June 25, 2004 - Boston, MA
WELCOME TO THE SUMMER TOUR 2004! It took a long while to get out of the Meadowbrook Farm parking pasture! I take it that each one of the 6000 in attendance had driven separately. Traffic was backed up for a long time. SueC finally got sick of waiting and edged the MEB out, tried one exit then maneuvered over to another. It wasn’t a far drive to Boston but quicker for *others* than for us. A long black stretch limo shot by us on the highway doing at least 100. LOL Everything went fine until we were on the last stretch of highway into Boston. A sign said I-93 Closed at Storrow Drive. I didn’t think too much of it the first time I saw it, but it eventually DAWNED on me that perhaps Storrow Dr was BEFORE our turn off. Sigh It was! We took the last exit that was open and came out *somewhere* in Boston at 1am. A few blocks without a familiar street name proved to us we were lost. I pointed out two police cars at the side of the road to SueC, surrounded by Men in Blue and I sweetly called one over and asked directions to our hotel. He said, “You’re gonna get lost”, and I replied, “We ARE lost!” The cops consulted with one another (worrisome) and gave us a few pathetic directions, saying to look for MORE cops on the other side of town. We headed off in the direction they suggested and actually saw one of the streets that had been mentioned, drove a while longer and gave up. Thank God for cell phones! I got good directions from our hotel and we pulled into their valet area in relief. Our celebration was cut short at the front desk. The Hyatt was full and our smoking room had been given away. They promised us one the next morning, so we fell into our beds and died. I was up early (unfortunately) and went downstairs in search of carry-out coffee. What I got wasn’t so much coffee as it was molten steel. It was the hottest stuff I’ve ever been served and my cautious attempt to try it resulted in a scalded tongue. It wasn’t just hot, it was industrial strength. I poured vast amounts of cream into it and several packets of the pink stuff and it was still strong enough to kill a horse. I gingerly picked it up and went downstairs, hoping to find a nook to smoke in. A sympathetic member of the hotel cleaning staff pointed me to a small sheltered area next to the front door, and I watched a very interesting world go by. Ben Franklin and his wife (in period costume) crossed the street and another lady, resplendent in African garb smiled at my approving look. There was a LOT of foot traffic – tourists, businessmen, families, tourists. I finally thought that SueC might be up and went to the room to make a more tolerable cup of coffee. The front desk seemed to have forgotten their promise of the night before and we discussed our situation. Another hotel in town assured us that they not only had a smoking room, they also had high speed access! We packed up, called the valet to order the car and I went to check out. I was treated to a scene at the front desk by a group of foreign guests who wanted a smoking room and were bound and determined to get one or to know the reason why. I explained my situation to the clerk and she insisted that I talk to the manager. Sincere regrets were expressed on the Hyatt’s behalf and I smiled and falsely promised that I would see them sometime in the near future. I won’t. We ended our stay at the Hyatt on a fine note – lunch! The crabcakes were outstanding as was the Lobster Napolean. SueC reminded me that she had ordered a roast beef sandwich and got turkey along with a nasty chicken soup. Win some, lose some. <shrug> God didn’t intend for anyone to drive in Boston. I know that now. We were young and arrogant and full of ourselves, confident that, after conquering Manhattan, we could drive anywhere. Our second hotel was a 5 minute walk from the Hyatt and it took us over an hour to get there! The bizarre thing about Boston is that you can drive for an hour and wind up EXACTLY where you started. That’s what happened; we drove and drove and actually SAW the hotel and just couldn’t get there and eventually found ourselves driving by our old hotel. SueC whipped out the directions and found the first street, and after that we were ok. Shaken, but ok! We spent quite a bit of time in Chinatown that trip. We’ve learned our lesson – never again! If the locals don’t drive in Boston, we’re not going to either. We *did* manage to get some sympathy out of it! LOL Our new hotel greeted us with open arms – we were entrenched in their computer from past stays and they gave us a lovely room. I eyed the high-speed cable connection on the desk and began to drool. There was no time to waste and I plugged right in, getting nothing. Nothing! My calm complaints resulted in the offer of another room. Same problem – nothing. Wayport gave me some song and dance about a hardware problem affecting a block of rooms, which was being worked on as we spoke. Boston was starting to annoy me. Grrrrrrrrrr SueC flatly refused to drive again and I agreed that was prolly best considering our poor record in getting anywhere we wanted to be. The concierge had told us that it would take 20 minutes to walk to the Fleet Pavilion but 3 hours to drive there! LOL Hell with that – we hopped a taxi. Now that guy KNEW what he was doing! I had my doubts about getting back to our hotel afterward, but both the concierge and our driver ASSURED me there would be hundreds of taxis lined up after the show. As we left the hotel, we tried to hitch a ride with our favorite bass player, but he was laughing over our attempts to drive in Boston. Pfffffbbbbt!  THE
VENUE
It’s another pavilion! It’s on the water! It’s threatening rain! Sounds like Baltimore, sounds like Pittsburgh, but it’s Boston. The stage was high and wide – too high to see any shoes from the front row. Front row was about 6 feet from the stage and mikes were around 6 feet from the edge of the stage. The usual “black box” had three black cloth panels stretching out from the wings (a different touch). The sides of the stage were fronted in white and had large video screens on both sides. I noticed some incredible close up shots on them. The stage had the usual Moodies setup with the 4x3 speakers flying, supplemented by 2 frontfills underneath on the stage. The pavilion was a similar tent-like structure to Baltimore and Scranton. Boston had added roped off table seating behind the tent – nice for those that prefer a more social evening. There was a good crowd at Boston – a security guard described it as a “full house”. People were up during Tuesday Afternoon and up again for IKYOTS, up for TSIYE.  THE
FASHION REPORT
JH – Running jacket with jaguar on the front left, white stripes down the sleeves, black jeans shoes, second half white, long-slvd “thin” oxford shirt, gray knit pants with black pin stripes, studded boots JL – White long-slvd *bib* shirt, blue jeans with embroidery on left knee, second half black tank top, white linen overshirt, boots GE – Black short-slvd shirt with white embroidery on left breast, black slacks Norda – Black bustier with glitter, black riding skirt, no change at half Justin’s hair looked LONG in Boston – very nice! : ) THE CONCERT The Summer 2004 setlist was performed in its entirety with a 20 minute intermission. Nice concert, good crowd. A few concert notes… John held up Justin at the beginning of TSIYE – he had broken a string on his Fender Precision bass. John came up to his mike said “William Tell!” and pulled back the broken string and shot an imaginary arrow into the crowd. Like JL has said before, it’s LIVE music! LOL JohnB brought out another bass, but it didn’t work. I didn’t hear any bass at all thru TSIYE. JL was playing, but nothing came out. JohnB finally tethered JL for the shuffle, resulting in some cord flipping and pulling onstage, but still, nothing worked. The bass problems were solved during the break and everything seemed ok in the second half.  The
high point of the evening was JL’s return to the stage for SeeSaw wearing
a Red Sox jersey (a gift from KerrysMom) over his black tank top.
The crowd roared in approval! Little gestures like that go a long
way. : ) Keep The Faith is John’s motto and isn’t a bad
one for baseball fans either. At the end, SueC and I both wanted
a good photo of the jersey’s back and simultaneously put up a forefinger
to JL and twirled it. He smiled and obliged, turning around so that
we could catch it.
I had noticed a fellow walking past me at the break and was told later that it was Keith Lockhart, director of the Boston Pops. He’s sure a LOT cuter than Arthur Fieldler! LOL It was impossible not to notice that winning smile. He looked like one happy Moodies fan! There were a LOT of regular fans at Boston and we got to meet up with several old friends from prior tours. I’m still hoping to get some horsy pictures from my favorite mounted policeman. There was quite a bit of talk about Monte Carlo! I’ve run into a large number of people who are either going, wishing they could go, or considering going. For those that are still on the fence, or reluctant to go to Europe alone, SueC and I are inviting EVERYONE to stay at our hotel in Monte Carlo – The Monte Carlo Grand Hotel. Please come and join The Party! You can get more Monte Carlo information by clicking the poster at the left. (Ed: link removed, website no longer in use)  This
will take you to Wonder’s Monte Carlo webpage. Of course, I have
no allegiance to anyone (except SueC who drives me around the country and
makes SURE I have a hotdog at every concert) but I offer my thanks and
appreciation to Bob Bradshaw, Anne Blake, Pam Nault and last but not least,
Mark Hogue for putting things together and getting the word out to as many
people as possible. I might have gone to see The Moodies in
Monaco without their help and encouragement, but because of their efforts
and enthusiasm, I AM going.
And looking forward to seeing everyone there! Think they’ll play Nights in White Satin? LOL!!! MaggieMay (Have a question? A compliment? Want to buy MaggieMay and SueC a drink in Monaco? Email us your invitations! Lovely to see you again, my friend! Photos by SueC In far off lands, on distant shores So many friends to meet |