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If you've ever walked like an Egyptian, had a manic Monday, or burned an eternal flame back in the 80's, then chances are, you've heard of the Bangles.  The all-girl band with lead singer Susanna Hoffs, guitarist Vicki Peterson, and drummer Debbi Peterson are back on tour.  Bassist Michael Steele left the group in 2005.  The Bangles rocked out to a crowded Budweiser Pavilion on opening night at the Kern County fair on Wednesday.

Since I was such a huge fan back in their heyday, I knew I wanted to see them in concert again.  I brought my dear friends Laura and Michelle with me.  A big thank you goes out to my husband Ben and our friend Jason for watching two toddlers and a baby while we were having a girls night out.

As Laura and Michelle listened to the songs, I walked around trying to see how I could finagle a backstage meeting.  By the way, someone actually mistook Laura for Susanna Hoffs after the show! Anyway, one of the security guards let me take a few pictures in the front row, but since there weren’t any empty seats, I had to leave the area.  I then befriended some cops.  They were looking at my custom "Bangle On" t-shirt so I stopped by their lookout spot and reassured them that I wasn’t a crazy stalker, just a fan of their music.  The cops were really nice and said they were fans, too.  I wonder how they felt about that verse in Walk Like An Egyptian which says "If you want to find all the cops they're hanging out in the doughnut shop."  Hmm.

Next, I stumbled onto a guy named Justin Dickey selling Bangles merchandise who also happened to be Susanna Hoffs' nephew by marriage!  His uncle and Hoffs' husband is Jay Roach of "Meet the Parents" and "Austin Powers" fame.  Justin was pretty cool so we talked and hung out for a bit.  I wondered if he might be able to get us backstage.  He told me that I had a 10 percent chance of meeting them.  It turns out that ten was all I needed. 

The trick was to wait for the Bangles' manager to come to the merchandise booth after the show and then ask to meet the band.  Well, when the set ended, Justin became inundated with fans.  The merchandise lines got so long that that James, a friendly fair security guard, who actually remembered me as a TV news reporter years ago, told me to help Justin out.  

So, I marched myself over to the table and just started selling t-shirts for $20, CD’s for $15, and autographed DVD’s for $30.  That may have been one of the zaniest moments in my life.  One girl even wanted to buy the shirt that I was wearing!  As I was hard at “work,” the cops I talked to earlier came by and said, “I thought you said you weren’t a stalker, and now you’re working their booth!”  They got a nice chuckle out of that. 

Finally, when the manager John came over, Susanna’s nephew said, “Nina has been so awesome.  She’s been helping me sell some of the t-shirts and merchandise.”  John said he NEVER lets anyone meet the band after shows since they do “meet-and-greets” before their performances, but he’d make an exception for us.

So, we went backstage and waited for the Bangles.  After chatting with the manager and their male keyboardist for a while, Vicki, Debbi, and Susanna came out to meet us.  They were really nice.  They loved my "Bangle On" t-shirt and were impressed that I knew a lot of their more obscure songs.  Their manager said, “This is Nina.  She goes way back with your music.”  Vicki didn’t believe him so she quizzed me.  She said, “How far back?”  I said, “Back to the bassist Annette.”  Annette was one of the original band members who played with them on their first album.  To that, Vicki said, “Wow, that is far back.”  I thanked them for meeting with us and said that, "We know you're tired and just want to drive back home to L.A. so we'll just take a quick photo with you and be out of your way."  I also told them that I had two kids at home and one of them wasn't feeling well.  Debbi asked me how old they were and said, “Three and one?  Oh, bless their hearts.  Hope your little one feels better.”

Michelle and Laura were nice enough to let me take a picture with the band by myself first.  Since the group is down to only three members, I jokingly said, “I like to think of myself as the fourth Bangle.  You guys need a Chinese Bangle!”  Then, everyone laughed and Susanna's nephew snapped our picture.

That night, I got a chance to tell the Bangles that their music was such an integral part of my life growing up, that my favorite album is 1988's “Everything,” and that Vicki is a brilliant songwriter.  I feel as if I was able to close a teenage chapter in my life; like somehow, I revisited my youth and gave the inner adolescent fan a gift of meeting her favorite band.  Who knew that dreams could come true at the Kern County Fair?  Bangle On, indeed!

Hi, fellow Bakersfield parents! 

Just wondering if anyone out there can recommend a good place to take my three-year-old princess in training for ballet lessons.  She's been wanting to take them for quite some time now.  I've checked some of the community class catalogs, but haven't seen any listings for ballet.  Where do you take your budding dance star?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

:) Superha