Sex in the City Meets Country

As promised this entire blog post is devoted to meeting John Corbett (to be referred to as JC from here on out-not to be confused with Jesus Christ). I tried to brighten up this photo a bit for all of you peepers. O is not exactly the paparazzi, but I'll get to that later.

Being back in Austin around SXSW (South By Southwest for you gringos) time is super exciting. The energy in the air is infectious and stars walk the streets next to regular Austinites. We didn't plan our trip around this time but it was a happy coincidence (serendipitous if you will). One of the first things we always do in Austin, besides eat, is grab a copy of the Chronicle. The Chronicle is the social bible of Austin and around SXSW time, it actually is the size of the bible. There are pages upon pages of goings-on. I settled in on Saturday night to peruse the live music offerings (of which there are thousands) and happened upon the listing for the famous Continental Club. "Dale Watson and The Lonestars with John Corbett Opening" I see. Say what? I didn't think this could possibly be THE JC so I logged in to O's computer to do a little research. Lo and behold, The JC Band actually exists and THE JC is apparently multi-talented. I guess if I was a true JC fan I would already know this, but no matter.

For those of you who know O, he's not really a big music fan so you can only imagine his excitement when I hyperventilated, "John....Corbett...at...Continental Club....Monday...9:00....going....right????" Of course, being the wonderful husband he is, he agreed to go to a club, see a live band and watch me drool all over JC (even after I told him JC was maybe, sorta-kinda on my freebie list; and hey, he has one too so don't judge!). There were eye rolls a plenty but off we went.

At the door the bouncer asked what show we were there to see and I very casually replied, sans squeals, "Oh, the Dale Watson Band." "And, JC?" he replied. Damn, I was a dead give away. He informed us that they would clear the house at 8:30 to sell tix for the show. Since I had made O get us there mega early, we had time for a drink at the bar. Once I saw people clearing out around 8:20 though, I made O chug his bev down so we could jump in line. The people in line ranged from country looking folk to giggly girls and everywhere in between. It was fairly clear who was there for their love of folk music and who was there for JC. I was somewhat incognito in my cowboy boots and jean skirt and could have passed for a big fan of the band or a big fan of JC (go me!).

Once inside, O jumped on the only open seats left in the place in the back row. (The club has high top bar seating as well as a dance floor). I couldn't really blame him for wanting to sit down, it's not his thing after all. I, on the other hand, was pretty much like a cat on a hot tin roof. As soon as JC came on stage I lasted about 5 minutes in the back and had to head up front for a closer view. Surprisingly, it wasn't super crowded and I was able to get right up front and get some cell video and pics. We had forgotten the actual camera (curses!) so I was stuck with my Droid in a dark club with minimal focus or flash. Pretty much all 1,000 photos I took are impossible to see. Here are a couple of the better ones:

See! I really was close! Had to make sure we got a front and back view for everyone (*wink*). JC is super duper tall by the way.

Anyway, once again to make a long story short: the show ended, O was ready to go, and I was on a mission to find JC. We meandered our way out to the back exit and there he was (angels singing) right in front of me. I put my cell phone in O's hand and begged him to take a picture of me with JC and he dutifully agreed. My cell had approximately 30 seconds of battery life left so I boldly walked over, tapped JC on the shoulder and said, "Hey sorry, I know you are probably really tired of this, but can I get a picture?" He said, "Sure! Let's do it!" (Nice guy!). Poor O was trying to get a good pic, but the club was just too damn dark. He even got off two shots for me before my phone died. Lesson learned-don't forget your camera when you are meeting movie stars!

So, thanks to O, SXSW, and the Austin Chronicle for making my dreams come true. According to our friend N, I've probably said the name JC one too many times in recent weeks, but hey, can you blame a girl?