Best little fan story I've seen all year

I want to share with you what might be called a fan's dream come true—although I know some of your DS9 favorites got just as big a kick out of it.

DST3 had a nearby nightclub reserved for the evening parties with Trek performers, which numbered the great Jimmy "Vic Fontaine" Darren on Friday night. By midway through the set, how could he not have spied a young, long-haired brunette in the front row of standees, actually singing all the words to his Vic-like standards and Vegas-style lounge lyrics—almost right back at him? Enterprise Blues Band member Steve Rankin noticed her too, and asked her to dance; Jimmy, transfixed, often sang directly to her as a thank-you for her obvious devotion to the songs.

Then, in the VIP basement guest lounge after the show, Steve and Jimmy and EEB leader Vaughn Armstrong decided they just had to thank this lyric-loving fan—and thus it was they met London-based Brazilian medical student Heather Vedovato, cool but sky-high after they invited her to come down, hang out and talk music for more than an hour—very sweet, guys! I asked her how it felt to have such an amazingly unexpected evening after just turning up for a typical con day: "It was just… beautiful—and from my perspective a little bit breathtaking, of course!" Heather told me. "Nothing could overshadow what happened Saturday night: I got to hang out with the guys! Steve and Vaughn… And James! And the next day, when I was watching his talk, the final talk at DST3, at some point someone asked Jimmy to sing a song, and when he did, he was looking at me. :) Like he remembered me from the night before… How incredible is that?"

Heather's evening tale was truly just about one of the best fan feel-good moments I'd seen in quite a while...and I just wanted to share it with you guys here in Trekland. May everyone have such an evening, even a moment, with one of your fave celebs sometime — one that melts your little fanboy or fangirl heart, too. You'll know because it will be sincere—and, as with Heather, it will be just as much a blast for your celeb friend as for you!

Larry Nemeck Los Angeles, CA

Best wishes, Kate Ferguson Perth Australia

Howdy James,
My husband and I hope you will have a great moment for your birthday. May this day give you happiness and everything you wish to plan in your life. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you and about your concerts, through this internet site. You always have a place in our minds and our hearts as somebody welcoming, kind and talented. We send you friendly thoughts from France.

Love,
Anne and David ELVECQUE
chez.quark@laposte.net
(June 2008)

Anne, James Darren and David
Las Vegas, Suncoast Hotel
10/29/2004

Hi, James Darren !

My husband and I came back from Las Vegas where we spent five days. It’s an amazing town and so sparkling! We have never seen so many casinos before… of course we tried to play with slot machines but we never won! It seems we were not lucky…

We went to your concert at Suncoast, it was fantastic. Bravo! When we were seated at our table in the showroom, I was very impatient to see you coming on stage. And this time, it wasn’t on TV! Personally, I liked all these beautiful songs and there was a lot of humor during the movies. Moreover, I know today you were James Darrock in the Flintstones! We learn interesting things! ;-)

We discovered you as you were Vic Fontaine, fabulous singer with a great voice. So when I saw your concert announced on your internet site, I told it to my husband, and we decided to go to Las Vegas to see and listen to you. It was for us an opportunity to make this trip, because we’ve never gone to the USA until now!

Really, I was very pleased to meet you after the show. We could talk together, you signed an autograph to us, we took photos, I kissed you on the cheeks… and you gave me a rose! I’ll have happy memories of all this.

You know, I like music, too; I played the piano when I was younger and now I sing classical music in a choir and we give concerts in churches in Grenoble and in the surrounding area.

I know it’s pleasant to share music with others.

If one day you come again in France, you should come in Grenoble to admire our mountains!

We thank you for the nice welcome you made us and for your kindness.

Warmest regards.

Anne and David ELVECQUE
From FRANCE
chez.quark@laposte.net

Many thanks to James Darren and his band for such a great show at Casino Rama November 15, 2003.

It's been 22 years since I last saw Jimmy performing live (at the Riviera Hotel in Vegas with the late Buddy Hackett) and while I wish there hadn't been such a time lag, the wait was well worth it. I progressed from the last table at the back of the Riviera to second row centre at Rama and was my camera ready!

Jimmy sang the two songs I just had to hear: Night and Day and Berkeley Square. It was great to hear some material that he hasn't recorded yet too. Can we look forward to a new CD? And the video clips were an extra-added treat. What an engaging performance!

I have to share this: even the head security honcho was impressed. Before the show, I overheard him telling patrons what a great time they were in for based on what he'd seen the previous night. Then he practically gushed that he'd never met such a helluva nice guy as James Darren, and he's met them all! No argument there … please, Jimmy, come back to Toronto soon.

Thanks for such a great evening,
Catharine Mills

On the evenings of Oct 30th & 31st I had the great pleasure of seeing James Darren in concert at Caesar’s in Atlantic City. Both shows were spectacular. Jimmy has a wonderful singing voice and always puts on a great show.

He has the sound and style of Sinatra, which is heaven to me.

Being the diehard fan that I am, I was lucky to get front row center seats. I brought along my best friend Barbara, who I have converted into a James Darren fan. We had a blast!

To my sheer delight at the end of the show he grabbed my hand and kissed me on the lips! I almost fainted!

After the show Jimmy’s lovely wife Evy took some of us backstage to meet Jimmy.

Jimmy as always was so kind and gracious and took his time with each of us, posing for pictures and signing autographs.

We had a nice conversion and he even remembered meeting me at the Meadowlands last spring. He joked about my husband being an Italian in the disposal business and that he didn’t want to end up in a landfill! He thought it was “so cool” that I’m a kickboxing instructor. I naturally offered to do some “one on one” training with him. (Ah, what a dream that would be!) Free of charge of course!

He autographed my Time Tunnel Companion book and posed for some great pictures.

To top off a great night I met Jimmy’s Mom. What a sweetheart! She’s absolutely stunning. I thanked her for bringing such a handsome man into this world. To which she replied that Jimmy has a brother. Of course we all blurted out “Is he married?”

It was an honor to have my picture taken with her. Mrs. Ercolani you’re a doll!

Jimmy, you’re the best!

Thanks for another great evening!

Your fan,
Debbie DiCanto