Hi, All, I am out of lurkdom to post (no, not on Jackson Browne, although hanging in Orange County and LA does bring back many JB memories) but about the marvelous time I had at the mini-Joni fest. Sleep deprivation aside...it was an amazing amount of activites crammed into a relatively few short hours. Friday night in LA seemed like old times, cruising Hollywood looking for good food, good music and familiar faces. The restaurant in Laurel Canyon and the Laurel Canyon store were great; little pieces of the 60's but living and breathing (unlike many of the celebrities). The "morrison house" has been verified (don't ask a librarian unless you REALLY want an answer). The realtor was very appreciative after I found the website verifying that Morriaon HAD lived at 8021 Rothdell Trail and wrote "Love Street" there. But, future LA fests will have to find another site, as $599,000 is a tad out of my price range. The house is 1700-1800 square feet, 2 story, 2 bedroom, 2 bath and NO GARAGE. Even used to SF real estate, that seems a tad over my budget. But the Les Deux was a great place (they even validate parking) and the music was an odd amalgamation of the Eurythmics, Joni and others, everything worked together. The bar tender pours a mean drink; my "bourbon straight" was Jack Daniels poured to a count of 7....it lasted me all evening. On Sat morning, we got started to Anaheim (just missing the Inaugeration on tv,shucks)and made the Taylor Guitar mini-concert with Jeff Pevar, Artie Traum and Tony Levin. Great music and people watching, Paz and Kakki had saved me a seat while I was parkingthe car (an really So Cal parking experience, there's always a place to put your car even if it's 5 miles away.) The NAMM show has to be experienced to be believed; sensory overload. Famous and no- so famous people mingling. Meeting Kete Bennett and Jeff was absolutely wonderful. Seeing Steve Dulson again and knowing he and Michelle would be at the party was great. The All Star guitar show was....awesome....Keanu was surprisingly good (and of course he looked great) but the highlight was the set by Marco Mendoza. A rare unique talent,and a great capper to the evening. Then off to the first Joni-fest in the hospitality suite at the (otherwise) unpreposing Conestoga Hotel. nikki, Alison, Barb (a real trooper) and Paz and Julius were gracious hosts. But 3:00am is my bedtime and we went back to the Ramada. The sunday night party loomed and Kakki and I sped (through heavy traffic) back the downtown building. Phyllis brought a honey=baked ham and condiments, the Dulsons brought cookies, cheesecakes were made to celebrate Alison's birthday, and the liquid refreshments included great wines (Fess Parker's from the Dulsons was memorable), martinis,and a lavish bar. Scott from the leeshore list and i shared memories of San Diego before he did some wicked CSN tunes. Clark managed to make it in spite of business obligations and his Boys on the Sand is just an amazing song done acoutically. Kate and Jeff contribtions were so special and I amn sorry we missed her Taylor guitar mini-concert. (BUY HER CD)AND CLARK'S) I did manage to crash for about a hour before my 6:30 am flight, but was roused by the sound of one of the recorded songs , bearing the unfortunate addition of MY VOICE. It seems that Kakki, in her very KAKKIst way, managed to both record my voice (it can be edited out, I hope ) and get a photo of me. Believe me,this is highly unusual as I can dodge cameras better than Alec Baldwin. Altogether, a stellar weekend in the City of the Angels and with the best people to party with. Darice AKA medicine woman and Queen of the West Coast music sluts (have I told you the story about the night I saw....)
