Ok, where to begin? If you watch or have watched vh1-classic you are probably familiar or have seen Eddie Trunk. He has also been on the radio and has his own show “The Eddie Trunk Show” every Friday night on Q104. You can also listen to a live stream on line like Janet and I do. Well this year, Eddie is celebrating 25 years of being in the music and broadcasting business. He arranged a private party at the Hard Rock Café in NY City and Judas Priest agreed to play a special performance for him. Eddie is a huge Priest fan and was very honored. The only way the public could see this show was to win tickets or by special invitation. There were going to be a lot of other Rock and non-rock celebrities also in attendance including Heaven and Hell, who were special guest on his show this past Friday. If any one had a chance to catch it, it was very entertaining J

Well any ways after weeks of Janet and I trying to win tickets we were getting very frustrated. Eddie had told his listeners that even if they didn’t win tickets to come down to the Hard Rock to check out the red carpet and get to meet some of the celebrities. So Janet and I, being who we are, decided to throw caution to the wind and just go to NY to at least check out the red carpet and maybe get a chance of getting in. We figured we’d at least get to see Priest as they entered and also see Heaven and Hell and get them to sign our new Box sets that we had just picked up. Well Friday night Eddie allowed the listeners to call in and ask Heaven and Hell questions. Janet decided to call in and was able to get through. After asking Dio about a possible reunion with Richie Blackmore, that Dio was happy to answer because all the questions prior to that were pretty stupid, he asked Janet if she knew that he was born in Portsmouth NH? Janet said yes she did and that she was honored to be living in the state he was born in. Ronnie applied that he was just going to tell her that he was the one that felt honored to be from the same state! Very cool moment. After that Janet told Eddie that she and her friend had been trying for weeks to win tickets to his party and that he had convinced us to come anyways for the red carpet and that we were hoping that we may still be able to get in. They all started laughing and Ronnie said “You’re going to get them tickets, right Eddie?” Eddie replied that it was out of his hands now and to talk to Johnny at the Hard Rock. It ended at that but then a little while into the show Eddie found out that the red carpet was actually going to be inside and not outside like he thought. He felt really bad because he had been telling people to come down and check it out. Well, of course Janet and I were thinking “oh crap, this just complicated things.” Our plans were booked so we couldn’t change them. We figured we’d just go and make the best of it. While we were in NY, we decided to check out Good Morning America and were one of the last few people to make it into the studio. That was neat. Note sure if we made it on TV or not because we got stuffed into the back. Alan Rickman (Professor Snape from Harry Potter) was a guest so that was really cool because I really like him. Also the cast from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants were there too. After that we grabbed a quick bite to eat and went back to the hotel to shower and make ourselves pretty. Around 3:00 we decided to go back to the Hard Rock and grab a bite to eat. As we were sitting there Janet looked up and right across the table, there on the wall was a picture of Judas Priest and next to that, hand written lyrics to Breaking the Law. So happy to see that they put some Priest stuff up. After lunch and a “few drinks” we saw that they were setting up the red carpet so we decided to go talk to the security guy, a big, black, very sweet man who I wished I had gotten the name of. We told him if it was ok to hang out down there and he told us it would be mostly press and that we could wait outside. I then remembered what Eddie had said about talking to “Johnny” so I asked him if Johnny was around? He said yes and that he was inside. We told the security guard that Eddie had said to come down and check out the red carpet and maybe get a chance to get in but that was before he realized that the red carpet was inside and that he felt really bad. We explained how we traveled from NH and was too late to cancel our plans. He asked our names and we told him Janet and Dee from NH. He told us to wait and that he would go talk to Johnny and tell him we were ‘friends” of Eddie. Hehe, we weren’t about to correct him. He came back a little while later and told us to come back just before 7pm and that he would “take care of us.” Now, I was assuming he meant get us in but I wasn’t 100% sure. We still had a couple of hours to kill so we decided to go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and pray. We headed back to the Hard Rock about quarter past 6 because we were just too impatient and nervous. We went downstairs and they had tables set up with the guest lists. We told one of the girls that Johnny told us to come back and he would take care of us. She asked us our names and again we said Janet and Dee from NH. She told us to wait, left and came back a couple of minutes later and told us to go outside and wait for the doors to open. I’m getting a little more confident that this means we’re in but still not willing to believe it until we were through the doors and checked in. Janet had made a sign with the shape of NH on it and on one side is said “NH Loves Eddie Trunk and Judas Priest and she had our names on either side of the state. On the other side it said NH Loves Heaven and Hell with again our names on either side. There were a couple of girls standing outside also hoping to get in and when they saw our sign said “hey, you’re the girls from NH, we heard you on the show Friday night.” They thought it was really cool. At about 6:45 they start letting people in. We were about 8or 10^th in line and made our way down to the table and there on the sheets of paper were our names penned in “Janet and Dee (New Hampshire)” We got wrist bands and were told not to lose them to be able to get in all night! Like yeah, were going to take this off?! Now we are a 100% sure WE WERE IN! We didn’t get to hang out and watch the red carpet because they ushered us in and we went straight to the front of the stage. People had already taken the center spot so we went right next to them, right in front of where Glenn would be. As we are standing there we saw Tony Iommi and called out to him and held up the sign. He smiled and waved to us and then we saw Ronnie and when he looked over and saw our sign he smiled, pointed at us, waved and gave us the thumbs up! We pulled out our recently purchased box sets and our silver markers and Janet went up to Tony, she called up to him because he was in a private section and we weren’t allowed to go in there. She held up the box sets and the pen and he signed both boxes and then handed the boxes over to Geezer to sign and handed them back to Janet. I had to stay and save our spots up front so when she came back we saw Ronnie so she handed me the boxes and said “your turn”. I went and called up to Ronnie and when he looked down he smiled and said your one of the girls from NH.” I said yes, he smile and took the boxes and signed both of them. On my way back the guys that were standing next to us told me Vinnie was right over there too so I turned around, spotted Vinnie and went up to him. He came over, signed both boxes and I got to shake his hand! So, Janet and I both have complete signed box sets of the new Heaven and Hell release J Awesome! So at about 8:30 the show starts and some hosts and comedians came out and joked around a bit about Eddie. Sorry, didn’t remember who they were but I do remember one guest speaker who introduced Eddie. One of his best friends, Mike Piazza, of the NY Mets. After Eddie came out they told him they had a surprise for him and a big screen pulled down and they played pre-recorded messages from various artists and friends. It started as mostly a roast. We were so close to the stage that it was hard to see the screen and what they were saying. I did catch a bit and it was pretty funny. I think Eddie might be broadcasting this at some point. I hope so. After that was done, Eddie thanked a few people, including his parents and family. Very sweet. He introduced Judas Priest! The guys came out, not wearing their usual stage clothes, but in ordinary street clothes. Jeans and t-shirts. Rob was wearing those kind of shorts that are long past the knees and a loose shirt. There were no stage props or risers, just the band and their equipment. It was great to see them so casual. Right away when Glenn saw me and Janet he recognized us. He gave me a big smile and blew me a kiss! Actually I think he did it a couple of times because at one point I blew a kiss back. Ian also recognized us right away. He pointed at us with that, I know you girls, smiled and waved to us. He is so cute in person. I just want to give him a big hug. I bet he gives good hugs. So back to the show, they only played 8 songs; Electric Eye, Metal Gods, Devil’s Child, Hell Patrol, Breaking the Law, The Green Manalishi, You Got another Thing Coming, and the encore, Hell Bent for Leather. They played for a very energetic hour. I have never seen Glenn so animated. I like to think he was doing for me J but I’m sure he was just showing off to the other musicians in the house. He was jumping up and down a lot, getting down on one knee and doing some great poses. He even did a kick at one point. He went practically right into the crowd and he even let people touch and play his guitar! I’m sure KK was just as animated on the other side but we were right up against the stage, it was hard to see him and take pictures of him. Glenn also was shaking hands and he grabbed my arm with both hands and gave me an extra long shake. Yeah, you guessed it, I’m in complete heaven at this moment! Rob was great, he also was right in the crowd. I finally got to shake his hand. All this time, that was the first time I had ever touched the Metal God himself! What a moment. Now, I’m not sure if Glenn was just really excited or maybe had a couple more drinks before the show then he should have because he seemed to lose his balance sometimes. At the very end of Hell Bent he ran up to the end of the stage and got tripped up on some of the wires and almost fell into the crowd. My hand was one of the hands that kept him from falling. I was thinking, man if there was a barrier up he would have definitely falling. Thank god we were there to catch him because that was awesome! He laughed and thanked everyone! After the band finished and thanked Eddie and everyone they left. They never came back out so I didn’t get to meet or chat with them. But I will get that opportunity this weekend so I wasn’t too bummed. I can’t wait to see what the guys will say when they see us. I still can’t believe we got in. There was maybe about 300-400 fans and about 150 or so of celebrities and special guests of Eddie. Very small crowd and I feel completely honored to have been part of such a special event. I have been a fan of Eddie Trunk for years and was bummed when vh1 didn’t renew his contract but Eddie has announced that vh1 has picked up his show that will start this September. So until then, I will listen to his shows on Friday nights and keep checking his website for updates. I hope this wasn’t too long and you enjoyed reading about our latest adventure. I am working on uploading my pictures to webshots and as soon as that’s done I will post the link for everyone to enjoy! If I remember anything else, I will let you know. Eddie will probably be posting pics of the red carpet on his website so I would keep checking for that. Can’t wait for Saturday!