MGM GRAND, LAS VEGAS, NV.

Dan, John, Jordan and the Jackets

And there they were, my new friends Dan and John (the "jacket guys"), standing in the middle of the main drag about three quarters of the way to the arena just outside the food court. I had not seen them since the show in St. Louis, where I had initially met them. They saw me coming (with my own jacket how could anyone not?) and started smiling. It's one thing when I'm alone, and they make a twosome. But then if you put all three of us together - it becomes a little bit over stimulating with the jacket things going on! And you know, three other guys are pretty good when they get together, too.

We greeted with firm handshakes and smiles all over.

"Hey, now, you guys are west of the Mississippi so you are in my territory, so be nice and don't draw so much attention away from me!" I playfully said to them.

"Hey Jordan, great to see you here in Vegas," Dan said. "We saw you walking around at the Phoenix show but we couldn't get down to where you were sitting to say hello."

"I'm really happy to be here tonight, and unfortunately it's theoretically the last show I'm going to see on the tour, so it's a special night," I said back. Really good people they are.

There were so many people walking by - like a moving river going in two directions - that by the time we exchanged our little greetings and handshakes people started gasping and moaning and groaning and saying "WOW" and "Look at those guys!" and those types of comments. Everyone wanted a photo of us. Some people gave their cameras to girlfriends or boyfriends or husbands or wives or bystanders and jumped in for a photo. Digital cameras. Disposable cameras. Phones with cameras. A crowd formed around us, and as usual, everyone was asking questions, asking for more poses, asking about where things on the jackets came from. People were jumping into the scene for photos even as we talked and hung out.

For the people who wanted some serious photos, we would pose from the front and people seemed to be satisfied. But then we three were all smart-asses and told them to wait a minute, and then we turned around to show off the backs of the jackets and then more gasps and "Oh my god!!!!!!" echoed above the loud din of the passing crowd. Flashes were going off and more photos were being taken. We posed for dozens of people, all three of us very much enjoying the attention and bringing - value? - to the whole scene at the MGM, just about 40 minutes before show time. Honestly, we loved the attention. Who wouldn't? It was like stepping out of a limo at the Academy Awards or something. Flashes going off all over the place.

Hundreds of fans passed us, said hello, made great comments. We were highly visible. Every time we tried to break away to go in the direction of the arena someone else wanted to take a photo or asked another question. We always obliged with a pose and an answer.

"We should be charging a buck for each photo, on each side," Dan said playfully as we posed for yet another shot.

"When we were at the SARS benefit up in Canada," John said, "It was 10 times the size of this and so many more people. If we would have been charging a buck per photo up there, we probably would have made thousands of dollars. I'm not kidding."

And I knew he wasn't kidding because we could not walk 10 feet without people coming up and talking to us and taking more photographs. We were surrounded on all sides. Quite honestly, it was wonderful. But we weren't getting any closer to the arena! So I decided to break away from the whole scene, to split the triplicates, so to speak, shook both their hands and gave them the obligatory, "See you inside!" yawp and took off quickly for the lines to get inside. Dan and John were sitting nearby and I would stop by to see them again before the show, during intermission or afterward.

But right as I was leaving them, Dan gave me two patches for my jacket that I did not have and John gave me a new pin. I was overwhelmed even further. I tucked them safely in a pocket and didn't think life could get much better at the moment, pushing through our "fans" with a cigarette in one hand and a plastic cup of my tropical pineapple vodka drink with a slim red straw in the other. You could smoke and drink anywhere you wanted to in the hotel. What a treat that was.

Which brings me to the moment that I had been waiting for all day - and possibly all tour.