Hugh Cornwell Adventures, Part 2

OH HEY maybe i should start doing one post per year as a thing, since that seems to be what i'm doing anyway. or maybe i could step up my game and actually write about stuff as it happens to me. *smrt*

so, i last wrote about mr. cornwell and how he gave me his email address so i could send him some songs of mine. i protected that piece of paper - which hugh AND clem both signed, and had his email on the back - like it was my child. now it's framed and hanging up above my couch. i smile like a dork every time i look at it, and that is not hyperbole.

i emailed him a couple of songs that i thought he might like, along with a refresher on who i was, which was kind of embarrassing: "remember me? i sat on your lap for a bit?" well, he remembered and he liked the songs. HE LIKED THE SONGS. do you know what that means to me? oh, that made me so happy. so, following that, we become pen pals. what is the email equivalent of pen pals? keyboard pals? whatever. we email each other. it's pretty cool.

next part of the story: i have a friend who lives in arizona, just outside phoenix. he's one of my best friends and he bugs me to come out and visit him a lot. i had gone the previous year for a few days and was planning on going out again that year (2011), probably in march since that's when he says the weather is the best, even though the year before it rained every day. i just happened to be looking at hugh cornwell's tour dates for that year and he was going to be in phoenix in march. it was easy enough to plan my trip around that and tell my friend "so we can do whatever you want for the rest of the days i'm here but THIS NIGHT we are going to see hugh cornwell in phoenix and you can't say no." and that's what happened.

my friend has a job as a dueling pianist (i'll wait for you to stop laughing; i laughed for about ten minutes the first time he told me that). that night, he had to work and then we went straight to the george & dragon pub for the show. normally i'm completely entertained by the dueling pianist thing but this night it couldn't be over fast enough. finally we got there, i texted hugh, yes i did, i know, how cool is that? and he said "i'm out in the bus" so i went out and found him and he gave me a hug and was like "i can't believe you're here!" me neither, sir. me neither.

anyway, the set was basically the same as the last time i saw him. they open with "nice 'n' sleazy" and do a bunch of stranglers hits mixed with his solo stuff, then rattus all the way through. it was phenomenal, even when fish (bassist extraordinaire) went into "grip" instead of "peaches." i called my sister and kept her on the phone for those 2 songs. i think she liked it, once she figured out what the hell she was hearing. too soon it was over, but i still get to hang out with old punkers!

hugh shared a bottle of champagne with me while i sat sandwiched between him and fish in a booth. i couldn't even make this stuff up. the only thing that would have made it better was if clem was sitting with us but he was chatting with fans on his own. ah well. so i got to sit there, feeling like a little punk rock princess while fans came by to talk and shake hands and etc.

i proceeded to get really drunk and got in the tour bus with them (finally was acknowledged by clem, who gave me a weird smile as if to say "i remember you from philly, what the fuck are you doing here, you crazy girl?" but maybe it was just a friendly smile) and then i got to listen to the demos of the new album (totem and taboo) and he played me some other music and whatever, and that was basically it. got a cab back to my friend's place after.

the point of this story is mostly so i don't forget everything cool that happens to me, which happens more often than you would think, but also to share how neat these guys are. not one of them treated me like i was some stupid, young girl; they treated me like i was just another person hanging out with them. that might not sound like a big deal, but if you've ever been talked down to by someone, whether it's because you're younger than they are, or because they're a MAN and you're just a girl, you know why this is so important.

anyway blah blah blah this is me being a fan girl blah blah blah that's my story. i'll post part three soon. maybe right now, after i finish writing it, since i have nothing better to do.