Phoenix to L.A. (Wednesday and Thursday)

I woke around 9 A.M., walked the 8 or 9 blocks to Matt and Eric’s hotel, and the three of us took a cab to to the airport.

We flew to L.A. today—the flight left around 12:30 and we were in Eric’s car in LA for 3 P.M. While Eric drove home to Ventura for the night, Matt and I were staying at the Crowne Plaza in Beverley Hills. First thing we both did after checking in was to hit the hotel pool for a couple of hours. After the scorching heat of Phoenix, it was nice to be in the chilly 70° weather of L.A.!

Matt had arranged to go bar hopping with a couple of friends he’d met the last time he was here in 2010. I was more than happy just to head to the local Chipotle for dinner, then head back to the room to chill out and catch up on the latest episodes of Game Of Thrones and The Killing.

Matt on the flight to L.A.         LAX                                   So inviting from our room     Matt and Eric arrive in L.A.

  

Eric picked us up the next morning around noon. The three of us were booking into a hotel in Santa Monica for three nights—THREE NIGHTS—in the same room! You have no idea how nice it is to be somewhere for more than one night—somewhere you can actually unpack your bag and not have to pack it up and move on the next morning. We stopped by a great old-fashioned diner that Eric used to frequent as a kid. (Eric grew up in Santa Monica.) I had the French toast and scrambled eggs while Eric and Matt had omelets. They brought out a HUGE pile of food, and that set us all up for the rest of the day. We didn’t eat again until 8 P.M.

We checked into the hotel around 2 P.M. and headed straight for the pool again. It’s a nice hotel full of suites situated around a courtyard with a pool in the middle. We have a bedroom with two twin beds, a huge living room with a pullout sofa, plus a kitchen and bathroom.

Breakfast                                           Hotel pool                                           Groceries! Mine are on the bottom shelf

  

Eric's cousins’s wife Mandy works at an Irish bar about 2 miles from our hotel, so after a short trip to the supermarket to get some groceries, Matt and I decided to walk to the Irish bar. Eric took the bus. 25 minutes later, Matt and I arrived well before Eric. Of course, we were a lot hotter and sweatier than him! It was nice to see they had Strongbow cider on draft, and the first pint I had hardly even touched my sides as I downed it. Of course, this went straight to my head and gave me an instant buzz. Eric arrived 15 minutes after us and introduced us to his brother and sister in-law, Mandy. Eric got the timing wrong, though, and Mandy had just finished her shift at 6 P.M.—not started it!

Best pint of cider ever!                          Mandy, Eric and Matt

  

After another pint of cider, I was positively on my way to being just a little drunk! Mandy made Eric and Matt a special of hers—a concoction full of vodka, fruit, and tonic water. I think she called them Mandy’s Sunshine Drink. Mandy headed off home, and Eric, Matt, and I walked back towards 3rd street, Santa Monica. This is a great pedestrian street full of stores, restaurants, bars, and street performers.

On the way there we passed the “world famous” Gas Lite bar. I’m not sure what it’s famous for, but the bar did have a sign outside that it opens at 6 A.M. and has karaoke all day and night!

Eric headed down to the Kings Head English pub to meet a friend of his while Matt and I headed to Johnny Rockets for a burger. By that point I was done for the day and ready for bed! I’m still getting over the flu, so I headed back to the hotel and chilled out before getting my head down for a good night’s sleep.

A few pictures below that Gail took of Roger in Phoenix. Thanks Gail (click the thumbnails for larger size)

Phoenix show…

It was a normal size arena tonight,first time id been here was in 2000 for the In The Flesh show, id then been a second time in 2010 for the first leg of the wall tour and tonight i was back again.

Everyone was spread out around the Arena again tonight, i got in there around 7:15 and took in the atmosphere a bit. Bumped into John Slanina from San Fran and had a chat to him for a good half hour. Went and had a chat with my friend Robert and then went and said hi to another friend from Phoenix, Edgar.

I was sitting in my 2nd favourite place tonight, right next to the wall on the right side as you look at the stage. Whilst the view from here doesn’t let you see the projections real well or the band behind the wall, it does give you a great view of the crowd, the plane coming down and youre right in the heart of it when Roger comes over to the side and the crowd go wild.

View from my seat.

Roger now does a small talk after the end of the new Another Brick ending (the Jean Charles track) he tells the crowd a bit about Jean Charles and explains how he was shot in the back of the head. The last couple of shows he’s also said “If e give the police and the government too much power we are on a very slippery slope” this generates a HUGE response of cheers and applause from the crowd.

The band sounded great but i could tell there was something different from Dave’s classical guitar parts, it just sounded different and i couldn't put my finger on what it was. He later sent me a message saying he had problems with his regular guitar and had to use a replacement that he didnt like and he thought it sounded terrible. I wouldn't have said terrible, just different somehow.

I noticed sitting in front of me a couple of rows down were a couple of young guys wearing turbans, they were Sikhs. I only mention this as it show how much Rogers music appeals to not only different cultures but races, religions and genders!

Franks brother and friends                  Big guns Roger                                  THANK YOU!

  

Roger has taken to “freezing” again at the end of Bring The Boys Back Home, this is something he’s done in previous tours at certain parts of the show and ive only seen him do it during Comfy Numb up until the Phoenix show. He stands there onstage “frozen” for 30 seconds or so, sometimes glancing at the crowd and smiling but never moving anything but his eyes.

For the last few tracks i went down onto the floor to my favourite position, right on thr front rail infront of Dave and Snowy. Hearing the monitor speakers instead of the FOH PA is great, seeing the viens on Rogers neck standing out while he’s singing (or not!) is also great to see.

It was nice to feel some “wall wind” tonight, its been a while, too long infact since i felt it. The shows in Buenos Aires and the outdoor shows in the US have the stage set a little higher and further back than the normal arena shows so its kind of hard to feel the wind as the wall falls down.

It was nice to see the guys at the end and have a little laugh and an inside joke with Dave K while he was onstage, the guys really do enjoy this part of the show, Being able to actually see the audience and the crowd due to the lighting etc i know makes them so happy, you can see this by watching Robbie and Jon and Marky especially, they love it.

   

Tonight wa not only another great show but another great pre show meet up. As the shows have been going on its been great to meet new and old friends, there's usually a “core” group of us that attend a few shows together and when one of those people have to fly home its always a shame. Jackie, Dave, Wendy, James, Gail and Joe I’ve had such a good time with you at the shows and miss you all terribly. Matt, Eric and i are the only ones left here in LA as i type this, we are still having fun but not too much without everyone else:)

Phoenix pictures:

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