New Years Eve is second only to Valentines Day on my list of favorite holidays.  Its a time to be thankful for the great things that happened to you in the past year, move away from the things you want to forget, start fresh, take stock and decide where you are headed.  The fact that it is usually accompanied by a party with good friends, good food, champagne and kisses at midnight doesn't hurt either . . .

As I look back on 1999 my memories are all good ones.  I consider it a privilege to work in the music industry and to be able to share my experiences with the readers at Rock N World.  While doing this, I often wonder if I will ever be able to find the right words to relay to all of you what a wonderful gift these artists have to be able to pick up an instrument or use their voice and know how to make feelings or a special mood come pouring out of it, connecting them with people they have never met.  It never loses its wonder for me and there are times when I just can't wait to get back to the office and tell all of you what I just heard and saw.

Even though the music is our primary focus here at Rock N World, it is also a pleasure to be able to relay to you some of the human side of the music - the musicians.  I enjoy taking you back stage and giving you an idea of what is going on there and what your favorite performers are like.  I don't mind pestering record labels and publicists if it means I can take you into that world with me and show you where the magic is coming from.  Speaking of magic, I wanted to share with you a few of the moments I will never forget from 1999 . . .
 

• I'll never forget standing in the wings of a Rob Zombie concert and watching his demonic, other worldly stage show, then seeing him walk down the back stage ramp and have an assistant hand him his cell phone to talk to a loved one or a stock broker.  I had to smile at the striking contrast between prince of the undead and business man or boyfriend, etc.

I'll never forget covering a Hole concert at an outdoor amphitheater in the pouring rain and seeing Courtney Love providing her own form of social justice by inviting "any fat girls, or girls who think they are fat" to come sit up on stage with her and get out of the rain.  Before the end of the night she tried to get half the audience out of the rain, which had the security guards at the venue going crazy, especially when she jumped on the neck of one of them and swam out into the crowd.

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