October 23, 2009
The day was great, start to finish.
Our staff began with a hearty breakfast at the Denny’s on the Strip, then went grocery shopping for the following day’s road trip.
After that, we stopped in at the Pinball Hall of Fame, a place Michael and I had learned of after one of our listeners wrote in following this episode of Cinebanter. Note: if you have any desire to listen, please be aware this show is from our early days when we used Skype and the audio is not to our liking.
It seems that the man (called “Hippie”) who used to run Michael’s childhood arcade in East Lansing, Michigan, now owns and operates this museum in Vegas. Sure enough, when we all filed in to play vintage games like Centipede and Tempest, there was Hippie, standing over a machine he was fixing. Michael soon identified himself and they began sharing stories from the 80s. It was very sweet.
Next, we headed back to the hotel, changed into our official staff shirts and drove to Sam Boyd Stadium. It was blistering hot outside, so we opted to avoid the huge general admission line (in the sun) and somehow got stuck helping security send folks to the appropriate entrances. We blame our staff shirts for this additional duty.
Once inside, we secured spots next to the VIP section, which is a great place to watch the show and not nearly as crowded as the front. Right behind me were Elisabeth Shue, her husband (Waiting for Superman director) Davis Guggenheim, Sean Penn, The Edge’s wife Morleigh Steinberg and many others who passed through during the concert.
The gig was great—high energy, small venue, lots of Elvis references, etc.
Afterward, we all scurried off to bed so we could be well-rested for the next day’s mammoth road trip.