September 12, 2017- Paul McCartney Concert

 

 My brother and I had a great time at the McCartney concert. Sir Paul put on an excellent show. He has a lot of energy for someone in his mid-70s. He is only 3 years younger than our parents. It was the longest one that I have ever been to- 2 hours and 45 minutes. We definitely got our money’s worth. It started at about 8:40, 20-25 minutes later than I thought that it would.

   He told some interesting Beatles stories before or after some of those songs, like “Something”. During part of that, he used the ukulele that George Harrison had given him. After “Back in the USSR “, I am pretty sure that he mentioned that they were the first rock concert ever in Moscow’s Red Square.

   There were also tales for “Blackbird”, “Love Me Do”, and” I Wanna Be Your Man”; they gave the latter song to the Rolling Stones to record. I am pretty sure that he said that this was the first number one hit in the UK for them.

   I was so happy when he did “Eleanor Rigby” which is one of my favorite Beatles songs. We would have been so disappointed if he didn’t do “Live and Let Die”. There were some loud pyrotechnics during that.  I only knew this and “Band on The Run” out of the 6 Wings songs. I did used to have the albums but my memories of them are hazy.

   McCartney was reading out some of the people’s signs. One guy had seen him either 100 or 110 times. After the concert, I overhead a lady saying that she has seen him 12 times. I wish that I had been to some of his shows in the past. It seems kind of surreal that I was even at this one.

  It was funny hearing a couple of ladies saying something like “He’s so cute” when McCartney was hamming it up a bit.

   I was surprised that my brother said that seeing him was on his bucket list. He sometimes tells me that the Beatles are so over-rated. Yet he has a greatest hits CD of theirs. He wishes that he had gone to see The Rolling Stones the last time they were on tour.

   Once again, regrets about getting rid of my Beatles/McCartney/Wings albums and tapes were on my mind. I took them to the book and record exchange place in Cranford. I didn’t even get that much credit for these and later saw high prices on them. I should have at least kept 1962-1966 and 1967-1970

   I feel bad that I exchanged my Dad’s 2 45’s at a record show too. I also threw out all the dubbed tapes that a boyfriend made for me in the late 90s. I can’t afford to get the CDs of these. I need to save money for other things now.

  I was doing some people watching; those of all ages were there, including some young kids. I couldn’t help feeling like an outsider even amongst other fans as I do at other concerts and events that I attend.  

   We talked to a nice couple at the Linden train station. Naturally, I was feeling anxious. They were going to the Yankees game. They live on a street in that town that is nearby our old apartment.

   I wrote down the set list this afternoon. There were either 36 or 38 songs on it. 5 were new ones that I wasn’t familiar with. McCartney was joking around about the fact that it was like a black hole out there during these unlike during the Beatles songs when the cell phone cameras all lit up brightly, or something similar.

   “Hey Jude” is playing in my head now. This was never really one of my favs. I like it a little up until the annoying part that seems to drag on at the end. Mike feels the same way. I was somewhat getting into it during the show though. I didn’t ask Mike what he thought about that. He probably would say that he wish that he had done “Get Back” instead; he had been trying to sing this earlier in the day.

   I am slightly ashamed that I was singing along during “Yesterday”. I probably would have been more so if my brother were sitting next to me. He hadn’t intended on going but then changed his mind a couple of minutes after I ordered my ticket. He was 3 rows above me, up at the very top of this venue.

   He still teases me about singing along to a couple of Duran Duran songs at the Garden in 2011. He did so about my dancing too. I know that I shouldn’t let this get to me but it is difficult not to.

May 6, 2017- The Mets and McCartney

It was raining so much yesterday that it didn’t seem as if there would even be a Mets game but luckily it stopped by around 4:15. There was only a spot of drizzle during it later on. They beat the Marlins 8-7. It hadn’t seemed like they were even going to win.

   I wish that I could be more descriptive about this but my mind is all jumbled. I mainly recall the rude people, particularly one guy, in front of us who often blocked our view. And the fact that neither my brother nor I were smart enough to realize that we could have moved over to avoid this until like the bottom of the 7^th inning.

   Mike was the one who said that we should do so. There wasn’t anyone else in our row so we went over to the end of it. I wish that we had done this much sooner.

    Syndergaard was supposed to be the pitcher but he is injured. This was disappointing. The free Thor t-shirt is kind of cheesy but I am glad that we got it.

   Don Mattingly, my 1980s crush, is the Marlins’ manager. It’s been nearly 30 years since I last saw him in person. I have been to more Mets games over the past 3 years than I was to Yankees games in the 1980s; 6- 2.

   Mike ate a chicken sandwich and fries from Blue Smoke. It was another chilly night, not as bad as the last time though. I was dressed warmer so this helped.

   The subway was extremely packed this time. I felt so anxious. Some music was playing in my head then, 2 songs apiece by McCartney and Spandau Ballet. This helped to calm me a bit as did some by Depeche Mode during the game.

   He wants to go to another game in 6 or 7 weeks. I sort of want to but mostly I am just feeling like this will be too tiring in every way as it has been these past 2 times.

   I ordered Paul McCartney tickets for Mike and me yesterday morning. Our seats could have been closer and also together if I had done the preorder on Thursday. The Prudential Center had sent me a code only part of me wasn’t so sure that I should make this purchase.

   It isn’t as if I am into his music that much anymore as I was in the late 80s and early 90s. At first, that internal voice won over the one that said that I shouldn’t pass up on this opportunity. I am just glad that I was able to reverse this in time to get these tickets. I probably will always be a bit mad at myself for not doing the presale.

   I was surprised that my brother actually wanted to go with me. He is always saying how over-rated that the Beatles (and each member) are. Yet he has their greatest hits. It is disappointing that we couldn’t get seats together but at least we will be in the same section (far from the stage), just 3 rows and one seat apart.

   That isn’t until September. We have the Lionel Richie concert before that in August. Both are at the same venue. Mike will be seeing Janet Jackson there in November; she finally rescheduled her tour dates. His Roger Waters show is also in September.

   He still is hoping that Bon Jovi will be at Met Life stadium this summer. I guess that I will go too. He had about 7 of their videos on yesterday before we left for the game. I am the one that got him into this group in the first place. He likes them more than I do now. I only listen to them when he does.

 

Later-

I read an article and watched some highlight clips of yesterday’s game. I did remember some of this, like how Granderson got a 2 run homerun, that Montero was the pitcher, and that they had 6 relievers. TJ Rivera did well but I only remember the homerun part of this. Their winning run was from a walk in the 8^th.

    There were a bunch of runs for each team in an inning- 6 for the Marlins in the 4th and 4 for the Mets in the 7^th. I think that this is right. Even after writing down these details, I am still doubting my memory. We were happy that Flores was in the line-up.

June 8, 2015- Pt. 2- Dreamtime-

December 9, 2008- Grade School and Music Stars

I was in my grade school classroom. It was 1983 again and I looked as I did then. I observed my classmates. I heard Jamie saying that she couldn’t wait for Simon to get there. I found out that Simon Le Bon, Paul McCartney, George Michael, and Billy Idol would be doing a Q&A/autograph signing event here. That was pretty bizarre but also fascinating.

   Michelle T. was talking to me for a little while which was nice. We actually were no longer friends by then. The popular clique had turned her against me somehow. I noticed that Jim had the Wham! Make it Big album on his desk. I guess in that it had come out earlier in this reality.

   I saw that Jamie was wearing a jacket that had a lot of music star pins on it including many of Duran Duran. I pointed to one of John Taylor and asked “Who is that?” She thought that I was being serious at first. I told her that I was joking. I knew hardly anything about that group in the 80s. If I had been a fan back then, I wonder if I would have had a crush on him.

   Our two teachers were standing in front of the room. When I saw Sister J, I was thinking about the time that she said that I had a fat head. We were being measured for graduation caps then. Miss A. went over to the door 30 seconds later.

   When she opened it, Simon Le Bon stepped into the room. My classmates were very excited about this. He said that he had a special surprise for us. The door opened again and in walked John Taylor. A couple of the girls let out a scream of delight. Of course, I was happy to see him too but would never be that expressive about my emotions.

   They spent about 30 minutes on the Q&A session. I had noticed that Billy Idol was standing near the blackboard during this. No one was really paying attention to him. He had disappeared before it ended.

   I was too nervous to get on the line for their autographs. Michelle tried convincing me to do so but I just couldn’t. We were pleasantly surprised that they would be staying a little longer afterwards. I guess that they wanted to be there for McCartney who would be there next.

   They sat at desks and let our teachers sit in the more comfortable chairs that they had been in. That was nice of them.

   I didn’t get to see the other stars, however, because the program ended and I was back in my room on Earth. This was kind of disappointing but I was also glad that I had been part of such an unusual experience. As if any music artists would really visit a grade school like these did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 8, 2015- My Duran Duran Fascination

I didn’t really get into Duran Duran  until after “Ordinary World” first came out, but then it was only a little bit. I was mainly into country music in the 1990s up until 1998. I don’t even really remember much about them from the 1980s. I did have a 45 of their “Hungry Like the Wolf”. It was one of only 10 that I had in that decade.

    I never watched MTV or music videos on other channels either. Wait, I did see Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” around the time that it premiered. Even Mom was watching that! I only saw parts of DD videos in specials about the 80s on VH1 and other channels in the 1990s. I never saw a full video of theirs until around 2007. I got the Greatest CD that came with a DVD then.

   I didn’t look in those teenie bopper mags when I was a kid either, except for the 1 or 2 that my Grandma next door got for me because she thought that I had a crush on Michael J. Fox. I liked him in the movie Back to the Future, that’s all.

   I remember wanting to laugh when my grade school classmates were talking about which  one of the Duran Duran guys that they each had a crush on. I simply did not get why they were so fascinated by them back then. I guess that I kind of do now though.

     I’m kind of ashamed to even admit that I am a DD fan. It’s mostly been for the past 11 years. I didn’t even go to their official website for the first time until 2 years later. I learned about the history of this group then. I felt like I was doing research for a term paper on them.

   I would love to say “I just like their music” when people ask me who is my favorite DD guy. I could also simply say that they are all good looking in their own way. A couple of times I have admitted which one it is. I can’t help feeling embarrassed about this. I have got shame issues that I am trying to work on, esp. when it comes to music and certain guys.

   I used to have many dreams with my music people in them, esp. Duran Duran. I was worrying that this might be kind of obsessive but my therapist said that it isn’t. It’s not as if I have any control over what I dream about.

    Should I be ashamed to even admit that I see a therapist? My issues are anxiety- esp. social, extremely low self-esteem and depression. Hopefully I will be able to overcome all of this. My music does help to calm me down and cheer me up a little. Why is it that I often choose DD to do this?

   Why do I feel that it is okay for everyone else to like Duran Duran but for me it seems sort of wrong? I used to feel the same way about Bon Jovi but not so much now. I’m kind of over that phase. I didn’t start liking them until after “It’s My Life” came out in 2000. I guess that it’s better late than never for both of these groups.

   Part of me is just hoping that liking DD a lot is just some phase that I am going through, like my Beatles/McCartney/Wings one of the late 80s and early 90s. It’s not a crime for me to be a fan of theirs. I have to convince myself to believe this. And it’s not a sin to admit that bassist guy is my favorite. Yikes, I can’t even type his name, that is how embarrassed that I am.

     I am hearing “Planet Earth” playing in my mind’s stereo. Now I’m thinking how I’d like to listen to the Night Version of this- love the extra bass. Damnit, does this make it seem like I am semi-obsessed with that guy? -Probably not. Actually, I’d love to see this video. I get a kick of the puffy shirts in that. Bring those back into fashion- just kidding.

   I feel kind of embarrassed for thinking that watching Duran Duran videos makes me happy when I am having a depressing day. That sounds semi-obsessive. The thought that hopefully I will get to see them in concert again sometime this year is like a tiny spark that will help me to get through the tough times. Gosh, that sounds so darn corny.