TONY VINCENT WORLD

The concert started at 14:00 at Vanemuise Concerthall in Tartu. I was so excited. First came Tarmo Leinatamm (orchestra conductor) on the stage and then the host Mart Sander. Mart talked so much that I was bored already, all I was thinking about was, "when is Tony coming on to stage". Then on he came.

First song was "Jesus Christ Superstar" he rocked the people of Tartu's socks off. He really did! Then came other songs without Tony, unfortunately I can't remember what they were. Tony's duet with Koit Toome-"Starlight Express" was really impressive, though Koit was trying too hard! Tony was awesome like always! Then "The Woman in White" with Jaanika Sillamaa that was awesome, brilliant! "And the money kept rolling in" also awesome, shiny and good. "No matter what" with Koit and Lauri; they were all really good but Tony was still the best. "Amigos para siempre", he sang with all others. However, he could only sing one verse and the line AMIGOS PARA SIEMPRE in chorus because it was all in estonian. And the extra song " We are the champions", once again he rocked much more off than just socks.

After the concert I stayed near the backstage door as I agreed with the director of this concert and Theatre Vanemuine, Tony's friend Paavo Nőgene, and then came Tony with Paavo. Paavo introduced me to Tony, who then reached his hand to me and said Hi, I'm Tony Vincent" with a gorgeous smile and shook my hand! Then I introduced myself and greeted, congratulated him from his fans on www.tonyvincentworld.com forum. Then I asked if he liked Tartu and he said that he loved it. Then we(Tony, me and Paavo) chatted casually.

Oh and I still don't know why, but he thanked me lot of times. I'm still wondering why he thanked me so many times. Then he wrote his autograph on my souvenier brochure. Actually he wrote "Ruthi! Many Thanks!" and his autograph. Then I asked very shyly if I could have a photo with him and he answered "sure". Me, a northern shy girl, tried to stand next to him with my hands right by my sides, but that didn't work. He practically pulled me near him and put his hand on my back. So we got a gorgeous picture (you can see it on the fan gallery).

For me Tony Vincent is the most caring, (extremely)charming, friendly, polite, (bit)chatty, interesting and interested, funny, (extremely)positive man that I've ever met.

Ruthi

We stood freezing in the queue and soon realised that the gig would start late because of the power situation.  Our grumbling was suddenly drowned out by the sound of music.  No, not Julie Andrews but Tom Robinson, Madeline Bell and Stevie Vann singing Beatles songs to entertain the queue.  It was excellent to have a sing-a-long and made the time go very quickly.  ‘Yellow Submarine’ will bring back totally different surreal memories now.

In no time at all we were in the hall and jostling for position near the front.  The show began.  It was really very good, although quite loud and very hot.  All too quickly the time came for Tony’s set and he came on wearing a white high collar shirt with a large dragon (?) motif on the back and a rather fetching pair of Prada glasses.  He sang three songs the first was one of my favourites – ‘Creep’, followed by his own song off the new EP – ‘Winter’ and then the usual and also my favourite - ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’.  He deservedly got a great reception and at the much applause and whoops – a lot of which seemed to be coming from random groups of familiar ladies dotted around the audience!  For me, it was great to hear him sing live songs other than ALW or Queen and especially to hear Winter, such a pretty song.  Sadly, all too soon he was gone and the show continued.

As an aside, during the set of Paul Young, he introduced Sam Spoons who turned out to be the pizza/potato wedges man – that was really funny, but I guess you should’ve been there to appreciate the joke!  The finale brought all the singers and spoon player back onto the stage to sing ‘You're The Voice and Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ which was really moving and started off much hand holding and swaying amongst the audience.

At the end of the gig we made our way to the exit and said our ‘goodbye’s’.  Suddenly a figure you could not fail to recognise appeared amongst the now much depleted crowd – Mr Vincent no less.  He made time to speak to people and to have photo’s taken before we were all literally herded out of the hall by some over-efficient bouncers – how inconsiderate!

Driving back my mind raced over the last few hours, for me it was truly a magical evening, I met up with some lovely friends, heard some great music, heard Tony sing live for the first time in ages and also met him for the first time. On reflection, I feel it was a measure of the man that he actually came up and introduced himself to me, as if I wouldn’t know who he was!  He also made sure to say ‘nice to meet you’ before we left.  I found that so endearingly humble, what a nice and hugely talented guy!

Saturday July 29th was the day of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Gala at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, Estonia; the day started with a down pour (not a good start when you know you are going to be standing outside for over 3 hours).  As the day progressed however, the clouds parted, the temperature soared, and the ground dried out making way for a glorious evening.

The stage was set in front of a concrete arch type building with a large seated area in front of it, which was surrounded by a low fence that separated the seated and standing ticket holders.  We managed to position ourselves slightly off centre, but to the very front of the standing area where we had an unobstructed view of the stage in the distance.  The gradient of the grassed area behind us rose gently and soon became filled with a sea of people, some standing, whilst some sat on blankets or portable stools and chairs.

Before long an estimated 23,000 people were eagerly awaiting the start of the concert as 8pm approached.  The orchestra finished warming up and then the first magical bars of the overture started, and then, all of a sudden there he was, in that familiar red shirt, music binder in hand, walking across stage to take his position to open the concert with ‘Superstar’…  after hearing it and seeing it often on the various DVD’s/recordings it was such a delight to finally hear it live.  With his highly energised, powerful and passionate performance, Tony set the standard for the night, and the show went on. The compare for the evening kept the concert flowing smoothly by introducing each artist and the musical piece that they were to perform.  The other artists and songs were great, a few dodgy names and voices (personal preference) but Tony was on form.  He sounded awesome and looked amazing blown up on the large screens!

A few songs in, and Tony was back on stage, this time singing from the ‘Woman In White’ a duet with Marsha Yuan titled ‘I Believe My Heart’, …a lovely moving piece, which, with the following three numbers, was a beautiful way to experience the setting of the sun, truly a touching moment.

Later in the evening Tony and Max von Essen joined onstage for a duet of the Starlight Express/Sequence.  Another good performance was given and this time you could see Tony’s facial expression being one of disbelief as he was being told ‘Rusty you’re blind, look in your mind….I’m there…’ it was a moment not to be missed!!

Now if you thought that all this is sounding too good to be true then this was to be surpassed by a rendition of ‘No Matter What’ from Whistle Down The Wind which was to be Tony’s penultimate piece.  He took the vocal lead with accompaniment from some of the male artists on backing vocals which made it look and sound as though Tony had his very own boy band!  It was lovely to hear the rapturous applause as the Estonian audience recognised the tune, and then again, their applause at the end of the piece.

Part way through the second half of the concert, after some beautiful movements from Sunset Boulevard, it was then time for the Evita section and Tony performed ‘And The Money Kept Rolling In (And Out)’ and if you have the Andrew Lloyd Webber Masterpiece DVD then you will be familiar with Tony’s performance of this song, and sure enough, he was faultless once more, and did us proud.

It was soon time for the last song to be sung, and note to be played when the cast appeared onstage to take their final bows and close the concert with an encore of ‘Amigos Para Siempre’ a beautiful and fitting way to end the evening.

To sum up.. beautiful weather, beautiful music, in beautiful company.  Thanks to all that were there, especially the ants that kept us on our toes by trying to climb up our legs!! …trust us to find an ant’s nest!

PART I – “Sin City”

I returned home last night after an amazing week in ‘sin city’, amazing for a number of reasons, I met some great people, saw some awe inspiring sights, experienced some not so great temperatures, and I saw Tony Vincent kick ass as Galileo and met him for the first time, but also saw him perform this role for the last time,…yep,…I was totally amazed to find myself in the right place at the right time, and days on...... I’m still feeling kinda lucky.

Onwards…

Where do I begin?......Wednesday 20th July 2005, 5pm approx... walking out of the airport into the desert heat of Las Vegas Nevada, (the day Tony posted on his website that the temperature had topped out at 117F), was an experience in itself.  I thought my eyeballs were going to melt, no joke let me tell ya!  I dived into a taxi (just how fab is air con!) headed for the Paris, Las Vegas hotel where I was to spend the first 4 nights of my stay.  My first experience of Tony whilst heading down strip to the Paris was his striking rear end, that scene that we are all too familiar with, on the roof of taxis, on the side of hotel buildings, on street lamps and then finally on the globe video screen as we approached the outside of the hotel, this time featuring his rather appealing front aswell. The eagle had landed, I’D ARRIVED!  I was feeling pretty excited, and a little hot and sweaty at this point, mainly due to the temperature outside, not the excitement of seeing Tony’s butt all over town!  The next sight on passing through the main doors of the hotel, apart from the flashing lights of the vast array of slot machines, was the WWRY shop, so much stuff!, holy cow, what a shop!! I was going to need to dedicate a whole afternoon there. Well my credit card was charged and ready to go,….but….lets get to my room and unload first eh?  After check in I dropped my things at my 32nd floor room and spent time quietly wandering the hotel, its themed Mall and the strip, wondering how I was going to cover so much in just one week, it was all a bit daunting...'where do I start?' was the thought in my head and on that note, after being awake for 43 hours I surrendered to the drooping eyelids and went to bed. 

I spent the next couple of days sampling global cuisine, checking out everything ‘up strip’ including the famed Vegas sign, the amazing Titanic Archive Exhibition (totally amazing), the Aladdin’s desert passage shopping mall with indoor thunder storm and I spent much time diving for cover in the many impressive casino hotel resorts in that area, ALWAYS getting lost, and NEVER leaving the same way that I entered! It’s not surprising really that the blisters on my feet, by now, were pretty painful and a very impressive sight.

Okay, so the show on Friday (22nd) was upon me and how excited I was,…AT LAST,…it was show time.

Not wanting to appear too keen I arrived an hour before 'show time', armed with a bottle of plonk, and strangely, I was pretty much one of the first there.  I was greeted by the red coats (ushers) who took the traditional gift of the grape back stage to Tony for me and I took my seat on the end of the centre block, front row.  The theatre is a much smaller, more intimate setting than London and is blessed with air con….lovely, but there were so many seats left unfilled that I was able to move up to the centre of row AA to sit with some Vegas friends just as the show was starting.  I was filled with nervous excitement!  After 18 months, any second I was going to see Tony pop onto the stage as Galileo once more, and then, no sooner had I thought it, but there he was before me, the spot light on him, our keen, lean, singing machine, with black floppy hair, leather jacket, lip gloss and eye liner and that distinctive beautiful voice that I would recognise anywhere singing… ‘I want to break free’.  It wasn't the Vegas heat that nearly melted me when he dropped to his knees right in front of me during that song either!

The show ran away at such a pace that it was hard to take in everything and I’m sure I spent most of the show doing gold fish impressions.  Tony and Aspen worked so well together, they were obviously having fun on that stage. I was probably a little too focused on Tony’s every move to appreciate the awesomeness of the rest of the cast on that particular night but the whole show was amazing.  So, the spinney thing is much MUCH smaller, I struggled with some of the jokes, there’s no WWTLF, and no Wembley…but it still rocked me out of my seat!

There were a couple of technical hitches, the most memorable being a scene with the van before the meeting with Brit and Meat where Tony’s microphone broke, but as a total professional he carried on by just trying to shout his lines and as he reached out his right hand whilst saying the line…'draw forth the mighty axe' a hand mic was perfectly slapped into it by a crew member.  It was hilarious and you really had to be there to appreciate the funniness of it…so perfectly done.  I think Tony came close to losing it, his face was a picture, but Aspen remained straight and in character while the rest of us were rolling.  He continued with the hand mic for quite some time as there was no break for him until he was dragged off the dustbin and off stage during ‘no one but you’ by one of the bohemians to get it changed.  The end of the show came about at quite a speed, before I knew it we were rocking out to Borhap, then I gave my arms, legs and lungs a good work out during the bows and then the curtain fell, just the once, to end a fantastic night.

But it wasn’t over yet.  After bidding farewell to some new Vegas friends I headed for the famed ‘stage door corridor’ in an attempt to try and meet Mr Vincent himself.  After finding the spot I realised that I was there 'alone'.  Now this meeting and greeting cast members isn’t really my scene, so I was feeling pretty uneasy anyway, but add onto that the fact that it was Tony I was there to meet, the one who had inspired me enough to step on a plane and make a solo trip to Vegas, well it’s no surprise that I was a little ‘nervous’ then shall we say!  So I waited, I paced back and forth a bit, and after 30 or so minutes decided that my lil’ ticker couldn’t take much more so I was going to head back to my room.  As I turned to head back, so in the distance I see the black spikey hair of tony heading my way, loaded down with things (gifts of wine bottles it seemed).  What do I do?, 'let him walk on by' I thought, it seemed inappropriate to stop him when he has his hands so full of stuff, so I deviated my eyes everywhere but at him and stood as if I was waiting for a bus.  Now he was really getting close and I couldn’t help but take a peak at him as he was passing, and, as I did, he looked my way, and before I knew it, the words … ‘Tony that was an amazing show’ were out of my mouth.  He stopped and said ‘hey Ingrid, thank you so much for the wine’…'ohh flippin 'eck, he knows my name', I thought, that was it…*thud*.  He was really relaxed and easy to chat with.  He told me that he’d only just found out that he was going to be leaving the show on Sunday and that he couldn’t believe that I would be there for his last show,…well, neither could I!!  I think I had another goldfish moment at this point as he continued talking.  I don’t think I managed to get anything out apart from the words 'woooooooooaaaaaaahhhhhh' and I completely wasted the rest of our meeting as a result. I had a ticket for his FINAL show?…'holy cow'…I’m going to be at his last show!  I couldn't believe it.

Before we parted I asked if I could take a photo of him and he said ‘no way!’ and he stopped a chap who was passing and asked him if he’d mind taking a photo of us together.  I didn't imagine i'd return home with a photo with him, so that really meant alot...

We bid farewell 'til Sunday and I floated back to the 32nd floor reflecting back on what just happened…..I’d at last met Tony Vincent.

PART II “Galileo Figaro..he WAS truly Magnifico!!”

Where were we?...ohh yes I was floating back to my hotel room for a sleepless night after meeting Tony for the first time.

I’ll skip events of the next day as not only are memories a bit hazy now, but they were also a bit hazy at the time.  I spent this day wandering aimlessly around the baking Las Vegas strip, as if on drugs, reflecting back on the show the night before, and my experience of meeting Tony at last.

Having seen Tony perform in WWRY London twice, it would have been so much easier and cheaper to have made a bigger effort to meet him back then, there were so many missed opportunities, Wales is much, much, much closer to London than it is to Las Vegas, but sometimes you take people for granted and it isn’t until they’ve gone that you realise what chances you’ve missed, so the opportunity of seeing him in Vegas wasn’t one I was going to let slip through my fingers and regret once more.  And now I’d done it…'what a feeling'….he’s the best drug on the market let me tell ya!!!

SUNDAY 24th JULY 2005 ...Tony's last show.

Not only was it WWRY at ,2pm for me today but also check out at 11am at the Paris and check in at Bally’s at 3pm.  I had slept a little too well Saturday night (probably catching up after the lack of sleep Friday night) and didn’t rise from my pit until 09.30am and of course being the disorganised being that I am, hadn’t even given a thought to packing the night before (still drugged up I think) hence the rush was on to meet the 11am deadline with the continual tapping on the door by house keeping as I ran about my room in pj’s, with hair on end, throwing everything in sight into my bags....you can picture the scene can't you?..not pretty!  I’m especially glad that no one was around to witness the mega tantrum that followed because my hair straighteners just wouldn’t heat up enough to actually straighten my hair… US electricity is **** arghhhhh.  EVENTUALLY, a little stressed, but dressed, the pack horse that I’d become slammed the door on my 32nd floor room at the Paris.

After checking out, storing my bags, grabbing a bite to eat at La Creperie, and gathering myself, my thoughts and my breath after the morning rush, I found that show time was upon me.  On entering the theatre foyer this time, I took in my surroundings, rather than power walking with blinkers on straight for base camp ie. my front row seat.  I had an hour before the show start.  I took a programme, had a drink, admired the golden statue of Freddie which takes centre stage there, (and not crap at all Pop!), chatted with the red coats, and THEN headed for base camp in row AA.  For those of us who have seen the London version of the show, the Queen crested curtain is also the sight that greets you on entering the stage area in Vegas, and a lovely sight it is too, almost like a home coming for me.  The stage is much, much lower as well, which is a blessing for the necks of those in row AA.  My Vegas buddies, who I didn’t imagine I’d see again, had postponed plans, got tickets, and soon joined me 'down front' with all sorts of goodies to make Tony’s last show memorable.  They had bought enough glow sticks to kit out everyone seated in the first two rows and everyone who we handed one too was more than happy to ‘snap and wave’ with us during the finale.  I was really touched to be handed the most beautiful single rose so that I could join them in the flower giving at the end of the show aswell (thanks for thinking of me you guys!).  As the lights dimmed and the red coats took their places and the last of the people had trickled in, another fan, who had driven from LA, changed seats and joined me to complete the row AA line up of Tony support.  I couldn’t help but look around at the many empty seats and think of those fans, particularly my UK buddies who would have loved to have been sat in one of those seats, to share in this moment, but it was just too far and too short notice *sighs*.

The show went on as it had done on Friday night, however, this time it had a different feel, there was emotion that I hadn’t felt two nights previous.  Tony appeared on stage for ‘I Want to Break Free’, this time to whoops and applause from the audience, and he rocked it as he always does.  As the show continued I found myself thinking after every song or scene ‘that is the last time I’ll see Tony do that’. I’m sure the same thought was going through Tony's mind aswell.  Pop’s adlib "the other three members of Queen rocked on into the new century pausing only to create a smash hit musical starring TONY VINCENT based on their greatest hits" brought about rapturous applause.  I was too busy whooping and cheering (must have been with my eyes closed) to notice Tony’s reaction, but it certainly got a reaction from us!!  'We are the Champions 'was rocking, but emotional with the sea of glow sticks waving in unison, and Borhap, well, seeing Tony silhouetted by the blue light against the gates of Graceland brought a tear and beautiful touch, a really emotional moment for me, as the realisation really hit that the end was nigh and I may not hear Tony sing this song or any other song again live for a very long time.  At the end there were lots of tears, both on and off stage, hugs were exchanged between Tony and other cast members,...we were emotional, the cast were emotional, Tony was emotional.  During the bows came forth the procession of roses and bouquets from us in row AA and they were received graciously by him.  Although I was in the ‘queue’, I didn’t actually get to give mine to him as he had to quickly drop them to the floor for the fast WWRY finale dance which was quite amusing to see him do so suddenly, so I just placed it gently on the pile at his dancing feet and ran quickly back to my seat.  We stood, clapped and cheered and whooped for Tony until the very end and he lapped it up and scooped into his arms the flowers that were gathered at his feet.  Then, for me, a moment of ‘day ja vou’ struck…an experience that mirrored my last onstage moment of Tony during his final show in WWRY London.  As he, and the cast stepped back for the curtain to fall he looked my way, he smiled and we exchanged the peace sign, then the curtain fell, and that, my friends, was that.

I feel so lucky to have been there, I can’t begin to tell you.  I just wish more of you could have been there to share it with me.  My arms, legs and lungs gave it all they had for every UK fan…I hope he, and you guys heard me.  Having been at Tony’s last show in London, there was little comparison to be drawn between the two final shows.  There was no Brian, Roger or Ben, no speeches, no second curtain call, but it was a very special show.  There was love, support, intimacy, emotion and, our Tony, surrounded by cheering fans, friends and family members who had come a long way in some cases, to honour this talented actor/singer and to say a final farewell to Galileo Figaro….he WAS truly Magnifico.…

“It was a show I’ll never forget!” tv

PART III ‘people will come’.

The theatre fell silent, the lights rose to full capacity again and after the high of the past two hours, a flat, sombre feeling suddenly came over me as we all gathered to follow the crowd out of the theatre and into the foyer.  Of course, my Tony experience was now coming to its conclusion at quite a scary pace, but it wasn’t over just yet.  Galileo Figaro may have left our lives when that curtain fell, but Tony Vincent certainly hadn’t, which brought the smile back to my face.  The ‘meet and greet’ now offered my final opportunity on this trip, to say all those things I’d travelled five thousand miles, and hoped for three years, to say to him face to face, rather than by letter or email.  What an emotional rollercoaster I was finding myself on.  The excitement of seeing Tony’s last show had turned briefly to sadness that it was over, which turned to happiness because really, it wasn’t over, which turned into the jelly bellied nervous feeling that I had experienced in the stage door corridor just two days previous.  Why nervous?, I really can’t explain, but to have that moment to tell the guy what an inspiration he has been to you, but fearing you may come across as a total loon, was probably at the root of it.  As many of you know, he is the sweetest guy, and so cool and relaxed, it really is a silly feeling to be having.  This was my last chance…could I string enough words together to form a constructive sentence to get my message home this time?..the way I was feeling, probably not.

We gathered in the foyer and were asked to form a queue leading to a dressed table and chair that had been set up next to Freddie’s statue. Not being one to comply with such rules, I just hung around near the door leading to the stage/seating area, archiving the moment.  The foyer was filled with people of all ages, the very young, to the young at heart, but it was comfortably full, an intimate gathering I’d say, with plenty of room to move around.  The queue was forming, and people chatted amongst themselves, laughing, joking and sipping drinks, and then, into the atmosphere walks Mr Vincent, passing through the door to my side, entering of course to well deserved applause and cheers.  As he moved onwards into the middle of the room stopping for hugs as he went, he said out loud “thank you all so much for coming, man what a treat!”  He was still in his stage gear and makeup and looked mighty fine from where I was standing!  He mingled with the crowd for a while, happily chatting and hugging people who seemed more like friends really than fans, and then he was directed over to the table by the Paris Press Official who remained at his side at ALL times and the meet and greet got under way.  Nothing was too much trouble.  Tony greeted fans with such enthusiasm; he looked really happy and relaxed.  It was so civilised, there was no pushing, no shoving, everyone just waited their turn.  Photos were taken, autographs were signed, presents and cards were given, conversations flowed, hugs were exchanged, smiles were everywhere.  Tony put himself out there for those who care so much about him and everybody was leaving happy, having had their moment with him.

After an hour or so the queue dwindled to the last few, and the room became much quieter.  Whilst my Vegas buddies were meeting with Tony, I was rummaging in my bag, for card and gift whilst filling up with even more nervous anticipation.  A kind of photo shoot ensued then, and those who were left in the room were able to form a line, as if press photographers, and happily snap away as Tony posed with his family members and the red coats, and then, then my moment finally arrived…..over Mr Vincent strolls to me…'how are you Ingrid?' he says in that deep, cool, American accent, I can’t do the, ‘what I said’, ‘what he said’, thing because frankly I can’t remember, but I do remember a deep meaningful look on his face whilst quietly saying to me at one point…'I don’t take your coming over here for granted, seriously, it means a lot'.  We had a big hug and in my state of nervousness I hope I managed to get out some of what I wanted to say to him.  I gave him a card and small token gift that acted as a back up plan just incase my words failed to express my appreciation and continued support for him.  He opened it and responded with 'woooooooooah, thank you so much', which made me smile.  We had a short conversation, we embraced for another pic and I remember thinking at that point, whilst waiting for the flash, ‘has anyone got any super glue?…or a piece of rope even!?!’. He is very huggable, you know?!

I had a hold of his warm soft skin once more for a third…yes, a THIRD hug, ;-) but this time to say goodbye.  He said that he hoped I got home safe and passed on his thanks and blessings once more, and I thanked him for his kindness to me and for everything really, it had been an amazing week, and a very special day for me to have been a part of.

We then parted company.

Whilst bundling everything up, I heard Tony call out across the room to one guy ‘hey, what are you doing here?!?” and he replied 'I flew in from LA especially for you Tone'.  Truly, How loved is he?  I know for fact, that this guy wasn’t the only one to have made such a tremendous effort for Tony that day, and it reminded me of that quote in the film ‘Field of Dreams’…'people will come'.  Tony has spent years growing in the only career he could imagine himself doing, its foundation deep rooted in faith, love and rock‘n’roll, and along the way his number of fans, friends and acquaintances, and their love, respect and support for his passion of sharing hope and encouragement through music, have, it seems, been a much valued strength to him.  And in a situation such as he found himself, where the Harrah’s merger forced his plans to change so suddenly, such love and support for him really did shine through, as many, with hardly any notice at all, cancelled or changed their plans without thought, and made a special effort to get to Vegas by road or air because, for whatever reason, Tony has at some point impacted their lives in some special way and they wanted to be there, to support him at that last performance.  ‘People WILL come’ for one who gives, much more than he receives, and people did come…they came for Tony, and, from what I witnessed, he appreciated the efforts of each and every person that was there.

The last of the fans had now gone and Tony gathered up his many bags of gifts and turned to us, waved, saying … ‘bye y’all’, and after bidding farewell to each of the red coats in turn, he left by the door that he had entered…That was it, Tony Vincent had left the building.

I concluded the afternoon with a meal at Bally’s with my Vegas buddies and later in the evening after checking in at Bally’s, I sat alone on the balustrade over looking the Bellagio fountains, reflecting back on the past few days as the beautiful water display danced to the Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli tune ‘Time To Say Goodbye’.  How very appropriate that seemed.  Although I had two whole days left in Vegas, I inwardly said my goodbyes to Vegas town at that moment, as now my mission had been accomplished.

Despite the intense heat, I had managed to pack a huge amount of Vegas into one week, WWRY, twice with Tony/Aspen, and once with Jason/Aspen (pre booked for Tues 26th July by which time Tony had already left the building) and I must be one of few people to visit Vegas and not put a dollar in a slot machine.  I left my stomach at the top of the Stratosphere Tower when I experienced ALL of the rides offered there (never again, I swear), but enjoyed the Fremont Street Experience, Downtown, the Outlet Malls, the Paris Eiffel Tower and fabulous pool on the third floor roof, the indoor thunder storms at the Desert Passage, the gondolas at the Venetian, the Treasure Island pirate display, the forum shops, exploding volcanoes, white tigers and dolphins at the Mirage and last but not least, the Titanic Exhibition, which was awesome, totally awe-inspiring.  I didn't make the Grand Canyon or the Hoover Damn; they are places I’d rather visit with someone to share the experience with. Maybe next time.  Obviously the reason for my trip was to see Tony Vincent perform in WWRY, and I did, and he was awesome, but the experience went far beyond my expectations, as I found myself in the right place at the right time, seeing him perform as Galileo Figaro for the last time.  He was so gracious, humble and kind, a real gentleman and it really is a privilege to support him.  I have returned home from this fantastic experience with memories and a review that I will treasure forever.  Thank you to my Vegas buddies, it was really great meeting ‘y’all’ .  To everyone here on the forum, thank you for encouraging me to pen my experience, for reading the fruits of my labours and for giving such lovely feedback…and finally to Tony Vincent I owe the biggest thank You.  From the bottom of my heart I thank you for stepping into my life, for inspiring my solo trip, and for making my week in Las Vegas one that I will never forget.  Along with every other fan, I will always support you, in whichever direction God leads you. 

I lived the dream and now dream about the dream I lived, and to this day, I still feel kinda lucky.