EltonToolbar.com ~ Elton Expo 2006 ~ Las Vegas ~


~ Elton Expo 2006 ~	Organized by
(13-15 October / Las Vegas, USA)
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DAY 1

I was quite nervous the first day, as it was the first Expo I attended and I didn't know what to expect. Around 12pm we (Anna and me) arrived to the Atrium Suits Hotel, went inside without knowing where to go and finally found a table where they were registering the Expo attendees. We registered and got a bag with EJ goodies (courtesy of EltonJohn.com, we knew later). We also got Caleb Quaye's book "A Voice Lauder than Rock and Roll", as we were in the list of the people who registered early for the Expo. After we registered I was looking to find some known faces and saw "LadySam" and "Levon" (two people I was really looking forward to meet). Kevin Bell, the organizer of the Expo, brought us inside a room and introduced the Expo while we were being served lunch. The special guests, Davey Johnstone, Guy Babylon, Fred Mandel and Anette Murray, arrived and we started eating. Kind of a special moment when you are eating with Davey and Guy in the same room... LOL! After the lunch, the guests answered some question about music, fans and their experiences with Elton in the early years. It was really interesting. Davey said, between many other things, that the Red Piano show it's supposed have some changes in 2009 and that he's working always in other projects (but doesn't have the time to do much with all the touring, LOL!). The guys form the band also talked about Elton's new "hip-hop try-out"! Davey didn't look really thrilled about doing it, but told us not to worry as it was going to be good (as we all know it will be :P). They also talked about the Billy Elliot Demos and Lestat (Guy seemed quite unhappy about that show and said that Bernie had a hard time due to its failure). Much more was told, but I just can recall. After the questions the guests left (I managed to get some pictures of Davey and Guy before they left and I gave them a handshake) and Kevin showed us the objects what were going on auction later in the Expo (I still don't know when the auction happened, if it happened).


DAY 2

The second day started with Elton Jeopardy! We where all challenged with questions and questions about Elton. Very funny and interesting. Surely I learned a couple of thing in there :P After the game, David Larkham, the designer of the Elton's early album artwork, talked about how he created all the covers and showed us some cool gems, like the discarded cover for Ice on Fire and the original sepia picture of the Tumbleweed Connection cover. There were also lots of questions about his relation with Elton in the early years too. Later, Dale Berryhill and Alan McCormick made a presentation of their trips to UK in search of Bernie's past information, which is covered in his lyrics. It was really interesting to hear. They also presented a new website, OnThisVerySpot.com, where is possible to find routs to Elton and Bernie related places in UK. I'm already planning another trip... hehehe! After the presentation, Caleb Quaye sat on the table and took questions about his book, the early years with Elton, the drugs and how he found in faith in God a solution to his problems. Dale Berryhill was there too. Quite interesting. I still have to read the book, which I got signed when the questions were over.

DAY 3

The last day started with the Elton Marketplace. Tables full of Elton cd's and memorabilia. It was a real danger for any credit card in that room. LOL! There were many LP's and bootlegs, scarf's, books, concert programs... And the end, the Expo was quite disappointing (as you can see in my latest picture, haha!)... The band members where supposed to show up to sign and simply nobody showed up. We were all there waiting to see if someone would appear, but people started leaving as they were having flights in the evening. At around 4 we said goodbye to the people and left to pay a(nother) visit to the Elton shop in Caesar's Palace. The Expo finished a bit bitter, but that didn't make it a bad experience. Actually I don't think nobody in there went just to get something signed. We were there to meet other fans and have a good time. We accomplished that, and I just cannot wait until this meeting repeats, probably in 2008. Thanks to Kevin Bell and his group for organizing this. I already said it to him: next one should be in Europe! :)

MY PICTURES
(from phone-camera, low quality unfortunately. Click to see them bigger)








YOUR PICTURES
(You were in the expo and have pictures? Send them and I'll add them here!)
Jenia (Lady Sam) Anna (KikiBCN) Glen