From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-digest) To: seven-seas-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-digest V2 #98 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-digest Friday, March 28 2003 Volume 02 : Number 098 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 01:17:57 -0000 From: "K.P. Jacques" Subject: Re: seven-seas OT sigur ros post/philly So how was your day...??????? ;-) Hell I'm exausted and I wasn't there......glad it worked out ok'ish in the end. :-) Gotta sleep now I'm too tired to read anymore mails. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Red" To: Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 12:32 AM Subject: RE: seven-seas OT sigur ros post/philly > At 10:54 PM 3/28/03 -0000, you wrote: > > >aahhhhhhhhhhh but you gotta post it now > > Found it.....here goes..... > > > Was getting ready to take my kids for some pizza > on Friday night when I realized that my Sigur Ros > tickets had not yet arrived in the mail!!! Panic!!!! > Spent approximately an hour on the phone trying > to reach a HUMAN so I could straighten this mess out! > > Next morning ~ got ready to go, e-searched for directions > to the venue from Steph's house, gathered up all my stuff > and was on my way. Stopped to cash my paycheck, get gas, > and a birthady card for somebunny! ;-) Now I'm off for my > 180+ mile journey to the city of Filthadelphia, as it's > been known to be called. > > Steph was sick, but still willing to go...even though > she'd never heard the band...(and coz mom said "If you > drive, I'll buy your ticket!" ) So we loaded what we needed into her > car, and were off. > > Finally on our way! We got to the PA. Turnpike... > and realized we'd both forgotten to make a loo stop > before we'd left....so we stopped at the first roadside place we > found. They > had some souveniors and I saw a better > birthday card for said friend....so I got that one too...heehee... and some > postcards, and Steph got a drink and we were off. Again. Approx 100 > miles still to go! > > Well...........I dunno which is worse....Yahoo Maps and > their crappy unreliable directions...or the damn roadsigns > on the Turnpike being marked unclearly...(New Jersey is worse!!!) but > needless to say...Exit 331A does NOT exist on the PA Turnpike, and > there is no exit for 476 SOUTH. Only North.....so we decided that maybe > the South exit would be the next one. Well...there WAS no 'next one' > right after that...and even the NEXT one we did come to, was > unclear...so we ended up having to take the Philly exit, > which was WAY out of our way at this point......so the guy at the toll booth > told us to take 95 back over to 476 and > we'd end up where supposed to be. Well...we did what the guy said... > and of > course there was a sign saying To 95 with an arrow pointing straight > ahead.... so we go straight ahead and it wasn't there.....go figure! Shoulda > turned right.....but why didn't the sign say To 95 --> instead????? > > Well, after almost 20 more minutes set back... > I looked at the map and thought...we'll never make it....it's TOO > far.... only had an hour....and no clue if there was an opening band > or if Sigur Ros was starting right at 8pm...and ya can't phone the > venue and ask coz they only have an UN-HUMAN phone #. Fucking > automated answering machines....I depsise them!!!.....so I decided we > should take 95 to the first exit that would get us closest to Market > Street, and go in a straight line rather than this huge circle all the > way around lower Philly and then all the way back again.... > > Of course...some maps don't show highway exits very clearly and ya > can't tell if you're gonna be in the right direction when you get > off....(I hate bad maps)... so Steph was trying to phone her friends > that live in Philly.... none of which are home, cept one who doesn't > have a clue > coz she doesn't go into the city! (whimp!) > > After much aggravation and arguing with Steph *grumble* > I finally decided to take a chance...and we did end up > right where I wanted to be. (I'm really a good map reader... only > reason I needed yahoo was for the street details once I got to the > city. I didn't have a street map.) > > WELL......when we got to Market Street....it was ONE WAY... the WRONG > way. Rather than playing around, we stopped and asked some old geezer > in a tux how to get to the Tower Theatre the fastest way possible. He > said Walnut St. ran parallel.....to take that to the end......and it'd > be very close. > > Got to Walnut St. and traffic was moving > slower than molasses in January!!! This is not good. > It's a long way off and only 45 minutes till showtime. > Not to mention, we had to park...and I still had to pick > up my tix at Will Call, thanks to Ticketbastard!!!!! > > We had to take yet another detour, coz the slow traffic > was due to construction, but a cop told us that after > we got past this particular area....things would go faster. > > okay...so now we're moving along at a whopping 35 mph.... > and when we got to the end of Walnut St...we stopped > at the first gas station to ask exactly where Market was > coz we couldn't see any signs and didn't wanna take a > chance in going towards the wrong street. No time for that! > > Steph got out and went over to some guys (around > her age) who were pumping gas and asked them where > Market St. was. They said...."Are you going to a concert?" and she > said "Yeah." and they said "Sigur Ros?" and she said "Yeah." and they > said "So are we.....just follow us!" Phew! I knew we were close, but > just couldn't see how far the street was. > > So we got there and the website said parking was $5.00 > but they're charging $7.00. They said..."oh, we keep telling > them to change it..." But my guess is...they don't give a shit > > We arrived at the ticket window, picked up the tix, > and after all the fucking ridiculously overpriced so-called > *convenience* fees that TicketBastard charged me for 2 tickets (almost > $20, JUST in fees) ~ they didn't give us any damn tickets!!!!!! Only > a piece of paper that said "2"....and the seat #s. Bastards!! I want a > ticket...for a momento! :-( And the T shirts were ugly!!! :-( But > I did buy the latest cd!! :-))))) Which is excellent!! > > At long last...we found our seats ~ with 5 minutes to spare!!!! (And > I'd allowed an hour and a half extra time.) GOOD THING!!!! > > The opening band was pretty cool. Album Leafs. (?) > Weird name. But they were good. Mellow. > Instrumental. Reminded me of a lot of stuff I listen to. > > During Intermission we had a pretzel and > when i went to the loo I found a ticket just lying on the sink!! *evil grin* > Sorry TicketBastard....you didn't win this one! > Got my momento afterall! ;-) > > When Sigur Ros played......it was amazing! > They had really awesome lights, and lots of fog... > and the singer's vocals are amazing! Steph kept > asking me how he could sing like that!! She was impressed! > I knew she would be! > > They had the most diverse audience! > Old geezers and young kids! I saw one punk > with a spiked mohawk and a raccoon tail hanging > out the back of his jeans!! hahahahhaa!! > > The crowd was very respectful and never > uttered a word during quiet bits the whole time... > till the songs ended. Cept once, where the song has a pause.... you could've > heard a pin drop....the singer drug the pause > out for about a solid minute...and then finally breaking > the silence....a girl screamed!! Just her. Then when he > felt like it....he continued the song. > > The music was incredible! They had a string quartet. > Their singer plays his guitar with a bow...and the bass player used a > drumstick on his bass for one song. That song was really cool! > > The only bad thing was the employees > who were working the bar and snack stand. They > were talking really loud and laughing during the > really quiet bits. That was very disrespectful. > There were quite a few pissed off fans glaring > at them!! > > There were moments at the gig that were very reminiscent > of the Spiritualized gigs I've been to! The lights, the atmosphere, > the way > the crowd was just mezmorised in awe! It was really really magical! > Worth every penny... and all the frustration!! > > After the gig we left immediately coz we were tired > and Steph was sick. (bad cough, cold, etc.) We knew exactly where we > had to > go to get back out of the city, and we'd only gotten maybe a few miles (??) > away from the Theatre and > Steph's power steering belt broke!!! Stinky. Burning rubber... car > steaming.......argh!!! Not HERE...where all the homes had bars on > their windows!! > > The car was drivable...so I said we should at least drive to 476 so we > could get out of this dodgy looking area! Well...we made it to 476, > but, by then all the indicator lights were coming on and the car overheated. > We stopped and put some anti-freeze > in and sat a few minutes and tried to drive after it cooled down... > but it immediately heated up again....so we had no choice but to call > Triple A for > a tow! Luckily, her plan covers the first 100 miles free, and we were > like 90 miles from her house. > > Steph was on the phone with them when the State Police stopped to > check if we had a problem. We told them we were calling Triple A and > they gave us some flares to put along the road, and told us to lock > the doors and if anyone suspicious stopped, to call them! Then they > left us sitting there! Along the highway after midnight...2 females > alone just outside a bad area of Philly! Oh well...I wasn't scared! > Slept in my car in DC ALONE all night after a Cave gig! > > We'd pulled over at 11:30 pm.....took 30 minutes to get Triple A to actually > get off the phone...and at 12:30 am the police left. > Triple A said a tow truck was enroute and would be there at 1:15 - > 1:30! WHAT??????? another fucking HOUR???? This is a huge fucking > city!!! Surely there must be a closer tow truck??? argh! @#!$% > > 2 am comes round and still no bloody tow-truck.... > but the police came back around that time to check on us. > (an hour and a half later!) I was freezing coz I wasn't dressed for > being outside half the night and it was like spring all day! The cop > asked if we had heat....and we said doh...we can't run the engine..it > overheats! So he went to his car and came back and gave me one of > those plastic rescue blankets and said.... "We usually only give these > to people that are hurt or dead!" Very funny...but my tax dollars pay > for those, thank you! > *grumble* Philly is not really a very friendly place. > Only one person stopped in 3 hours to see if we needed > help! And the traffic was heavy!! Even for that hour! > > The police left and we tried to catch some sleep > and at 2:40 am Steph had lit the last flare and was > just about to phone Triple A again....when the tow truck FINALLY > showed. Took 3 hours!!! And he only came from 15 miles from there. > >:-( > > At 3 am we were on our way, and guess what?? > The guy got on the turnpike....but it was the Northeast > Extension...NOT the > right one!!!! So he had to do a U-Turn and get back off. The toll > booth guy > wasn't happy!!! We had to go thru town to get back to the same exact > place... because there wasn't a way ON TO the regular Turnpike at that > place....15 more miles out of our way to get back to the same place we just > were!! (and everyone wonders why I hate going to Philly!!!!!) We made > sure the guy didn't charge us for those 15 miles...coz it woulda put > us over the > 100 mile limit. > And he lives there...he shoulda known better! He said he wouldn't > start counting miles till he got onto the turnpike! > > So finally....we got back to Steph's house at 4:30 am!!!! > A 2 hour drive in 1 and a half! he musta been speeding quite a bit, > but I was asleep for the last part of the trip! Got to bed at 5 > am!!!!! Barely asleep long when the sun was shining in my face! > ARGH!!!!!! Put the blanket over my face and tried to sleep but kept > getting woke up every 10 minutes from Steph COUGHING!!!!!!! So I got > up at 9:30 and turned the telly on for a bit...got > fed up with the war shit...ate some food.... and decided to just come home! > > Okay.....so after the night we had....what more can go wrong??? > > I packed all my stuff back into my van and was just > about to leave when I realized that I didn't have > my sunglasses. My very FAVOURITE ONES!!!!!! DAMMIT!!! > I think I left them at the roadside stop when I paid for > the birthday card!!!!! :-((((( > > Now I'm going home! I want my pillow! > I have another 75 miles to drive. And a new Sigur Ros > cd, but I CAN'T PLAY IT coz my car player is broken... > > :-( > > At least it's a sunny day! Most of my trip > home travels along the Susquehanna River. > It's usually a beautiful view, most of the way... > but this time....as I drove past Liverpool, Pa...... > I was really glad it had stopped raining when it did... because I saw > so many flooded campgrounds...many campers 3 feet under water...and > the water's edge so close to overflowing, only feet away from the > porches of too many homes....I guess I was lucky that all I lost were > my sunglasses! And that my > poor van survived yet another gig trip! ;-) (even if it was only half > the > trip) > > Tired, mentally and physically exhausted, > pissed off at losing my sunglasses, disgusted > that my cd player won't work, saddened by the > flooded waters, happy that the sun is shining and warm, > and overjoyed that I FINALLY got to see Sigur Ros! > And they were just as magical and awesome as > I expected them to be! > > I guess you could say my whole Sigur Ros gig experience > was pretty fitting.....coz it was just as emotional as their music > is!!! :-) > > Red > > > > ====================================== > http://www.bunnymenlist.com > > ====================================== > > - --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). 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