DAY 2 of the 3-DAY EB Adventure

The excitement was high after seeing the Houston show. Eric was in rare form and we couldn't wait to see what he was going to do at the Baton Rouge show! We woke up that morning and Sonya became my human alarm clock, "Leatha it's 6:30! Leatha, IT'S 7:00!!!" Our flight left Houston at 9:05 am landing in New Orleans 10:05 am and I live about 20 minutes from the airport, so Sonya was getting concerned about the speed at which I was moving. We finally left the house, arrived at the airport and met up with T, Gab & Salina. We all grabbed a bite to eat before boarding our flight and it was finally time to leave. So we take off and the flight attendants do their thing making their way down the aisle, "Peanuts or Pretzels?" So when they get to Salina she asks, "Do you have any breakfast/cereal bars?" The flight attendant gives her a look and answers, "No! Peanuts or Pretzels?" So of course Salina did not pay that any mind. When the other flight attendant came through, she asked her and TA DOW! She, along with Sonya and Troylynn, ended up with breakfast bars. So they made a whole game out of the breakfast bars as earrings, necklaces, etc. and so on. Fast forward, we land, head to baggage claim 'cause I had stuff that was over 3.4 oz. or whatever the size limit is these days. Of course I had to get harassed by the girls for having to check a bag but a sistah had to bring her stuff! .

We catch the shuttle to pick up the rental car and Gabriell became the chauffeur extraordinaire for the duration of trip. So on our way out of the rental car parking lot, she chats it up with the gate attendant to find out the quickest way to get to Baton Rouge. The attendant let us know there was construction I-10 and part of the highway was one lane for a few miles so she told us a way to miss the one lane portion of the highway. On our way we go, playing Eric's music really getting in the mood for the concert that night. I see a sign indicating we should turn right to get on I-10 so we stopped at the Home Depot to ask one of the locals to point us in the right direction. Two men started giving us directions with their beautiful Cajun accents. I thought one of them was going to try to take us home with him! lol We thanked him for his help and head out to I-10... on the road again! About an hour later we pull up in front of our hotel and check in. The young lady at the front desk ask us our reason for visiting the city and I told her we came for the Eric Benet concert. She says, "Someone gave me tickets to the show but I don't think I'm going." WHAT!!! You're not going??? Girl, what's wrong with you??? You better come to the concert and check out Eric. So after we all rode her like a jockey on a thoroughbred at the Kentucky Derby she agreed to come. So we headed up stairs to put all our junk in the room and decided to go to Copelands, a local Cajun restaurant, for a late lunch early dinner. The food was FAB-U-LOUS! We had a really sweet waiter who had just broken up with his girlfriend so we had to give him some advice on life. At the end of the meal, he asked us if we wanted dessert and proceeded to explain the different toppings they had for the cheesecake. The waiter asked if we liked white chocolate and Gabriell replied, "I like my white chocolate about 5'11"..." The poor little guy starting blushing big time and left the table! He finally came back to the table and said, "Let's try this again." We finished up our dessert and headed back to the room to get some rest before the concert. How many of you know that didn't happen! A pre-concert took place while we were waiting for the moment to get ready. So around 5 o'clock we start moving around making preparations for the night. We all wore our True EB Fan T-Shirts so we looked real official. We're all dressed, hop in the car and head to the venue. We missed our exit which made us have to take a slight detour which added about 10 minutes to our trip time. So folks started back seat driving and Gabriell had to shut it down so she could concentrate on what she was doing. Then this voice pipes up and says, "Gabriell are you mad at me?" Gabriell replies, "No girl!" And the response was, "Good, 'cause I'll kick yo ass!", which had us all in stitches. Just what we needed at the moment.

We make it to the venue with plenty of time to spair. We go in and stop by the merchandising table where Dwele road manager was set up to see what's up. The crowd was slowly trickling in but coming at a steady pace. We headed to our seats while Troylynn took care of TEBF business with Kevin. The arena set up was semi-circle shaped with a barricade between the first row and what looked like a platform covering an orchestra pit. Then there was the stage about 30 feet from the orchestra pit. Dwele came out, did his thing... he has a great voice, solid background singers and a solid band. But yall all know why we came... ERIC BENET! So Dwele finished and we had about a 30 minute intermission. Eric's band start's setting up and then it begins... can you feel it? That buzz, the energy and electricity that starts filling the atmosphere... then the notes to the first song "Spiritual Thang" start and the crowd goes wild! Enter Eric Benet stage right (your left) as sexy as he wants to be wearing his usual uniform, white T-shirt with a black & white vest topped by a black blazer, black & white patterned scarf around his neck, blue jeans and white sneaks. He rocks the house and goes right into, "This one is for the laaaadies!" That beautiful tenor voice belts out "Feminity"... umph, umph, umph! One of my all time favorites but you know it didn't stop there! He sang "When You Think of Me”, “Chocolate Legs”, "Spanish Fly” and we all threw in the "Eee-Eee!" part of the song which definitely surprised Eric! Then on to “Love of My Own”, “Don’t Let Go”, “Spend my Life” which Eric & Kimmie sang perfectly! “Pretty Baby”, “I Wanna Be Loved”, “The Hunger” which had us pumping our fists and jamming HARD! Salina sweated her hair out AGAIN! LOL. When he sang “You’re the Only One” the crowd was wild but you know the show-stopper is signature song to end all EB performances, “Georgy Porgy”. The entire theatre was on their feet and he did this little thing where he had the crowd follow him then he stopped and had us marinate for a minute! Then he did it again only he had us marinate a little longer. We had BIG FUN I tell ya, B-I-G FUN!

Of course after the concert he went out to the lobby to do the meet and greet with the fans and he set aside time for the True EBs. We took our individual pictures with him, then group pictures. I was fortunate enough to be the one to interview him. When Troylynn told him I was going to interview him, he put his arm around my waist and gave me a little hug. Can I tell you I just wanted to drop my head into his chest and snuggle their for a looooooooooooooooooooong minute! LAWD HELP ME! OK, that's it I'm done. Ladies please feel free to add ANYTHING I've missed. I had the best time with all of you and can't wait for our next trip!

Peace and love, Leatha