The promotional juggernaut for Jacaranda has offered fans a nearly unprecedented amount of media coverage - Trevor hasn't done this much press since his days in Yes - and it's been wonderful, but his personal appearance at the Guitar Center location in Sherman Oaks on August 17th (as part of Trevor's promotional partnership with the musical instrument retail chain enacted this year) was certainly a boon for SoCal fans (like myself). Other than movie premieres, Trevor has not made a public appearance of this type since the Varese Sarabande signing at Dark Delicacies back in 2003.
And so in true fangirl fashion I braved the heat (we've been having high temps and high humidity here in Southern California this week as it's monsoon season) and traveled far north (for me) to the Valley to attend this event. And when I say "high" I mean it: it was 104 in the afternoon when I first arrived! It turned out to be a rather intimate event in that there were only about 15-20 people all told. Others I was very happy to meet included Trevor's wife Shelley (who was kind enough to lend us Trevor on the night of their 33rd wedding anniversary), Alex May (who works for Trevor's publicist firm Costa Communications), Elyse Glickman (a journalist and fan who credits her 1989 interview with Trevor in launching a writing career that now spans 20+ years and many subject areas), and Lee Gately, the founder of the YesMuseum website, as well as various members of the Yesfans discussion forum of which I am also a member.
This was my third time chatting with Trevor, the first being back in 2009 (and out of that experience this blog was born, but that's another story) and the second time was just three weeks ago, we had an hour-long phone conversation which was a lot of fun for me and he graciously agreed with that assessment. I believe this event was an even better in-store experience than just a CD signing because the attendees had the chance to listen to Trevor expound on various topics, as the employee who acted as host led the audience through Trevor's musical history with questions and comments. Trevor's Q&A (which lasted about 60-90 minutes) was then followed by a period of time wherein he graciously signed items (one guy brought two beautiful guitars - a Strat and a Les Paul - for Trevor to sign) and posed for photos. Before the event I had a chance to introduce myself and he fondly recalled our interview but interestingly he immediately noticed that I was wearing a replica of the necklace he used to wear in the early 90s, with a Sharkfin plectrum charm and a number 13 charm. I also have a small garnet heart charm on mine which I told him represents the heart tattoo he has on his left breastbone. After he posed for a photo with me Trevor joked, "I should have worn mine and we could have matched!"
Trevor was also kind enough to allow the audience to preview his new video for "Rescue" and so as not to spoil it too much I'll just note that it features the lovely and talented Liz Constantine, whom of course reprises her original vocal from "Rescuing Fischer" on the track.
Mr. Rabin submits to our inquisition.
