Bruce Hornsby, Part III: After the show

When the show was over, I grabbed Marc and Rosemary and we headed to the stage door, put our pass stickers on and waited. Before long, a guy who looks a lot like drummer Sonny Emory comes out, hugs this little redheaded woman who's standing next to us, then goes down to say hi to some other people he recognizes. Cooooooool.

A few minutes later, keyboardist John Thomas comes out and does the same exact thing. Hugs for the little redhead. Gladhanding with some people he recognizes. Cooooool. Marc, Rosemary and I are still just standing there, waiting for the door to open and to be escorted backstage.

We chat a little bit with this guy in a wheelchair, and his helpers... He's got a couple of CDs he brought for Bruce to sign.

Then, I look up and Bruce Hornsby himself comes out the door. Holy cow. Hugs for the little redheaded woman. By this time, I realize that this is my big shot, so I shake his hand and introduce myself... I say I'm the one who wrote the request about the new record ("play the whole damn thing"), he again expresses his desire to squeeze in plenty of old stuff. (The redheaded woman, who I found out was Rose, said it was a great request!) I tell Bruce that I saw him in 1987 at Jones Beach... "You remember that, right?" I say, tongue in cheek... He says, "Oh, yeah, I remember everything that happened 22 years ago..." I say: "Hey, did you see that little kid in the Cub jacket who was sitting next to Tony?" And he says, "La Russa, really? Did he see the kid?" And I explain that I'm pretty sure neither one of them noticed the other... He gets a kick out of that story, grabs my notepad and signs it (yes, spelling my name wrong).

Rosemary then yells, "You didn't play 'Madeline Rain'!" I try not to hang my head in mortification. I'm trying to make a big impression, and here I'm with this chick, who I don't even know, and she doesn't know it's "Mandolin Rain"??! But Bruce was gracious as all get-out, and he says, "You know, we were going to come out and do a second encore! But the bastards went and brought up the house music. So, we were going to play some more. Basically, we got screwed."

He moves along to the guy in the wheelchair... and the star of the show so warm and open, it's kind of like seeing an uncle at the holidays... Someone familiar but that you need to get reacquainted with. The guy in the wheelchair has obviously had a stroke... He's having a little trouble with his speech, but he says his name, and Bruce recognizes his name right away. "Oh, man... did you use to play with (name I can't remember) band? Back in Williamsburg?" And then it's like old home week with these two, and they're talking about bands and high school and how this guy went to school with Bruce's brother Bobby... "I'm going to tell Bobby I saw you! He won't believe it!" etc. I'm just hanging back, watching all these exchanges -- again, very warm and open and friendly.

So, he gladhands a little bit more, poses for a couple pictures. It seems like he knows nearly everyone. The crowd of about a dozen starts to thin out, and I ask one of the people left if they'll take a shot of me and Bruce, if he's willing. So, I say, "Will you stand for a picture, Bruce?" And he says, "Absolutely." Now, of course, this is a one-shot deal, and part of my pre-show obsessing was trying to make sure I looked decent in this photo! But, foiled again: I was too damn excited and am grinning like an idiot, double chin and all.

He's winding down with his little meet-and-greet, and I realize: I haven't been backstage at all! And I really don't need to go! I could have gone to see if La Russa was still there... say hi to Doug again, but I pretty much felt like I'd gotten what I came for. Then, the little redhead comes up to me: "What was your name again?" she says. Cooooool. This is the woman who got hugs from every band member! And she wants to know who I am? I introduce myself, and ask: "So, do you see Bruce in a lot of different cities?" She pulls out her iPhone and says, "Oh, yeah, this is me and Bruce in Vancouver..." etc. A real groupie! I mean, probably not in the classic sense. She's far from a bombshell. So, Rose and I chitchat for a little while longer, she heads for the bar, and I head home with a big smile, feeling like a real FOB -- Friend of Bruce.