Ghost of the Robot
January 30 - February 1, 2004
Key Club - Los Angeles, CA

In January I took a little trip out to Los Angeles for the Ghost of the Robot gig at the Key Club. That was the main purpose of the trip, but I also spent quite a bit of time before the event with a very good fandom friend Ty2Lobo. Despite the fact that I had been there almost a week, my report will be kept to just the fandom aspects of the trip, m'kay?

Friday, Jan. 30:About 5:30 pm we arrived at the Magic Castle Hotel, where I stayed the rest of the trip with elizard100 and rockgoddes. For dinner we met up with a group from the fandom at Mel's Diner on Sunset...not far from the Key Club where Ghost played on Saturday night. The food was yummy and the company was a lot of fun. Pluckygirl handed out little gifts for us, including a glow stick for the concert (which I will go into greater detail later). Dinner is where I met Steffi and Naddy who are from Germany. They came all the way over for the show!! I thought I was crazy for going to LA, but these girls are dedicated fans. I'll be hanging out with them when I go to see GotR in Berlin in May.

Once dinner was over, elizard100, ty2lobo and I went back to the hotel where rockgoddes was watching The Mummy. Ty2Lobo left after a bit to go home and then the three of us hung out for a while chatting and catching up, because, well, you know, we hadn't seen each other since I went to Toronto and there was just so much to talk about. ;)

Saturday, Jan. 31: What a fun-filled packed day this turned into!! The day started with rockgoddes, elizard100, ty2Lobo and myself driving all over Los Angeles doing our own version of a BtVS/AtS tour. What a fantabulous time!!

Stop #1: Torrance High School where the first three seasons of BtVS were filmed (the outside shots anyway) and She's All That was also filmed here. I was pretty much like a kid at Christmas when we got there. Yes, much squeelage occurred. We had to walk all the way around to the back and get in through the gym area. As we were walking around to the back, we passed the breezeway that Buffy and the gang walked many times and I wanted to stop to take pictures, but rockgoddes assured me that we would be able to get inside to take better pictures. Sure enough, we were able to get in because there was a basketball game going on so the gates to the school grounds were open. It was unbelievable being rounding the corner and seeing the courtyard where so many scenes were shot. Me and the camera went a little nuts as you can see below.

Stop #2: The Summers' home. The house was down the street from the high school so we were able to walk down to get some pictures. I felt a little strange video taping and taking pictures of someone's actual home, but apparently this had been a rather common occurence at one time. Still, we tried not to make a big deal out of it. On the video you can see me panning across the front yard and zooming in on the tree that was once Spike's favorite hangout.

Stop #3: The Rosewood Angelus Cemetery (I think that was the name...I'm pretty sure about the Angelus part) where most of the outdoor fight scenes for BtVS season 1 were filmed. We walked around this cemetery forever finding so many different places that were used in filming. At one particular spot, everywhere we turned, we found names of the characters. It was pretty creepy actually. I've included a photo below of the Summers grave and nearby there was a Knox, a Glory, a Jenkins, a Harris and a few others that I can't remember now.

Stop #4: The Crawford Street Mansion where Angelus, Dru and Spike lived during the second half of season 2. It's actually a home that Frank Lloyd Wright built. We didn't take a tour because you needed reservations, but getting there was fun and interesting. It's up in the hills, on a narrow winding road.

Stop #5: Our last stop of the day was the Hyperion Hotel...known in real life as the Los Altos. It was once a hotel, but now it's an apartment building. Not only is it just as it's shown on AtS, but when you step into the courtyard, you feel like you're actually on the show. It was really quite a thrill for me. I kept saying how I was more excited about going to these places than I was about meeting the actors because I really was...I'm a nut.

Once we finished with the tour, we headed back to our hotel so that we could get ready for the Ghost of the Robot concert at the Key Club. We got to the club and stood in line for about an hour until they opened the doors and unfortunately, the Santa Ana winds were whipping around and cooling things off. It was a bit chilly with the wind so people were wrapped in blankets and heavy coats. I still think they would die of exposure if they came east right now. Anyway, they finally let us in the club around 8 PM and elizard, Jennette and I headed towards the front of the stage. We got some decent spots, but elizard was sorta trapped behind two of the tallest women I have ever seen. They stood out in the crowd at the front. One of them even looked a bit like bubonicplague.

The first band on stage was Automatic Hotel...they were fairly decent and had a good sound. I highly enjoyed their one song called "Sunnydale" and yes, it was a song dedicated to the world ending...again. LOL. After they finished their set, Powder came on stage. They were a very interesting band complete with costumes and dancers. Nothing like I had ever seen before. By this point my back was screaming at me because I had been on my feet all day and standing there on the hard floor wasn't helping one bit. At one point I was kneeling on the floor praying for death. Seriously.

Finally, at about 10:30 (I think) Ghost of the Robot came on stage!! As I reported previously, I really enjoyed the concert and had a good time. JM looked great, as you'll see in the pics.

JM looked like he was having a really good time up on the stage and he flirted with the first few rows. He also seemed to have a dry throat because he kept drinking lots of water and sucking on a lollipop. No, sorry, I don't have any pictures with the pop in his mouth.

While the bands were up on stage, there was a large, raised video screen behind them so that everyone in the club could see the faces of the performers. At one point, elizard remembered that we had gotten glo-sticks the night before at dinner and during "Goodnight Sweet Girl" so she broke it out. The only thing you could see on the screen was this little glowing stick moving back and forth. Ty2Lobo and I were laughing our butts off while elizard moved it around. Then ty2lobo and I both got out our sticks as well and after the slow song, elizard and I played the light saber battle on the screen. I'm sure that no one really saw what we were doing other than those around us, but we were having a good time doing it. The others who went to dinner with us forgot their sticks so we were the only three with them. Yeah, we sorta drew attention to ourselves because JM saw ty2lobo and I and then smiled down at at us. Silly girls that we were. It was really a good time. The guys played most of the stuff off Mad Brilliant including "German, Jewish," "Vehicles Shock Me," and "911." They also played two new songs that I can't remember. The one new song is on their new single, which I didn't get to buy because all I wanted to do was leave after the show since I was in so much pain. I think the others were able to get the single though.

So there you have it. After the show we went back to the hotel where I dropped to my knees in pain. I didn't get to do anything else that night because it would have been just too much, which was disappointing to say the least.

Sunday, Feb. 1: After stopping at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (where a lot of famous people are buried, plus it backs up to the Paramount stuido lot where they film AtS) and then UCLA so that I could get my t-shirt, we made our way to the Santa Monica Pier. It's really a cool place. It reminded me a lot of Mariner's landing in Jersey...with the roller coaster and ferris wheel. Apparently they filmed a few things here including the ep where Fred and Gunn take Connor for a night out. We ate at the Mexican restaurant at the end of the pier and then walked around afterwards. It's a might bit chilly down by the water in the evening - and I was in shorts. Silly me.

After I just about froze to death and we did some pretty silly pictures for elizard, we hopped into the car and then drove to LAX to drop her off. Unfortunately, her flight got canceled so she was stuck at the airport from 6:30 until 11. She could have done Hollywood Blvd. with me and rockgoddes. Yes, rockgoddes and I did the cheesy walking tour of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I took pictures of certain stars I found interesting, like Gene Roddenberry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joel Grey, Kate Smith and John Ritter. We even ran into Cardboard Spike...still can't believe that bub let him out!

Once rockgoddes and I checked our emails and LJs at a cyber cafe, my back started singing again so we went back to the hotel where I got ready for my flight back home.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I laughed a lot and did an awful lot! I want to thank ty2lobo for putting up with me for the week, driving us all over creation and for hanging out with us. You are a joy and I miss you a lot already. You must come out for Moonlight Rising!! Also, big thanks to elizard100 for suggesting I go out for the concert. I had a blast and even though we didn't get to sleep together, you're still in my heart. ;) To rockgoddes, my bedmate, it was an amazing trip and thank you so much for taking us on the BtVS/AtS tour. Oh and a big thanks for telling me to "roll over." *eg* This trip will be forever etched into my memory because of good times with good friends. *HUGS* to everyone that made this an enjoyable time.