When I lived in Orlando, I went to watch Duran Duran live at The House of Blues in Walt Disney World, and I met the group's drummer, Roger Taylor.
There was a group of about eight of us going, and it was my first time seeing Duran Duran, although I had been to the House of Blues several times. When we arrived, the place was packed and the girls I was with wanted to get on the dance floor as close to the stage as possible. I went with them to see where they would be, but after dancing with them briefly while the warm-up band was on, I decided I would get a beer before Duran Duran came on.
How I met Roger Taylor.
I walked towards the bar only to find that the queue of people all along the length of the bar was four deep. Realising that I would have to wait for ages to get served and remembering that at the end of and behind the bar was a staff staircase to get to the upstairs bar, I made my way to the end of the bar. When I got to the end of the bar, I quickly made sure no one would see me. Then, I ducked under the serving hatch and walked up the stairs to the bar above. When I got there, I quickly ducked under the bar and was surprised to see that apart from myself, there was no one else there, apart from one barmaid serving a man at the bar.
I walked up to the bar and asked the barmaid for a bottle of beer, and began talking to the man there. I told him I couldn't believe we were the only ones drinking upstairs and saying how busy it was at the downstairs bar. He asked me if I lived in Orlando and if I went to see many shows at The House of Blues. I told him that I had lived in Orlando for a few years and had seen a few groups there, but that it was the first time I had seen Duran Duran. I told him that I was there with a group of friends who were all dancing right in front of the stage so they could see the bands better. When I finished my beer, I ordered myself another beer and asked him if he wanted one. He thanked me for the beer and asked me what my name was. I told him my name was Alan, and he told me his name was Roger. We carried on talking for a while, and as we finished our beers, he told me he was going to a bar above the stage and asked if I wanted another beer. I said okay and told him I didn't know there was another bar.
Staying on the floor we were on, we walked around to a side door, to another bar, which must have been directly above the stage. As we approached the door, he opened it and walked through. As I walked through, two large bouncers stopped me, but before I could say anything to them, Roger turned around and said, 'It's okay, Alan is with me,' and I was let in. My first guess was that Roger must work at Disney and that we were going to the staff bar.
As we arrived at the bar, he ordered two more beers. As we stood at the bar talking, I started looking around and saw that Simon le Bon and his wife Yasmin were standing and drinking next to us. I couldn't believe it. I was just about to say something to Roger when Yasmin came across to him, gave him a kiss and a hug, and started talking. Roger quickly introduced me to Yasmin and Simon le Bon, the rest of the band, and the people at the bar telling them that I was from England but now lived in Orlando. After a short while, Simon and Yasmin said goodbye and told Roger they had better go down to the stage. Roger said goodbye to me and said it was nice meeting me, but he had to go. I then thought he must be a roadie or something else connected to the band.
After the band left, I walked back down to the dance floor to the girls I had arrived with. They all wondered where I had been and didn't believe a word I said when I told them I had been drinking with someone who must have something to do with the band and that I had met Simon and Yasmin le Bon at a bar above the stage. Shortly after the warm-up band finished, Duran Duran came on and started with some of their biggest hits.
After they had sung a few songs, Simon welcomed everyone to the show and introduced all the band members to the audience, one at a time. Each member of the band stood up as they were introduced and did a solo piece with whatever instrument they played. When he got round to the drummer in front of me and the girls I was with, he introduced the Drummer of the band, Roger Taylor. Roger did a solo piece on the drums and then stood up to thank everyone for coming. As he stood up, I realized that the Roger I had met and been drinking with was Roger Taylor, the band drummer. As he was thanking the audience for the applause, he saw me standing with my friends in front of him and said, 'Hello Alan, everyone, this is my good friend Alan. Say hello to Alan'. At this point, the girls all around me went wild, and I was swamped by girls going mad who all wanted to dance with me.
I had a fantastic night at the show, enjoyed meeting all of Duran Duran and would like to thank Roger Taylor for a great night at the show and the great nights I had for a while afterwards with girls wanting to buy me drinks in the bar I used in Kissimmee. They all wanted to know about my friend Roger and the band Duran Duran.