"A Valentine's Tale"
Valentine's Day with the Peter Mayer Group
Columbus, Ohio
by Steven Orkin
(Click photos to enlarge in a new window)

Back in early February, I had the pleasure of talking to Peter about plans for his new e-newsletter - the electronic incarnation of The Morning Star. Peter's enthusiasm for this project - creating a new way to deliver thoughtful stories and two-way interaction with his tight-knit fan-base - was electric.

At the end of the conversation, he mentioned he would be in Columbus, Ohio, on Valentine's Day. Columbus is only two and a half hours from where I live in Cleveland - so I began thinking about the possibility of taking my wife, Stefanie, to the show.

But first, a little background...

When I began working with musicians for a living, Stefanie was ...concerned. Supportive, yes. But a little concerned that it wasn't a typical day job! But she came around, and Peter was actually part of this (not even he knows this!)

Jay Oliver (former Buffett keyboardist/songwriter) referred me to Peter in 2004. He had spoken about Peter - what a fantastic musician and human being he was - and suggested we meet at some point. When Jimmy Buffett came to Cleveland that Summer, Jay set up the opportunity for us to meet before the show.

Peter left two tickets - not an easy task with such a full house that night (a 30-year record for Blossom Music Center at 23,000 fans!), so Stefanie came with me. We arrived at the show, got our backstage passes, and went back to wait for Peter among a group of people at the pre-show party (complete with Margaritas and beach balls for everyone!)

Of course, I thought we would just meet, talk a little shop, and off he would go. But 10 seconds after we met, Peter suggested a little backstage tour.

With just a half-hour before the band was to go on, Peter walked us on to the stage. He said "you play in a band, Steve, so you can appreciate a lot of the the technical stuff." Of course, I was just mesmerized by the scene out in the audience; thousands of Buffett fans volleying huge beach balls and having a blast! Amazing.

At that moment, standing on the stage where an iconic band was about to play - all the excitement in the air - with Peter as our tour guide - Stefanie turned to me and said "I think you're starting to get somewhere with this music thing."

Back to Columbus...

Since then, Stefanie has become a big fan of the Peter Mayer Group. After falling for "Musicbox" and memorizing every moment on it, she has moved through the rest of Peter's catalog the same way.

Now, like any guy, I usually need to be hit over the head with an idea for Valentine's Day. But taking Stefanie to see the Peter Mayer Group in Columbus was a slam dunk.

I told her that we would be going out for dinner, but that it was "a bit of drive," so she needed to leave some time. Intrigued, she cancelled one of her late day patients (she is a pediatric speech-language pathologist) so that there would be plenty of time.

My plan from the beginning was to drive south toward Columbus and just keep driving - creating an obviously weird situation. It worked like a charm.

Around a half-hour into the drive, Stefanie started asking where we were going. But her style is what became interesting. She didn't play the game of trying to get hints as to where we were headed. Instead, she began deductively reasoning it out on her own.

Around an hour into the drive, she became very determined, and then it happened. Stefanie professed that we "are going to Columbus to hear one of your clients play." She had me...or did she?

Two important factors came into play here that created a grand twist.

1. Stefanie convinced herself that we were going to see another client of mine who happens to be from Columbus.
2. Her excitement over this, plus the thrill of what she was convinced was complete victory, set in stone the promise of an even bigger surprise at the end.

Of course, the key to feeding these two factors and ultimately building up the payoff at the end was making it obvious that she had, in fact, figured it out. So, I kept denying she was right...but passively, to make her even more sure she had me.

Ohhhh...she even got a little smug! And I loved it.

When we arrived in Columbus and pulled up to Confluence Park, the restaurant where the band was performing, I knew that every second I could keep this going would be gravy. But how long could it go on?

It didn't help that there was a huge poster of the band in the doorway, but Stefanie didn't even see it! Caught up in conversation, she walked right by. Then...I started thinking...could we make it all the way through dinner and actually sit down for the show before she found out?!?

Well - that's the stuff classic stories are made of, but unfortunately, there was another promo piece in plain site when we went to request our table. But...the look on her face when she saw it - and it said Peter was playing...was truly priceless.

I had seen Peter perform once before and knew she would dig it. But when dinner was over and the band started playing...wow...it was amazing.

Standing on stage with Peter in front of 23,000 screaming Buffett fans certainly helped a career in music look more promising. But the surprise of seeing the Peter Mayer Group on February 14, 2006 did wonders for making my ability to deliver on Valentines day iron-clad!

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