This Place Is Empty...
Mood:  blue
Well, I have returned from Las Vegas and LA, two fabulous Stones shows...and quite possibly the last two shows of the North American Bigger Bang Tour for me. I have seen 19 shows so far this tour, and I hope to see at least one more in Europe...hopefully more than one. But, with 2 shows left in the US as of tonight...Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday and Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday, this looks like it may be it for me. It's always depressing when your "own" tour comes to an end, no matter how fabulous it was. From the press conference in May '05 until March '06 there was always a "next one" to look forward to...but now, "what's next?" is more like it.

I'd like to thank the following people from the bottom of my heart, without whom this tour's many adventures & souvenirs would not have been possible:

Shelley, Elizabeth & Cindy at SLO

Bill Bolton & Keith Richards

Blondie Chaplin

Tim Ries

Chuck Leavell

Tony Russell

Preston Snyder

Clive Haynes

My partner in crime, "E"

And anyone else I forgot to mention specifically!

ATLANTA well worth the trip!
Mood:  a-ok
Well, despite the difficulty of getting on a plane and flying to Atlanta and turning around and flying back home in a total of 28 hours, it was WELL worth it!

Work was a bit grim this morning, but I struggled through. Anything for the Stones right?

The Atlanta show was awesome. Hearing "Sway" and "Worried About You" back to back and for the first time for me this tour made the show well worth the trip. We had a blast. Thanks to Cathy for the 5th row center seats, it was fun sitting with the "schnowzer sisters", hahahaha.

Special thanks once again to my friend Bill-you make every show special for us. And thanks to Keith for once again wearing the silver sequined belt I had given him in Chicago-it looked way cool baby!

You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need!

There are only TWO things I need yet...a photo of me with Keith and an in person signature on a photo of Keith wearing one of my scarves or something. Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind...

Off to Atlanta for Stones show #17 of the tour
Mood:  cool
The Steelers are the World Champions! The welcome home parade was held today in downtown Pittsburgh and all the city has been abuzz since the team won on Sunday night. What a great time for Pittsburgh!

I personally think the Stones being at the Superbowl brought us luck :-) Great half-time show guys, everyone loved it! The tongue stage was the coolest.

I am off to Atlanta tomorrow morning at 6:40am, which means I need to get up at 3:30am to get ready and get to the airport. A 24 hour trip so as not to miss too much work. Can't wait!

ROLLING STONES ROCK HOTLANTA TOMORROW NIGHT!

HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!!
Mood:  vegas lucky
GOOD LUCK TO THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS IN SUPERBOWL XL!!!!

Here we go Steelers, here we go! Let's get one for the thumb.

And good luck to the Stones at halftime...love ya boys!

Off to Chicago for more Stones in 2006!
Mood:  happy
Ok, in 2 hours I leave for the airport to fly to Chicago. I will be seeing my first Stones shows of the New Year. The setlist changes have been fabulous so far with additions of "Love Is Strong", "Worried About You",
"Sway", "Let's Spend the Night Together", and of course Keith's brand new set of "This Place is Empty" and "Happy". I can't wait!

Only thing is, I'll be missing the Steelers vs. Broncos game because I'll be on the damn plane!

LET'S GO STEELERS!

I want the STONES & the STEELERS at the Superbowl!!!!

2005 Comes To An End
Mood:  celebratory
Well, 2005 turned out to be a good year for the Stones and their fans. The new album and tour were just what we needed! It's time to make all those New Year's Resolutions we never keep, like losing weight, quitting smoking, etc. No plans for tonight, we usually just stay in and lay low on NYE. I am typically asleep before the ball even drops! Looking forward to more Stones in 2006 starting in Chicago in January at the United Center for two shows, then contemplating Vegas and LA. Europe is still in the cards, but I'm hoping the flight prices drop soon. Happy New Year to all the Stones/Keith fans out there! See ya on the road in '06!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
Mood:  bright
Off to Chicago for Christmas tomorrow morning until Dec. 26. I hope everyone has a great holiday and I look forward to seeing all of you on tour in 2006. First stop for me...back to Chicago for two shows at the United Center! Stay warm :)


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After Stones and After Thanksgiving Blues
Mood:  lazy
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday yesterday. Hope you didn't get stuck in the middle of your travels due to the snowstorms in the midwest & east. I actually changed my plans from going to Thanksgiving at my parents house 4.5 hours east of here, due to being sick since I returned from the Calif. trip and also due to the weather.

We had about 2" of snow here yesterday and it was windy wit white-out conditions. Today the sun is shining, but the temp was 12 when I got up, with a windchill of 3! I don't remember having a White Thanksgiving, but here comes winter!

So, my Stones tour ended on Nov. 15 in San Francisco. And a great first leg of a tour it was! I think back to May 10 when the press conference was going on and everyone was freaking about tickets and I was kicking myself for not going to the press conference...who knew what great things would be in store?

I count my blessings for all the cool things that have taken place between Aug. 10, 2005 when I went to the Phoenix Club gig in Toronto to kick off the tour and Nov. 15 when my tour ended in San Francisco front row center at SBC Park. I gave Keith a scarf at the club gig. I got a guitar pick in return. I gave Keith a shirt in Toronto and he wore it into Pittsburgh my hometown. I got some great pictures of the Stones in Toronto, Philly & San Diego. I was backstage in the Rattlesnake Inn 7 times. I got to walk across the Stones stage at the Hollywood Bowl Nov. 6 before the show. I saw all of the Stones numerous times in person and talked to Keith, Charlie & Ronnie. I went to Ronnie's art show. I saw Bernard & Blondie sing at the Joint with Waddy Wachtel. I saw Tim Ries play two shows in LA & SF with Bernard & Michael Davis. I hung out with Keith's daughter Angela in Pittsburgh, DC, LA, San Diego & San Francisco. I ended up with probably about 10 guitar picks of Keith's-one is a rare one with Keith Richards printed on it. I also got one from Ronnie that Ronnie put into my hand at the B stage in DC. Also one front Blondie & one from Daryl. I got a custom made skull ring that says "Blue Lena + Keith" on the skull thanks to the generosity of Tony Creed at www.tonycreed.com. I saw 14 awesome Stones shows in 9 different cities and was in the front row 5 times...never farther than the 7th row.

SO I HAVE A LOT TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!! Special thanks to BB, BC, TR, KR & TC for their kindness and generosity.

Looking forward to MORE STONES in 2006! Chicago is the start to my tour in the New Year...and then Las Vegas in March seems like a good bet.

HERE'S TO THE ROLLING STONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The California Tour Itinerary
Mood:  party time!
Ok, tomorrow morning (Sat. Nov. 5) I fly from Pittsburgh to LA, arriving at LAX at 5pm. I'll be meeting my Stones friend "E", and then we're headed to Beverly Hills, where we'll be staying until Nov. 9. We will be seeing both Hollywood Bowl shows, catching my friend's band play in San Francisco on the 10th and then flying to San Diego for the Petco Park show on the 11th. On the 12th we head back to San Francisco and will see both SBC Park shows, as well as Tim Ries, Bernard Fowler and Michael Davis play in Oakland on Nov. 14. Then it's back home on the 16th. So, that's the whirlwind tour of California. These are my last shows of 2005, but I have already scheduled in the 2 United Center shows in Chicago for Jan. 2006...so there is more Stones to come in the New Year! Wooo Wooooooo

Birthday with the Stones
Mood:  celebratory
Today is my 38th birthday. About 26 of those years have been spent listening to the Stones. About 11 of those years have been spent following the Stones on tour. About 8 of those years have been spent running The Keith Shrine web page. About 6 of those years have been spent editing Stones Planet Fanzine and running the US branch of the Rolling Stones Fan Club Office. Here's to another 38 years (and more hopefully) of loving the Rolling Stones!

My co-workers gave me a little party today, complete with signs with little Stones tongues on them, a skull flower vase, and a red blow up guitar!

I know what my wish is. It could have came true in September when the Stones were in Pittsburgh. A certain someone could have made it come true, but didn't. Perhaps, it will come true sometime this tour. Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind.

See ya'll in LA, San Diego & San Francisco in November! Woooo Woooo