Monday: My flight left Chicago at 8:10, so I had to get up at crack-thirty in the

morning. The flight went off without a hitch and I landed in the Mile High City and shuttled to the hotel, where I hooked up with my friends who had arrived over the weekend.  We drove to Boulder and drove around near the Flatirons (beautiful mountains) and lunched and shopped around the Pearl Street mall area. Street performers were out in full force, including a fire-eater.  Boulder seems hippy-dippy. Lots of cute guys, though. Ahem. I had to mention that because this is a fangirly report, after all. Hee.  I’ve never been a fangirl until Ace, so blame him.  

Bowling: That night we hooked up with about 40 (?) out-of-town Ace fans for dinner and then went bowling in Westminster. I felt like I was at an Ace convention. At dinner, some of us got wind that there might be “special guests” at the bowling alley.  Indeed, Ace, his family, and Elvio showed up. His brother Duff is in a league at this particular alley.  At one point they played “Scattered” and a couple of older Ace tunes over the sound system. Of course, Ace made sure he signed autographs and posed for pictures with everyone.   I asked Ace if he was happy to be home.  He seemed thrilled to be in Denver and had a big grin on his face. He told me that he’s seen me before, so I then mentioned that I was at the busses in Milwaukee. Anyway, I had nothing for him to sign, so we hugged and posed for our picture. The standard fare. I then moved away so others could get their photo-op.  Oh, and yes, I did bowl, but with minimal success.   

Random notes on Ace’s family: How cool is it that Ace and his family showed up at a bowling alley to say hi to Ace’s out-of-town fans?  Seriously! I told Ace’s father Jay that I was from Chicago. He mentioned they flew into Chicago to see the Milwaukee and St Louis shows, so I told him I attended the Milwaukee show.  He asked if I said hi to him. I told him, no, I saw him, but was too shy. Ace’s family is so warm and personable.  The next day at the busses, I was standing under a tree to get some shade when Jay and Kay arrived. Jay saw us and came over and chatted. The thing that impresses me about Ace’s family is that they’re just such nice, friendly, regular people who treat you as if you’re someone in their hometown that they just ran into at the grocery store.  We don’t get that much here in Chicago. I don’t even know the names of people in my building. But I digress. 

Tuesday:  My roomies and I stayed up too late Monday night laughing and snarking over some of the comments people leave on Ace’s MySpace wall.  Then I didn’t sleep very well. We woke up early to listen to Ace’s radio interview. The plan was to hang by the buses at the Pepsi center.   Many people had gifts for Ace, so I spent some time that morning searching downtown Denver for power bars to give to him.  He already has more t-shirts and belt buckles than he could possibly wear, so I thought I’d get him something practical.  I found two of the three types he mentioned he liked in an interview and threw in some random flavors for variety.

The Busses:  It was sunny and hot in the parking lot of the Pepsi center.  Lots of Ace fans and maybe a handful of Soul Patrollers were present.  Many of the Ace fans were Chrace fans.  When Ace came out, no one approached him at first. Everyone stood back.  A soul patroller came forth and asked, “What… are y’all afraid of him?” Heh.  Personally, I didn’t want to be too greedy since I got a hug and a picture the previous night.  The SPer went up and got a hug from Ace, as did a couple of other SPers (these SPer’s had been following the tour and going to all the LiMBO shows). Then, most of the Ace fans followed suit and got hugs, pictures and autographs.  I gave Ace the gift bag full of power bars and he peeked inside it and said, “Oh, these will come in handy later.” I expressed some concern that they might melt in the sun, and he looked at me and said very seriously, “I’m sure they won’t.” I don’t know why I find that funny.  Anyway, we hugged and took a picture and I said, “thanks, Ace.” He looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you.”  Have I mentioned that he has beautiful eyes? Oh, and he is more gorgeous in person.  I moved away and Ace continued to hug and sign stuff until he got everyone. Even a random family passing by got hugs and autographs.  

Brooklyn’s:  Ace’s brother Duff organized a pre-concert party at Brooklyn’s across the street from the Pepsi Center. We wandered over there and had something to eat before the concert.  Many of Ace’s friends and family were there, too.  

Concert:  This was my third show and most of my impressions remain intact. Mandisa dedicated her second song to Ace’s brother, Ryan. That was a bit of a surprise. I loved Ace’s set.  Oh, and the chest thump is something he does on his own… no air pump. (Where would he put one anyway? His shirts are usually nice and tight! Ahem). Honestly, the chest thingie is the only part of his set that I don’t really dig.  Yet it obviously excites others, so it works.  Ace was all smiles when he wasn’t signing.  I love his leaps.  Many of the other Idols had breathing issues in Denver.  Katharine did “Think” and I enjoyed it more than her other two songs.  That was new since the show in Chicago.  I recognized a little girl a couple rows in front of me from a board I used to post on.  It was her 13th birthday and she had tried to call the radio station to ask Ace to sing happy birthday to her.  She called the wrong station (he had more than one interview) and then had to go to school.  She asked me if I was going to the LiMBO show and, if so, could I tell Ace she tried.  I got her number and email and I promised her I would try to get it to Ace.  Yes, her mom OK’ed this. 

LiMBO:  I was born and raised in Alabama and now live in Chicago. Suffice it to say, I have heard LOTS of blues and blues-based bands. If I want, I can walk four blocks and hear excellent blues musicians any day of the week.  I think that’s why I didn’t see what was so special about Taylor on the show.  Well, despite my skepticism, Taylor and LiMBO RAWKED THE HOUSE.  I MUCH prefer Taylor on the LiMBO stage than the AI stage.  Admittedly, I kept my eyes focused on Ace and his big smile (I swear if he wasn’t singing, he had a huge smile on his face the whole time. He seemed so happy).  I thought both he and Elliott did great “jamming” with Taylor and the band.  Bucky looked like he was having fun, hanging out on stage drinking beer. J I danced a lot.  I got to meet BoulderSoul and MaryR!!!!  I didn’t try to join the masses trying to get to Ace after the show, though.  It was late and I felt bad for him since his parents seemed ready to leave.  My friend and I did give Ace’s mom, Kay, the little girl’s information, so hopefully she passed it along to Ace. I made sure Ace’s mom understood that it was from a thirteen year old. Heh.  

Plane: I was “reviewing” the pictures on my camera for the umpteenth time on the plane home. The woman next to me (who smelled like she has spent hours in the smoker’s lounge) saw me and asked to see them and wanted to know how I “knew” Ace.  I told her that I didn’t really “know” Ace and explained to her that I was just a fan.  She totally didn’t believe me. She said that we had different clothes on during the pictures.  I explained it to her, but she wasn’t buying it. She said no one is that nice to their fans. Lady, if you’re out there reading this, Ace is really that nice.  However, if you want to think I have the inside track to Ace and am trying to cover it up, go ahead and believe it.  Heh.  The end.