Behind the Scenes

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PLEASE APPROACH THE BENCH

Just as Christian was asked as to whom he'd like to work with musically, he and Stephanie were both asked as to who they would like to work with from the acting world. "There are a lot of people I would like to work with acting wise," Stephanie answers, "One would be Lena Olin 'cause Lena is hot! Have any of you seen Romeo is Bleeding? She plays the most cool, female villain I have ever seen and that inspired me part of the way as to how I played Lilah." Christian comments, "Morgan Freeman is pretty much the bomb. I've worked with some of the greats. Morgan Freeman's awesome, I would love to work with him and if I could work with anyone I think maybe, Anthony Hopkins would be my all time choice to work with. He's a God, I think he's just great." Christian was then asked his thoughts on Harry Dean Stanton. "Harry Dean Stanton's cool. Me and Steve used to open for Harry Dean Stanton and I always remember he would get up there and he put his all into his music show, and then he would shake his glass and sing the blues... [does impression]. He was awesome man, he was brilliant and I'd love to work with Harry Dean Stanton, absolutely!"

Steve Carlson and Chris play it up for the fans singing, The Chase

Two of the most memorable episodes featuring Lindsey McDonald are the S1 episode Blind Date and the S2 episode Dead End. Christian's preference between the two is a tough call, "Well, they were both really good episodes for me," he admits, "Blind Date was great because the character I was playing had unfortunately become an asshole. The thing is I got to go over to the good side for a little bit and be part of Angel's team. I got to work with David more, it was kind of cool that way, but I think Dead End would probably be my favourite because I got my hand back!" he laughs. "It was the pain of my life; I couldn't sign anything, I couldn't eat, couldn't do anything for like fourteen hours!" Stephanie admits, "He was miserable." Christian continues, "She was there through the whole thing. She'd be like, 'Do you wanna run some lines?' and I'd be [snaps] 'No!' I couldn't even wipe my ass!" Stephanie offered to do that simple job for him, once again demonstrating the bonds of friendship that they obviously have for one another. Stephanie used that friendship to the advantage of every single Senior Partners ticket holder as she confirmed that she was the one who has persuaded Christian to be part of the event.

"Or what about, 'Wolfram & Hart - The Series'! The only series where you die and become a season regular." ~ Christian Kane

"After the last convention I was at, I said to Sean, 'Why didn't you have Christian here?" she explains, "And he said, 'Well, because I couldn't get hold of him.' And I'm like, 'I know Chris.' So I say, 'Chris, do you wanna go and hang out in Europe?'" Christian picks up the story, "She called me on the phone and said do you wanna go. I said, 'Are you gonna go?' she said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'I'm in.'" Stephanie continues, "We'd not seen each other in a while as he's been working and I've been working so it was a great excuse to meet up and hang out and catch up. And the two other times I've done these things, you guys are great, you're so much fun to be with and no one is weird or we're not afraid of being stalked," she jokes, "So you can all thank me for this one." The crowd show their appreciation in no uncertain terms.

With the return of Lindsey to the Angel cast, fans are still denied the reunion they constantly crave as a headless Lilah can't exactly be around to renew old rivalries. The popularity of Lilah Morgan has never waned however, and fans will constantly plea for her return, just as they did Lindsey before her. "You guys are all fans of Joss so he's not an idiot, he listens to what people want," Christian says with assurance, "The reason why the show is successful and the reason why Buffy was successful is because he's not just out there doing his own thing. He listens to you guys. I guarantee that the stuff that you write in and the stuff that you say is definitely heard by him. We had a conversation and he was like, 'You should come back, I've been reading all this shit and I've been an idiot for two years now because you're not on the show.' Make no mistake, I think it's because of you guys I'm back on the show!" Christian then starts up his one man mission to get Stephanie back on the show, "You guys have got to get her back on the show, Joss listens to you guys and you've got to get her back, she's just so much fun." Stephanie muses, "Maybe I could come back as his wife." Christian suggests, "Or what about, Wolfram & Hart - The Series! The only series where you die and become a season regular." Stephanie continues, "Yeah then we can all come back; me, Thomas Burr, Sam Anderson..."

At the mention of Sam Anderson, Christian immediately voices his opinion on working with such a man, "Sam Anderson has to be probably one of the most influential actors that I have ever worked with," he enthuses, "He was unbelievable and you just could feed off of him and learn so much from someone with that much experience. Sam Anderson is probably one of my all time favourite people to work with." Stephanie immediately agrees. Christian's last project prior to his return to Angel was a remake of a French film called, Taxi. A lady visiting from Paris asked Christian if he had seen the original? "The whole thing's changed, it's a totally different film. The taxi driver is no longer a guy, its played by Queen Latifah and the bank robbers are no longer men, it's just a bunch of Brazilian super models," he explains, "It's unbelievable but one of my all time idols is Luc Besson, and my all time favourite move is The Professional. Luc Besson is unbelievable in that movie and he wrote and directed Taxi. My goal in this film is (you know I didn't give a shit about the money), I just wanted Luc to take a look at me and hopefully if I did a couple of things right then I'll get to work with him again on some higher level." Stephanie joins in, "I've worked with Luc Besson, when I was 17." Christian looks at her incredulously, "You actually did a film with him, what film was it?" She replies, "It was called The Big Blue." Christian stares at Stephanie with a mixture of disbelief, excitement and pure wonder on his face, "I didn't know that!" It's just a shame that Stephanie couldn't have kept up the pretence a little longer as the look on Christian's face when he realises she's pulling his leg were absolutely priceless!

COURT IS NOW IN RECESS

The prospect of hearing KANE (at least two members) playing a live acoustic set was perhaps the most eagerly anticipated event of the whole weekend. As Saturday evening approached, 350+ people assembled in the main hall waiting patiently for Christian and Steve to take to the stage in what was to be a rare UK appearance. Playing The White Room at Senior Partners may be worlds away from playing The Viper Room in Los Angeles, but as Christian and Steve walked on stage, the reception they received was probably as warm and rapturous as any Californian crowd. It seemed only fitting that the boys should open the set with the first song that Christian and Steve ever wrote together since forming in 1998. The song entitled, The Chase is a sweet number and is centred around a man's pursuit of the woman he may lose because he can't tell her how he feels. Christian took the lead vocal, whilst Steve accompanied him beautifully with both back-up vocals and guitar. As they sang, a lone figure moved throughout the audience, capturing the events on a hand held camcorder, for all posterity. It seems Stephanie Romanov is just as big a fan as the rest of us!

Steve's voice offers Pinata Novia the right amount of depth & feeling

As they reached the end of their first number, Steve promptly noticed that they had forgotten to bring out on stage their set list. "Oh well," Christian said, "I guess we're just going to have to wing it!" Before each song they played, either Christian or Steve tried to give a little bit of narrative with regards to how the song came about or what the meaning was behind it. The second number on the set was a song called, Middle American Saturday Night. "This song," Christian explained, "is about a typical night out in the kinds of towns I grew up in back home. It's where the kids have nothing to do but drink or fight, much like London!" he joked. This song did not feature on KANE's first album but hopefully will be part of the new plans that the band has in store for its second. Crazy In Love is on the first album and is a real feel-good song that even without the lilt of a finely tuned fiddle, has you tapping your foot and itching to dance. It also contains a couple of the sweetest lines of lyrics that Christian and Steve have ever composed together ~ "The way she glistens in the moonlight, the way she outshines a star brighter than any sun." ~ It is a song dedicated to how wonderful it feels when you first fall in love and long may it last.

The next song in the set had more of a poignant message to get across, "American High is our dedication to what happened on September 11th," Christian tells us, "But it is told through the eyes of a child." Christian's vocals were incredible all night, but this song particularly seemed to invoke the emotion that it deserved. Through songs like American High, it serves to keep the memory of all those who tragically lost their lives forever in our hearts. During a brief respite of the set, Christian sought out the person in the audience who had requested the song Rattlesnake Smile earlier in the day and apologised that it was missing from the set as it was too complicated to play acoustically. Another song missing from the play list was L.A., the tune written by David Greenwalt and sung so incredibly by Christian in the episode Dead End. Christian regrettably admitted that he no longer remembered the words to that song just as Steve wouldn't remember how to play it.

Next to grace the crowd was another track called One More Shot and this immediately preceded something very special indeed. As the closing bars of One More Shot faded, Steve then introduced a beautifully composed song entitled Pinata Novia. Steve took the lead for this ballad and his vocal was incredible, giving the song the right amount of depth and feeling. At the song's end, Christian made a confession to us, "Do you know that's the first time Steve has ever taken lead vocal, live on stage before?" It certainly was a privilege to witness and be a part of. It would all change during the next song too as not only did Christian resume his vocal responsibilities but he also took the guitar from Steve to sing solo on a song dedicated to his mother and aptly named, Momma. As the show was drawing to a close, the boys took the opportunity to play another new track, More Than I Deserve. "This song is about unrequited love," Christian explains, "It's about the kind of relationship where you're in love with the other person but they don't feel the same way about you so they shit all over you and you let them."

Watch out Chris, Stephanie may cut off your other hand!

Once again Christian took the lead vocal and passed the mantle of the acoustics back to Steve. Their final song was perhaps their best and was the second song Christian and Steve ever wrote; telling the tale of a young man who violently removes the young girl he loves away from the grasp of her protective father, Spirit Boy is an absolutely amazing song and the perfect end to such a unique occasion.

Christian's vocals were strong and unyielding and left a shiver down your spine that seemed to last forever. At the end of the evening and as Christian and Steve took all the adulation and plaudits they deserved, one thing is clear; they enjoy what they do! The desire, passion and belief in their own talents comes through with every note that Steve plays on his guitar and from every melody that passes through Christian's quite unique voice. Their stage presence holds you and takes you on a roller coaster journey through their own brand of 'outlaw country' and it's a ride that you don't really want to get off! Of course, ending their acoustic set did not signify the end of the evening's partying antics. In fact it was far from it. The second themed party of the weekend was dedicated solely to our guests visiting from Texas and carried the title of Country & Western night. This prompted line dancing aplenty! Long gowns, tall white hats and bright glowing weapons are not things that you would ordinarily associate with a Wild West theme but what it told you was that the well-travelled Jedi chefs were in town. At one point, it looked like they had two new members as Christian and Stephanie took to the rain-trodden car park for an old fashioned light sabres at 12-paces showdown. They fought hard and brave, but eventually Christian had to surrender as Stephanie was giving him a good whooping.

SENTENCED TO LIFE IN A HELL DIMENSION

Over the weekend, the many stewards who volunteer their time and do an excellent job helping the event run smoothly, were on hand selling raffle tickets for Sunday night's draw. The theme for the final night's get together was California Beach Party which prompted bikinis galore, and that was just the men! One of the lasting images from the entire weekend will be the look Thomas Burr had on his face when he had to present a prize to a young man wearing hot pants and a feather boa! All the prizes for the raffle were drawn prior to the closing ceremony taking place and as we waited for the guests to arrive one last time, we were treated to a show of dancing bunnies. Just like the weekend that had preceded it, the closing ceremony was an extremely casual affair. Each guest was introduced one by one with the obvious exception. Christian had left and said his goodbyes the night before but he had left Steve behind for one more day.

Thomas seemed much more relaxed than he did opening day and as he was asked to give a few closing words. He recited a poem he had written about his experience at Senior Partners. It told of the people he had met and how he had felt but more importantly he forgave everyone for making him sing! Steve thanked everyone for being supportive of KANE and passed on the best wishes of Christian also. Senior Partners was officially rounded off with the a rousing rendition of the classic Mandy. All guests with microphones in hand ventured out into the crowd to make sure that yet another successful Starfury event was brought to an end in style. Senior Partners was an incredible event because of the friendly atmosphere that everybody helped to create. With 2003 at an end, there can only be one thing to say, "Bring on Fusion and Hyperion!"

Written by CoA Staff Writer, Sue Grimshaw

CityofAngel.com would like to extend our Gracious Thanks to Sean Harry of Starfury Conventions and the entire Senior Partners Crew for their exceptional hospitality and the opportunities extended to CoA Staff Members whilst at the event.

Special Thanks go out to Christian Kane, Steve Carlson, and Thomas Burr for sharing of their personal schedules with CoA.

Our Great Appreciation to Neil Davidson who granted use of his photographs in this article.

If you would like to download some of KANE's music, please visit their Official website at: www.KANEmusic.net

If you have any comments for CityofAngel.com regarding this 'Happenings' feature, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at: comments@CityofAngel.com