On Thursday, April 28, 2011 I drove to downtown Austin and parked in the City Hall garage. I walked around and had a bite at the Austin Java company. Finally met with lots of other serious fans at the box office. They took us into the nice, new, small ACL venue in the "W" and we got to hear the part of one song that the Moody Blues were doing for a sound check.
I have to admit that seeing them brought me the same excitement I've experienced for over 40 years now.
We got to walk up on the stage and get our pictures taken. I met up with Bonnie and Janet. Met many other very nice, serious fans too. A fellow from Germany who came over for 6 shows. The woman I sat next to at the show was going to 16 shows.
Wandered around for a bit before the show. Went with Janet to her car to get a spare pair of glasses.
The show was great. Acoustics very good. No big towers of speakers requiring ear plugs. A nice, sound coming from lots of places. I was a little disappointed with my 5th row seat. For all the money I spent, I had hoped for 1st row, but it wasn't that bad. Saw my old friend Kim Nobles who was there with her son. All-in-all an excellent experience and great show. The band looked healthy and very relaxed. Justin had a slight paunch.
I ran out of there after the show and just zipped home as quickly as I could.
I worked the next morning after packing for Houston. Left work at noon and drove to Houston uneventfully. Got to the Woodlands at 3:00 and parked right on the street in front of the venue. Walked over to the Woodlands Mall and explored it for a while. Had a nice salad at La Madeleine and then got to the box office by 5:00. We got taken into the venue and got to see a song of the sound check. The Diamond package people got to go up on the stage, but we Gold package people didn't because of time constraints.
Eventually we got brought up front and were told we could sit in any seat. I grabbed a front row. The tour director, who was a great guy, answered questions for a while and finally Justin, Graeme and John came out and sat in director's chairs right on the edge of the stage. The tour director asked them pre-submitted questions.
They were great. Comfortable, relaxed (maybe a little bored) but nice and funny too. Graeme said his best moments were the first few notes of a concert. His worst were 5 minutes before that.
John wasn't wearing socks and had on unlaced sneakers. His ankles looked a little swollen.
Justin looked great and wore glasses. He said that he sees Ringo reasonably often and Ringo always tells him that he's lucky to have so many songs to pick from. Ringo claims he only has "Octopus's Garden" and then he has to let his "All-Star Band" do their stuff too.
They talked to us for at least 20 minutes and were very gracious. I might have annoyed them a bit taking pics, but I was pretty close and wanted to get as much as I could to remember the experience. It was very nice and meant a lot. It also justified the extra money I spent, completely. Afterwards, we all got nice autographed photos. I was able to go to the car and leave it there so it's in great condition and I'm going to frame it.
The show was great too, although the sound wasn't as smooth in Austin. I put in ear plugs as the bass and drums was a bit harsh up in the 4th row where I sat. I had a nice time talking to a guy next to me from Lake Buchanon during the break.
Some of the fans were getting together after the show at a place nearby. I rushed out on the left hand side of the venue. Well, I had come in on the right. By the time I got out of the gates I was completely turned around and didn't know where my car was. I used the map on my iPhone to figure it out and had to walk quite a ways to get back to the other side. So much for my short-cut. By the time I go to the car, I was too tired to go the fan gathering.
I drove to Lissa's and had a good nights sleep there. In fact I slept almost to 8:00. Went to breakfast with Lissa and Richard at the NY Bagel place. Then drove back to Austin, also very uneventfully.
It was a fabulous Moody Blues road trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment