New Year's Eve 1999 At The Crystal Palace New Year's Eve 1999 At The Crystal Palace
The stroke of dawn found me Bakersfield bound
(the place it all started -- that Bakersfield sound)
To the Palace Crystal, home of Buck and the Buckaroos
and, for this evening, Dwight and the Babylonian Cowboys too!
A millennium party for the year Y2K ~~
with the hotel next door, at least Home wouldn't be A Long Way
if we partied far, far into the night
with Buck, the boys, and Dwight
Finally the hour for cocktails drew nigh
and we set out for our evening with a smile and a sigh
'cause one thing we knew Crystal clear
this would be the Last Chance For a Thousand Years.
Oh how the Palace sparkled and shined,
We laughed, we talked, we drank, we dined
Then, as one, to the stage we turned,
for that first glimpse of Dwight we all yearned
What will he wear? What will he sing?
(maybe Queen's Crazy Little Thing).
With Buck and Dwight we need have no fear,
good fun and great music is what we'll hear
and one thing's for certain, when he's waved goodnight
we'll never forget this New Year's with Dwight.
At long last now, my story is told
I'll see you all next year on the road
The first thing Maureen and I do upon arising Friday morning is to pick up
our packets at the Crystal Palace so we can examine them in minute detail over breakfast. We are dismayed to see that they've misspelled "Yoakum" on the back of the pass. I notice a Ryder truck drive by and wonder .... sure enough a walk back by the Palace later confirms that the equipment has arrived. By early afternoon the buses are there, and we see Bridget Fonda in the Crystal Palace gift shop. The day seems to pass quite slowly, but finally it's time to dress for the cocktail party. Also cocktailing are Janice and her husband, Fran and Carrie from Canada, as well as a couple of the BCs (Gary and Scott). Midway through the cocktail hour, Buck made a circuit of the Palace greeting guests. Shortly before the 7:00 hour the band and crew go through the buffet line, which makes our sightings of BCs (and spouses) complete.
As you would expect the Crystal Palace is beautifully decorated and the buffet line is quite sumptuous.
As I was eating dinner a tall, dark and handsome man passes the table and catches my eye -- none other than Vince Vaughn, there with friends for the evening. He is seated a few tables away and a short while later Bridget joins him at the table. Both are very accommodating of the requests for photos, autographs etc. that are made of them. (Vince received a number of invitations to dance during the evening.)
While the Meet & Greet is concluding for those with Millennium tickets, we are entertained by a magician/comic duo. 
Then the Buckaroos take the stage, and are joined shortly by Buck. Apparently Buck was recovering from a bout with the flu, so the performance highlighted various members of the Buckaroos with Buck singing a few of his hits. At the close of his set, Buck thanked everyone for coming, said they'd take a short break to change equipment, and then Dwight would be out. In the interim they raffled away a number of goodie bags from the Crystal Palace Gift Shop, with the final two items being two Gibson Y2K Guitars signed by Buck and Dwight. Tonk Talk member Fran from Canada won the first guitar!! (WOW, what a lucky girl!)
Dwight hit the stage about 11:35 p.m. and Susan and I were right at the stage, just left of center. Dwight was wearing the same outfit he had on the Tour, and the set list appeared to replicate the tour also (with the addition of Auld Lang Syne just after midnight.) Dwight had time to do about 4 songs before the countdown began. With balloons raining down on the stage and the audience, and champagne flowing, everyone was having a grand time celebrating the new year and the new century. This merry making continued throughout the evening as a wayward balloon would be batted onstage and returned to the crowd by one BC or another. Dwight mischievously chastised the audience for failing to 
satisfactorily do their part on Little Ways, but they more than made up for it by enthusiastically singing Ralph Stanley's parts on Travelers Lantern. As always Crazy Little Thing was hot, and the set ended with Fast As You. Dwight's solo encore consisted of Bury Me, I Sang Dixie, and Suspicious Minds before the band joined him once again for Rocky Road Blues and Long White Cadillac. Two hours of Dwight, five rolls of film, and a new century later, the New Year's Eve show had come to an end. As always when seeing Dwight, whether it's the first show of the tour, the tenth, or the last, it is an unforgettable event filled with anticipation, excitement, smiles and memories. Happy New Year!