My massage assistants are all smiles lately. I have sent them to massage Sting and sometimes to massages Eric Claptons band too. Getting paid to rub someone as handsome as Sting seems almost unfair. They are in disbelief. How can work be so dam fun?
Yesterday, I met up with Felicia (who is 5 years older than me but used to babysit me when I was 5 in Ellington) and my half sister Shannon (we found out in 1994 we have the same biological Father named Salvatore Giacomini- long story) in Vernon, CT and we all piled frantically into Felicia’s monster of a SUV (that means BIG gas guzzling jeep for those of you who aren’t from the US) and sped off to Mohegan Sun where Sting was awaiting my massage. Felicia was coming along with her table to rub down the rest of the band, who sometimes don’t get a massage cause Sting is bogarting the massage therapist.
Shannon came along, well, to look sweet and parade around in a white Dr. Dot T-shirt and have fun. This was her second concert in her life so far, first one being Tom Petty (nice choice!) a few years ago.
Privately, I am usually 30 minutes late. When it comes to business, I am on time. This time, I beat Sting to the venue. Due to heavy rain, his private plane had to circle around for an hour before landing! Must have been frustrating as he only flew from Manhattan to CT.
Anyhow, everyone was still in a great mood even though there was a delay. Sting and the band went directly to the stage to do the sound check. Us gals sat front and center for the sound check and it was mind blowing. For me, the sound check is always better than the show; you get to see the real stuff! William (scroll back a few days if you don’t know who William is by now) comes on stage during a song and puts Stings coffee down on a monitor for him. Kipper, the keyboardist does most of the singing during sound check, I assume it is to let Sting save his voice for the show. Kipper actually sounds like Sting when he sings anyways. He has produced Stings last two albums, the guy is multi talented.
Above: William on stage during sound check chatting with Dominic.That is Kipper at the right.
Dominic nodded and smiled when he saw me sitting there with the girls, then Sting saw me and gave me a friendly grin. My sister and Felicia were so ecstatic while all this was going on. When the music stopped, Dominic yelled, “Dot, I owe you money!” from the stage.
Let us remember this as the FIRST (and probably last) time a rock musician 1) Remembers he owes you money 2) Admits he owes you money 3) PAYS you the money he owes you without being hounded or threatened!
I actually could NOT believe my ears. What a sweet heart! I massaged him last week (as you read) and he was short $40 (hey, most rock stars don’t even carry cash on them at all) so he said he would pay me next time he saw me. A man who keeps his word. Nice one!
He jumped off the stage and came up to me with a $50 bill and just said, “Keep the change Dot.” He is so cool; wearing white leather Birkenstock open-toed sandals everywhere he goes. He is so relaxed and friendly. 
Above: Shannon and Felicia during sound check. At right, Sting during sound check.
The girls were glued to Rhani when they met him (Stings percussionist). They both find him erotic and sexy and cute and all that. I massaged Sting for almost 2 hours and at the same time Felicia was in another room massaging Dominic and Kipper, then the soundman, Jim.
Shannon was lured into the bands dressing room and was sipping $300 bottle champagne with them. She is so innocent and sweet (rated G version of me) and the lads were pleased to meet her.
Her eyes were so wide open and somehow like a deer caught in headlights the whole night, like “WOW! I am backstage at Sting and talking to Sting!” She didn’t talk much, just looked very happy. I introduced her to Sting after his massage and she was blushing her ass off. 
My sister Shannon, blushing with Sir Sting
I had things to do and left her there chatting with him, she was glowing all night and talking about how polite and friendly he is and “the accent” got to her. Most of the management and crew have British accents; it is heaven to hear the banter backstage.
While Felicia was still massaging, Shannon and I sat in our seats (8th row center from the stage) and watched Annie Lennox do her stuff. She ROCKED! Her voice is like an angel and she moves like a cat, she is confident, cool, unique, fucking AMAZING. You know me, attention span like a fruit fly who drank too much coffee, but I sat there with my mouth wide open and watched this woman show how it is supposed to be done.
I could write a whole blog about how impressed I was with her, but I will spare you. She is fit, strong and still gorgeous. He voice blows Mariah Carey off the map. After her one-hour show, I asked Sting to introduce me to her, so he did and he told her “Dot has been massaging me for years Annie, she is the best!” What an intro! Annie’s accent is SO charming (born in Aberdeen, Scotland). Amazing that you can’t hear any of her accent when she sings, but when she speaks, it is a heavy accent (I get Goosebumps listening to her talk).
I told her in every way possible (without sounding obsessed) how much I enjoyed her performance and that I hope to massage her soon. She told her assistant to take my number down, so cross your fingers for me will ya?
Annie and I ^
“There are two kinds of artists left: those who endorse Pepsi and those who simply won’t.”
-Annie Lennox
Sting, Rhani and Annie chat before show ^
Ok, prepare for one of the dumbest things ever said backstage. I was all aglow, near the part of the backstage where the band goes out onto the stage, observing the ritual they do before they walk out there, be it praying, shaking their hands in the air, holding hands or what have you.
Annie and Sting were chatting, all the back up singers were chatting, the band was ready to walk out there, as Sting and Annie do a song together and everyone was excited. Felicia walks up to me and I whispered, “Oh GOD, I just met Annie Lennox, I am so fucking excited, she is so amazing, look at her!” Felicia looks over and says to me “Hey, she looks just like the singer of the Eurythmics!” . The look I gave her was priceless. I said “Do NOT say that again, that IS her!” Fucking HELL! I thank you LORD that Annie, or anyone else, didn’t heard that blurt out of musical ignorance. Thank you LORD.
Sting and my massage assistant Felicia ^
But then again, Felicia shouldn’t know any of her music; she is a HARD CORE Bon Jovi fanatic. End of Story.
We then watched half of Stings show and said good-bye to William and were on our way before the traffic jam. The ladies were more than grateful and were bouncing off the walls on the way back to Vernon. I even got my pal Laurie an autographed Sting photo for her living room wall. It is so rewarding keeping the faith and lending a hand when it can make someone so happy.
Sting rips up the stage ^ My camera can not make such great photos from a distance.
Sting: “If I ever lose my faith in you” :
You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I’d lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
I could be lost inside their lies without a trace
But every time I close my eyes I see your face
I never saw no miracle of science
That didn’t go from a blessing to a curse
I never saw no military solution
That didn’t always end up as something worse but
Let me say this first
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
Dr.