Christine and I are home safe and sound from our 11 hour drive from NYC. I don't post to this list often (maybe once every 18 years or so) but it would be a shame not to share our experiences on March 10th. This is our (long) story... Back in November I re-subscribed to this list and was excited to hear about the HOF ceremony. Many of you were talking about what it meant to be a true fan. It sparked many up close and personal Police and Sting stories which touched me deeply. Jeremy told the story of how Deb didn't have a ticket for the Tuscany show but managed to get in anyway. I was inspired by that story because Deb followed her dream and it all worked out. After Monday March 10th I can truly say that luck is mostly hard work. Since November Christine and I furiously tried to work our meagre music and press connections to get tix to the ceremony. March rolled around and we still didn't have any luck but kept our reservations at the Waldorf. We could have easily thrown in the proverbial (and expensive I might add) towel. Instead we stayed positive and optimistic and pressed on to NYC on March 8th. We kept our expectations to a bare minimum. About a week previous, Jeremy and Deb graciously invited us and other list members to their room at the Waldorf for celebratory drinks. We heard many Sumner tales and even contributed a few of our own. Although I had never seen the Police play live, Christine has a few times. Gert showed us the book he wrote about Sting and the Police which had a lot of wonderful and exclusive photos. Much later that Sunday evening Deb, Christine, Jeremy and I were sitting in a pub when Deb's Stewdar went off. Her eagle eyes spotted Stew and his wife walking by. We jumped up from the table and ran after him. Jer and I caught up with him in the elevator but quickly realized once inside that we risked the old Dana Carvey/Sting SNL skit. I refrained from humming Away From Home and we returned to our dates and a waiter who surely thought we were skipping out on the tab. That was the closest I'll ever get to seeing The Police I thought to myself and even though it wasn't the right moment to talk to Stewart, I was just happy to be there. Timing is everything right? I went to bed that evening a happy camper. My expectations were already exceeded. To get in the game you have to look the part. I rented a tux the morning of March 10th and Christine had already bought a gorgeous black dress... just in case. Believe it or not it would've been more expensive to have rented the tux for 4 days in my home town than 1 day in NYC. Well worth the price of admission anyway. I remember the guy at the tux store saying, "He's going to the HOF show tonight- he's a really lucky man!!!" If he only knew I didn't even have a ticket to the ceremony. Seemed crazy to even rent a tux but what the hell, we're staying at the freakin Waldorf and we're spending a crap load of money so if I didn't look the part, I'll never get in and worse... ruin Christine's chances. All dressed up and nowhere to go kept echoing in my head. Christine and I did manage to get into the rehearsals after the crew lunch break. We knew the production schedule and when the Police would go on. We tried to blend in as much as possible and not make asses of ourselves in the Ballroom. We saw AC/DC kick ass with Steven Tyler. We sat up at the front near the stage with about a dozen other lucky bastards. There were of course a lot of crew and "VIPs" hanging around as well. As soon as AC/DC was done, the crew along with original Police crew began setting up for the Police and Christine and I were freaking out (on the inside). Stewart came into the Ballroom first with his 2 boys and Andy came in shortly after with his family. Ian and Miles were there as well. You could feel security tighten its grip as many of the hotel staff and balcony on-lookers were asked to leave. I was really nervous that we too would be dead meat. Sting was late to the rehersal and I didn't see any of his family with him. For a second I wondered if he would show up at all- just like the '86 rehersals. History teaching us everything! Christine and I used the lull to speak with Stewart and Andy and get their autographs. When Sting arrived we approached him as well before he got on stage. It was the thrill of a lifetime for us to meet all three in the same ballroom. What came next made us pee our pants- Stew started drumming on the high hat and Sting started playing the bass line to When the World is Running Down. The jam sounded amazing and I was transported back in time for a few hours. They soon launched into Roxanne, then Message and finished with EBYT. They waited for the crew in the truck to get their shit together and did all three songs again. Sting asked if it was okay that he not sing Roxanne the second time around but did sing a bit at the end. Why there were 2 backing vocalists I'll never know. Sting's idea I'm sure. They weren't even Janice or Dolette!! I could tell that Stewart had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The look on his face while he drummed was priceless as he was so happy to play the old songs. Andy looked much more intense and the guitars he chose were ones I didn't recognize as Police guitars although they were definitely his gear. I'm not sure Sting was impressed with Andy's playing as he winced and made some funny faces during the beginning of Roxanne. Sting even asked Danny Q to fiddle with Andy's gear (pedals/amps) while he was playing to which Andy walked over to Sting's amp and turned it down. It was a classic Police moment!! Sting got a good laugh out of that one. Sting also joked around with Stew at one point and ended the conversation with a pointed, "You're FIRED!!" - to which there was dead silence. Even Stew didn't have a comeback for that one. Stewart did tell Sting to "jump around and shit like you used to" and joke about his age. I would say that Roxanne was better at the ceremony but Message and EBYT were better at the sound check. I was totally surprised (i don't know why now) how little interaction there were between the 3 of them before and after the rehersal- although I hope VH1 will show the cool rehersal banter- if they're smart they will anyway. This leads me to safely and sadly report that this was the last time the Police will play live. I'm not saying this because I was there and want to make you jealous but because I saw the way they acted towards each other. We consider ourselves blessed to have seen the First Last and the Last Last times they played together. Christine was thrilled to have Steven Tyler sit in front of us listening to the Police rehersals. They even got to chatting for a bit. The best was when Stewart plopped himself down in front of us after the rehersal while we were talking to his boys. Stew said, "well at least you finally got to see us play". Very cool moment for us. The grand finale was supposed to be I Fought the Law with the Police, Gwen, the Edge, Steve Tyler etc. I overheard someone mention that Sting did not want to do it so it was never rehearsed. There may have been other reasons but it wasn't very clear. In any event, I figured it maybe done spontaneously at the end of the ceremony. I was wrong. We were clearly on a high after the rehersals but still wanted to try to get into the ceremony. Security was now code red and our chances of getting in were slim to none. I didn't care since we just saw them play. Nevertheless we got dressed and tried to put a plan together. Most of the floors that had access to the ballroom were now blocked off the elevators. Instead of revealing all the juicy details of how we got in, I will sum it up like this- we did not beg, borrow, rob a bank, or do anything illegal or of a sexual nature to get in. Instead we were friendly, charming and used our wits- in short- we looked as if we belonged and lady luck was on our side for once. It took brass balls but when we laser focus on things they have a way of working out. Where there is a will there is a ceremony and all that crap! We got to see the show from the beginning after cocktails and dinner and got ourselves in photos with lots of celebs including Sting, Stew and Andy who recognized us both from the rehersals. Sting gave Christine the ultimate compliment by telling her she was a beautiful woman which made her melt. Christine realized later she had forced Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello to take our picture with Sting. The look on his face was pretty funny. He managed to take a great pic as it turned out so maybe he can always fall back on that. She later apologized for turning him into papparazzi at the post ceremony party and he was totally cool about it. Jeremy pretty much summed up the whole ceremony so I won't repeat that part. I will add that Stewart broke one of his drum skins during EBYT as he was drumming like a maniac. I had the pleasure of getting my pic with the broken skin at the party afterwards. They told me it's definitely going into the HOF in Cleveland. While trying to hunt down an extra program for Andrea and Fred, Christine managed to again pour on the charm and snag 6 invitations to the post ceremony party where we again rubbed shoulders with Andy and Stewart (no Sting) and Ian who was so generous with his time and stories. Ian is a real gentleman so if you ever get a chance to visit him at the Backstage Cafe- definitely talk to him. We also got to meet Miles who was, well... Miles. This is where I'm gonna get a bit preachy so you can skip this paragraph if you want.... Nice people don't always finish last. We are tenacious but never rude to anyone. I'm writing this email to encourage all of you to follow your heart and dreams no matter what. Check the negativity at the door, have faith, hope and never give up no matter what. We made our dreams come true because we believed in our heart that we might have a shot. We are certainly not Joe and Joanne Millionaire (or thousandaire for that matter). We saved up as much as we could, jumped in the car and winged it. Meeting up with Jeremy, Deb and the others encouraged and inspired us further. Putting ourselves in the right place at the right time (and in the right clothes) worked. I don't care if Jeremy has said it to all of you a thousand times- he's absolutely right and we're living proof that anything could happen... and boy did it happen that night!!! It was a magical day and evening for us and one we will never forget. The next morning we met up with our new Clash fan friend Keith (who did exactly what we did and had great results as well) and had breakfast with him and Terry Chimes (Clash drummer). We soon had to check out, say good-bye to all our new and fast Police friends (Deb and Jer- hope to join you on a tour soon- you guys were great) and drive home. It all still seems like a dream- a re-curring dream that I had for years is now reality. It was hard work and a tad bit stressful but worth it. If you have any questions feel free to email me directly. Follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors before. --Joseph Campbell All the best, Chris and Christine