A conversation with Ellen

Rogers Arena

The audience was a hoot

Warm up band

Finally Ellen

The Cactus Club

Home at midnight

Six of us went to Rogers Arena to see Ellen last night.  We hired a limo as the traffic on a Friday night when the BC Lions are playing at BC Place would be heavy.   Both the football game and Ellen started at 7 PM.  Maria did not come down with us as she had tickets for the VIP meet and greet!

The event started with a speech from the Vancouver Board of Trade, then Telus did a corporate presentation on their community work with Mrs. Entwistle giving a speech.  Then a VIP from the TD Bank came on the stage.  We sat through 30 minutes of corporate information.  I heard people around me complaining and I certainly understood their frustration.  They came to hear Ellen.

A band came on to warm up the crowd and they were well received.  Then, at 8 PM, Ellen came on the stage.  There was a gentlemen who interviewed Ellen.  He talked about her coming out, her TV show cancellation and some other events in her life.  When he asked "did you like the present Portia gave you for your 60th birthday?"  She was a little miffed and said "that's a dumb question"! 

55 minutes after she entered the stage, the gig was over!  My ticket was a gift and the price printed on the ticket was $349 plus all the extra's Ticketmaster puts on!  Wow, people in the audience were not happy.  I heard a lot of people complaining on the way out.

Maria sat five seats away so I never had a chance to talk to her as the VIP ended just before the show started.  She had to be at Rogers Arena by 4:45 at the latest.  She could not take anyone or a camera into the VIP suite.  When she got in the VIP area there were about 150 people waiting to meet Ellen.  They had drinks and appies.  They waited until 6:30 when Ellen came in and spent about 5 seconds with everyone, just enough to say hi and snap a picture.

I did enjoy Ellen.  According to Maria she looked tired.  She was pleasant but I wondered if she was happy with the organization.  I wish they would have given her the mike and let her talk to the audience.  She is a talk show host and stand up comedian.  It would have been a much better show. 

We were leaving the arena at 8:50!!!  We asked the limo driver to take us to the Cactus Club at Broadway and Fir.  I called and got a reservation.  We had drinks and appies and a lot of laughs.  The ladies were great. 

Cheryl and I went to Oprah, who spoke from her heart for well over two hours.  You left inspired and feeling great.  We all left tonight feeling cheated and unhappy.  The Cactus Club was wonderful and ended up the night on a high note.

I can't wait to see what the newspapers report on this event.