Boston

Beth dropped Kami and I off at Union Station in downtown Washington D.C. at around 7 P.M. We were booked on the 7:45 Megabus to Boston—it’s an overnight bus that arrives into Boston at 6 A.M. I have to say that as luxurious the bus was (WiFi, reclining seats, air conditioned and double decker) the clientele left a lot to be desired! I said to Kami that I bet there's been some domestic disputes and arguments in the lines here and other stations! This proved true when we got the bus back from Boston after the show.

This was a quick turn around trip for us, not something I’m used to. We left DC at 8 P.M. Saturday and arrived in Boston just after 6 A.M. Sunday. We would see the show and then leave Boston at midnight, change buses in New York at 4 A.M., get the 6:30 A.M. bus to DC, and arrive back at 11 A.M. Monday.

Neither of us got much sleep at all on the way up (or back down, for that matter), but we managed to get the front two seats on the upper level of the bus. We quickly found out, and all too late, that the seats are not designed for someone like my 6ft 2” body! My legs were crushed up against the front of the bus all the way. It was nice to see out of the front window though, especially around 5 A.M. when we hit Massachusetts and saw the sunrise.

Our midnight snack—cupcakes!                  The line for the Megabus                           Sunrise in Massachusetts

I had quite a lot of friends doing the Boston show, and my friends Michael and Suzanne had arrived the day before and offered Kami and I a place to crash when we arrived. As we pulled into the bus station I spotted a 24 hour diner just at the entrance, so we headed over there for breakfast. We then took a walk through Boston's China Town at 7 A.M. It was obviously pretty quiet at that time in the morning, but the smell doesn't go away no matter what time you’re there!

    

Michael called me around 7:15 and by 8 A.M. Kami and I were tucked up in bed in their apartment. Both of us crashed until gone 2 P.M.! Michael and Suzanne returned from their brunch and Greg (who was staying in the same hotel) came over to say hi. Kami and I took showers and the 4 of us then headed outside to grab a taxi down to the pre-show meet up bar that my friends Matt and Drew had arranged.

Michael’s license plate.                               Meet up bar and view of the outside patio as seen from inside Fenway Park

 

The place was quiet when we arrived. Matt and Drew were at the bar on the rooftop patio. Kami, Suzanne, and I headed downstairs to order and eat food and were joined by my friend Erin who had driven down for the show. Originally she was only going to do the Hartford show, but I’d persuaded her that she really needed to see one of the outdoor shows, and after nearly getting ripped off on Craig’s list, she had managed to grab a ticket through Ticketmaster for tonight's show.

Around 6 P.M. people started arriving, and it was great to see friends who I hadn't seen for a while—my good friend Glenn whom I’d not seen since Boston 2010; Joe and his friend Frank, whom I’d met up with in Woodbridge, VA late last year; my facebook twins Chris and Liz; then Randy, Ed and my friends Nick and his wife from the UK, whom I’d last seen at the shows in Athens plus lots of others.

Liz, myself, and Chris                                 Glen and I                                                 Joe, me, and Frank

Randy, his wife, and I                                        Ed and I                                                        Myself and Tony  

 

Erin, Suzanne, Kami and I                          Greg, myself, Kami, Michael, and Chris       Group shot doing the “hammers”

   

Kami and I headed over to the venue with Ed and his wife Marie. They went along to the will call window to pick up their ticket while Kami and I went into the venue and then right up to the top tier to take some shots of the whole stage and wall from as high as possible.

As it was an outdoor show the start wouldn't be till 8:45 when the sun had gone down and it had got a bit darker, so Kami and I headed to the floor to just take in the atmosphere and see friends.

Michael and Suzanne were 2nd row dead centre, my friend Nick and his wife from the UK were right in front of Michael and Suzanne front row centre, and to their left were my friend Zo and Anne from Montreal who had been touring around doing the shows in New England.

Kami and I were 13th row centre on the aisle, a few seats on from the twins Chris and Liz and one row in front of  the actor and comedian Jack Black who was at the show.

Liz, Jack, and Chris                          Zo and Anne                                                       Suzanne

 

As Kami and I were heading out on the midnight bus and the show wouldn't be over till gone 11 P.M., I went for a walk to find out where all the taxis parked up outside the venue. On my way out I walked straight into a friend whom I’d only been in contact with by e-mail and facebook, Tony. he recognised me, and we chatted for 5 minutes before I went to find out about the cabs. Kami and I had agreed that as soon as the guys came out onstage for Outside The Wall, we’d wave and say hi to them and then run back to watch the rest from the back of the venue so we could then run straight for a cab. By the time I’d pushed my way through the hoards of people still outside the venue it was past 8:30, and there were only 3 tracks left of the pre-show warm up music left before the start of the show.

To be continued…