September 29, 2015- Duran Duran and NYC

I had set my alarm for 4 a.m. yesterday but I shut it off and went back to bed. I pretty much gave up on my plan to go into the city to find out about the DD wristband situation. It more than likely would have been a wasted trip anyhow. That ship has sailed already. I wish that I could have been on it to meet Captain Le Bon and his crew.

   I am trying to tell myself that meeting the DD guys was just not meant to be but it is very hard to do that because it is my big dummy’s side who prevented me from going to that store a couple of times when there would have been a chance for me to get a wristband.

   I can’t believe that I had actually thought about going to see Duran Duran at that FOLD festival on Long Island. I had researched the public transportation for it but then my rational side said that I better not dig into my auto repair fund to pay for this adventure. My bad side is wishing that I had done so.

   They had shown a bit of this event during that “CBS Sunday Morning’ show. I think that I saw one girl going bonkers because she got to hug one of the band members but I forget which one. Maybe I am even wrong about this; could be a false memory.

 

After NYC

I told Amy about the Duran Duran autograph signing. She called the store for me to find out about the wristband situation. They still had some left. I was too afraid and ashamed to make this call myself. It seems ridiculous that we were doing this during a therapy session.

   The John Taylor autograph signing topic was brought up by her. She said that I seemed to do okay with that. I said that I must have been braver a few years ago.

   I went to Linden station right after this. I got a little lost when trying to find the store. I saw a lady with a Century 21 bag so I got up enough courage to ask her where this place was. I wasn’t that far from it.

  The inside of the store was so confusing to me; it felt like my head was spinning trying to find the way to get to the lower level.  The elevators seemed to be for employees only. I finally asked an employee who directed me to the right one then I had to take an escalator.

   I made up a story about how I was getting this CD for a friend from P.A. so she could go to the signing. I was still feeling embarrassed to be doing such a thing. I said that I am mostly into country music and asked him if they had any. He said that there is a small selection of it.

   They had the new Luke Bryan one and it was only $9.99 but I really want the Target edition with the 3 extra songs on it.

   I was too exhausted to even look around the store. I did check out a small display of jewelry quickly but didn’t really see anything that I liked.

   I was just glad to get back to Penn Station. I wound up getting on the wrong train though so I had to get off at Newark station and wait for the right one.

   I hadn’t been in that city since 2007 for the Bon Jovi concert. It was sort of cool but odd when I heard one of their songs, “Make a Memory” playing in that station.

   I had to drive home in the pouring rain for a few minutes. This was very scary. I was praying that I would not get into an accident.

   I wasn’t going to tell my brother where I had been. I had told him that I was going to the library after my appointment. I decided to reveal the truth after all. He definitely must think that I am totally obsessed with Duran Duran now.

   I won’t believe that I am truly meeting them until they are actually in front of me though. I just hope that nothing goes wrong that will spoil this awesome occasion for me.

   I should have asked where in this store that the event is taking place. That J&R Express area seems pretty small. They must have another spot for the signing. I guess that I will have to wait until next Wednesday to find out.

   I hope that I don’t get lost again trying to find this store. How early should I get there? It starts at 6:00 so maybe 4:00 would be good. I am sure that some girls will arrive even earlier than that.

  I had thought about getting the DD CD and wristband for my brother but I was not certain that he would be interested. He has been listening to them a lot more than I have lately.

   I do sort of wish that he was coming with me. Well, part of me would be worried that he might say something that would embarrass me around the DD guys.

   I am sure that we will be herded through this process swiftly. I can’t imagine that they will want to be there for any more than a couple of hours. There are 400 people to get through, so maybe like 30-40 seconds for each of us.

    I am already nervous about meeting all of them. I probably won’t even say more than “Hello” and “Thank you”.

  I watched a video clip of a Simon and John interview about their pets. They both have Chihuahuas. Someone posted this on Tumblr. I wasn’t going to do another DD post there because I really didn’t want to see my photos of them but did one with 3 group shots.

   I didn’t get the chance to check a B&N in the city for that Classic Pop magazine with DD on the cover. Maybe I will just see if ours has it first. It is a British publication, I think, so they might not have it. An NYC store might be more likely to carry it.

   

Dreamtime

 October 17, 2014- Luke Bryan Show

I was transported to the holodeck early one morning as I was watching a Luke Bryan video. The setting that I was now in was the front yard of my old apartment. Standing nearby were about 40 people; a few of them looked like former classmates. Cars had been cleared from the area in front of us and approximately 80 more people were standing in the street.

   There was a stage on the sidewalk and part of the grass across the street. Luke Bryan was moving around and singing on it; he was doing a cover version of Neil Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue”. I was thrilled to see him but was also thinking that it was unusual that he had chosen to perform that tune.

   After the song, Luke said that he would be back as soon as he was done judging a pie contest. This was being held up at the community center. That was also pretty strange. I wish that I could have gone to see this but we were told that we all had to stay there.

   This mini-concert and the contest was being filmed for a special on CMT channel. I heard a girl telling her friend this. I also found out that this event was part of a contest. The grand prize winner would have Luke perform in his or her neighborhood and up to 10 friends/family members could be there. The rest of the crowd were contest winners too.

   The very lucky person turned out to live in the middle apartment of the unit next door. This time, I did not live at our old place. The woman that did came outside during the break. Her 2 cute doggies, a spaniel/collie mix and a terrier mix, were with her. I went over to them and pet the doggies and talked to their owner for a little while.

   I did wonder why they didn’t just have the concert in the field behind the location that it was taking place. That would have made much more sense than blocking off the street and having people move their cars. I’ve been to other concerts, including Duran Duran, in that field. Even though this was a somewhat odd spot for such an event, I was thrilled to be there.

   About 25 minutes later, and announcer/host said that Luke would be returning in 5-6 minutes. The girls nearby me were very excited about this. Michelle had her camera with her and showed me some of the pictures that she had taken of him so far. They all were nice.

   We were happy when Luke was back on the stage. He performed 4 songs- “I Don’t Want This Night to End”, “Play It Again”, “That’s My Kind of Night” and “Country Girl (Shake it for Me)” He put on a good show, as always. I was wishing that I had gone to his concert at MSG this year in reality.

    The grand prize winner, a girl in her mid-20s, got to go onto the stage with Luke afterwards. He talked with her and gave her a hug. I was a little jealous of her.

   My appearance was in my late 20s as were my classmates for this storyline. I was glad that my alien friend had programmed it for me. I have only been to a few country music events in the holodeck.

   I was back in my room a minute later watching Luke in “Roller Coaster”. They have been showing that video way too much lately.

September 13, 2015- Luke Bryan Concert

The LB concert was a good one but unfortunately, I got stuck in Trenton overnight again. This is the second time that this is happened, both after his concert.

   I probably would have made the last night train- 11:59- if only I had hopped onto the lite rail that was on the other side of the tracks. I waited near the empty one on the other side only to discover that this one was out of service. I wish that my smart side could have defeated the idiot one.

   It seemed to take forever to get from Camden to Trenton. Both cities are pretty scary. A nice African American guy waited with me in the station; he was like my protector. He had missed the night’s last SEPTA train to Philly.

   He could’ve taken a cab but he said that is expensive plus he didn’t want to leave me alone in that place. He told me that I shouldn’t do something like this again because it is dangerous. I agreed with him. I was so glad when it was 4:45 a.m. and the train to Linden arrived.

   I had used to lite rail for the Tim McGraw concert 2 years ago also but got on it at Bordentown station. I had dropped Mom off at her sister’s house in that town. She was staying with her for a week. It had been a stressful drive, esp. when returning home at night.

   Dustin Lynch and Randy Houser were Luke’s opening acts. I liked Randy; I would like to see him in concert someday. I got upset when the enjoyment of “Goodnight Kiss”, one of my favorite songs of his, was interrupted.

   Both of them- or maybe just Dustin- did come back out on the stage during one or two of Luke’s songs but I don’t remember which ones.

   A lady asked me if I would move over one seat so that she could sit next to her friend. They had gotten tickets at the box office at the last minute and the seats were not together. I didn’t really want to move but did so. Luckily, there wasn’t a tall person in front of me in that spot either.

   My seat wasn’t close to the stage like last time but at least it was in the center and not all the way over to the side which I didn’t like.

   Luke did a cover version of Alabama’s “Mountain Music”. He did a pretty good job of it. I liked when he performed “I Don’t Want This Night to End” and “That’s My Kind of Night” which was part of the encore.

   The girls were going gaga over him when he was doing his “sexy” dance moves during some songs like “Country Girl (Shake it for Me)” I think this looks kind of ridiculous.

  I didn’t like it when Luke opened a can of beer and threw it out on the audience in the PIT area. I would have been in such a spot if I had gone to his show in Long Island. I was too depressed and anxious to attend it though. I would have been so mad if beer had gotten on me if he did this then too.

   I bought a $5.00 photo as a souvenir as I had done at my other country boys and the Lady Antebellum concerts.

   It is pretty absurd that even at this concert I was thinking about Duran Duran. I was picturing them performing at this venue and me having a seat close to the stage; as if that would ever happen.

 

June 27, 2015- Duran Duran Tickets

I had to drive my brother to the train station because of the rain. This and lots of traffic made the ride very scary. He is seeing Rush at the Prudential Center tonight. I wish that my Chris Young concert was next week and not in 19 days. That seems so far away even though it isn’t really.

   Well, I successfully ordered a ticket to the Duran Duran show in Bethlehem, PA. There was only a presale for the ArtsQuest members and the staff of the venue. I was having trouble getting through because the site was busy. When I finally did, I just grabbed the first seat that I could. I was afraid that if I went back to look for a better one, it would take too long to return to the sales page.

   Unfortunately, the whole first section was all sold out. I got a seat in row I of the center second level. I guess that seems okay. It said that the tickets didn’t go on sale to the general public until 10 a.m. but I got through by 9:55. I was worrying that I got the time wrong and it was really 9:00. I hope not; I will be very mad if I did and could have gotten a closer seat.

    I have maps of the SteelStacks area where there are also other music venues. This concert is part of the Musikfest that is taking place there. It’s an outdoor venue so I have to pray that there won’t be any rain that day.

    I also have the Trans-bridge bus schedule. I sent an email to the company asking if I can purchase the ticket in advance and a couple of other questions. They sent me a very informative reply. I probably will just get the ticket on the day of the event.

   I don’t want to get too hopeful about this concert because it’s best not to just in case something goes wrong and I won’t get to go or it will be cancelled. The only time that I was really hopeful and excited about a show was DD’s Atlantic City one in 2012 which wound up being cancelled due to Nick’s illness. Thank God I had gone to their Foxwoods show the night before that.

   There is one other concert that I have to go to before this one. I am not even telling Mom and Mike about it. Mike would just say that I am obsessed. I am not even sure that I want to mention it to Amy. I did tell Sharon that I am going to see Duran Duran in Port Chester, NY on Saturday, August 1, which is 5 days before the one in PA.

   This show is in the Capitol Theatre. I was able to do presale through the fan site for this one. I almost didn’t do so because I read things wrong and thought that only the $150.00 tickets went on sale that day. I didn’t realize that the general admission tickets were the $89.50 ones, not these.

   Luckily, I was on Tumblr and a DD fan that I follow did a post about this show that clarified the presale thing for me. I ordered my ticket shortly afterwards. It is a pick up at the will call desk only deal. I am not really fond of this; I would prefer having a ticket in my pocketbook before arriving at a venue.

   The box office will call window opens only an hour before the show which is when they open the doors. This will be a crazy scene. I am picturing the fans running into the theater in an attempt to grab a good spot near the stage and the employees telling them to slow down.

   But it isn’t fair that the people who got the general admission tickets on the regular sale days will get to go right into the theater because they will already have their tickets. The presale people should be allowed in there earlier. What is the point in paying a membership fee to have the privilege of presale when you don’t get the first dibs on getting close to the stage?

   I wrote an email to that theater asking if maybe I read their policy about this wrong; maybe they do let the presale people in a little earlier. I should have worded this email differently for it sort of sounds like I am an obsessive fan, which I am not.

   I am very worried about the train ride home. The Metro North schedule for Saturday says that the last train to NYC is at 11:17 p.m. I hope that the show starts relatively on time- 8:00 p.m. – and lasts until only 10:30. That would give me plenty of time to make the train. The station is not that far from the theater.

   I didn’t see an opening act listed. I hope that there isn’t any, for that surely would screw up the schedule. If there is one, the show usually starts at 7:00.

   I can’t help but think of all the things that could go wrong that would prevent me from going to my concerts. I am even more anxious about driving now because if I get in a bad accident and am seriously injured, I won’t be able to see my favorite group and possibly even my country boy Chris, depending on when this might happen.

   I also have grim thoughts that there could be a death in the family and this would prevent me from attending these fun events. I have a couple of others on the calendar for this summer too- the US Open and Luke Bryan. I can’t even think that far ahead to those; the former is August 31-September 3 and the latter is on September 11.

   Mike wants to go to a Mets game that weekend that I am going to see DD. I am telling him that I am going into the city that day to meet up with some DD fans at a 80s club. I will be in the city, but to take Metro North to NY State. Should I get my bus ticket for PA that day? I will be taking the 7 to get to Grand Central Station so I could stop at the bus terminal before getting on that subway.

   Sharon was encouraging me when I told her that I was not so sure that I wanted to get a ticket to the NY show because of my fear of missing the train home afterwards. She said not to worry about it and that I could always take a cab back to the city. That would be so expensive but if it comes to that, I will do so. I would not want to miss out on this show just for this reason.

   I am fantasizing that I will be fortunate enough to get a spot within the first 6 or 7 rows near the stage. I doubt that I will be as lucky as I was at their Wellmont Theater concert in 2008. I think I was within the first 4. I was even closer at the Central Park one- 3^rd row. I will just be happy to be there no matter where I wind up.