Take a Little Dope....

     The palpable energy of hundreds of people gathered in one place at one time for one reason is particularly noticeable when it suddenly vanishes.   The Who had just finished their concert at Madison Square Garden.  Standing in the front row, we stared at a microphone  that only moments before had Pete Townshend standing behind it.
    
     The shock of being that close to the stage, and staring up at Roger Daltrey in person as opposed to either his likeness in the posters or on a movie screen was staggering.  Gotta say ....to our credit....we did not embarrass ourselves given we were only teenage girls standing at the footsteps of our idol.  Instinct told us that we did not want to carry on and behave like crazed teenage girls.  We've all heard the story....rock star spots girl in the audience and sends his right hand person to bring the girl backstage.....anything was possible and we weren't taking chances.

    One thing was clear....in no time at all, the arena would be empty, and we would have no way of  getting the information we needed.  This was one of those moments that the difference in our personalities really worked to our advantage.  She  did it well........fact finding. The mission?  Answers to the following:
  "Where is the party???? Where are they staying????"  Who the hell knows where we can find Roger Daltrey????

    She put the questions out there to anyone in earshot.  People who are in the first few rows are usually friends, family or someone with a significant connection to the band.  For that reason alone, it was worth asking everyone.  She turned to me looking as if the world was gonna end...."They're leaving for Kansas, now what????"   Apparently someone had something about Max's Kansas City....music hotspot....a nightclub/restaurant in New York City. 

     We kept talking to the people who were standing near is and trying to get information.  What happened next changed our lives forever....Some guy came out of nowhere....To this day we have no idea who he was, or whether his words were true, but,  he stopped us dead in our tracks when he said.....
    " If you want to meet Daltrey, he's staying at The Plaza Hotel."

The Who had not done an encore in years...but they did that night.  The song was Naked Eye.... and we missed it.  We were long gone on....     We didn't know who he was, or whether there was any truth to it.  We did know that anyone that close to the stage was likely to be someone connected to the band, and, we weren't taking any chances.  In a heartbeat, we were already out.  We raced outside, hailed a taxi and told the driver, " The Plaza Hotel....59th & 5th Avenue....and hurry!"   Breathless, nervous, and everything else you can imagine if you thought there was a chance you were about to meet Roger Daltrey...

     As the cabbed pulled up to the entrance, we tried to maintain something that resembled composure.  We walked into the entrance of the hotel, trying to appear as though we belonged there.  We decided to make a quick run to the ladies room.
There was a little lady working as the attendant.  We questioned her too. 

     Yes...he WAS staying there...and there was a tall woman with him...Heather!!!!
Not going to say anything about how we felt about that...But the guy at the Garden had been telling the truth...and Roger Daltrey was going to be coming here soon!  We felt as though the stars had aligned for us.   We could not believe he was going to walk through that door at any moment.  What the fuck were we going to say to the man?????

     We left the ladies room and sat down on the couch near the entrance.  We waited. And we waited. And we waited.  It seemed The Plaza Hotel was surprisingly subdued given that Roger Daltrey was staying there. 

And then.....it wasn't.

     Out of nowhere, there was screaming and commotion from around the corner in the lobby.  In what seemed like seconds, girls were running past us yelling, 
     "We met Roger Daltrey! We saw him!  We sawRoger Daltrey!!!!!"
     What the hell just happened????  We couldn't believe our ears.  We had no clue there were two entrances to The Plaza Hotel....and we were sitting at the wrong one!  Devastation doesn't even begin to describe it....We sat on the couch and felt as though all the stars that had aligned had left the sky.  How could this have happened....the despair was....horrible....

     And then....who came walking around the corner....the weird guy from the show. He sat down on the couch with us and said,
     " Do you still want to meet Daltrey?
I know what his room number is....
 
    It was my turn...I don't walk away easily.  She knew what the look on my face meant and said, " There is no way we are going up to his room!  It's 12:00 at night and he's going to get mad at us.  I'm not doing it!!!!"

      We hadn't come that far for this not to happen.  I looked her dead in the eye and said....  "We are going!"  I grabbed her by the arm and we walked around the corner to the elevators.....Room Number....831...