The last few shows

New York show 1………

I've never really thought Madison Square Garden (The Garden or MSG as its know locally)  to be anything special to be honest, i know its a legendary venue but the inside is actually a bit smaller than most arenas these days although i guess in its day it was the venue to play at and still is really.

The first show was great but a lot of mistakes both music wise and projection wise! It was great to see a show with my friend Jason who had flown over from the UK. We were 10th row on the left hand side but right on the aisle so close to the middle block. Jason was blown away by the show, i love seeing peoples reactions during the shows and after and hearing what they think about things. I looked over to Jason several times and his face was just sheer delight!

Panorama of MSG after the 1st show:

New York show 2………

The second show was a lot better than the first, the projections were spot on  the music was better(there were still a couple of mistakes though) and i was 3rd row right block on the aisle for the first half. For the second half  Kami and i went and sat stage right right next to the wall and about 4 rows back from the stage. The crew put a plastic line of tape down the side by these seats as its where the wall falls down and covers the seats. There were 6 seats on our row and then the line of tape, Kami was sat right next to the tape and i was in the seat next to her. Just before this start of the second half they moved the tape out two more seats which left 4 seats on our row and again kami was right up next to the tape.

Our seats for the second half of the show circled in red, click on the pic for larger view

 

Just before the second half started a couple of people sat in front of us, one was Rogers girlfriend and the other was the actor Jim Carey! I hadn't recognised him till Kami pointed him out, it was fun to see him rocking out and having fun and taking videos on his iphone!

Few pics from the show                                                                     Laurie and Jim Carey.

   

Instruments coming up from the stage:

Euipment rising at MSG

Seats at the side and front are a great place to see all the equipment rising up from the stage during the second half and the band walking on and off stage.

      

So now comes the time for the wall to come down! i said to Kami were a bit too close for comfort for me so we moved over to the left two seats. I love when they start moving the wall and making it like ripple all the way across if it gets a good ripple going then you know its gonna to be a great “wall fall” tonight was the best if seen, so much that two bricks where it started rippling were teetering on and off the wall! as you can see in the video below. As you can also see had Kami and I not moved over two seats kami would have been hit straight on the head by the falling bricks!! i know Jens would pay to have that happen to him but with Kami and her back I'm not sure she would have been too pleased!!

Wall rippling:

Kami in her seat next to the wall          The aftermath after the wall came down!
       
It was the best best “wall fall” I've seen, not only because of where our seats were but just the bricks balancing on and off the top and the whole tumble down was fantastic.

Buffalo show…….

I was looking forward to hearing what Bob and Andy though of the show after they had not seen the show since the first three so i was hoping for a great show and it was! on the rail for the first half and dead centre 13th row for the second half really it doesn't get any better than these positions for the sound and seeing the band up close! The sound was the best id heard it at any of the shows, it wasn't without fault though as there were a couple of times when the projections were out of focus or the wrong thing was projected.

Couple of Kami’s pictures from the show

   

The music was fantastic though i didn't spot a single mistake music wise. The guitar solo during Comfy Numb was unreal, never heard a solo like it. Kami swears blind it was because Dave was so excited to have met her and he was buzzing from hugging her, it was however a different reason that Dave explained to us is Washington DC! (see below)

There was one thing i noticed in Buffalo, i mentioned earlier that the bricks are getting a bit worn and a few marks etc but one brick in particular has what looks like a corner torn off it!! This must have been the brick that Jens sabotaged while he was here in the US!! lol

Hole in the wall                                            Must have been Jens’s brick!!

 

Washington DC show….

Dave came out front before the show to see us (ok i know i will get corrected on this if i don't say it, so really he came out to see kami,lol) I went and sat next to Mark and Beth while Kami and Jessie had a chat with Dave, Mark & Beth then went over to say hi to Dave and took a couple of pictures. Beth said Kim was up on the sides and wanted to get on to the floor but security wouldn't let her down, i went and found Kim and got her on to the floor, led her over to Dave and told him id brought another one over for his Harem ,lol I took a few pictures of the girls with Dave but by that time people had started seeing us chatting and started to ask questions. “who is this guy” i heard one woman ask as she walked past, another came up and asked him for a picture, he agreed and posed for a few seconds. It was then that a line started to form and we all just looked at each other and apologised  to Dave, he was fine about it and I'm sure really he enjoyed the attention, in fact i KNOW he did.

The girls and Dave                          Jessie and Dave                         Dave wearing Jessie’s sunglasses!

   

I mentioned to Dave that the Comfy Numb solo in Buffalo a couple of nights earlier was the best I'd ever heard him play, he agreed! He said he made a real mess of it in New York as he had been back stage and met Jim Carey, Scarlet Johansson, Liam Neason and it had totally thrown him off and i guess he was a bit star struck!! So the next show he put 110% into it and it obviously came across ! Now someone will come along after reading this post and try tell you otherwise! Don’t listen to her!! :)

As i left and said bye to Dave i was sat minding my own business waiting for the show to start and a guy came up to me and asked if i was the person who was seeing all the shows and doing a blog, i said yeh and he said it was great to meet me and was enjoying the blog, hope your reading this George and thanks for the kind words!

Mark and Beth were about 8th row centre and i was a couple of rows back from them on the aisle on the 10th row. This show was hugely different from any of the other though, not in a musical sense or show sense but in an atmosphere sense! there was no “buzz” before the show, there was no excitement coming from the crowd and this was confirmed when  even after Roger had walked onstage for the first time at the beginning of In The Flesh the whole crowd remained seated!! WTF!! its a rock show, its not opera!!!

Sitting down during the whole show for me just kills all the excitement, its just not the same and from what I've heard in the past from band members they sense this as well. I just don't get it, not just the sitting down thing i just don't understand why this happens! its the same show, just different city and different people, surely people cant be that much more relaxed  say a couple of hundred miles away from New York ? Ok well maybe New York's a bad comparison but you know what i mean, i just don't get why this happens. Anyway, i stood up when i thought i could and didn't get anyone asking me to sit down so the first half wasn't too bad after all. The sound was incredible, i heard the surround sound a lot more than i have at any other show, maybe i was just in the “sweet spot” but whatever it was it was great and i heard things at this show that i hadn't heard the same way before!

There were a couple of seats next to me free the whole first half so i went up and brought kami and her friend Jessie down to sit on the floor, Jessie was Kami’s friend who had driven in the day before and whom id met before at Nissan pavilion show in 2006. Ok so i wasn't gonna mention this at all but what the hell, Kami and Jessie have been asking me if i think Roger is “free balling”!! i have no inside information on this and it really doesn't bother me, however it seems to be a big deal with the girls and is yet an unanswered question! Maybe Dave can help you on this Kami ?!

The crowd were a lot more enthusiastic for the second half and stood for a lot of the show, i think the three of us sat down for maybe 3 or 4 tracks but stood for the rest of the show.Its so much better being with friends at the shows and standing next to people who appreciate the music and enjoy the show and actually get into it rather than just the “casual fan” who is there for some live music.

Also want to say hi to Laurie whom i met at the pre show meetup and then at the show itself, was great to meet you and your husband and chat, hope you get the message about where to find my blog and see this :)