2002-03-18 - 10:55 a.m.

Following is a very abridged journal entry about my amazing trip to Hollywood.

March 14, 2002

I�m sitting alone on Venice Beach. It�s cool and breezy and the sand is blowing all over me. Naturally, I chose to wear all black today. However, gritty socks are the least of my concerns right now. Last night was the most amazing night I�ve had in a long, long time.

Chris Naab dropped me off at the Key Club just in time for the show. Freezing, nervous, excited, and alone, I waited in the long line praying my name was really on the guest list. Mopri, Zurdok�s manager, had promised he wouldn�t forget, but I�m not sure he was thoroughly convinced I would actually make the long journey from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Finally, I came face to face with the guy holding the guest list, and lo and behold, there was my name � right at the top! I was so relieved, and admittedly felt quite privileged. This being LA, I couldn�t imagine I�d ever receive such an honor. As I gave my ticket to the Door Guy, he told me to smile. Normally, I get annoyed when strangers tell me to smile, but I suppose my anxiety was showing.

Inside I went and headed straight for the bar, where against my better judgment, I ordered a beer. Rock en Espa�ol night meant Corona was on special. At this point, there was already a boring opening band playing. So I downed my beer, used the facilities and headed back outside for some air. There was the Door Guy, who again insisted that I smile. I told him I was alone in a strange city, and feeling a bit anxious. He asked where I was from, so I told him I�d flown in from New Orleans for the show. He was shocked and amused, and decided to be my buddy for the night. Little did I know what an important role he�d wind up playing later on.

After a few minutes, I went back in and tried to secure a spot near the stage during the even more atrocious second band�s set. At last, they left the stage, and Zurdok�s people came out to set up. It seemed like it took forever. They were having a bit of a problem with Chetes� computer setup, so he had to come out and make a few adjustments. It was so dark, I could only make out his silhouette until someone took a photo. The flash lit up his face, and my heart skipped a beat. There he was in all his glory. This was really happening.

Shortly, the band came out and played a really incredible, long set. They opened with �Estatico,� which was great, but when they eventually played the first notes of �Bien o Mal,� I nearly lost it. And in spite of the fact that I was the only gringo in the place, I sang along en Espa�ol. Sadly, they ended without doing the 6-minute keyboard bit, which I had been fantasizing about for weeks. They played almost everything I wanted to hear except for �Carros al Cielo� and �Dentro de un Mensaje.� But it was so wonderful I didn�t even care. Towards the end, Chetes came out alone to play an acoustic version of ��Cuantos Pasos?� and Castillo from Jumbo joined him. Much to my amusement, and apparently also Chetes�, in lieu of the banjo (?) part, he was singing �bow bow bow�� It was so adorable. Also adorable was the fact that throughout the show, he kept making the �rock hand,� and whooing.

Alas the show ended, and without even an encore. I wanted so badly to go backstage and meet them, but I had no idea how I was going to finagle that, as I hadn�t seen any of them or their people walking through the crowd. So dejectedly, I went back outside to talk to my new friend, the Door Guy. I told him I�d really love to meet the band, but I didn�t know how that was going to happen. He looked like he was pondering something for a minute, then he got a big smile on his face and leaned in close, �Go back in. Stage Right. There�s a big guy by the door named Dave. Tell him Chris said it was okay.� I was thrilled beyond belief, but expressed concern that Dave might not believe me. So Chris called him on his headset and told him I was coming. I thanked him profusely, and made a bee line for Stage Right.

Dave let me in with little hassle, but a good bit of teasing. I opened the door only to find all of Jumbo standing there staring at me. I felt a bit sheepish, and someone directed me down the stairs to the dressing room. There were about 10 or 12 people there, including the band. No one really paid much attention to me as I walked in, which made me even more uncomfortable. If I could just make eye contact with SOMEONE in the band�

I walked toward Chetes just as he turned and went into the beer room with some guy. I hated to interrupt, but I mumbled �Hi!� and he turned around. I asked if he spoke English, because I don�t speak Spanish, and he said, �a little.� So I said, �Hi, I�m Heidi, and I came here from New Orleans�� Instantly, a look of recognition flashed across his face and he began nodding. I asked if he had heard I was coming, and he said yes, Mopri had told them about me. He looked a bit flabbergasted and humbled and thanked me for coming, but then he assured me it wasn�t worth it. I told him of course it was, that it was a great show, and I was so happy to have seen them. He again told me it wasn�t worth it because they don�t even put on a real show �with fire and bombs!� He then confessed that they are �what is the word in English? Irresponsible? We only rehearse about 2 or 3 days before the show, so really, it�s not that good!� He then said he really didn�t like playing live much because he�s so shy and touring is such a hassle. We talked for quite a while about music, Mexico, and New Orleans among other things. He warned me never to go back to Mexico City, because he is scared of it. It is so dirty, and crowded, and violent. He hates having to go there because he gets so �paranoid.� He joked that food portions in America are so tremendous that �when you order chicken, they bring you a WHOLE chicken!� He�s got the cutest laugh. Throughout the conversation, if there was ever a lag, he repeated, �I�m very glad you came.� How sweet of him to make me feel so special and important.

Chetes & Me

After a bit, David walked by, and Chetes grabbed him and told him in Spanish who I was. David�s face lit up, and he immediately hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and said something to me in Spanish. Chetes corrected him, telling him I didn�t speak it, so he started over, hugged me again, and repeated himself in English. He was very excited that I was there. He asked me if I had any trouble with the guestlist, and if Mopri had been treating me like a queen. I admitted I hadn�t even met Mopri yet, but that I was on the list. I told him how great the show was, and Chetes took a picture of us. He then asked what I did for a living, and I explained what I do, saying I didn�t define myself by that. Really, I�m an artist. He became VERY excited � �You�re a painter? A painter?!?!?!� He then informed me that he was too, and that he had in fact done the artwork on �Hombre Sintetizador.� I confessed being jealous of it, and I gave him and Chetes cards for my art website. (Not this one. Never this one!) He wanted to know how I�d heard of them, not speaking Spanish and all, and I told him I�d seen the video for �As� Es� on MTVS, and then immediately went out and bought �Maquillaje� and �Hombre Sintetizador.� I told him I had no luck finding �Antena,� but that I had downloaded some MP3s from it. He then was sweet enough to promise to email me �as soon as I get back to Monterrey,� and send me a copy of �Antena.� Shortly, they were all stolen away from me by some TV people who interviewed them. He told me to wait though; he�d be right back. I didn�t understand a word of it, but they looked pretty amused with themselves.

David & Me

When they were through, I talked to David some more, until he grabbed Jorge (a.k.a. Fletch), the drummer, and told him who I was. He burst out laughing as soon as he heard, �I thought it was a JOKE! When someone told me that there was someone coming from New Orleans for this, I didn�t believe them!� His reaction was honestly like Ed McMahon just knocked on his door with the giant million-dollar check. Shock, disbelief, giddiness, amazement, excitement� He hugged me, and David took a picture of us. The picture wound up perfectly capturing his look of amusement and surprise over the matter, as you can see below. He asked if I spoke Spanish, and when I replied that I didn�t, he asked how I got into them, if someone had made me a tape or something. I told him no, I�d seen them on MTVS, and he seemed to be pretty excited about that.

Fletch & Me

Finally, I decided I better go meet Maurizio, the bass player, lest he be offended later that I introduced myself to everyone else but him. It�s not that I didn�t want to, but he seemed less open and approachable than the rest. Well technically, Chetes didn�t seem like that at first either, but he was the first one I spoke to, so� Anyway, feeling rather legendary by this point, I walked up to Maurizio with my hand out and said �I believe you�ve heard of me; I�m the one from New Orleans.� Before I even halfway finished my sentence, he was nodding his head in confirmation. I guess someone had pointed me out to him while I was talking to everyone else. Of course, we took a picture together too. I again defended my trip out there by explaining that if I hadn�t, I would never have seen them because they weren�t going to New Orleans anytime soon. He said he�d love to go to there, but no one had ever invited them. So on behalf of the City of New Orleans, I invited them! I know what he meant though � to play a show or a festival or something. I�m going to have to look into that now. hahaha.

Maurizio & Me

While we were talking, this guy that had been hanging around was looking on with a curious smile on his face. Finally, he asked who I was and what was the deal, because he knew there was some story with me, but he hadn�t caught it. I explained, and he seemed as thrilled and amused as the rest of them. The guy turned out to be an old friend of theirs from Monterrey who was now living in LA, and just came out to �support them,� even though he only caught one song and didn�t even own �Maquillaje.� He was really friendly though, so that was cool.

At long last, Mopri walked over in the general direction and I stopped him and announced that I was Heidi and I was there! Like everyone else, he was thrilled and hugged me and expressed his doubt that I was actually going to make it. He wanted to make sure I�d had no problems with the guestlist, and re-enacted himself remembering to add my name. We talked a little about the show and my trip, and then he welcomed me to go to Mexico any time, and just to let him know and he would set me up. So then, I could just go on vacation and stay with one of the band members? hahaha. I gave him a card for my website, and Chetes, who was standing nearby pulled his card out of his pocket to show Mopri, and I guess to assure me that he still had it? Mopri told me that I should go catch the rest of Jumbo�s set because Zurdok was about to go up and join them for a few songs. So I turned to Chetes, the only one still down there, and told him goodbye. He gave me such a big sweet hug and even kissed me in the hair/cheek area. Of course, he again thanked me for coming, and I replied, like a dork, �No, thank YOU!� Clearly, no one has ever done anything like that for them before! Wow, and I was the first. I can rest assured that they will remember me forever just for that fact. I guess the Mexican chicas just don�t love bands the way we American girls do.

So up I went where I was greeted at the backstage door by Chris, the Door Guy who I guess no longer felt the need to stand outside. Maybe the backstage door gets rushed towards the end of the night, and they needed to beef up the security there. He seemed disappointed that I had left, but I explained that they were all leaving too to come on stage. Right then, David passed by me and gave me a huge smile and a �Hi!� Maurizio was already on stage. I had no idea where Fletch was, and Chetes came right out to join Jumbo. I moved in a little closer to take a few more pictures � turns out Jumbo was really great, but I wouldn�t have traded one second of backstage time for more of Jumbo.

So I was standing there really enjoying the show, when all of a sudden out of nowhere, I feel this blinding pain in my head. I had NO idea what was happening. I was like a bird that just flew into a window � totally stunned and confused. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a beer bottle bouncing on the ground behind me. Chris, the Door Guy had seen the bottle being thrown, but didn�t realize it had landed on my head until I walked up to him holding my head, and tears running down my face. He quickly ushered me backstage where he checked for blood or a lump, neither of which were present, thank God. But I was still in pain and pretty shaken, so I sat down on a chair right by the door, while some Mexican guy (who barely spoke English, and I�m not sure what his deal was) tried to offer me ice and sympathy. Every now and then, someone went in or out the door, and I was in a state of panic that a member of Zurdok would walk by. On the one hand, I was wiping tears from my eyes, and would have felt like a fool. But on the other hand, I was injured, and what better way to attract attention than that? Really though, I hoped no one would see me. And they didn�t, because as soon as I heard them playing �Sgt. Pepper�s Lonely Hearts Club Band,� I got up and ran out to watch it. Meanwhile, the MC Host guy came up to find out if I was okay, and had to hold my hand and tell me how sorry he was.

After it was over, and everyone was being kicked out, I opted not to go backstage again, because my head was killing me, and I didn�t want to overstay my welcome with the band. I saw Chris, the Door Guy, and again questioned him about a cab ride home. He was sort of beating around the bush, asking if I was gonna stick around � what, even though they had stopped serving and everyone was being kicked out? So I asked if he was offering me a ride home, and he laughed at my audacity, but agreed to give me a ride. So I guess getting hit in the head with a bottle turned out to be a good thing because it earned me a ride home. While I was waiting for him to finish up, some Big Cheese type guy was walking around kicking at the bottles on the floor yelling at anyone who walked within 20 feet of him �Look at these bottles! Who was serving bottles! No more bottles at Rock en Espa�ol shows! Some girl got hit in the head!� Well, looking at the wall-sized banner advertising the Corona special, it seemed like bottles were to be expected. So not only was I the first jet-set rockgirl Zurdok�s ever had, I was a policy-making case at a big club on the Sunset Strip! What a night!

So Chris, the Door Guy finished his duties for the night, and kindly drove me down the strip to my friend�s apartment. It wasn�t long before I climbed onto my beanbag bed and drifted off to sleep with visions of Zurdok and my wonderful amazing night floating through my mind.

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