EVER WANTED TO MEET YOUR IDOL?

I'm way overdue for a blog update and so this one has been inspired by my client and friend Beccy Cole who a few days ago got to meet her idol, country music superstar Dolly Parton. Bec had met Dolly once before, in her hometown of Adelaide when she was only a teenager. At the time, Dolly was touring Australia with Kenny Rogers. Beccy had 286 pictures of Dolly on her bedroom wall when she was a kid and Dolly is the reason that Beccy started singing. Although she had met Dolly before, Beccy has been so nervous about what she might say if the opportunity came about. She genuinely believed that she would be too nervous, clam up and say nothing at all. Thanks to Kasey Chambers, the opportunity came about and Beccy finally came face to face again with her idol. It was everything she hoped it would be. Hooray! 


Many of us hold our idols up on high, cherishing and worshipping their every move. And many of us have wondered what it would be like to meet our idols in the flesh...we might envisage being invited back to the hotel for a drink or being singled out from all the other worshippers, quite simply because it would be evident to our hero that we are their "biggest fan in the whole world". Is that what really might happen if we ever got that close?

Every since I can remember I have loved Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. I have seen every Mac tour to Australia and many of Stevie's solo tours since I was 12 years old. My first Fleetwood Mac concert was at Adelaide's favourite outdoor venue of the day, Memorial Drive. I went with my big sister and I saw a fan all dressed in black flowing garments, the ridiculously high heavy black platform boots and a top hat.  I so desperately wanted to be dressed in that outfit and I wanted to be Stevie. Many years later, I realised my dream of working for a record company and joined EMI Music who signed Stevie for her solo career. I was there during the release of the "Wild Heart", "Rock A Little" and "Other Side Of The Mirror" albums.  In recent years, I have travelled interstate to see Fleetwood Mac live and am always so amazed and in awe of the beauty that is the onstage chemistry between that band. In particular, between the individual band members in their 'couplings'.  Stevie and Lindsey Buckingham break my heart with the connection that they have after so many years of loving and fighting. Then there is the love between Stevie and Mick....so evident and magical. There's also no denying that the backline of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie is is one of the finest of all time. I could watch it and them over and over forever. This gives you an indication of my devotion to The Mac and Stevie.
  

Stevie Nicks - Tambourine and top hat queen!

So the day came in the early 90's when my then boss at EMI Music in Sydney announced that he was coming to Adelaide to be in town when The Mac played at Memorial Drive. He had lived in LA for many years and worked for Capitol Records, building a close social relationship with Stevie. He wanted to catch up with her and say hi and he told me that he would take me backstage with him. I was then the state promotions manager for EMI, therefore this wouldn't be out of place. I was beside myself with excitement.  I remember that I was wearing a red leather jacket...I loved that jacket, it was a very short tight cut jacket and I always wore it with black clothing and no doubt with very big hair. Mine was probably bigger hair than Stevie's would be! There was a lot of activity going on in the dressing room which was usually the changerooms for tennis players at the Drive, as most of the time it was an outdoor tennis venue. Stevie was in a corner of the room, RW brought her over to me. It was only the three of us, I had "my" Stevie Nicks all to myself.

Stevie came up to me really close and gave me a very sharp and focused "once over" up and down inspection.  'You're pretty.....you're such a pretty little thing', she purred at me getting a little bit too close to my face. RW explained who I was (because I think she thought I was his new girlfriend!!).  Stevie put her hand on my jacket and ran it up and down the sleeve, then said 'I LOVE your jacket....I really would love to have that jacket'. The jacket was my pride and joy, Stevie Nicks was not having MY jacket.....even if I did worship her.  Stevie very sadly was not exactly present in the moment.  She was getting waaay too close for my liking and was mostly incoherent. I will admit that I was devastated. Had she not been off with the fairies, I'm not certain what I would have said to her. I was truly just grateful to have been given the opportunity to meet her and a photo together would have been a dream come true.  Stevie wasn't in any state for photographs. It was after the show and everyone was in party mode. RW peeled her off me because by this time she was giving me a hug and wouldn't let go. I liked that Stevie Nicks wanted to hug me but I had wanted her to be the Stevie from the front cover of 'Rumours'. I wanted her to show me how to be cool whilst playing the tambourine or how to twirl around in a flowing dress so many times without falling over. I was quite sad about the whole thing.

By the time The Mac toured again, I had forgiven Stevie. By then she'd gotten her act together anyway and as far as I was concerned all was forgiven. I would always love her words, her melodies, her outfits and her ethereal beauty. I would always want her to get back together with Lindsey Buckingham. I can say that I have met Stevie Nicks and that's good enough for me.  When I am watching her at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre tomorrow night, I think I'll still be able to feel her arms around me through her voice and songs, as I did so many years ago in real life.

I hope that one day you will get to meet your idol, they may not end up being who you want them to be, but how often are any of us ever that in the eyes of another?.....thanks for reading, Deb x