Louanne Spence meets John Waite

Detroit, MI
May 7, 1999
(VENUE: State Theater)

Thanks to Louanne for sharing her pictures and story with Net Waite.

My husband, Pete, and I were at this show with fellow online fan Suzanne Finley (she of the JW Ignition clock found on Net Waite), and her husband, Kevin. I'll get right to the good part. We were given passes to see John backstage only after Kevin "The Great" Finley ran his butt off. I mean he worked for these passes! I really owe this whole experience to this man for his efforts. Suzanne, Pete, and I were stunned when he finally succeeded!

I believe it was around 8:30 p.m. that the lineup started so we got in line with our CD covers. I had brought WYWM. We were led through this side door and up a flight of stairs to where John was standing with Chris Arnstein, his manager. I don't mind telling you that my first "live" impression of John was that he was adorable. He joked and laughed with everyone and he was an all-around nice person.

When it was my turn to meet him, he walked quickly over to me and I told him how I've loved his music for years and years. He thanked me and I gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. It was then that I was introduced to his cologne. Did he smell good, girls, or what? There isn't a girl who attended that concert that can say that he did not smell wonderful. I asked him to sign my CD to which he obliged. I asked him if he'd seen the John Waite stuff on the web and he said yes and remarked on how amazing the Internet is.

All in all, John was very inviting and friendly and he didn't rush us at all. He was a perfect English gentleman--very charming! While we were walking back to our seats, I couldn't resist telling the girls in the line to meet him how good John smelled. That was cruel as the line was very long.

So when Pete and I got back to our seats, everyone at the table was grinning from ear to ear and it wasn't even from the beer! And we still had the concert to go!

Lights dim and Chris came on, placing bottles on the stage. John walked on (with that strut that he has) in a beautiful black suit. Am I the only one who noticed how shiny his shoes were? Anyway, "Missing You" was the first song. From there on I never sat in my seat. Suzanne and I made our way up to the front of the stage and stayed there practically all night. This was like a greatest hits concert. "Change," "WYWM," "Back On My Feet Again," "Downtown," "Head First," "Midnight Rendezvous" and on and on. These are in no particular order. He read requests from napkins and answered the hecklers in the audience (very smartly I might add). He even bust out laughing once.

He gave us the score of the hockey game. Quite the entertainer. For the encore, he threw on a Red Wings Jersey. Cool! This concert was so relaxed it makes me wonder how I could stand going to venues where there are 15,000 people. I just loved every minute of it! It was like a house party on a bit larger scale with everyone dancing up near the stage and John all smiles. I think that since he met a lot of us before the show, he was quite relaxed and his voice was in very good form. I should also mention that Shane Fontane was excellent. He is smooth and an asset to John's band.

Closing thought...please do not miss out on a chance to see John Waite. YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT. In fact you may want to kick yourself right in the a** if you do miss it because the man is fantastic. This is not just coming from me. My husband, who wasn't as big a fan as I, has now jumped right into the diehard category!

--Louanne Spence from the huge Metropolis of Muirkirk, Ontario Canada

Do you have a "I met John" picture and/or story that you would like to share with Net Waite?  If so, e-mail me!

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