We found out months before it was to take place…The Buckinghams were invited to play at one of the Presidential Inaugural Balls in Washington DC on January 20, 2005!
Chairman of the Board of the Mercantile Exchange, Mr. Terry Duffy, good friend of The Buckinghams, made sure that happened and gave us all the opportunity of a lifetime! How many of us get a chance to play at such an important political event!?
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To be sure The Buckinghams would get there in time to play at the Ball on Thursday evening, flights out of O’Hare were scheduled out the morning before. After all, it is winter, and it is Chicago, and you never know what the weather will bring. We did indeed get delayed for hours at O’Hare but not because of the weather in Chicago…it was the weather in DC that had us waiting at "Camp O’Hare" hour after hour. We got through the time eating hot dog after hot dog, drinking many cups of Star Bucks, and frequenting the bars and restaurants. Carl was already in DC and calling us with updates on the Washington weather. We even toyed with the idea of renting a van and driving to DC…the airplanes may not travel in winter weather, but we could sure manage to drive in it. After all, The Buckinghams are seasoned travelers and have driven in much larger snowstorms than this one!
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We ended up waiting it out and made it to Washington about 6 hours after our scheduled arrival time. Lines for cabs were blocks long at Reagan International, but somehow, our car service managed to get through the hoards of people and solid traffic and get us to our hotel in record time. They "ran out of rooms" before two of us were nestled in front of the television, but with a few winks, and an "oh please this really can’t be happening…not tonight!" two rooms were found near the penthouse! How nice for us!
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The hotel was bustling with politicians, their family and friends, and security guards stationed at every turn…we definitely felt protected. Tuxedos in every color and size could be seen among the gowns designed by Oscar as well as some purchased at neighborhood specialty shops. Diamonds were abound and wine and campaign glasses "clinked" in the background as toast after toast was given. Carl and Terry found the rest of us tired and weary travelers in the hotel bar singing a few rounds of Karaoke, downing a few cold iced teas (or the like) and doing the electric slide with some DC locals who made us feel welcome in their hometown!
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The night went fast, sleep was short and we found ourselves at sound check the next afternoon watching nearly 100 people arrange the ballroom for one of 20 Balls happening the evening of the 20th. The theme for the Inaugural Balls…Twilight on the Prairie…and at the Ball The Bucks were playing, creativity turned a huge room and stage into exactly that…Twilight on the Prairie…with tumbleweed like plants and old barns in the backdrop.
The Bucks dressed for the occasion and looked ever so handsome in their suits and ties and played to an audience that danced and sang along with every note. One of the highlights was when Terry Duffy, Congressman Tom Latham, Congressman Mike Simpson, Senator Saxby Chambliss, and Congressman John Boehner, joined The Buckinghams on stage for the song "Susan!" Not only did the politicians sing, they played tambourine (on the right beat and all!) and put their heart into every "I love you, yes, I do, I do. I love you, yes, I do, I do."
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After the Ball, Terry surprised us with an invitation to the hottest ticket in town…"The Unofficial Inaugural Ball" held until 3am and had us dancing in the aisle and nibbling on some of the best hot wings in the city.
All too soon it was over, and we headed back to the Windy City. We landed at O’Hare about one hour BEFORE the snowstorm started! We may have made it home before the 12 inches of snow blanketed Chicagoland, but we still had to dig out and drive to The Buckinghams' gig the next morning. We all made it…did you?
r. Terry Duffy along with Congressman Tom Latham (Iowa), Congressman Mike Simpson (Idaho),
Senator Saxby Chambliss (Georgia), and Congressman John Boehner (Ohio), joined The Buckinghams
on stage for a memorable version of "Susan!" which brought the house down! Even the tambourine
playing was on beat! But this isn’t the first time that politicians made their way to the stage
to sing, "I love you, yes I do, I do…" The Bucks are used to it…after all, not too long ago,
Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert made his musical stage debut with tambourine in hand!
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