Buenos Aires 1st show (part 1)

We headed out to the show around 5 P.M., had a pizza and a drink at the bar a couple of blocks down the street, then walked the 6 blocks to the bus stop to catch the number 15 bus to the Stadium. It's about a 5 mile journey to the stadium and a 25 minute ride on the bus, all for the cost of 1.25 pesos. (About 25 cents US.)

Kami on the wheel well on the bus                   Almost everyone going to the show

   

Kami was a touch worried about where to get off. I’d looked on the map prior to us getting on the bus and had a rough idea where it was. I said to Kami that the best thing is just to wait for the people wearing the Jimi Hendrix, Motley Crue, AC/DC, and other band T-shirts to get off. Sure enough, they all did as we got to the stadium, but the bus driver gave us the heads up anyway. It took us 15 minutes to walk the rest of the way to the venue but only 5 minutes before we saw the “Kevins” of South America. The first thing we saw for sale along the side of the street were "hammers" armbands--red material, fully printed hammers and Velcro adjustable! Then the T-shirts popped up the nearer we got to the venue.

A HUGE thanks goes out to my friend, Thomas, in Austria, who had General Admission tickets for tonight's show. Thomas was unable to make the trip over, but kindly sent us the two tickets. General admission wasn't on the floor, it wasn't on the 1st tier, nor the 2nd, nor the 3rd, but it was as high up and far back as you could possibly climb! As most people know, I don't like being at the back AT ALL. However, this was different. It's a football stadium that holds nearly 70,000 people, and I couldn't wait to see the show from this vantage point. I wanted to take in all the crowd, too.

We found the correct entrance for General Admission after some roaming and made our way in. we had a quick look at the merchandise store and saw some great promotional round cardboard hammers signs that were marked in Spanish as not for sale. However, they also had some great gift bags with crossed hammers printed on the side. I'm not sure if they are for sale individually, or if you only get one with a purchase.

   

We had about 7 flights of spiraled steps to ascend, taking us directly to the top of the venue. I resisted looking across into the stadium as we went past each level, as I wanted to be surprised by the shear size of the place and the larger wall only when we got to the top.

Main entrance                                            Seating chart

   

You can get an idea of our seat location by viewing the Mexican Wave video below:

I caught a glimpse of the wall from the 4th or 5th level but kept my head down, and we carried on marching up the stairs. As we entered the stadium seating, we saw the wall emerge across the fields and the crowds of fans all sat all around in the various tiers. While the wall was a lot bigger than in the US or European shows, I have to admit I was a touch disappointed that it wasn't as big as the one in Chile. Had I know how big it would be in Chile, I would have, without a doubt, attended those shows!

First view of inside the stadium                    Our 1st show in South America

 

I was surprised how much space was left on the floor of the stadium. It was blocked off without any seating at all. I guess the majority of fans prefer the cheaper tickets, even though they are further away.

Panoramic view

We took our “seats” around 8 P.M. I say seats, but they were nothing more than row after row of painted concrete steps! The show wasn't due to start till 9 P.M., but it was great to sit there for an hour just to take in the atmosphere. I got talking to the guy sat to my right.Luciano, a Buenos Aires local, was attending his 2nd concert ever! His 1st was the red Hot Chilli Peppers some 10 years ago. It was great to meet you, Luciano, and I hope you enjoyed the concert. See you Friday?

Luciano at his 1st Roger show             Coupe of random crowd shots                     

   

The stuka plane that comes down at the end of In The Flesh was even further back than we were. It must have been a literal quarter of a mile run down the cable before it hit the wall! Before Kami and I headed down to BA, we looked at the weather, and it predicted thunder storms every day for the coming week! Luciano also mentioned that there was talk of the show being postponed if the weather took a turn for the worst! Fortunately, it was an ideal evening for an outdoor show. It was sunny all day, the rain held off, and the humidity had died down a bit as it grew dark. Conditions were near perfect approaching 9 P.M. Sure enough, at about 8:45 the sound of the 1st pre-show track, "Take This Hammer," a now familiar sound, came through the PA, and Kami and I knew we had about 20 minutes till show time.

There were a few things instantly visibly different from the indoor arena shows of the last couple of years. The main one was the three projector towers and three lighting towers above them. When Kami and I initially took our seats, we kept moving around and checking behind us to make sure the towers were not obstructing our view. This might be a problem for people who don't have general admission tickets at the outdoor shows and whom have assigned seats! We were lucky enough to find a seat with a view of the whole stage where “the guys” were, and the only area that was blocked was to the left of the wife-mantis and the right of the teacher puppets. It wasn't till we really started to look that we realised just how much longer the stage was and how small everything on the stage actually looked! The bricks looked miniature, and the drum kit was hardly even visible! Obviously, the guys selling binoculars outside (and inside) the stadium were aware of this before we were!

After each of the pre-show tracks finished, we let Luciano know how many were left. The rest of the crowd was clueless, and it was now past 9 P.M. They were starting to get a little anxious and whistling for the show to start. One thing that was VERY off-putting was the smell of Marijuana in the air. According to our local friends, it was recently legalized for small-scale use. The people around us seemed especially aware of this. I hate the smell, and it was coming from every direction.

   

As “People Get Ready,” the last track of the pre-show, finished, a Spanish announcer gave the “flash forced off” speech, and Luciano laughed as I relayed the announcement to him in English even though I don't speak a word of Spanish. The stadium lights went off--it was the darkest I've ever seen for a show. You couldn't see the stage or the equipment at all, the air was warm, the crowd were going crazy, and I was thinking how it had been 7 months, 3 weeks and 2 days since I'd seen the last show in Athens, and how I felt like I was back in the best place in the world again, seeing Roger Waters perform “The Wall” in South America.

 

More to follow…

Buenos Aires 1st show pictures, review tomorrow

River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires - 7th March, 2012
    

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Day 1 in Buenos Aires

First of all, I owe a great deal of thanks to a good friend of mine, without whom I would not be able to see as many shows and travel to as many places. Due to his generosity, I'm able to fly anywhere in the world for just the price of the airline taxes!  I hope he knows just how much I appreciate it, and although I've said so before, I just wanted to reiterate how much I truly do appreciate it.

So Kami’s mom, Beth, drove Kami and I to the airport on Monday night. Our flight to Buenos Aires was due out at 10 P.M., and we arrived around 7:30. We checked in, went through security, and headed directly to Chipotle so Kami could fill her little tummy and get a good sleep on the flight!

We made our way over to concourse C, found the gate, then sat and watched the standby and upgrade list going up and down as the check in clerk messed about on the computer. I just made it on the flight and managed to snag an emergency exit seat, so I had plenty of legroom. The flight was just under 11 hours, and while I don't mind flying at all, after about 8 hours, I wanna get off! It was a overnight flight, but the hope of getting a solid sleep didn't really happen, although I managed to get 3 or 4 hours intermittently. Kami slept even less. She was several rows farther back than I, and unfortunately she was sat next to an Argentinian woman that wanted to talk the whole way!

Argentina has a reciprocity fee that they charge citizens of the USA, Canada, and Australia when entering the country. Fortunately, the UK isn't included on the list, so I didn't have to pay $140 to enter the country! Kami did. At least the fee lasts for any visits in the following 10 years, but it's still a lot of money for a one-off visit. It took me about 45 minutes to get through immigration, and it took Kami nearly 90 minutes, as she first had to line up to pay the fee. By the time she came through I had all our bags off the carousel, and we headed down through customs and out to the terminal to change our dollars into pesos. That was another 45 minutes of standing in line, but the rate was about 15% higher than if we had changed our money in the USA!

We booked a car service from the airport to the apartment we are renting, and while the drive started pleasantly out in the country, it took about 40 minutes, ending as we pushed through a bit of hair-raising traffic in the city! When we started planning this trip, it was evident that the cost of hotels in Buenos Aires is like the cost of hotles in any other major city throughout the world. NOT cheap! I started looking around online at apartment rentals, and we found a great apartment in a great area of BA called Palermo Soho. Its a great, “hip” neighbourhood full of restaurants, bars, boutique stores, art galleries, and lots of little trendy stores. Its about 5 miles away from the stadium where Roger is playing and a very safe area.

View from the apartment balcony

      

After unpacking Kami slept for a few hours, and I headed off down to the supermarket a couple of blocks down the street to get something to drink and some food for the next few days. The great thing about an apartment rental is that you have your own kitchen with all the mod cons you have at home. After finding what they call butter, I looked around for milk--which I found in plastic bags! The bags held 1 litre of milk, and I was just confused--how do you store the bag after you open it?! Thanks to a few Facebook friends, I know now there's a type of container you buy to put the bags in. I eventually found “regular” milk in a carton and bought that instead, though.

We took a walk round Palermo for a couple of hours. It's very arty and littered with small cafes and plenty of street seating. It's very chic and eccentric in appearance--kind of like a larger version of Soho in New York.

The cobbled streets, cute roads, and cool cafes of Palermo Soho      

   

Sunset picture                                              Beautiful tree lined avenues
   
After wandering round for half an hour, we stopped to have our first drink at a cafe and sat on the sidewalk, taking in the atmosphere.
Our first drinks in Argentina                                              Old rusted out truck parked on the street
     
Full album of pics from day 1

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South America!

Well they let Kami and i in!                                              

   

First full stadium wall pictures from Chile

 

WYWH gig

Joe and Kim followed Kami and I back to the hotel to leave their car; they would share our room for the night. The four of us took one car to the venue, arriving around 8:30. The show was due to start at 9 P.M., so Kami and I picked up our tickets from the Merchandise table. Eroc happened to be there, and we had a chat before the show.

Michael, Suzanne, Kim and Joe were at a table in front of the stage. Kami and I were towards the back of the venue, but had great seats. (Thanks again Eroc!) We all hung out and had a drink before taking our seats for the show around 9 P.M.

While I'd seen videos and heard audio clips of WYWH, I was ever so impressed with the whole stage show and the musicians onstage.

View from our seats, great little venue with booths and tables in front of the stage

 

 

The band were onstage for over 3 hours!! They had a 20-minute intermission, and the set list included all of Animals from start to finish! I have to say, they were one of the best “fraud” bands I've ever seen. The sound, the stage set, the set list--everything was fantastic, and these guys were so professional. It was amazing.

 

   

 

At intermission we headed back to the guys' dressing room to have a chat for a bit, then took our seats for the second half. Michael and Suzanne very kindly offered us their seats for the second half, and they took ours. (I can't thank you both enough for this.) I can say for sure I'm definitely gonna be out in OH to see these guys again.

Me, Joe, Michael, Eroc, Kami, Jamie, Suzanne and Kim   Eroc and Kim after the show
 
Full album of pics below:

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Kami and I started the drive back to Virginia the next day and arrived back Monday afternoon. I'm so happy we all managed to meet up and have a fantastic weekend. It was certainly worth changing my flight. I have a few more days in VA before flying down to Buenos Aires this weekend for 9, yes NINE, Wall shows. :)

Here we go again

So it was Kim’s (Kami’s sister's) birthday this past weekend, and after chatting to Kim the week before last to decipher what she was doing for her birthday, I found out she was going to see the Floyd tribute band Wish You Were Here. I decided to change my flight so that Kami and I could drive out to Ohio to surprise her for her birthday.

When I flew over this past Wednesday, I only just made the flight. I was flying standby, and there were only two seats left! fortunately, the two seats were first class, so I was able to relax and fly in style all the way over to Washington D.C.

Beth picked me up at the airport and after picking Mark up from work in downtown D.C. We ended up waiting for his business dinner to finish and got to the house exhausted around 9 P.M.

Kami and I planned to start the drive over to Kim and Joe’s place in OH on Friday, stay in Pittsburgh Friday night, then finish the drive on Saturday. I've known Eroc (bass and vocals) and Jamie (guitar and vocals) from the band for several years, and I've always promised to come over one day and see them perform. Kim's birthday was a great excuse. WYWH were playing a small venue situated like a Vegas-style showcase in Akron, OH. I emailed Eroc before I flew over, and he was as excited as I that I was coming out to see the band and the show.  Friends Michael and Suzanne had driven over from PA for the show, too, and I had let Suzanne in on the secret of my coming so that she could plan a place for Kim, Joe, Michael and her to meet up at where Kami and I could surprise them.

We arrived in Arkon around 2 P.M. on Saturday after driving 4 hours on Friday and 3 hours that morning. We checked into the hotel, chilled out for a few hours, and I kept in touch with Suzanne via Facebook to make sure everything was going well with the surprise meet-up at a bar a couple of miles down the street. We were all meeting up at the Winking Lizard at around 6:30.

 

Kami and I were at the bar when Michael and Suzanne arrived. Michael was stunned that I was there. It was great to see him and Suzanne again. We sat at the bar, and I kept an eye on the door for Kim and Joe. Kim messaged Suzanne 5 minutes prior to say they would be there in 10 minutes. Kami saw them first and yelled "Duck!" We stayed down until they were within a few feet, then popped up to surprise them!  Kim’s face was a picture! I hadn't let anything slip on Facebook that I would be in the U.S., and as far as Kim knew, I wouldn't be arriving into D.C. until AFTER her birthday. I'd even maintained my usual countdown on Kami's Facebook wall of days until I reached the U.S.!  Both Kim and Joe were shell-shocked when they saw Kami and me in the bar. We exchanged hugs and smiles, then had some food and drink before heading down to the venue to see WYWH. Kami and I visited the venue an hour before the meet-up at the bar to see Eroc and Jamie and watch the sound check. They both knew we were surprising everyone, too, and had kept quiet the whole time.

 

Me, Michael, and Suzanne after the surprise                    Suzanne, Joe, Me, Kim and Kami

 

Roger and the band singing Waltzing Matilda at the 3rd Brisbane show!

Many thanks to Rick for filming and sending us this.

Perth 2nd show pictures

Thanks again to Dean for sending these. It appears from the pictures and what Dean said in his e-mail that ticket sales to last night's show were about a 1/3 less than the opening night. The venue screened off the top tier of the venue along with some sections in the lower tier, as you can see from the pictures below.

Looking at the size of the crowd, I'd say this ended up being more of a personal show for the people that were there!

Also visible in the pictures are the supporting towers for the overhead projector/speaker rig. While these look like they could be a little distracting if your seats are to the rear of the venue, Dean said he barely noticed them after a few songs.