A Bee Gees fan shares her Miami Beach fan gathering experience so other fans can enjoy too

By Denise Wiggins

My first official Bee Gees fan gathering in Miami was exceptional, memorable and quite special. It was held November 7-14, 2017. I am grateful and blessed for the recent opportunity and owe much thanks to the support of my family, the freedom of my entrepreneurial career as well as my burning desire to manifest and make my attending a reality. Much gratitude goes to my dear friend Georgette Hodson for leading the effort and designing it to be an experience like no other.

Meeting other fan friends is special as you already hold a bond with love and fondness for all things related to the Bee Gees. It builds on that when you share stories of concerts, songs, gatherings, etc. And, you get to learn so much more about each fan and their lives when you come together. Whether reuniting again with my friends Georgette and Debbi Allison or meeting for the first time my new friends Julie Ferrell, Jenny Paqueen, Earleen Gregg and Annick De Bruyne…it is pure happiness. Albeit, we only totaled 7 in attendance, it was truly special.

The 2017 gathering included visits to locations/hang-outs of the Bee Gees brothers which were the 11th Street Diner (Size Isn’t Everything Album photos from here); Criteria Studios (more on this below), Maurice’s Memorial Park (in memory of him) and Jimmy’s East-Side Diner (a frequented restaurant of Mo’s)…all located in and around Miami Beach/Miami. One can find out more about these visits by reading Georgette’s article. And, it should be noted that the destination of Miami itself is fabulous with so many wonderful sightseeing things to do, including South Beach and delicious eats everywhere. Plenty of sleeping rooms to be found from hotels to B&B’s to Hostels.

The two biggest highlights of the gathering centered on a tour of the music recording studio…Criteria Studios and an unplanned surprise Meet & Greet with Mr. Barry Gibb. Both unbelievable and so special in their own right. Let’s start with our visit to the infamous Criteria Studios, located at 1755 NE 14th St. Miami, FL was on Thursday, November 9. When you’re on the outside, you would not immediately know it is a recording studio if just driving by. It is surrounded by a cement wall barrier and slide iron gate. A small booth inside the gate houses the security guard who clears anyone coming in on foot or via vehicle. There are several glass entrance doors to select from to enter into different sections of the building, but the main one has the address 1755 NE on it and that leads to the original lobby, which over time has been renovated. As we arrived early, it allowed us time to observe all the various and prestigious albums hanging on the walls within the small lobby space. The one we all focused on the most was the one presented to the studio in honor of Saturday Night Fever’s blockbuster multi-platinum sales of the album, cassette and CD…15,000,000! It is given prime real estate on the wall and rightly so.

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View of Lobby after entering thru doors

Inside Lobby facing entrance doors

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Denise Wiggins standing next to the Saturday Night Fever Multi-Platinum Display

Right before we started our studio tour, we had a surprise guest join us…Carlos “Los” Guzman, Barry Gibb’s Tour Manager! Carlos has the proud profession of leading anything and everything related to all of Barry’s tours and music appearances. It was then tour time! We had the privilege of being led on the tour by the studio’s VP & General Manager, Trevor Fletcher. He is such a wonderful person who invited us in and treated us so kindly. His wealth of knowledge about the studio, bands and artists is vast not to mention his music business acumen and overall history of the studio (After all, he did grow up in and around the studio for over 30 years and counting). Trevor’s pride in sharing each studio with us (there are several) and each room’s rich award-winning history of those who recorded in them, was nothing shy of pure solid gold. The studios record the old-school way, with rooms designed acoustically to perfection while hosting top-notch engineers. The masses of recording equipment, speakers, microphones, sound machines, etc. were noticeable everywhere. All high-end and with high price tags. It only makes sense if you want to be THE #1 studio of choice.

It was fun to learn about the studio’s first gold song sung by James Brown – “I Feel Good.” But, as Bee Gee’s fans, our focus was the Brother Gibbs and we wanted to see and take in the studio’s where many of their songs were produced. The Bee Gees were present in the studios from mid-to-late 1970’s to early 1980’s. We entered the Engineering/Sound room for the infamous Studio A and was wowed by the producers who have sat there for hours making history with the Bee Gees back in the day to more recently with Barry Gibb for his In the Now Album and his 360 Live-Stream Concert for the same album in 2016. As we listened to Trevor share the history, I couldn’t help but get caught up in transcending back and thinking of the music we love to this day and the late nights the brothers, their band and entire engineering/producer team committed to setting the tunes to be the gold they became. We toured all

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the studios and learned so much to what it takes to produce songs. Let’s just say even the $10K microphone impressed us!

A big thank you to Trevor and Carlos for giving us such a wonderful tour with special insights and stories we will treasure always. A fun bonus was being asked to model the limited edition Criteria Studios (return of the original logo) merchandise to help promote it.

Fans with Criteria Studios VP, Trevor Fletcher/Studio A

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Fans in the Gold Record Room – true testament to Criteria Studios! This is only one of several gold walls!

Carlos Guzman, Barry Gibb Tour Manager; Denise Wiggins; Trevor Fletcher, Criteria Studios VP

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Fans proudly modeling Criteria Studios Limited Edition merchandise

(Georgette Hodson, Julie Ferrell & Denise Wiggins)

T-shirts; tank tops and coffee mugs available at: merch@criteriastudios.com

Special Announcement during the Fan Gathering

On Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 4:00pm EST, it was shared/announced on the Facebook fan page…The Barry Gibb Band (managed by Carlos “Los” Guzman) that Barry Gibb had officially announced his agreement to share the music and history of the Bee Gees into a Broadway Musical production.

Excerpt from: Deadline Hollywood article by Jeremy Gerard:

Add another jukebox show to the Broadway hopper. Wicked co-producer Universal Theatrical Group (UTG), Universal Pictures’ live theatre division, has reached an agreement with Barry Gibb, Yvonne Gibb, and the Estate of Robin Gibb to develop a biotuner based on the life story and music of the Bee Gees. Barry Gibb will serve as an executive producer on the project. The announcement was made by Jimmy Horowitz, President of Universal Pictures.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our family,” said Barry Gibb. “I’m personally very excited to be a part of the creative process along with Yvonne and Dwina. It’s another adventure for us and a chance to throw the spotlight on all my brothers and finally the real story of us will be told. It’s an honor to be working alongside the people I most respect. I can’t wait to get started!”

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I was literally sitting outside on a beach lounge chair on Miami Beach at the Nobu Hotel when I first saw it on Facebook and wanted to shout it out to the universe. What amazing, amazing news. My thoughts were running wild…”this will be EPIC.” This will sell out before opening night. This will be THE Broadway musical of all Broadway musicals. I simply could not contain my excitement and got up to share with a few others on the beach. I was text messaging Georgette, my husband, my best friends, etc. Such exciting news. All I could think was “how lucky were we as Bee Gees fans here at the gathering to be in Miami Beach when this was announced…pretty cool and always memorable.”

Screenshot of FB post from The Barry Gibb Band page

Surprise Barry Gibb Meet & Greet

WOW! What a “take your breath away” moment when you find out you will have an opportunity to go to Barry Gibb’s house to see him in person. The announcement from Georgette came out of nowhere and we were speechless and excited all at once. Our hearts were beating a mile a minute. Georgette explained she had just received word from Barry’s manager, Dick Ashby that we could stop in for a short bit to see Barry. This meant it would be less than 24 hours and we would be with him. Yikes! So much happiness in that moment.

In the interim, I suggested we might wish to celebrate/commemorate the Broadway announcement in some fashion when we met up with Barry and the fan team agreed it would be fun to do so. We collaborated and agreed a cake with the Broadway theme would be a perfect touch. It wouldn’t matter whether Barry ate the cake…it was the thought that we wished to convey. After all, Barry’s already sweet enough…no sugar dessert could top that in our minds! So, we quickly went to work and designed/ordered up a special cookie cake.

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On Saturday, November 11 we arrived at Barry’s residence early and alerted Dick Ashby that our little fan group was all accounted for and ready to enter through the iron gate to meet with Barry. We were all pinching ourselves that this was really happening. Dick greeted us and opened the gates in advance of our scheduled time to let us enter the courtyard, where there is a centrally located gorgeous Koi pond with statues and benches surrounding it. It was a perfect setting to take pictures. We were asked to wait in this area while Dick went inside for a moment and then rejoined us. Dick chatted with us for a bit and we delighted in having this time with him as he is clearly been family for 50+ years and is such an amazing person. He is so giving, gracious and incredibly kind.

Denise in front of the Koi pond at the Gibb residence in their courtyard area

Then, just like that…we were joined by Barry’s son, Ashley and his wife, Therese. What a surprise! Too fun as this was unexpected. I chatted with handsome Ashley and relished in his calm demeanor as well as gorgeous smile. He was so sweet and I told him he was equally important and that I just must have his autograph, to which he replied…”me, you want my autograph?” I said I sure did, that he counted and his autograph was gold to me as well. The only paper I had was a map with the Miami Beach area on it, so I had him sign and date it. Albeit, I couldn’t quite distinguish his autograph, so I said since I might not recall who signed this in my later years, I had him print his name. (We had a good laugh about that) We took some selfies together and shared some laughs about fans, his Dad, the music and how nice of him to pop down to meet up with us too.

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Dick Ashby and Denise

Ashley Gibb and Denise with Ash’s Autograph

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And, then I turn around and here comes the gentle legend himself out his front door and dressed in blue jeans, a light weight long sleeve black t-shirt, black ball hat and a bottle of water. I recall thinking…”either he’s thinking here we go – let’s get this in motion” OR “here we go – let’s enjoy this time with these fans.” I chose to believe it was the latter.

Barry came toward us with a big smile on his face and walked with their black lab, Penny as if it was her duty to lead his highness to us. So cute. Barry was gracious to greet and hug each of us. Although I had met Barry a few times prior, I never take for granted he can recall all his fans, so I said hello and stated my name, which to my surprise, he said…”yes, of course...nice to see you again.” (Talk about cloud 9!!) As we gave each other respective time with Barry, we chatted with either Dick, Ashley or Therese AND then another surprise! Linda and Ali came out to join us…my goodness talk about a delight! I just happened to be standing the closest to where they were walking to, so we naturally met up for a hello and a hug. I was equally delighted when Linda said…”I love your top, it looks so wonderful on you with your outfit.” Well, that’s all this girl needed to hear as I had been questioning the top I chose, but had gone with it per my oldest daughter’s suggestion. Ali backed up her mother in stating she liked it as well. So, I must say…it was absolutely so much fun chatting with Linda as we covered so much. We talked about our pets; about our health and the priority of taking care of ourselves, in particular sun protection as both Linda and I have sun-related health conditions; about our heritage; about my working at Robin’s estate in Southampton, L.I. in the 80’s and so much more. I snapped some selfie pics as well as selfie stick pics with Linda, Ali, Therese and fans while sharing lots of laughter through it all. I felt like I had known Linda forever…so easy to hang and chat.

Silly Selfie Stick Pic: Linda, Therese, Ali, Ashley and Denise

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Selfie Pic: Linda, Denise, Therese and Ali

Group Selfie Stick Pic

I’m a selfie stick pic girl at heart and love to include everyone. I absolutely do not feel anyone should ever be left out, so since I was already snapping away with the selfie stick, I suggested we get EVERYONE together to grab one. What I didn’t anticipate was the amount of laughing we were all going to do and then trying to hold the stick steady enough to get the pic. But, also trying to coordinate a group to all look at the camera and give their best smiles takes a bit of juggling. This pic was after several others previously and I had said…”now, let’s do a silly one.” Albeit a bit blurry, you can gather the fun we had from this pic and I treasure this one dearly as I just love everyone’s happiness and joy

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At that point, I then realized I hadn’t spent time with Barry just yet and I had gifts to give as well as wanting him to sign a special Bee Gees item. I started by getting out my Saturday Night Fever album cover to have him sign. I asked him if he might be familiar with a little album called Saturday Night Fever and he chuckled…”hmmm, I might just know of it.” But, knowing we are celebrating the 40 th anniversary of it this year, I asked Barry to sign it by writing…”40th Anniversary / 11-11-17. He added Love, Barry as well as Love and Peace! We did have some laughs around getting that 11-11-17 written on it as it was all a bit more than his usual autograph of signing his name. I grabbed pics of him signing it and then of him and I together with the autographed album.

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Barry Gibb signing Denise’s Saturday Night Fever Album in honor of the album’s 40 th Anniversary

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Denise’s signed SNF Album

Barry and Denise w/SNF Album

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A funny share…I kept saying to Barry let’s get a selfie and he kept saying he didn’t like selfies as he didn’t want to look at the phone and I kept saying it’s all good and how it’s done these days. We were both laughing so much and I said I had to make sure I grabbed my pop socket just right to get the pic and he wasn’t quite sure what I was referencing (Pop socket is a gadget that you put on the back of your phone so you can hold it more securely). Oh my goodness, the laughs were so many and despite not wanting the selfies, he graciously took the selfies!

Barry receives a Bee Gees Broadway Cookie Cake to commemorate the Broadway Announcement

We then gathered to present Barry with a special cookie cake from us fans to commemorate the announcement of the Bee Gees Broadway Musical a few days earlier! We were just so pleased to be present during this exciting time and he was so wonderful accepting it and getting pics. I completely made up a song on the spot to the tune of Happy Birthday and sang…”Happy Broadway to you; Happy Broadway to you, etc.” Not quite on note, but he had a good laugh with my singing. Note: We were all afraid the cookie was going to slide right off of the cardboard and were all closing in on him in case it did!

Barry holds his special Bee Gees Broadway Cookie Cake commemorating the announcement date (just a few days earlier)

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Personal Gifts to Barry

Next, I had gifts that I had personally picked out specifically for him. The first was a treasured book I have enjoyed my entire life and have read numerous times…about once or twice a decade to be exact. It was Richard Bach’s international best seller…Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The book is poignant and tells the story of a seagull who chooses his own path despite being told he couldn’t and that he should just do what all seagulls do. It is a book of inspiration and growth. Of rising above when others tell you that you can’t. I found similarities in this book to Barry’s life journey and not knowing if he had ever read it, I felt compelled to gift it to him. Barry reminded me of Jonathan Livingston Seagull so much and what they both represent. I was touched that he openly accepted it with love.

Barry holding a gifted copy of the book: Jonathan Livingston Seagull

I also gifted him a special bracelet, which I had lost track of where it was in the bag and we were having a silly few minutes trying to find it in the bag when all along it had been inserted in the pages of the book, which Barry was hanging onto. Of course, once again, we were all laughing as this scene was unfolding. Oh my goodness…talk about an adrenaline rush when in the presence of him and wanting things to go smoothly. The bracelet itself is from the very, very popular My Saint * My Hero brand here in the States and the one I specifically chose for Barry was the Gratitude one. It came with a card that shares the following: “Wear this bracelet as a reminder that your life means something; it means something to God, and it also means something to the world. The world is better because you are in it.”

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You may agree it was a fitting gift and Barry does wear bracelets, so I felt it would be enjoyed by him. Here is a pic of what it looks like. It is a wonderful friend or family gift to give and there are many designs and themes to choose from.

After presenting my gifts we continued to chat about the Broadway agreement and all the work and time that will be necessary to get it exactly how everyone involved wishes for it to be portrayed. Barry shared he had been approached for over 12 years to do a musical, but none of those who were proposing to partner with them, seemed to be the right fit that they were looking for and now everything had come together after many discussions. He said it will be 2019 or possibly 2020 before we see opening night and for all of us to have patience as we wait for it.

We also chatted about his and Ali’s enjoyment of watching the British-American television show Outlander and the richness of the program as well as how it depicts the heritage of the country Scotland. This then led into all things Scotland as I come from a strong Scottish heritage and with Linda also being born there (let’s not forget she also is a former Miss Edinburgh) we took off on a tangent about the old country, the towns, the old Gaelic language and such. I then got so excited in wanting to share my love for a very popular and infamous Scottish Band that I simply could not even think of it on the spot like that but yet I was conveying with such energy that it was imperative I come up with the name so Barry and Linda knew. Well that led to lots of laughs and almost a game-like conversation of trying to recall it. In the end, I had to text my husband to get the name. And, thankfully I was then able to share the band name, which is…RUNRIG. The song I was trying to recall and sing is called Loch Lomond. Take a listen on YouTube, you may enjoy it as well. It’s a huge hit for the band and one that all us Scots hold dear in our hearts.

Well, I could go on about additional conversation held, but the gist of it all is that this fan had her cup overflow with love, joy and happiness. All the Gibbs and Dick looked fabulous and were so warm, loving and giving to us fans. I will always be incredibly grateful for this time together and cherish the laughs, hugs, smiles and selfies! Thank you Barry Gibb and family as well as Dick Ashby. And, a big hug to my dear friend Georgette for being you and for arranging this, when even you didn’t know if it would happen! #blessings #beegees #barrygibb #gibbfamilyfanvisit

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Yet another selfie pic with Barry! He was so wonderful in taking them with me!

Denise and Georgette outside the gates into Barry Gibb’s house

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