Kevin's Celeb Pics

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of a friend, I was treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience this past Thursday.

My friend does security for several major country music stars, including Toby Keith. Keith was in concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on July 31. The friend, who should probably remain anonymous, met me at the front gates and escorted me to the backstage area for behind the scenes look at the show. In addition to checking out the maze of tour buses (Keith has three opening acts), I got to hang out on the side of the stage during a portion of Montgomery Gentry's (one of the openers) set. From there, I got to see the dressing room complex. Then, about 8:45 p.m., he escorted me back to the dressing room complex for Keith's meet and greet. About 200 people made their way through the line as Keith posed for photos with each. Each person also got a pre-signed 8 x 10 photograph. As the meet and greet wrapped up, my friend led me over to Keith for this photograph. I mentioned to him that my secretary at work was related to Tim James, the songwriter who wrote the song, "My List." I had a copy of the CD single which James had already signed. My friend got Keith to sign the disk just as he left the dressing room for the stage. To wrap up things, my friend escorted me to the soundboard and to check out the first three songs of Keith's set.


After departing the venue, I headed to Lambert St. Louis International Airport to meet actress/singer Idina Menzel as she arrived on her flight from New York City. She had a concert the next night in St. Louis. Menzel won a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway play, Wicked. She gladly signed an 8 x 10 and posed for this photo.






Earlier in the afternoon, I stopped by Vintage Vinyl in University City to get autographs and this photo with the Ting Tings. Jules and Katie had just gotten in from Chicago after filming their latest video. They treated those in attendance to a brief three-song acoustic set before sitting down to sign CDs, poster, and photos.




This afternoon (Sunday), I took a "Free Ride" to St. Louis to meet rock-n-roll legend Edgar Winter as he arrived on his American Airlines flight from L.A. He was making his way to the Decatur Celebration today for an afternoon and evening performance. Edgar had just wrapped up a month-long tour last night as a member of Ringo Starr's All-Star Band. While he was waiting for his luggage to arrive, he took a seat and gladly signed a couple of 8 x 10s and then posed for this photograph.

Back in Jacksonville, I visited our local tatoo establishment, House of Ink, where I met actor/singer Jake LaBotz. LaBotz is on a tour of tatoo parlors as spreads his brand of rock and blues music. He played the role of Reese in the 2008 version of Rambo. LaBotz gladly signed one of his compact disks and posed for this photograph.