Hey, everyone! Mac Cat here!
Got back from the northeast, after seeing PG in Holmdel and Camden. Traveling the way I did with two three-day weekends back to back and trying to cover loads of distance in a short period of time is not the way I'd recommend traveling. But it was so worth it to see Peter Gabriel in concert a few more times, and to be with good friends who are also dedicated PG fans.
As you can read here, I'm not good at writing concert reports. All I really want to say is: "You had to have been there!" Of course, if you weren't there, you don't want to hear that:) And while I love you dear readers, I'm not getting paid nearly enough to take notes and over-analyze the performance, thus ruining my own concert experience. I do enjoy writing more along the lines of my own personal experiences, but I know not everyone wants to read about that.
So, I'm doing a song-by-song list of the West Palm Beach show, then I'm going to point out a few quick differences in the Holmdel and Camden shows, and finally, a run down of all the fun anedotal stories of meeting up with friends and other tales for those who might be interested. If you're not wanting to read them, the stop after you reach the Random Concert Observances
Sevara was as great as everyone said she was! My only request is that if she wants more people to participate, she should use easier chants and clapping rhythms. Even I had trouble keeping up with her. I really like her style and she definitely has stage presence.
Red Rain
Gabriel got great applause before launching into Red Rain, but something seemed off right away. After the first line, Gabriel motioned for the band to stop, and everything came to a big screeching halt. But Gabriel handled the situation with great charisma and humor. He did the standard "That is known as a f**k-up." line, and then went on to describe what the problem was (his monitor was all wonky.) He chatted the entire time the problem was being fixed, and when repairs were made, Gabriel said, "And just between us, nothing happened. This is the start of the show." Gabriel got massive applause and he started again. It was a real humanizing moment. Leave it to Gabriel to screw up in a way so that the audience feels like they're getting a special treat:)
More Than This
This was performed the same way during the winter tour no big visuals, but a strong performance of one of my favorite songs on Up.
Secret World
This was the first song that really got really lively, especially when Gabriel skipped around to front center stage with his tambourine, and the he and the whole band did spun around in a helicopter impersonation amongst strobe lights. Then Gabriel skipped back to his keyboard and the whole band did a new manuvoer...when playing a certain power chord, they would all lean back as far as they could while continuing to play. It's especially amusing to watch Gabriel and Rachel Z lean back and play keys at the same time. It looked like they were possesed! :)
Games Without Frontiers
Whilst avoidng spoilers, I did hear someone say that Gabriel entered the stage for "Games" in an interesting way. I honestly thought that he'd do what he did in the past...march on stage. Obviously I was mistaken and was surprised to see PG and Melanie slowly scoot out on Segway scooters. As the Sun Sentinel put it this, "...may be rock's first example of interpretive scooter dancing." I was floored! Brilliant idea, although it does kinda clash with the song. Here's this song that makes serious statement and everyone's giggling at the scooters. I liked the little touches in their dance, such as when Gabriel did an "about face" on the Seg, he'd salute. Then on other parts, they'd do a pelvis-thrust causing the scooters to speed up and then suddenly stop on a dime. And here I thought those Segways were useless.
Mercy Street
Opened very similar to the winter tour, with everyone singing acapella. Then everyone but Gabriel and Ged walked out to sit on the edge of the stage, only this time even Rachel Z moved to the front by the help of a small wireless keyboard. Gabriel didn't do all the spine-tingling Gabrielese he did for the PoV version of this song, but he seemed to be in to it more than the winter tour.
Darkness
I think I've finally built up an immunity to this song as The Power Chord From Hell no longer knocks me back ten feet. It's still a great live song, and I could tell the audience, many of whom aren't aware that Gabriel can sound this intense, was getting really into it.
Digging In The Dirt
I was very pleased to find the head cam making a reappearance. I loved that thing from the SWT. I noticed that this time, the camera image didn't have as much of a cool "fish-eye" effect as on the previous tour, but now we were able to see for ourselves that Gabriel's beard is in fact free from lice and other small animals. The light he carried around and shined on the audience and himself was to good effect as well.
Don't Give Up
Very simple, beautiful song with Melanie on vocals. I guess this is a good a place to rant as any: Some people on the newsgroup have been complaining that Melanie is a lousy singer, that she's been off-key, etc. I say this is pure BS. Her voice is pretty, she's been perfectly on key in the shows I've seen and she has plenty of control. Her only weakness is "stage presence" which has greatly improved since the last tour. Still, judging from some of the usenet posts, you'd think Melanie was the worst singer in the world. What I want to know is this...how come when Gabriel screws up lyrics, forgets lyrics, and trips over his own stage props, it's considered "human", funny and cute, but when Melanie doesn't magically transfer herself into Paula Cole or Kate Bush, she's considered incompetant? Anyway, I thought it was very powerful, and it was very touching when Gabriel harmonized with Melanie on the last "there's a place where we belong." I wish Gabriel recorded it that way on So. I also loved the way they reached out, held hands, then Gabriel stood up and danced a little bit, hands held and raised, before going into the audience participation chant of "Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up..."
The Tower That Ate People
Ah, I was especially pleased to hear this one in concert! Furthermore, this live rendition was similiar to the Red Planet Soundtrack version, which is far superior to the one found on Ovo. The visuals consisted of the appearace of windows flying past, making it look like a fast upward pan of an immense building. The vocals are not nearly as distorted as they are on the album, but it still sounds very insense.
Growing Up
The return of the Zorb! It was fun seeing the reaction of people who obviously hadn't seen the Zorb. It's even more fun hearing the reaction of people when Gabriel starts bouncing in it. Peter didn't have as much room to manuever as before, but it was still fun to watch, plus Gabriel was able to roll close enough to the stage so people in the front row could lay their hands on the Zorb. Also of note: When Gabriel sang the line, "Breathing stops I don't know when", Gabriel ran over David Rhodes. Well, more like, he rolls the Zorb right up to Dave, lightly taps him, and Dave throws himself down to the floor.
Shock The Monkey
Yeah! Another one I hadn't heard live in a long while. Gabriel did his monkey dance, while film of a close-up of a eye was shown on the video screens (which I believe was taken from the abandoned film for the "My Head Sounds Like That" that he did only once in Chicago for the Winter Tour.)
Solsbury Hill
I wondered what he was going to do here without the bike...the song started out normal, but then Gabriel started skipping around on stage. As he skipped by a band member, they'd join him and skip around in a line. Then the cool part...Gabriel and the whole band unplugged but on wireless instruments formed a conga line, and skipped out into the audience, along the isles, hand-slapping audience members, and then returning to the stage. Niiiiice!:)
Sledgehammer
Of course, the light jacket made an appearance here. Pretty much the same choreography as before. Still fun as ever.
Signal To Noise
The performance was similar to the one of the Winter Tour, including the sampled vocals of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and string orchestra, with everyone leaving the stage one by one until only Ged was left.
Encore:
Gabriel came back out with Savara, and introduced the band. Gabriel pretty much gave the standard intro (Tony Levin being the emperor of the bottom end, Melanie as his daughter...) but Rachel Z got a nice intro as a dancer (she stood in front of her keyboard and would do a pirouette) and finally, Gabriel spend a lot of time teasing poor Ged. I think Gabriel tried harder to embarass Ged than any other of Gabriel's past drummers, including Jerry Marotta, a guy who richly deserved such tauntings:)
In Your Eyes
Sevara seemed to sound much more comfortable on "In Your Eyes" than Zawose did on the winter tour, so that was a step up. It's clear that the band enjoys performing this song.
After that song, Gabriel and the band came out and did something that was sorely missed from the winter tour: they came out to do a graceful group bow, two towards the audience, and once facing away from the audience, to which Gabriel remarked "now our best side." (I've noticed that Gabriel did the same "backside bow" for the Secret World Tour, plus there's the liner notes for Plays Live that shows the backside bow as well. While it's an amusing manuever, I've always wondered why Gabriel and the band always does that. Do they all think they've got really great buns and need to show them off? If so, I have some news for them...:)
Biko
Earlier in the show, Gabriel pointed out that it was a full moon that night, and that made it a special night for the tour. This was proven when he announced that he was going to perform "Biko" for the very first time on tour. What can I say? It was awesome! Very powerful performance, I totally wasn't expecting it, the auidence was totally taken away by it, and of course, the band left the stage one by one, until only the audience was left singing.
At Holmdel, the setlist was the same, except for instead of "Biko" we got "Come Talk to Me" and "Father, Son". For "Come Talk to Me" I was delighted to find that the red TARDIS had returned, complete with stage-length extending phone cord. Gabriel pulled the phone cord out to front stage to meet with Melanie, and I liked the way he held the phone out to Melanie when she sang.
Then of course was the simple yet powerful "Father, Son". In Holmdel, he looked like Peter was about to break down and cry any moment (he didn't actually break down, but still you could tell he wanted to.)
Christine managed to sneak a camera, and took a few pictures. Most of them didn't come out great, but these I felt were worth posting:
In Camden, the set list was about the same except for a special treat: We got to hear "No Way Out". Very powerful song, but a little unsure in performance, which may be why they haven't performed it again since.
At the end of "Games Without Frontiers" Gabriel stood on the Segway center stage, took both hands off the handles and clapped. You gotta have some serious faith in your Segway to do that:)
Overall, if you're able to make it to a summer tour show, just go, no matter what the travel time. Trust me, it's worth it!
Random Concert Observances:
At West Palm Beach,
I have never seen so many beer/wine/alcohol stands at a single
event. For a moment, I thought maybe drinks were not only allowed,
but manditory. And the crowd appeared to be laid back and
funky. Perhaps too laid back and funky, which made me worried
that the crowd would turn obnoxious. Fortunately, my fellow Floridians
proved me wrong, and was the best behaved crowds of the three
shows I saw.
This one guy next
to me kept telling everyone (quietly, thankfully) to sit down
and he kept chanting (quietly, thankfully), "Come on! Play
'Big Time'! 'Big Time!' Please!" When Gabriel announced that
he was performing a song he hadn't played before (which turned
out to be "Biko") the guy next to me got all excited
saying, "C'mon! Biiiiiiiiiig Tiiiiiiiiiiime!" Yeah.
Good luck pal.
At all the shows
I went to, Gabriel got a standing ovation every time he walked
out to introduce Sevara. I think it's cool that he does this...I
can't think of any other artist who always introduces their own
opening act. The story I heard was that eons ago at a Gabriel
concert, the audience got ugly with the opening act. Ever since
then, Gabriel has introduced his opening act, even though now
I'm pretty sure it's no longer required.
Things I've Learned:
When trying to be sneaky and move to better seats that appear
to be empty, make sure to have all of your stuff with you. Here
I was thinking I was bein' all stealth like, moving over and up
a few seats after Sevara performed, when some guy came up with
my binoculars case. "Here. You left this in your old seat."
Sigh.
At the two shows
in Jersey, I was dismayed to find a lot of people drank way too
much even before the show started. From what I've read on other
forums, that's a pretty common occurance at most of the shows.
I don't understand why people feel the need to do this. Memo to
the citizens of planet Earth: Peter Gabriel is not the Grateful
Dead. Getting stoned is not required to enhance the quality
of the performance.
At Holmdel, Christine
and I was unfortunate to be near this one guy who had gotten totally
drunk, and was an obnoxous asshole throughout the performance.
He kept yelling conversations during the show, I had to tell him
to shut up, and he kept bumping into people in trying to dance,
if you could call it that. I was relieved to move to a better
seat later on...I looked back at one point to see the uberjerk
doing a perfect Joe Cocker impersonation, although you could tell
he thought he was being such a smooth dancer. Ick. He's lucky
that Christine and I had another city to go to, and therefore
didn't want to take the time to give him the tag team bitch-slapping
he truly deserved.
At every PG concert
I've been to, winter and summer tour, I've noticed that after
the opening act, they pump the stage area full of light fog, to
cause a light haze around the stage. This is probably to give
the stage lighting something to reflect off of. Well, at the Holmdel
show, I noticed near the end of the concert that this had some
interesting effects on Gabriel. One, you could see the stuff react
with the Gabriel's body heat, to create the illusion of smoke
billowing off of Gabriel's scalp. Two, you could see Gabriel inhaling
the exhaling the fog as he sang, almost making it look like he
smoked a pack just before the song. Weird.
At the Camden show,
we were seated next to another guy who had too much to drink,
but fortunately, he wasn't nearly as much as a jerk as the guy
at Holmdel. The guy's girlfriend was pretty embarassed, though.
The guy in Holmdel didn't seem to have a girlfriend or any friends
to attend the concert which, which didn't surprise me in the least.
Solsburian Adventures: Tales from the Road
I wanted to do something
fun and Floridian for my PG-loving comrade, Christine, who was
flying down from NYC to see the concert with me in WPB. I was
also jealous of Eric Fortier and Michael
Heiker, who made lovely UP pasteries. So I decided to make
Christine a lovely Up Key Lime Pie.
Don't laugh. It's not bad considering all I had to use for decorating utensils was a fork. And I gotta give myself a pat on the back for getting the correct gradient shadings on the chevrons. Eat that with cake, Eric and Michael!:)
The pie itself came out tasty...Moxie jumped up on the table and had a few bites. Of course, Moxie had been trippin' half the night thanks to the super-potent catnip toy Christine brought for her. And then Moxie decided she wanted to come with us.
The day before the
WPB show, we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, and
at one point, we went to Suess Landings, saw a certain sign and
took the following picture:
We went to Downtown
Disney and decided to have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, to which
there is usually an incredibly long wait. We went up to put our
names in, and to make a long story short, first the wait seemed
to be two hours, but then he quickly said it would only be a half
hour. Then Christine and the guy in charge of the magic waiting
list started flirting with each other and joked about exchanging
phone numbers. Then the guy suddenly announced there was a table
available *right now*. Then our waiter asked Christine if she
was married, and then kept offering us free drinks. Things I've
learned: When wanting fast and curteous service, bring along Christine.
Things Christine learned: "I really like Florida!"
L-R: Christine, Justin, Lith, and Adella. Lith and Adella look happy to be there, while Christine and Justin wonder why they are there.
At the West Palm
Beach meeting at TGI Friday's, we met up with Adella, Lith, Justin, and then Kali and Thad. Lith brought the coolest PG
t-shirt on the planet, and Christine was so impressed, she bought
one on the spot. Then Kali gave Lith a Peter Gabriel Willow Farm
doll, complete with flower costume (a flower?) The flower
headpiece could be taken off and replaced with a Watcher of the
Skies costume that Kali also made. We asked, "Is it anatomically
correct?" The answer: Sort of. Kali did give the PG doll
a bellybutton.
L-R: Thad, Kali, and Lith, holding her new Peter Gabriel doll.
Longtime PG fan
and Hill reader Gabriel Meza was at the meeting as well. He was
the first to make me aware of the WPB show. However, due to circumstances
beyond his control, he was out of the country when tickets went
on sale and he wasn't able to find a seat in the same area code
as the stage. But then due to circumstances, at the very last
minute, Adella had an extra ticket...fourth row from the stage,
which Meza found out about through the Solsburian webmail group,
and wound up buying at cost. He must've had some good karma built
up:)
Things I Learned:
If you're desperate to check your e-mail and don't have access
to a computer, head to the Apple store. You can use their display
computers and no one will question you! (Thanks, Adella:)
Near the end of
our meal, I used the decorative toothpicks from Adella's sandwich
to do a quick Peter Gabriel
impersonation.
At the WPB show,
Christine put an button with the Up logo on it. Only she put it
on upside down. She said, "Look! Downside Up!" Groan.
In West Palm Beach
we stayed at the Hotel Biba,
a funky, retro motel that looks like it was designed by Austin
Powers. Aside from the funky decor, it's main selling point is
it's own little
wine bar. We discovered that the place soon had no vacancies
after we booked. I suspected it was because of the concert, and
I was right. After the show, the bar was packed with people wearing
PG t-shirts. Christine and I enthusiastically went inside to be
with Our People.
The Biba Bar at Breakfast
There we met up with several guys, and one girl named Lisa who is a great fan and Hill reader (I can't remember any of the gentlemen's names because I suck and didn't take notes). We chatted about the show we saw, and everyone was awed by the show, and most of the group came over from the West coast of Florida. I remember saying, "So, how did everyone like that false start that didn't happen?"
After talking for a bit, we all went out to the adirondack chairs by the pool and chatted and drank. Lith showed up after getting lost on the way to the hotel, and we talked and drank some more. However, around 2 am, I started to get so tired that I could barely follow the conversation, plus I knew that the next day I had to get Christine to the WPB airport, then drive across the state, stop by my parents' house to celebrate Father's Day, then drive the rest of the way back home. So I excused myself and went to bed. I felt very bad for doing so, feeling like I was being a party-pooper for being the first to retire.
But when I woke up the next morning, I felt pretty good, but Christine, the Biba Bar Babe, who stayed out until 4 talking, said she felt like death warmed over. Then I didn't feel so bad about leaving early:) However, if any of the Biba Bar Boys are out there, hi! Nice meeting you, sorry I didn't chat for longer! And Lith, sorry I forgot to say bye to you, too!
Christine: Aaargh! Don't take my picture! I look awful!
Mac: You look fine! You especially look great in a solsburyhill.org t-shirt!
Christine: Don't take my picture! I look awful! I was out until 4 am last night!
Mac: Look, if you're that worried about your picture, then I'll use my Photoshop skills to make you look like the most wonderful person in the world!
Christine: Really? In that case, you can take my picture, but only if you photoshop it so that I look good before you post it on your site.
Mac: Okay. I promise.
The drive from Long
Island to Holmdel was a total bear! It's not a far distance, but
it took us three hours to get out of the city with non-stop bumper
to bumper traffic. No wonder everyone in NYC hates New Jersey.
They're already in a pissed-off mood once they finally get there.
Bad roads + three
hours of stop-and-go lurching back and forth + severe sinus trouble
+ no place to stop = one miserable carsick Mac Cat. Thank goodness
Christine had a plastic bag in the car. I don't think the guy
at the toll booth liked it when I handed the bag to him and said,
"Here! I have a present for you!" before peeling outta
there...
At the Holmdel show,
we had gotten only mediocre tickets, but I wasn't too upset since
we were seeing him several times. But Christine pulled a few favors
and got us sixth row, left hand side of the stage, also known
as the Gabriel side of the stage. We didn't have enough time to
sell the other tickets, so we offered them to some people who
were sitting on the wet lawn (it had been raining.) They looked
at us like the tickets were poison, but once we explained they
were free, they were pretty darn happy.
At the end of the
Holmdel show, it started to rain, but not hard. As we left, they
played, "Singing in the Rain" over the speakers. I thought
it was just a one-time joke from the "house" workers,
but then they played "Singing in the Rain" again after
the Philly show, so it's gotta be Gabriel's people. Come to think
of it, after almost every show on the tour, it's either rained
just before, just after, or during the show. We're lucky that
none of the shows were rained out.
Throughout our trip,
we'd spy someone with a PG t-shirt, and we'd lure them into a
Gabriellian conversation, usually about the concerts, and how
we first got into PG. When there was a lull in the conversation,
I'd mention solsburyhill.org. In this manner I've discovered that
an alarming number of Gabe Geeks are online but have never been
to this site! After getting several humiliating blank looks after
mentioning solsburyhill.org, I've decided God was punishing me
for being such a compulsive link ho.
At the Holmdel show,
we met up with Chris Kaiser, who I met for a few minutes after
the Winter show at Madison Square Garden.
She had a friend with her whose name I can't remember at the moment...(memo
to self, take notes). It was nice meeting them, but we didn't
have much time to chat before the show. I could tell they were
really jazzed to see the concert!
Walking around before
the concert, people went nuts over Christine's shirt that she
bought from Lith. Lith: Set up a factory! You'll make a mint!
After the show,
we had to truck it on the NJ Turnpike, aka, I-95, to get to Philly.
First we had to make a detour since they wouldn't let us turn
south out of the arena parking lot. Then, we drove for what felt
like hours until we needed to go south on a different Interstate.
But all the signs made it as if it the only direction you can
go on the other road was north. Anyway, we got soooo lost. To
make a long story short, it took three rocket scientists and a
witch doctor to figure out a way to get to Philly. Don't know
how The
Bobs went that route and didn't get lost...and we saw the
famous Trenton bridge!
We got to our hotel
in Philly at 2 am. However, we were glad to have got a room nice
room with a beautiful view of Penn's Landing and the Ben Franklin
Bridge. We also had a huge bathroom. And best of all, there was
a small computer so I could check my e-mail!
Here I am backstage at a Peter Gabriel concert!
Okay...not really...
After the Holmdel
show, we stopped for a moment next to a building with a door that
said, "Administration Only, Keep Out". Some people came
by to ask Christine about her shirt, and while we were chatting,
someone walked inside the building, the door opened and I saw
a concert timetable taped to the inside door. The door shut, was
locked, but I thought...Hm. A few minutes later, the door
opened again as someone was leaving, I held the door open, pointed
to the schedule and shouted to the guy, "Hey, you need this
anymore?" "Nah." "Good." and I ripped
it off as as a souvenir. It got a little wrinkled after we made
our way to Philly, so Christine came up with the idea of taping
to the bathroom door in our hotel room. Come to think of it, our
bathroom was in fact big enough for Gabriel to perform in. I feel
like a Gabe Geek for posting a picture of a schedule taped to
a door on this site, but if Tony Levin can do it on his site,
I can do it on mine:)
The next morning,
I slept until 11 am, and I wasn't really in the mood to go sightseeing,
but Christine was, so I grudgingly decided to go along. Turned
out Christine had the right idea as I loved the Reading Street Market we went to and had a
nice apple dessert at one of the food stalls, which put me in
a much better state of mind. Afterwards, we went to the Liberty
Bell and Independence Hall. Then we stopped by an Irish festival
by the waterside near the hotel, and finally went to the hotel
to get ready for the show. After getting ready, we stopped by
the hotel bar and caught up with a few PG fans, chatted a bit,
and then we finally went down to the ferry to catch Peter at the
Tweeter. As expected, the ferry was filled with PG fans.
Once we got to the Tweeter, we finally ran into Pat Parker and Brandon, two fine folks whom I met in Philly for the winter tour. Pat was lucky enough to score pit seats and win tickets to the soundcheck. She seemed quite excited!
Then I had the honor of meeting a guy who goes by the handle Offdasteel. He had written me a few times in the past, and told me story about how he got his father hooked onto Gabriel. Sadly, his father passed away before he had the chance to do so, and Offdasteel was particularly touched by the song "Father, Son". After playing e-mail and phone tag, we finally were able to meet up between Sevara and Peter, and after a friendly hug, we chatted a bit. He's a great guy who is truly passionate about Gabriel. Unfortunately he wasn't able to make it to the pub after the show with the rest of us, but I was glad I got to meet him.
The Philly show
was great...our seats were *way* off to the side so we had some
problem seeing the stage, but we were treated to "No Way
Out" and the audience was the most enthusiastic we've seen.
There was none of this "is it okay to stand up and dance
now?" nonsense of the other shows...everyone pretty much
stood the whole time.
One major disappointment...at
the other two shows, we knew Gabriel and the band would skip out
into to the audience along the outer isles. Well, Camden was the
only show for us where we had seats along the isles, so we were
certain we'd get a handshake from Gabriel for this show. As a
matter of fact, Christine said, "You stay on this side, I'll
go over to the other side, and when Gabriel comes between us,
we'll tackle him." And she was serious...she actually sneaked
across the isle and hid from security behind a support column.
But Peter must've read our minds as for that one show, he led
his band through the inner isle, so we missed our one chance
to lay our hands on Peter, dammit. So much for our special moment.
And naturally, we got to hear that everyone else in the entire
arena got to shake hands with Peter but us. Bleh.
After the show,
Pat Parker and Debra Grant came up to us. Let me back up here...last
winter, Debra Grant told us a beautiful story of getting to say
hi to Gabriel at one of the shows...I can't remember the details,
but somehow Debra caught Gabriel's attention, and he noticed that
Debra was wearing a custom made sweater that read "LUNATIC"
on the front. Debra said something to the effect of "Thank
you for such a great show!" and Gabriel looked at her sweater
and said, "Ah! You're a lunatic! Thank you!"
Anyway, after seeing Debra and her sweater for the first time, I understood how the sweater caught PG's eye. This oversized sweater (way too big for her, as she was practically swimming in it!) was the brightest shade of yellow I have ever seen! It glowed. Gabriel couldn't have missed it! Probably after the show, the Blind Boys of Alabama said to each other, "Man, did you see that woman in the yellow sweater that Peter was talking to? That is one bright sweater!"
Then Pat said that
someone (once again, I forgot her name. Memo to self: Take notes!)
wanted to say hi to me. I said that I'd be delighted, and this
woman came up to me and as she shook my hand, was trembling.
"I really love the Hill! Thanks so much!" She said this
so enthusiastically, I concluded either (1) She really
loved the Hill (2) She was still feeling the exhilarating effects
of the Peter Gabriel concert (3) She had mistaken me for Peter
Gabriel. At any rate, I thank her for her kind words, as it more
than made up for all the others I met on the trip who hadn't heard
of the Hill:)
After the show,
a group of us planned to head for the appropriately named pub
"For Pete's Sake" but now it was Christine's turn to
turn in early, so I went without her. Brandon and his S.O. was
kind enough to drive me to and from the pub, where we met with
Pat, Debra, Joe, and a few others. It was nice, but I wasn't a
very good conversationalist (Reality was beginning to kick in:
I'd have to go back to work! No more Gabe chasing in the near
future!) and the place was loud and packed, which made it diffcult
to carry a conversation anyway. The place claimed to be an Irish
Bar, but I couldn't get an Irish coffee in the joint. What's up
with that? Oh well, I did chat a bit, before we all decided to
head out, and I went back to the hotel room and had lovely Pete
dreams:)
The next morning,
we headed back, and the New Jersey roads turned out to be a nightmare
again. We got confused when we knew we were on I-95, but
Christine said, "We should be out of Philly and in Jersey
by now, and we're not. Something's wrong." After pulling
off the side of the road and consulting an atlas, we both discovered
that there are two I-95's that run parallel to each other
and don't connect. Who was the brilliant mind that decided to
put two I-95s next to each other?! We had to take a major detour
to get to the right spot. Sorry Chris and Offdasteel: I hate New
Jersey.
Then we get to New
York and we're greeted with bumper to bumper traffic. We had anticipated
such traffic and thought we still had enough time, but alas, no.
I wound up missing my flight. Fortunately, I was able to catch
another one three hours later, and consoled myself with a plate
of buffalo wings and a couple of cosmopolitans at the airport
sports bar. I was also consoled by the fact that the weather in
Florida was actually shittier than anyplace that weekend, so I
picked a good weekend to leave. The good news was after dealing
with the New Jersey roads and the New York traffic, I was *really*
delighted to get back to Florida again:)
Anyway, despite having some difficulties, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat! It was a pleasure meeting some more of the fans, and if you have any comments, write me via this site! Yeah!:)
