Hi everyone, I had many emails from people asking me to share this with the entire list so here it is. This review is lengthy too so just delete it if you don't want to read any more about the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Everyone else, hope you enjoy ! Saturday evening (March 8th) Jer and I arrive at the Waldorf Towers. Gorgeous hotel, lovely staff ... they gave us a very nice suite with a view of the Chrysler Building. For those who aren't familiar with this hotel, it is the top few floors of one section of the Waldorf Astoria and has its own private entrance. Some people actually have residences in this section of the hotel (Frank Sinatra once lived here). This was to be the musical event of our lives so we decided to splurge for the occasion and treat ourselves ! Not wanting to waste any time, we headed downstairs and into the lobby of the Astoria to familiarize ourselves with the layout. We headed to the Grand Ballroom on the 3rd level, the venue for the ceremony. Very nice indeed. The AFL-CIO Labor Union conference was being held there so we couldn't go inside yet. However, the elevators from our room came down right next to the entrance at the side of the stage. Very convenient for our friends without tickets, we noticed. The doors to the ballroom had a glass panel in them so you could see in clearly. We then headed off for dinner at the hotel brasserie, Oscar's. A simple place and since it was cold in NY we didn't want to go too far (and we live in Texas--so the cold is not ideal for us, even though we are British). Not too many people in there at all, but who should we be seated across from, none other than Miles, his wife and some friend of theirs (Italian chap). Miles was definitely on time off ... wearing a plaid flannel shirt, pullover and slacks. Most likely they had just arrived there too. Back to the ballroom for another peek after dinner, and this time the conference was over and we were free to roam around. We checked out every corner of it just trying to imagine where our seats would be and what our view would be like. There didn't seem to be a bad spot in the house. We were well-psyched. Sunday morning (March 9th) We got up early enough to scout out the breakfast scene and check out the Grand Ballroom again. The place was empty of all the tables that had been there the night before and a crew was busy assembling the stage for the Hall of Fame. They had started at 1am and would not be done until the evening. Back downstairs we went in order to scout out the main lobby of the Astoria and who should we run into but Wanda. She was meeting Gert (French journalist and author of The French biography Sting). Jer and I took them on a tour of the ballroom before we headed out shopping, at which point we ran into Sue and her friend from the UK. Gert was hoping to get an interview with any or all members of The Police so we arranged to see them later. Sunday lunchtime (March 9th) Jer and I had lunch at Oscar's again and this time, John Mayer was at the table next to us. He was alone. 5.30pm Sunday (March 9th) Jer and I had some friends over for drinks at the hotel so that we could collectively toast the guys and generally meet up with each other. Chris & Christine, Fred & Andrea, Steve Agovino, Wanda and Gert came and drank Canadian wine (thank you Christine), French champagne, California wine and Bloody Mary's. We took several trips down to the ballroom to see the developments and also to devise plans to get the others near it or even in for the ceremony. It was going to be tricky but we figured that as long as they were in Tuxedos/gowns and were reasonably familiar with the floorplan and entrances that they stood a chance. Everyone except Chris and Christine disbanded at around 10 pm-ish. Since those two were staying at the Astoria, the four of us decided that we were all too pumped up about what was to happen the next evening and that we couldn't possibly go to bed yet. Off to Sir Harry's, the Astoria lobby pub, we went. Our table was near the entrance and from my seat I had a clear view of the hallway to the lobby. All of a sudden a tall guy in a dark coat and hat walked by with a lady. I had never seen Stewart before in my life, but it was my dream to meet him ever since 1978. I knew that I had just seen him. AGGHHHH !!!! I told Jer that Stewart had just walked by so he and Chris leapt up to follow him. Jer came back and beckoned us to follow but Christine and I lost track of all of them. We went back to our table (to the relief of our waiter) and waited for Jer and Chris to return. They did .... about 5 mins later. They had followed Stewart and Fiona into the Towers elevator. Stewart was apparently in a rather bad mood and so Jer didn't try to talk to him. He didn't know how to get the elevator to work (you needed a key for the Towers section) so Jer showed him. He just couldn't bring himself to talk to Stewart because all he could think about was the Saturday Night Live skit with Dana Carvey !! Jer was able to make it look like a casual encounter as Stewart's room was on the 31st floor and ours was on the 36th floor. The guys rode the elevator back down and came back to join us. Jer and I never imagined that Stewart would be staying in the same section of the same hotel as us. As it turns out, Andy was too ... as were about half of the celebrities at the event. We later found out that Stewart had been at a party at Sting's flat. Guests at that one included Andy Summers, Chris Botti, Ian Copeland and Tina (Outlandos). Monday morning (March 10th) This is the big day ! Jer and I went down to check out the ballroom developments after breakfast and were disheartened to see that the entire place was swarming with security. We hoped that donor manager from the Hall of Fame may be able to help any or all of us get a gold wristband so that we could get into the rehearsals except that she hadn't yet checked into the Astoria. Jer and I lingered in the hallway oustide the rehearsals hoping to meet one of our pals that may or may not let us in for them. We had a copy of the rehearsal schedul so we knew that The Police weren't coming in until 3 pm. We also knew the entire lineup for the evening and it looked fabulous. Wanda was there , as was Gert--who had succeeded in getting an interview with Stewart and had a tentative interview lined up with Andy. We could hear everything but were not allowed in. A blonde lady walked over to me from the inside and I was hoping that my chance to get inside had come. Not so, she thought I was from the Hall of Fame. Damn, I should have said that I was !!!! Danny Quatrochi saw me and came out to chat. He didn't recognize Jer with short hair ! He told us that there was no way that even he could get anyone into the rehearsals. He said that even Steve Jordan (session drummer and good friend of Sting's) couldn't get into the rehearsals. Apparently Billy was letting no-one in. All we could do was listen from outside. We did get to hear AC/DC and Elvis Costello rehearse before lunch. Monday lunchtime (March 10th) We met up with Chris and Christine and as we were all chatting a face that we kept seeing about the hotel reappeared. Were we being followed ??? No, it was Keith who was there for The Clash. No tickets, just the hope of catching a glimpse of Mick Jones or any of the other Clash members. He had met Mick Jones the previous day so his trip from Florida was worth it for him. He had also met both Stewart and Andy and had nice chats with both of them. Guests were arriving by the truckload at the Astoria, both for the H o F and for a paper convention. Famous faces popped up all over. Jer was well chuffed when Gwen Stefani walked right by and beamed over his way. Jer and I were off to Oscar's again for lunch so we invited Keith to join us. A couple of really great coincidences ensued .... Jer, Keith and I sat down to eat and then another familiar face sat two tables away. This time it was Mick Jones. He recognized Keith from the day before and came over to him to say hello--Keith was so happy about that. How cool that Mick came over to say hello to Keith!! He introduced us to Mick, who was charming. Mick introduced us all to two guys who had been part of the road crew when The Clash used to tour. Keith had lots of pics taken with all of them. Next, the blonde lady who had asked me who I was upstairs at the ballroom walked into Oscar's. I decided to go and see who she was, since she had asked who I was. Turns out that she is the wife of the late Steve Douglas, one of the sideman inductees. She was there with her 80 year old mother and was in Oscar's to get some food to go. Lunch hadn't arrived yet so I invited her to join us at our table and she did. What a lovely lady. Jeanette is her name and she was going to be accepting Steve's award, which Paul Schaffer was to present to her. When I told her that Keith didn't have a ticket for any of the show she immediately told him that she would get him into the rehearsals. At this point in time The Police were scheduled to do their set then do a finale tribute to The Clash: I Fought The Law with guests The Edge, Elton John, Gwen S, Steve Tyler and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine). Keith was delighted to have this opportunity--and couldn't believe this turn of events. Jer and I headed up to get ready ..... passing Aerosmith in the lobby as they checked in.