New Hampshire fans ring in new year with Rod Stewart

Aaron Mayes

Monday, Jan. 3, 2000 | 10:30 a.m.

Each of us will remember this New Year's celebration differently. Some will remember their quiet evening at home, while others their several-day hangover. But for Tom and Sandy Fyfe of Bedford, N.H., the turn of the millennium will be remembered simply as the night they came to Las Vegas for a paper cup full of wine.

Tom and Sandy are, in their own words, simple people. They live in a simple, upper-middle-class community of around 15,000 people. Life there is quiet. "A good place to raise a family," Sandy says. They are high school sweethearts with three children. Tom is general manager of a recycled-paper mill, and Sandy is a teacher by trade and a stay-at-home mom by choice.

So forgive them if they seem a bit out of place as they sit in the VooDoo Lounge at the Rio hotel-casino Friday evening. In the top-of-Vegas, hip and beautiful nightlife world of the lounge, the Fyfes take turns sipping on a "What the Witch Doctor Ordered" drink, nervously checking the clock and periodically slipping into conversation about the kids.

"We're so boring," says Sandy after a bombshell of a cocktail waitress drops off their order without even turning Tom's head. "We don't even rent movies anymore because the kids are up so early."

So why Las Vegas? And why Las Vegas on the millennium night? Their answer is, of course, simple: Rod Stewart.

To say the aging rock star is their favorite would be a monumental understatement.

"We don't follow his private life," Tom said. "We're not like groupies or anything like that."

But the evidence mounts toward fanatical fans. They have seen him in concert so many times that they have lost track (somewhere between 10-15 times). They own recordings of all of his songs. Their wedding song, of course, Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately." They even had a Rod Stewart impersonator at their wedding.

So much a part of their lives is Rod Stewart's music that their eldest, Heather, age 5, knows all the songs and has already attended one concert.

"She got mad that she couldn't go (on the trip), but she understood when I told her Las Vegas doesn't allow children," Tom explains.

Earlier this year Tom had learned about the Rio's New Year's concert with Rod Stewart and after checking into prices decided the trip wasn't worth a second mortgage on the house. A while later he was looking for Rod Stewart items for sale on eBay.com when he came across a charity auction item of interest. Three nights at the Rio, Rod Stewart tickets and best of all a meet and greet with their idol himself. The auction was part of a promotion for the Rio and KIIS-FM radio in Los Angeles.

"I told him not to bid on the auction," Sandy quips as the corners of Tom's mouth creep slightly north. Tom sent his winning bid with just four seconds left in the auction.

After not being able to secure a table at the VooDoo Cafe for dinner, the couple head down to the Carnival World Buffet. Both Tom and Sandy notice the place they thought of as "really nice," when they ate breakfast now seems less attractive having tasted the life upstairs.

But they grab one of the hundred-plus plates at one end of a food-bar and shoot off in different directions to load up on their favorites.

It's shortly before 9 p.m. and Tom wants to make sure he calls New Hampshire right at the stroke of midnight there. So he snuggles his fork next to the uneaten portion of his Mexican style dinner and grabs the cell phone.

"Happy New Year," Tom says. "Are the lights still on?"

With dinner out of the way, there is just enough time for some quick slots before they meet up with Rod. Earlier, Tom had mentioned that he wasn't lucky with the slots, losing $100 in just a few minutes.

"I didn't even get anything, NOTHING," he griped.

So hand-in-hand the couple shuffle off to try it again. Sandy to quarter slots, where, as Tom says, she builds up a good pot, but she doesn't know how to cash out. And Tom, back to the dollar slots. This time, however, Sandy holds onto the main part of the roll, dishing out the money slower.

Just as predicted, Sandy hits a few small jackpots, building her quarter stash. Again and again, she raises her arm pressing the max-coin button, spinning the wheels with an intense stare broken only by Tom's repeated pleas for more tokens.

Soon Tom's dollars become the Rio's, and Sandy's quarter stash slowly dwindles to nothing. But, who cares, they're supposed to meet Rod Stewart in 20 minutes.

After a short game of "We have no idea what you are talking about" with Stewart's people, Tom and Sandy finally get to the inner sanctum -- the dressing room. With a classic Rod Stewart tune blaring from the overhead speakers, the Fyfes are greeted by Rod himself.

"Hello," he says to Sandy with an outstretched hand. She takes his hand as he leans in, holding on until she nervously tells him her name. The same for Tom and then he offers a glass of wine. Finding no open bottles in the room, a helper is dispatched to get the couple some wine.

"Sir," Tom says, "would you mind saying Happy New Year to one of your biggest and youngest fans."

Stewart looks interestingly at Tom as he explains that his daughter is a huge fan. Rod agrees and Tom nervously tries to get his daughter on the phone, spending most of the time they have with him trying to wake her. It's now around 1:30 a.m. in New Hampshire and the 5-year-old is more interested in sleep than what's happening in the place that doesn't allow children.

Tom gives up, apologizes to Rod and is handed a paper cup full of wine by a helper. Stewart's public relations lady gives them the ever-so-gentle, "The show is about to start so you should get to your seats" nudge and in a flash it is over.

The couple are happy, though. They find their seats and the concert begins. They stand, Sandy dances, Tom sways, both holding their paper cups full of wine. Midnight comes, they kiss and then stand in awe as confetti and balloons fall over the main part of the stage and crowd.

After the concert Tom and Sandy are leaving. Smiles on their faces. "The night is complete," says Tom. Tucked inside the waistband of Sandy's outfit is her folded-up paper cup.

"I don't know if you realize," she said earlier, "but we didn't even get an autograph. The only proof we have that this even happened is a picture that I hope will come out and this paper cup full of wine."