A week or so ago when Rhonda suggested a new topic for our Friday blogs in between our Vodka Friday episodes, I was immediately on board. I was confident that I could come up with some funny or ridiculous stories about our fandom adventures. Then, I started to think and almost got overwhelmed. It wasn’t that I couldn’t think of a story but more like I thought about so many that I struggled to decide on just one! I’m not even sure that I did pick just one in this case, but I’ll do my best.
Rhonda chose an event from 2005 when we first attended a show together. It seemed fitting, then, for me to pick something from the following year. Yes, I’m talking about when we went to New Orleans to see the Voodoo Music Festival when Duran headlined. We have blogged about that day countless times. Instead of going into details on that again, I would rather share how we got there and the times in between the festival!
2005’s Astronaut Tour left me (and Rhonda) definitely wanting more. We wanted any show we could get to. No, we were not going to be picky. Once a show popped up we were going to jump at it! Finally, in April of 2006, a full six months from our last show (we were spoiled and didn’t know it then! 6 months seemed sooooooo long then), an announcement was made. Duran Duran would be headlining the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans at the end of October! I immediately decided that we must be there. After all, I had a couple of days off at the end of October and the tickets were cheap ($25 for general admission from what I remembered). I just needed to convince Rhonda, which I proceed to do so while on a school bus trip. (My colleagues were not thrilled with me being on the phone the whole time but I was a woman on a mission!) By the weekend, we were set to go and Ticketmaster was kind enough for us to get these cheap tickets. Let the planning begin!
Fast forward to the beginning of September. Plane tickets had been purchased. Hotel was reserved. We were all set…then Duran Duran announced more shows. No!!! This was especially problematic since one of those shows would be in Chicago, near me, during the very same weekend! How could we not try to squeeze it in? It sounds so much easier in theory than in practice. This led me to frantically call Rhonda who was gone on a camping trip, hoping desperately to get a hold of her so that we could get tickets and plan. Needless to say, when I reached her, there was quite a bit of yelling at Duran (only because we wished knew before but all done in love). That being said, it did not take long to agree to do this, to change plans, to add a show.
For those of you not-in-the-know, It is not easy to change a plane ticket especially without paying an arm and a leg. Right then and there, all of us going (there were 4 of us with Rhonda, myself, her sister and our friend) went on research mode. How much to transfer? This is what the Midwestern part of our group needed as the date of our flight out needed to be changed. Rhonda, on the other hand, was more complicated as she needed to do more than change dates. She now needed a flight to Chicago, another flight from Chicago to New Orleans and New Orleans back to California. The group researched and researched and wrote up the possible ways to do it. Each different plan was even given a name (yes, related to Duran!). Finally, we figured out the best/cheapest way to make these changes. Finally, we were really all set.
Obviously, the party started once we all met in Chicago at the end of October but we took it to another level once we got to New Orleans. I cannot honestly remember drinking as much as I did that weekend or getting as little sleep as I did.
It was like we were letting loose after all of the insanity to get there, change plans, etc. Then, as most of you know, the festival itself only added to that as it was a tough, tough day for reasons that we have blogged about many, many times before. (It is almost like we now have PTSD from that day!) By the time that we flew home on that final Monday in October, we were exhausted and needed to detox. As my friend and I landed back at O’Hare airport in Chicago, we saw this sign by baggage claim. Oh, truer words have never been spoken.
All that being said, I would not have changed that weekend at all. Well, maybe, a couple of things…
-A
I think that the best part of doing road trips to see your favorite band is….. the actual planning and getting there with your friends and having a blast ! I usually have the most fun around the reason of the trip (but also the main reason) ! Thanks for sharing !