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SueC
and I spent Monday resting at our LOVELY hotel and spent our energies lounging
on the terrace, swilling Diet Coke and swapping Moody yarns with a couple
of Anonymous Exotic Traveling Fans (AETF). The deliciously descriptive
term "exotic" comes from an overheard conversation between two locals in
front of one of the venues during intermission. One local asked another
local about the people on the front row and the reply was: oh, that's where
the EXOTIC ones sit! LOL!!!
Apparently, telling tales both small and tall was NOT restful enough! SueC and I were awakened Tuesday morning, not by our alarm, but by the insistent knock of room service at the door with our breakfast. There's nothing quite as embarrassing as signing your tab in bed, unable to wake up, your hair disheveled and last night's makeup caked around your eyes, as the handsome young waiter snickers quietly. (No, you can NOT serve my coffee! GET OUT!) The long drive to Syracuse went quickly with good weather and English Sunset as our road companions. SueC shares with me the ability to listen to English Sunset over and over (and over and over), never tiring of one of our favorite songs. We went wild yesterday and played the ST version rather than the HoF (we're rebels!) and compared the two. The RAH version frustrates the heck out of me because our bass player inexplicably left out the two "Englands!" What a goober! SueC didn't disappoint me in Syracuse. She hadn't printed out directions for THAT venue either. Sigh - what am I going to do with her? We tried our usual tactic of heading downtown and driving up and down the streets, admiring the scenery and hunting for the venue, which usually pops up (we're using The Force, remember). The Landmark Theatre eluded us for quite a while, but as I was dialing the Landmark box office for directions, SueC gleefully announced "There it is!" We circled the block to make "sure" the truck was there (it was, and the bus too) and lucked into the most fabulous parking place half a block from the venue. MaggieMay does *not* walk very far, and moans and groans when she is forced to, so a convenient parking place is worth its weight in gold if one doesn't want to hear her whining and complaining. SueC has survived our travel life by developing an awesome and admirable talent for finding parking places right in front of the venue. (She told me to write that.) We met up with the AETF, checked the venue and went to lunch. The advantage of SueC's failure to have directions insures that we get a good look at the venue town. The area behind the Landmark on Salinas street is too cute for words, filled with Irish pubs and warm and welcoming restaurants. This is in stark contrast to the street where the venue is located which was seedy and a bit frightening to these suburban midwest innocents. I casually took off my obnoxious tennis bracelet and stuffed it in my pocket, and slung my small purse over my neck, thus insuring that my neck would probably be broken had anyone wished to grab it. We visited a liquor store next to the venue, and the proprietor cheerfully greeted us with his European accent, then turned stern and serious to the door when two gangbangers entered after us. I was sure we would be killed, robbed THEN raped or more probably shot by the proprietor in the melee, but they left quietly after purchasing their bottle of MD20/20. LOL We walked behind the venue to check on the activity there, and one of the AETFs asked the promoter type where she could find a good burger. He directed us to the Empire Brewing Company and we had good food accompanied by home brewed root beer. Time swiftly went by and we decided this was a perfect night, and the perfect seats to give our thank-you flowers to the Band for a wonderful tour. I had spied a flower shop during our venue search and the poor girl there had her hopes of peacefully ending her day squashed. Though she was a Ratdog fan, she did well by us and charged us so little that we considered buying ALL of our tour flowers from her. Laden with roses, we made our way towards the venue! The Venue: As I said above, the Landmark has the misfortune of being on the ONE seedy and rundown street that we saw in downtown Syracuse. However, it has a great marquee, with "running" lights, and seeing THE MOODY BLUES up in lights always makes my heart jump. The venue is yet another in the process of restoration, and while it looks like there's a lot left to do, it shows that work, money and loving care are being applied to it. The Landmark is hard to describe, and I couldn't put my finger on it for a while, but finally decided that the theme is a rococo Arabian Nights. It helped to finally see the large mural in the foyer with an Arabian princess on an elephant. LOL The auditorium is a dirty gold color, whether intentional or in serious need of cleaning, I couldn't decide, and quite ornate, with intricate wall carvings. The balcony curved around toward the stage, and both sides had a Romeo and Juliet type decorative "cage". The stage was set off by a blood red curtain which matched the old red velvet auditorium seats. It wasn't lit well, and I repeatedly tripped on the carpet as I walked thru it. The stage seemed more suited to Shakespeare than rock 'n roll! It was fairly high, about 4 and a half feet. The Moodies appeared to be walking around footless and performing on stumps. Per security, the Landmark seats around 2900 and has a main floor and balcony. The most BIZARRE feature was the orchestra pit! The usher at the door had told me to walk down the far right aisle, and that someone would help me "climb" into the pit. I thought she was kidding! She wasn't. The pit was a permanent structure with no entrance, with a three foot wall separating it from the main seating. However, it was sunk a bit on the pit side! There was a set of steps on the right side up to the stage against the pit and another set of temporary steps down into the pit. Two security guards had the responsibility of making sure you got safely up the one set of narrow steps and then safely down the other into the pit. I was amazed! I have almost no sense of balance, and since I am "iffy" on level ground, I held out my hand and felt like a Miss America contestant as guard one congenially helped me UP the steps, then held on as I swayed and guard two took my OTHER hand and helped me down into the pit. We were literally prisoners of the pit, and mid-concert potty breaks requiring negotiating those steps in the dark dropped from all serious consideration. I felt real excitement after intermission when I moved to the top pit step and discovered that the temporary steps had jiggled away from the pit wall, and converted into a seesaw. Ah! Life imitates art: "take my place on this trip, just for me!" The pit had two rows of uncomfortable and hard plastic chairs which were bolted together and how anyone got from pit row two to the stage at the end beats me, but they did, just in time to beg Justin's pick from him! ; ) The sponsoring radio station had a large truck like trailer shaped and designed to look like a boombox in front of the theatre and played MOODIES music before the concert. What a pleasant surprise! There were no purse searches at the door, though the ticket taker was excited that I had brought her flowers. lol The guard told me that he didn't know if the concert was a sellout, that the venue had presold 2500 of the 2900, but that he didn't see too many empties. It must have been close! It was a warm day in Syracuse, with a predicted 88 high (which we did NOT pack for) and though we were met by a welcome blast of AC as we entered the theatre, the auditorium itself was a bit warm and got warmer and warmer as the night went on. JL worked up a good sweat during Slide Zone, Ray was seen alternately blowing his nose and wiping his face and TDMH showed beads of perspiration on his upper lip and temples and a warm and glowing chest. : ) EVERYONE changed their shirts at intermission! LOL I had changed into a blue tank top for the concert, throwing fashion to the wind, and laughed and poked fun at my companions in their sexy and lovely long sleeved outfits, sweating like a couple of Durocs in the hot summer sun. Oh, I mean "glowing" of course! They responded in a predictable and pathetically obscene way. The Fashion Report: RT - Black long slvd shirt, black slacks, SHORT-slvd white shirt (with nude elbows, a Rayfan impressed upon me) second half GE - Car shirt, black slacks, flag shirt second JL - White embroidered on white long slvd shirt (cuff buttons undone), leathers, boots, SHORT slvd black shirt second JH - Black, long slvd shirt (pulls out that blonde hair like NOTHING else, and makes him look ten years younger), black slacks, PMS (policeman shoes) JH bucked the fashion parade and the heat by coming out in the long slvd, thin (um, VERY thin) white shirt second, denying the Justinwomen the sight of the tendons rippling in his lower arms as he plays once again. A callous and cruel Troubadour! The Battle of the Buttons: It was a step backward (or upward) in the BotB! Two buttons was the max for the night. Probably a good idea, since the crowd was wild in Syracuse, and the provocative sight of beads of sweat on an open chest might have overheated the already warm fans. I'm glad they put safety first! (NOT!!!) Since I have lousy third row seats for Ottawa, I'm sure the unbuttoning will be rampant there. The Concert: Everyone seemed healthy though sweaty tonight, and all were in good voice. I thought the acoustics (at least from my seat) were the best of the tour - the sound was clearer than it has been, balance was ok. This served to point out the large variety of errors in a crystal clear manner. I was almost overcome by stage smoke too - someone is over doing it. I felt like a WWI trench victim of the insidious mustard gas. Lighting was ok, and I won't complain about my personal suffering; it was in my eyes blinding me half the time. What a great concert! The crowd was wild and rowdy, with some nut shouting out "Welcome to Syracuse" more than once. I don't think it was meant to be heckling, but the various shouts from the audience clearly disrupted activity on stage. Ray repeated part of his spoken intro to FML twice due to it, and poor Justin had the same problem introducing The Actor. I didn't hear what was shouted to Justin before the Actor, but he said (not into the mic): "Speak English! Or not!" I don't know if the shouting threw him off, or if there were technical problems, but he began The Actor, and JL came in with the bass part and Justin STOPPED. He stopped and held up a finger to the monitor board, paused, put his hand to his forehead, covering his eyes in one of his trademark gestures, appearing to attempt to recover his composure, then started over again. The Actor was performed flawlessly on the second go, and was exquisite, as usual. What a jewel that song is! Other reports say that Justin started singing a different song. Four Rayfans in the front row at Syracuse finally had their chance to pay tribute to The Great Raymondo! "More Tea, Vicar" was accompanied by the four ladies raising mugs to their lips in salute. Ray appeared to be tickled by the gesture. : ) We live and we die by technology these days, and technical problems nearly KILLED TOSOL. Everything went smoothly until the guitar solo at the end of the song, when disaster struck the stage. Justin looked stricken, John looked panicked, and there was wild flailing about on the guitars. It was apparent that something very BAD had happened to them. Justin struggled, odd things were played, then he recovered and toughed it out to the merciful end. After the song was over, he looked out at me (conveniently seated directly in front of his mike) and indicated that his monitor ear plugs had gone silent. He made a gesture with his finger across his throat which startled me for a second, and I wondered if he meant he was going to KILL someone! LOL!!! (I'd say the monitor board tech was in danger of exactly that.) It took a couple of seconds to realize that he meant that his ear plugs had gone dead, and that he hadn't ordered a Cobham Mafia "hit"! There were continual problems with the monitors, with all three singers seen pointing "up" to the monitor guy at various times, and reaching their peak with the total fallout on TOSOL. That, in combination with the rowdy and wild crowd made for a lively and unpredictable show. It was great FUN! The concert had an edge that I have rarely seen and felt more real than the usual slick Moodies product. The Band handled the technical problems well, and kept loose and in good humor. There were no petulant fits, scowls or profanity seen onstage at Syracuse. Though they handled the technical problems well, RT and JH seemed unable to cope with the disruptive audience. Peter Noone they are not! They seem chained to and must recite their small introductions as memorized, without impromptu comments or an ability to go on if interrupted. I hope music continues to work out for them, because they will starve if they ever have to do standup. Introductions interrupted were done again from the beginning. If only they could relax! Still no "crashing of the sea"! Gordon remains chained to his drumkit. It sucks!!! SueC and I are getting quite peeved about it. The backups have been reduced to darkness and are rarely lit, an exception being Paul during Ray's flute solo. Someone is going to get hurt up there in the dark! Gordon isn't even lit when he jumps into his kit at the beginning of SeeSaw. I think Graeme and Ray should worry…they're probably next! In summary: a great concert, a fun concert - rock 'n roll the way it should be, with a LOT more seat of the pants performing than you usually get from The Moody Blues! LOL MaggieMay |
