After Christine and I had our adventures in Central Park, we made our way over to Madison Square Garden and across the street from the arena, Ti Na Nog, an Irish bar that was our designated "meeting place". Our game plan was to go there, grab a bite to eat, meet with other Solsburians and primarily, Christine needed to meet with Dutch folk Roel and Pricilla, who had bought two of Christine's extra tickets. We were also supposed to meet Lith. Lith found out at the last minute that she was able to make it to the NY show, and when Christine found out she had no place to stay after the concert, she arranged for an extra bed in the hotel room so Lith wouldn't have to spend the night at the airport.
When we got to Ti Na Nog, to our surprise, several Solsburians were already waiting for us. Patrick Baird, Pat Parker and her nephew Joe informed us that the entire place had been reserved for the night, and management told them that anyone who wasn't a part of that party would get kicked out in a hour. This put a crimp in our plans to hang out and meet up with people. We didn't want to leave as Christine needed to meet up with Roel and Pricilla, and I needed to find Lith.
While we were trying to decide what to do next, I was introduced to Marco, an audio tech from Italy, who had written me prior to my trip. He was very charming and enthusiastic about the upcoming concert. He was also happy about meeting up with fellow Solsburians and Lunatics. I was flattered to learn he was a fan of the Hill, and would refer to me as "the boss!" 'cos I'm Director of Coffee of the Solsbury Committee. I think I was called "the boss" more times that night than Bruce Springsteen did in his entire career:) We chatted a bit, and he gave me a nice cd rom of the performance of PG's pre-tour gigs in Italy.
The gang at Ti Na Nog, from lower left clockwise: Oliver, Patrizia, Davide, Marco & Mac Cat
A few moments later, German fan Oliver, and Marco's fellow Italian friends Davide and Patrizia came on the scene and there were many introductions. After a bit, we talked to Pat about the Cleveland show, ordered drinks and appetizers. However, time was running out...Pat and just about everyone else were about to head over to another Irish Bar called Molly Wee's, Christine and I resigned to wait around Tir Na Nog for Roel, Pricilla and Lith.
Well, just as the rest of the gang were leaving, Roel, Pricilla, and Lith wandered into the bar, and there was much rejoicing! It actually made for a funny meeting as Roel and Pricilla reinforced something I knew from when I spent two weeks in the Netherlands last year: The Dutch are a remarkably tall people. I think I came up to Pricilla's bellybutton. And even more funny to consider Lith is an inch shorter than me. For Roel and Pricilla, it must've looked like they were being greeted by the Solsburian Guild of Munchkinland.
L-R: Patrick Biard, Pat Parker, Christine, Joe, and Marco
Having met everyone that we had to meet, we decided to catch up to the rest of our group. Good thing we found them on the street, they had decided that since some European comrades wanted to sample some American food rather than Irish, they decided to go down the street to TGIFridays.
Once there, we all grabbed seats and we proved to be a formidable group of Solsburians. Here's the roster:
(John and Anne from New Jersey, wandered in late, being "forwarded" from Ti Na Nog.)
I grabbed my Gabesaber and a napkin and started jotting down names. Our excellent server who was enthusiastic and kept up with all of our demands, Aaron Garrett, was facinated by the glowing pen, and when I told him I was going to write about him on the Hill, he made sure I got his name spelled correctly (If you're reading this, hi, Aaron!)
We had our fill of food and drink, and conversation. I mostly talked to Oliver and Marco, sitting directly in front of me, and Pat and Christine on either side. At one point, we heard "Sledgehammer" play over the restaurant's speakers...we all definitely liked that! Through it all, artist Lith quietly drew sketches in her sketchbook.
After a while, "Red Rain" played. And later, "Shock the Monkey" and then "Biko"...I announed, "If they play 'Solsbury Hill', I'm getting up on the table and dancing." To both my disappointed and my relief, "Solsbury Hill" wasn't played, but Christine and a few others went to investigate and found that Shaking the Tree was in the downstairs jukebox. Only that the playlist must've been transcribed by a NYC cab driver, for this copy of 16 Golden Greats included the songs "Salisbury Hill", "Games With Predjudices" and "La Jacinto".
At TGI Fridays: The poster behind them reads "Have you tasted PASSION?" No, but I'm sure these people have listened to Passion several times!
L-R: Lith, Joe, Roel and Pricilla
Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here!
At one point, I decided to do something I hadn't had the courage to do in Chicago: Make a toast. Conveinently, there was a bell on wall behind Joe and Lith...I grabbed my Gabesaber pen, got up, and rang the bell a few times to get everyone's attention. I told everyone that this was the last concert of my "tour" and I wanted to thank everyone for being such true fans, thanked all who were kind enough to be a host for me, and hoped that everyone enjoyed the night's concert.
After everyone was finished eating, Pat provided everyone nice press packet photos of Gabriel, and also brought snacks for everyone who wanted one. Then we shuffled out of the restaurant and made our way towards the stadium.
Lith, Christine, Roel, Pricilla and I went inside MSG as a group. From there, Christine got a bit of a scare...for som reason, my ticket wouldn't scan properly, and they wouldn't let me in. We were directed to some sort of supervisor, and she examined my ticket, and she tried to tell us that it wasn't a real ticket! Considering that I saw Christine seperate my ticket from her ticket (they were attached by a preforated edge) I had no question that it was legit, but the arena supervisor was being a jerk about the whole thing, and Christine was starting to panic. Finally, we were sent through the turnstiles again, and this time the ticket scanned just fine. Poor Christine was about to have a heart attack, though!
As I reported earlier, the concert was awesome! Christine managed to sneak her camera in and got a few good pictures.
After the show, we headed for Ti Na Nog for drinks and to see if we could meet up with any Solsburians, and I wanted to see if I could meet up with Polo, longtime chatroom friend and curator of the Genesis Discography, who had said he'd try to be there after the show. When we got to the pub, the place was packed. I got a Smirnoff Ice when Christine announced that since it was so crowded, we should try to head for another bar. Because of that, I felt compelled to finish my drink way too fast, as I was chugging that, I realized that (1) If we left, I'd totally miss Polo (2) Even if we stayed, I had no idea what Polo looked like. (3) Even if he'd be able to recognize me, the odds were against him spotting little 'ol me in a dark, crowded pub. But just as I was finishing up my drink, a cool dude appeared in our midsts. "Are you Mac Cat?" he said. "Yeah, are you Polo?" Yep, he was. He was there with his friend Bill and there was much rejoicing, as neither of us thought we'd wind up meeting each other.
I introduced Christine, who was still glowing with joy from the concert, and Lith, who just stood there with her eyes closed, having wonderful Pete dreams. Polo was there with his friend Bill, and all of us (well, except for dreaming Lith) chatted enthusiastically. Occasionally I'd lean over and whisper in a throaty voice to Lith, "Hi there! This is Peter Gabriel, and I want to run away with you!" She'd giggle, reminding all that she was still alive and conscious.
Polo offered to buy me a drink, and how could I say no to Polo? So I said I'd like a glass of red wine, but complained because some stupid ancient wine snob deemed it so, that bars always serve red wine at room temperature, and I like mine chilled. So I jokingly wondered if I could get it "on the rocks". Next thing I know, I'm drinking a merlot on the rocks...
At one point, a gentleman tapped me on the shoulder. "Are you Mac Cat?" I answered in the affirmative. He introduced himself and said that he was a fan of the Hill. He lived in the city, and just wanted to say hi. I asked him how he liked the concert (he did very much!) and after a few brief moments, he said he had to leave. After he left, I realized that I completely forgot the man's name. "Did any of you remember they guy's name?" Polo and Christine never caught his name in the first place. Update: I found out the guy's name is Jerome! And he wrote in with this cool story of what it means to be a PG fan.
Lith was still snoozing, and occasionally some random pub patron would poke her in the shoulder to see if she was really there.
As I finished my wine, another glass of wine with icecubes was handed to me. "Uh, what's this?" I said. "It's another merlot on the rocks. I saw you were getting low..." Christine answered. So I sipped that, continued chatting with Polo (his friend Bill had been long gone by this point). After a while I starting to talk like Gabriel sings in "Waiting for the Big One"...you know, kinda slurred? Oy. Memo to self: Stick with coffee.
"I think we put Mac Cat away..." Polo said to Christine as I slid off the bar stool and bumped into several people and objects as I stumbled my way to the bathrooms. I returned and tried to pretend I was perfectly okay. Not sure if I fooled anyone. Meanwhile Lith was still in her Secret World...
That's when a couple came up to our little group. "Are you Mac Cat?" they asked. "Why yes, I am!" The woman introduced herself as Chris, she was with her S.O., both from New Jersey, and said that she lived vicariously through my adventures via the Hill, and she felt lucky she was able to recognize me as they were about to leave the pub. I was extremely flattered by her comment, and we chatted for a bit, with me telling her that I was looking forward to writing about my adventures on my tour. Sadly, like with no name guy, they couldn't talk for very long, and had to leave.
You know during the first Chicago show, I reported that Gabriel performed "My Head Sounds Like That" where he put his head inside a gigantic egg shape lowered from the ceiling to give the impression that that Peter had this huge, swollen head.
After meeting with Chris and I-can't-remember-his-name guy at the pub, my head felt like that. My ego was seriously pumped, my head was swelling so that I wasn't sure if I could leave the place as my head would no longer be able to fit through the doors. I wished Marco could've been there, so he could top it all off and call me "the boss" a few more times, plus it would be blast if he could meet Polo (Marco...Polo...get it? Never mind.)
Finally, Polo had to leave and we decided it was time for us to head for our hotel. We woke Lith up and we stumbled out of there.
All in all, it was a good evening:)
A few days after the concert, we went to see the Blue Man Group and I got my picture taken with a Blue Man.
Just so there's no confusion: I'm on the left.
Yes, we're members of the Full Moon Club. Why do you ask?
We went to a museum that had a butterfly conservatory.
Christine does a quick impersonation of the Silence of the Lambs poster.
I stood still for five minutes waiting for a butterfly to land on me because one of the butterfly conservatory workers told Christine and I that there's a Blackfoot Indian legend that says if a butterfly lands on you, you can make a wish and the spirits will assist you in a having that wish come true.
I don't think it worked for either of us. I still don't have a zorb and Christine still isn't married to Gabriel.
And we saw the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular!
Christine does the fireplace dance...