August 9- Duran Duran Concerts- Additional Details

August 3, 2015- Port Chester, NY

I was very happy when they did “Rio”. It had been nearly 4 years since I last have seen them perform this. They had left it off of the set list at the Foxwoods show in 2012. They probably would have done it at the AC one the following night.

   I am pretty sure that the girl behind me also had a ticket to that cancelled show. I mentioned that when I was at the Foxwoods show the night before, Nick was looking sick. She said that someone else had told her this too.

   That girl looked familiar. I probably have seen her at another concert and/or at John Taylor’s book signing in Ridgewood.

   I was able to get through my anxiety of going to this show and also communicating with people there. I can give myself credit for this. But that and the other positives don’t cancel out not being able to enjoy the full concert experience.

   I was actually in Port Chester by 2:35 p.m. I had decided to take an earlier train there. I did well with the transportation aspect of this event too, something that I had also been worrying about. I didn’t think that this town would be so crowded and trafficky. I had pictured it being more quaint and tranquil.

   Fans had actually been booing when DD weren’t coming back out for their encore. Cute guy had looked at the set list on his phone and saw that they had done encores at their last 3 concerts. After hearing that, I definitely should have been smart enough to say that we should stick around for a little longer then we wouldn’t have missed out on anything.

   I am almost certain that cute guy said that he is a teacher at West Point. He was annoyed that the girl in front of us leaned over to get stuff out of her backpack numerous times during the show. A couple of other people were too, as was I.

 

August 7, 2015- Bethlehem, PA- Musikfest

When I told Mike that they performed his two favorite songs, he said “The Reflex” and “Wild Boys” right away. The set list was basically the same as the Port Chester Saturday concert, except a little different order. “Election Day” was not on it. They did 15 songs, 2 less than at that one. Stop!-don’t even rehash the missed encore incident again.

  The girl next to me had been at the Sunday concert at that venue. She was lucky enough to be in the front row, her first time ever in such a spot. She said that they performed “Is There Something I Should Know?”

   I mentioned the cancelled Atlantic City show. Her friend also had a ticket to it. She seemed upset about this so I didn’t tell her that I had been at the Foxwoods one the night before that. I was afraid that she might be jealous.

    I was screwing up a lot when typing my email address in the notebook section of Lori’s smartphone. I had never typed on one of these before. I felt kind of embarrassed. I am really looking forward to receiving her photos of this concert.

   Jenny’s parents were nice. I talked to her Dad about tennis and the US Open. I think that he said that he has been to that event but a while back. When I told her mother that Mom likes Sinatra, she said that she can’t stand his music. It is cool that she likes DD and other music that Jenny is into.

  It was kind of ironic that I was wearing the pair of 1928 brand earrings that Cindy gave to me as a Christmas gift in the mid-1980s when she just happened to be at this concert too. I would have been feeling very nervous if I had actually encountered here there though.

 

  August 8, 2015- More DD in PA

Jenny said that she has been to 33 DD concerts since 1987. I wish that I had been to more than 10 over the past 10 years, like another one during their 2007 Broadway run.

   She has a lot of tour shirts. I told her that I finally bought my first two and that I am getting over my shame of wearing them.  We were looking at the ones that they had for sale there. I saw one that I would be interested in but I really don’t have the money for another one now.

   She was at John's book signing in NYC. He also signed a pick of his that she had been lucky enough to catch at a concert. She actually has two of them. He wasn’t really signing other stuff besides the book but he did this for her which was nice.

   I told Jenny that I would have loved to have seen them when they were younger. She added when we were younger to that statement. I did mention to her my ridiculous afterlife fantasy of our spirits going to any concerts that we want to. I am pretty sure that I told either Lori and/or the girl next to me that too.

   The girl next to me said that she gets teased about being so passionate about them. I said that my brother teases me about them too but uses the word obsessed. I like the word she used and also devoted. I bet that if I had been into them when I was younger, I would be even more passionate about them now. I really wish that I had been.

   Jenny agreed with me when I said that I wish that we could go to another DD concert soon. It will be a long time before they are in this area again. I’m sure that they will wait until around March or April to do the Garden. I will certainly try to get a good seat through the fan club then.

   I checked my email and saw a lot of Facebook stuff of Jenny’s on there, including some of her photos of the concert. I felt so good when I saw that she referred to me as her new Duranie friend. I did respond to this, saying that meeting and hanging (forgot to add out after this word) with her made this event even more special.

 

 

August 7- DD Concert- Bethlehem PA

I arrived in Bethlehem by noon. I should have taken a little bit later bus. I didn’t realize that there really isn’t much to do in that area. I had my lunch and wrote in my journal in a small park. I then went to Rite Aid where I got some Tic-Tacs.

   I looked in an upscale thrift shop then did some more sitting around and a bit of daydreaming in another area of that park.

   When I finally walked to the outdoor venue- Steel Stacks- I heard “Come Undone” DD was obviously doing a sound check. Part of me was thinking that maybe this was just on a stereo system at first. After that, I heard “Is There Something I Should Know?”

   I actually approached a girl in a Planet Earth t-shirt like I have but in blue and began talking to her around that time. We walked over to the fenced in area to try to find a spot where maybe we would be able to peek in to see DD but no such luck.

   I hung out with this girl, Jenny, and her parents before the show. They were so nice. Jenny also likes JT. I told her that I was ashamed about liking him and she said that I shouldn’t be.

   When her phone rang, I heard “Is There Something I Should Know?” as the ringtone. We were certain that they would be doing this during the show but that didn’t happen. So I guess that they don’t always perform stuff that is done during sound check.

   Jenny shared part of her chicken salad sub sandwich from Wawa with me. That saved me some money on dinner. I had only brought my lunch and some snacks and juice boxes with me.

     Jenny and her mother had good seats in the front section. Those tickets were all grabbed up by the employees of this venue and anyone who makes a pledge to its arts foundation; they were the first to go on presale.

   A small part of me is wishing that I had just made that pledge but that would have been an additional $100.00 that I would have had to take out of my auto repair fund. It is bad enough that I have been dipping into this for other DD stuff lately.

   It was cool that a couple of people who sat near me actually remembered me from previous DD concerts and events. Lori was the girl at the JT book signing who sent me some photos of it. The girl next to me was at the Wellmont and Central Park shows. I didn’t think that I was that memorable.

   Lori said that she would send me photos of this show. I felt bad that I didn’t say goodbye to her. I was worried about possibly missing the bus.

   I used my binoculars way too much during this concert, mostly on bassist guy. The lady to my left must have thought that I was obsessed with him. She motioned for me to move over so that I could get an even better view of him. That was nice of her.

   The show was good but it went by way too quickly; it only lasted for 75 minutes. Jenny and I didn’t care for the opening act, a girl singer. Her dad drove me to the bus stop. I am now Facebook friends with her.

   Unfortunately, I screwed up the bus schedule. I thought that the last bus to NYC was at 11:30 but it turns out that this is the last one from NYC to here. The driver said that the next one wasn’t until 7:30 a.m. and suggested that I stay at a hotel down the road.

   Thank goodness that a nice guy who I had been talking to while waiting for the bus offered to drive me to the Sands Resort Casino. I discovered that there was a 1:45 a.m. bus to NYC from this destination. That was a very long 2 hour wait for me.

   I did worry that the driver would say that I could not go on the bus because my ticket was for the other stop but luckily she didn’t. It’s the same line and the stop was not that far from this one.

   I was so damn exhausted. I think that I did fall half asleep for a bit during the ride. I had to wait about an hour for the first train to Linden at Penn Station.

   I went into Quick Check hoping to find a mocha Frappuccino. I was so happy that they had this. I took the cab home; I had just missed the first bus to my town.

   My brother was already awake when I got home. I was hoping to get a little peace and quiet before he woke up. I told him all about my adventure. I am sure that he thinks that it was crazy that I took a bus to PA just to see DD.

   I don’t remember when I first discovered that I had accidentally left the binocular case with the lens covers in it at the venue. I was very upset about this. I am too afraid to tell my brother about it.

   I found out from looking on Facebook that our childhood friend Cindy was also at this concert. Jenny had tagged me in a photo that she took at it. Cindy saw this and left a comment. I think it said “You were in my backyard.” She lives in Allentown.

    I did reply to this. We don’t usually interact on this site or elsewhere, except for birthday wishes. I haven’t seen her since her grandfather’s funeral in 1992.

   Even though I was upset about the bus fiasco, I was kind of glad that I didn’t get it right. If I had noticed that there wasn’t a bus until the next morning I probably would have never ordered a ticket for this venue.

    I am sure that Amy will say that she is proud of me for socializing at this event. I guess that I did an okay job of it but I was still feeling pretty anxious. I can’t see that I will ever feel comfortable doing so. That is kind of pathetic. I wish that I could be normal.