering around the hotel just la-dee-da-ing all over the place while the line for the bus grew steadily longer.

By the time we decided we’d better get on line, there were about 320 people ahead of us. BUT Creation was making announcements that if they filled up all the buses, they would call for town cars for transportation and would reimburse the people who had to use them. We weren’t quite far back enough to get a town car-we got on maybe the 7th, 8th or 9th bus.

I found it amusing that the buses rolled along the surface streets when going from Burbank to Hollywood rather than using the freeways or highways. We did really well by not going anywhere near the hapless highways and so didn’t wind up sitting stalled and cooling our wheels in gridlock. It was interesting to see the sights as we rolled through the towns-I have always enjoyed the funky look of Southern California. Except for right in the downtown sections and some outlying big chain hotels, much of the area has short buildings and eclectic architecture (including a few very whimsical structures). It's just got a very pleasing, practical, mostly old fashioned, working class look about it.

We got downtown in plenty of time. But the line going into the club was moving fairly slowly, so we wound up having to stand outside for at least a half-an-hour. And it was cold. Aside from the temperatures being much lower than normal, the wind was also ripping along the streets. I almost never wear a jacket at the con. But we had been elsewhere before and were going elsewhere after the con so I did have some outerwear with me. I not only put on a fleece jacket-I actually zipped it up! BITTER! It was BITTER!

One complication of dressing warmly was that since we were in the standing seats and since we'd heard there was no coat check, we were trying not to be burdened with big heavy coats. So many of us just about froze our heinies off. (The guys with not much hair-they also froze their heads off. Popsicles from one end to the other.)

So there we were, a long snaky line, running along the avenue for a few blocks. And of course, our line was easily 90-95% women. And not your typical Hollywood type dressy, starched hair, slathered with make-up chicks either. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the faces in the cars that pulled up next to us as they waited for the light to change. The passenger would be glancing around and would see us and then without really specifically paying attention, mindlessly scan along our line. Then you could see their brows furrowing as they took all us tough grrls in and suddenly realized what they were seeing. And then they'd often turn and say something to the driver who would bend way down to get a peek at us. It was really funny. I thought it would be a great idea to moon those curious folks but got no cooperation from the group. All I got was a lot of "Are you nuts?! It's freaking COLD out here!" (To be honest, this was all talk on my side. I've never mooned anybody. Well, I have actually, but it was always inadvertent. I have however been an intentional moonee. My favorite moonee experience being when a guy mooned us from a helicoptor. I got pictures of that one. Nice a$$ dwindling up, up and away, into the sky.)

Anyway, we finally got into the club. It was a small tight venue. Since every ticket was sold, we obviously maxed out the space of the place. On the right as you came in, there was a bar running along the whole back wall. The rest of the floor space was open with no furnishings. To the left was the rising platform three-tiered VIP seat section. And there was one small section in there of VVIP seats which were reserved with cards on the tables that said, "Lucy Lawless". The walls and ceiling were all black and there were neon signs glowing above the "FOOD/DRINK" and "MERCHANDISE" alcoves and there were old posters hung way up near the ceiling.

Having had about 400 people enter the club ahead of us, we wound up near the back, near the bar. At the bar, I spotted the same folks that I'd been with at the meet-and-greet-the-stars after the last performance of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". (Including the woman who was so nervous to be meeting Lucy that she got totally bombed on the free wine and made a total spectacle of herself and sadly, me also. It was no surprise to me to find her hovering over the liquor again. However, the prices being what they were at the Roxy, she stayed perfectly sober.) Since she did, it was neat to be together with them for this follow up of Lucy-performing-in-another-venue-at-a-con event.

The area in front of the bar was a little raised and the club being so small, there wasn't any problem with seeing the stage just fine. It was possible to move forward but it was just so crowded up there that we passed on that option. We hung around the bar where there was lots of open space and air.

And of course, the ever gracious, kind and polite Xena fans tried to make sure that everyone could see. Many of the taller people migrated to the back or the sides so they wouldn't block other people's views. It was funny from the back-one person in front would move a bit and then you could watch the waves of people shifting in turn behind her, peeling off a bit to the left or the right, one behind the other to keep a clear eye line to the stage. Heh.

I found a spot just behind 3 tall women who were very conscious of the fact that a shorter person was behind them. They offered to let me get in front of them, but I didn't feel the need to do that--I was happy in my open space. Then they were very careful to make sure that they kept my line of sight clear. Very generous and just not self-centered at all, observant of others and their needs. (Not ALL tall folks were so comrade friendly--I heard complaints on Sunday that a very few had inched up to the front and didn't give a damn about people behind them. Happily as I said, most were the more typical generous fans.)

And now the show.. .

KT