We're with the band...

A while back, Sissy and Erik made plans to head out to the Tabletop Casino, on an Indian reservation near Clovis, CA, to check out the Gipsy Kings. (Yup, even international superstars have to play in a casino every once in a while--Tony Bennett's made a stop there, and they're expecting the Village People and BB King soon, too). The only problem? The show was completely sold out. Undeterred, they decided to go anyway in the hopes someone would be scalping out front. I tagged along, eager to check out a casino (my first!) and the reservation, if nothing else.

When we got there, we found a long line of people waiting to get in the theatre, but no scalpers. Sissy and I quickly befriended a fellow non-ticket-holder, and the three of us held up little "Need Tickets" signs. At the same time, Erik hit the BlackJack table (where he won $100), and Sissy and I distanced ourselves a bit from the other lady. Smart move, because next thing you know, the ENTIRE band walked out of the theatre, parading right past us. At first, we thought they were just VIPs who got to meet the band. But then Sissy said, "hey, that's the lead singer!" so we perked up. We put on our biggest smiles and managed to catch the eye of one of the singers (Patchai Reyes), who gave us a big, friendly wink. Whoo hoo!

About two minutes later, another guy (with the band) walked up to us and told us he'd give us tickets. He asked us to write our names on a piece of paper--quickly--and then disappeared. Another five minutes passed, and he reemerged, telling us that there would be two tickets for us at the desk. The woman we had befriended then asked if she could get one, too, but the guy just said "This was an order from my boss. He saw then when he walked by and said get them tickets!"

Needless to say, we were BEYOND excited...not only about the tickets but that we totally scored with the band! Hah. We then had to report this all to Erik, who was still ticketless. Good thing they opened up sales again ten minutes before the show, and he was able to buy one after all. So we all went in and had the BEST Time at the show--dancing to their hits like Volare, and Djobi Djoba and closed out with Bamboleo. Then WE closed out the night with a little slot machine action. I bet all of $2 and lost it all. Oh well. My big win was with the free tix!