San Francisco show, 11th May

So for the last few days when I've been asking friends where their seats are for the show most have been referring to the position of where they are sat in relation to the “home plate” Until last night I'd never stepped foot in a baseball park, let alone knew anything about it! its not a game that's played in the UK and we certainly don't have any venues shaped the same. Thanks to Robert explaining to me last night a bit more about baseball i now know what people mean by the home plate!

 

I wasn't sure what to expect when i walked in, after been at the stadium shows down in Buenos Aires i was a little unsure just how big it would be and how it would be set up. To be honest when i walked in for the first time i was a little underwhelmed, especially by the size, however i think this was more due to having been in the massive stadium down in BA.

My initial view as i walked in the venue

    

The wall was long, not as long as down in South America but compared to the US Arena shows it was about twice the length. It did look odd seeing blue sky and open air behind the wall and even though it was 7pm the sun was still high in the sky and shining brightly over the whole of the wall! i did wonder how the light would be at the scheduled start time of 8:15!

I wondered around the venue looking at the stage and wall from all different position, i did notice that the lighting towers were far nearer the stage than they were in South America due to the depth of the venue and this caused so much obstruction from many areas of the venue! I counted at least 4 full sections of seats that were totally empty due to the venue not putting them on sale due to obstructed view!

Another thing i noticed while wondering around on the floor section was how cold it was and how breezy it was! so much so that a section of the wall on the top right had been caught by the wind and dislodged. I remember talking to a couple of the crew in South America and them saying this was one thing they were worried about as it was something they've not had to experience before!

Wind swept bricks before the show!

Wendy, Jackie and the rest of the gang were outside the venue still waiting for their will call tickets, Eric and Matt were inside wondering round and i bumped into Kipp and Marky and said hi,  i also saw James Guthrie wondering around looking at the wall from different areas of the venue.

I knew from the off that the way the rows and seats were numbered would cause problems later in the night when the place started to get full and sure enough it did. They had white lawn chairs set up on the floor, there were no row numbers on the floor, the only thing which showed you the row and seat was a small white stick on the back of each seat that had the section, row and seat number in the smallest font I’ve ever seen! none of the ushers had torches and when it can to show time it was a total mess!

Phil, Laila, Greg, Linda, Matt, Eric, Chris and i all hung out on the floor for a good half hour chatting and people watching before the show. I have never in my life seen an many strange and weird sites at a show! I’m not sure if it was just all the people that were left over from the 60’s hippie times in San Francisco but some of the sights were very odd indeed. I’ve never in my life smelt as much stuff being smoked at a show either!

Get this guy up against the wall!                            Matt and Eric pre show.

 

As it got nearer to show time the sun set and it got a little darker in the venue but not much, the ticket s said ShowTime would be 8:15 prompt however they didn't start 20 minute pre show music till 8:15, hence the show started around 8:35 I was 12th row on the aisle, a few seats on from Jackie and Dave and Wendy and Chris. Honestly, even 13th row is a touch too close when the wall is this big!

One thing i didn't do at the show was take any pictures, i had my camera in my pocket and was determined just to take in the “1st” show without taking any pictures. The band came on to a rapturous applause but unfortunately the crowd sat for 90% of the show. By the time the band came on the weather had got even colder, there were people in gloves and scarves in the audience and i know Dave K had those little hand warmers in his pocket to keep his fingers warm! Roger was donning a black “Trust Us” hoodie and several times put his hood up and looked over at the crowd gesturing as to how cold it was.

I did notice a lot of new images on the wall, especially during In The Flesh and Run Like Hell, all images that wont be able to be seen on the Arena walls due to the size. Even as far on as Young Lust there were people wandering around all over the place trying to find their row and seats! the security and ushers didn't seem to have a care in the world about it.

The sound was incredible just as it was in South America, the surround was clearly better than the Arena shows and they had approx 8 speaker stacks all around the rear of the venue. I’d forgotten just how much some of  the US audience go to gigs not to see the show but to drink themselves silly and smoke weed. I've never seen as many people at a show that looked as tripped out as they did.

As the pig came out for Run Like Hell it was blown all over the place and the guys did a great job holding onto the tethers and walking it around the venue, they would drop it right down over the audience enabling them to hold onto it and touch it but then released the lines and let it fly back up 40 feet in the air. They did this all around the venue, dropping it down and raising it up, it was the best pig display I've seen at any show so far. They walked it to the back of the venue where they kept it up high till the wall came tumbling down which is when they lowered it down onto the crowd at the back and encouraged them to rip it to bits! it took a while before the crowd realised they were actually allowed to touch it and even tear it but once they did then the thing got shredded.

Roger had spent a lot of the night cover all of the stage, running up and down like a mad man, he was loving it! either that r he was trying to keep warm! The graphics when Roger hits the wall during Comfy Numb have changed a little. Well, the graphics haven't changed but the way the wall breaks up and the way the rocks break up and fall down have changed and to be honest, I’m not sure i like it! the rocks just fall downwards, kind of hard to explain but i hope someone noticed just how much different it is and changes it back to how it was!

The performance itself was great but not the best, couple of mistakes here and there, couple of timing issues and even a bum note here and there but I’m pretty sure a lot of this must have been due to the cold weather, honestly, even i found it hard just to concentrate and enjoy the show it was that cold!

New merchandise                               Venue specific shirt with orange logo   New ladies T shirts

 

Pics below of the show taken by James:

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Thursday day two continued…..

So after meeting up with Jackie & Dave, Eric and Matt we had a quick drink in an Irish bar that was on the restaurant.Jackie had brought a small plastic pig with her that out friend Vivienne had graffitied to look like the huge one on the Dark Side tour, it looked fantastic and just like the original but was 3 inches long!

Jackie, Matt, Dave and piggy               Viv’s fantastic graffiti pig!

I headed out to be at the restaurant for 8pm to meet a few people as they arrived. I had a few friends attending whom id not seen in a few years and a couple that id been e mailing but never met at all.

The dinner was at a restaurant called Calzone in the North Beach area of San Fran,  predominantly an Italian area and full of bars and restaurants.It had great reviews online and id called them a few weeks prior to book a table for 6 people,over the past weeks more and more people had expressed an interest in coming and the reservation was now for 20 people.

Phil, Laila, John and his wife from LA, John from San Fran, Wendy, Chris, Jackie & Dave, Eric, Matt, James, Georg and Sabina from Austria, Patrick from Hawaii, Kyle from Dallas, Brian from San Fran, Eddie, there was a great group of people and the restaurant had allocated us the whole of the top floor so we had our own room/space in a fantastic atmosphere.

Jackie, Chris, Wendy and Dave            Georg, Patrick, Jon, John, Matt            Eric and Matt

 

Myself and Brian                                 Wendy, Eddie and  ?? :)                     Eddie, Jackie, Chris, Dave and Wendy

 

Dave K had messaged me earlier to say he was gonna come along to the meet up to meet a few people, we had such a good night the night before, he just cant get enough of us all now:) He messaged me around 9:30 to say he’d be there in 20 mins and arrived around 10pm. It was great to be able to “introduce” him to people, not that he needs any introducing at all but you know what i mean. He is such a great guy, just a normal person, so down to earth and happy to talk to anyone and have pictures or sign anything, I cant thank you enough for showing up Dave, you know i appreciate it but just wanted to thank you “publicly”

John, Patrick, Dave K and Phil              John, Dave K, and Phil                       Dave C, Dave K and Wendy

 

People started to drift off over the next hour or so and it was going on midnight before we all left the restaurant.I just wanted to thank everyone for making the dinner such a great time, it was great to see old and meet new friends, these meet ups really are what the travelling and seeing the shows are all about for me.

The ones left at the end, James, Eddie, Dave K, Jackie,myself and Chris

Full album with all the pictures:

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Thursday, day two in San Francisco….

After checking in our hotel last night i headed out for a quiet dinner with Dave K and a few friends, Id spoke to Dave a couple of weeks ago about getting together while we were here and Jackie, Wendy, their husbands Chris and Dave and my friends James, Matt and Eric all met up at a nice Italian restaurant in the North Beach area around 7pm. It wasn't a late night but the company was great and we all had a good laugh.

Dave and Wendy on the phone to Kami

I was feeling 100 times better than i had been when i woke up in the hotel in the morning, my flu symptoms were well on their way out and id finally got used to the jetlag and had a great nights sleep.

James and Matt were heading out to Alcatraz this morning, Wendy was going to see some work friends and Jackie and Dave were out shopping in Union Square. I called my friend Greg from Philadelphia and arranged to meet him at his hotel, he was waiting for Phil and Laila to arrive so i said id walk over and hang out with them. They were staying at the very far end of Lombard Street, a well known street for having part of it being the crookedist street in the world!

It was a good two mile walk and i arrived around 10am, i hadn't seen Greg and Linda since the shows in 2010 so we caught up and chatted a little and 20 minutes later Phil, Laila and Phil's friend Dave arrived in a taxi after just landing in San Francisco from Las Vegas where they had been vacationing the last few days.

More arrivals

   

The six of us headed out to walk down the curly part of Lombard Street but first of all we had to get there, it was a good 30 minute walk and like most streets in San Francisco they are mostly uphill, and when i say hill i mean HILL!

Walking uphill on Lombard Street             

As we got to the top we could see a few people gathered and taking pictures of the street going down the other side of the hill which as i said before is the crookedest street in the world and one way single file traffic going down.

At the top heading down                     From the bottom looking up.                Most photo’d street in the world ?

 

Matt had booked a table for lunch for us all at a pub on Fishermans Wharfe which was a further 20 minute walk away, James called to say him and Matt had just got off the ferry from Alcatraz and we all met at the pub around 1pm. Wendy and Chris made it over too and we had a great lunch with everyone.

View from the bar!!                              Matt, Phil, Dave, Chris and Wendy      Matt and James

 

We had all talked earlier about maybe walking across the Golden Gate bridge and this was still the plan till we saw the bike rental place and thought it would be great to cycle over! Matt, James and i got a single bike each while Wendy and Chris decided on a tandem. James was able to get us all $10 discount due to working for United Airlines, this brought the daily rate to $26 each which was fantastic. After getting sized up for bikes, the guys giving us a quick briefing over how to operate them, where the bells and whistles were and showing us a map as to where to go the five of us headed off down the street ringing out bells and singing bike related song!

As you know, things in the US are big, i mean BIG and bridges don't get much bigger than the Golden Gate one! so when i say we cycled for what seemed (and turned out to be) miles and that damn bridge never looked to be getting any closer you then realise just how big it is!

Matt was riding like a crazed man, zipping in and out double back to pass us and he was having a ball, James was peddling away steadily and as much as Wendy and Chris were doing well they were also having a few problems with the chain on their bike.

As much as i don't really look it i am indeed normally a pretty fit guy, however, after not running for a week, being laid up in bed for the best part of four days and not eating much while I’d been ill i was feeling a little worse for ware after a few miles of peddling! The idea was to cycle across the bridge to Sausalito and you can then get a ferry back to the Wharf and drop off the  bikes. What we didn't realise was if you do do it this way, its mostly uphill getting to the bridge! apparently the best way to do it is get the ferry out to Sausalito and then cycle back! Anyway, as i was peddling more and more i could feel the flu that i still had “sweating out” of me! by the time we got to the centre of the bridge i was totally beat and told the other i was gonna turn round and head on back. As we stood there in the middle of the bridge i was having hot and cold sweats and felt a touch dizzy.There was no way i was gonna mess myself up for the sake of a bike ride so i left the other four and  free wheeled most of the way back to the bike shop.

Picture of me that Matt took half way along, i really was struggling!

Panorama of the bridge and the bay area.

View back over the city                        Alcatraz in the distance                      Matt, James, Wendy and Chris

 

On returning back the girl was telling me from the bike shop to the middle of the bridge was exactly 6.5 miles, so that was a 13 mile round trip that I’d just done, not much but mostly uphill and with flu it seemed like 113 miles!

Id arranged a dinner in North Beach for tonight and there were about 20 friends due to attend, some whom i hadn't seen for nearly 10 years, i was looking forward to it and i headed back to my hotel to rest, shower and change and get ready to head back out in a few hours time. I got a text from Wendy to say they had biked to the end of the bridge and were turning around to come back, it was too much for even fit people to go all the way to Sausalito! We all joked along the ride how sore are butts were gonna be tomorrow! little did we know just how sore and how quickly they would become sore! The name of the bike rental place was aptly called blazing saddles! and i was slowly starting to feel the blaze in mine now!

As i headed out of the hotel, James and Matt were just arriving back, they were walking down the street like they still had the bikes between their legs! Matt said he was going back to the room to moisturize his butt and would catch up with us at the restaurant.

Post to be continued…….

Wednesday 9th May, San Fran day 1….

I finally got to Newark last night around 9:30pm, James was kind enough to pick me up and we headed back to his apartment where i was staying the night.

We both got on the flight to San Fran around 11am this morning and arrived about 2pm, 1 hour ahead of schedule.

Matt from the UK was due in to San Fran around the same time as was Eric who was flying up from LA. By the time James and i made our way over to Terminal G to meet Matt his flight had landed and 15 minutes later he came through from immigration and customs. The three of us headed over to meet Eric off his flight in terminal 2 then the four of us then got a cab to our hotels downtown.

Wendy and her husband Chris had got to their hotel earlier this afternoon as had Greg and his wife Linda from Philadelphia and Jackie and Dave from the UK arrived yesterday and were already checked in.

There's a lot more people coming in tomorrow and we have a dinner tomorrow night with 25 of us, looking forward to seeing everyone.

Just a little pin prick.

This past Thursday I was hit by a severe bout of the flu! It totally knocked me off my feet, and for the last 3 days, I've done nothing but rest in bed! I’ve been looked after in the good care of “Dr Beth” and “Nurse Kami “ though :)

It’s now around 3 P.M. Tuesday, and I’m in the lounge at the airport in Washington DC. I was due to fly to Newark at 11:15 this morning. However, I'm still not feeling anywhere near 100%, so I thought I’d get a few extra hours recovery time in bed, and I moved my flight to 2:45. Bad move!

When I arrived at DCA, I was told the flight was delayed an hour due to “mechanical” problems. 20 minutes later, I was told the flight was cancelled. The next flight at 5 P.M. was also cancelled! I was placed on the standby list to go to Cleveland and then to Newark, but I missed out on a seat as there were 2 seats and 3 people on the standby list! Now I’m due to fly to Cleveland at 5 P.M. and will arrive at Newark around 9:30 P.M. I’ll be staying the night with my friend James, and we both  fly out to San Francisco tomorrow. Not a lot has happened since I got here—I’ve just been ill and waiting for flights! I am hoping to change that, though, over the next few days as I meet up with everyone in San Fran. The good thing is that I’m feeling a 100 times better than I was this morning.

For the 1st time today.

Yesterday I was on United Airlines inaugural flight from Manchester to Washington DC. There were celebrations at the gate in Manchester as the plane that had left Washington's IAD airport the previous night arrived. The Managing Director of United Airlines and lots of other “suits” were waiting at the gate in order to cut the ribbon before the passengers boarded the plane.

“Suits” and the ribbon cutting             Bagels and cupcakes at the gate      My invite.

   

Thanks to my buddy James, I was in 1st class on the flight over, and we were all given a “certificate” for being on the inaugural flight as well as a small box of chocolates as we boarded.

I’m here in Virginia till early next week, and then I fly up to Newark to meet James. James and I will fly out to San Francisco for the show and to meet up with the rest of the gang.