NYC Roadtrip

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88 hours and counting (22 of which were spent in a car, and 14 of those will be/were spent in the gruesomely and horrifically boring state of Maine), our latest NYC road trip is nearly complete…we're just passing I-95 mile marker 140 as i'm typing away…

THE HIGHLIGHT

WILL HOGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MATT MAYS & EL TORPEDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE TREWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (# of !'s not representative of anything)

The rest of the story…

fredericton, thursday morning, 4am - rouse the sleeping beauties...time to grab our fourth and hit the highway (THERE'S A MADMAN GOING 100mph down the interstate right now with a big pile of non-tied down shit in the back of his truck in front of us) - 6am ish, enter Maine - many hours later, exit Maine with cheers all around when we cross over the bridge of hope to NH...arrive NYC and checked into the hotel by 3pm - RIGHT ON!!!

drop off some shit, find the nearest subway station, and down to times square to grab some broadway tickets...the novelty of times square (the advertisements for lemmings, other bright flashy shit, cheap i heart nyc garbage, and the crowds of people looking up and crossing streets in front of nyc taxi cabs have long since worn off for me) - short visit to discount tickets and we get 4 for RENT - mich and I have seen it, but I'm game for a second take...Olive Garden supper, overpriced as per Times Square laws, and off to the show...despite insane prices and small torture devices that seem to look like chairs, I HEART BROADWAY!! something to look forward to when you live in Frederictonville...

people watching, people watching, ra ra ra...WTF is up with all the spandex and the boots...I'm not a clothes whore, and I don't give a shit about fashion or brand names, but JESUS H CHRIST...when your pants are screaming out in pain, THEY ARE TOO SMALL!!! wash them off...it was chilly (well, not like home) in NYC and people were wearing little fruity shoes with no damn socks, and other little fruity outfits...i've dubbed them laupers, in honor of their god, cyndi lauper (who likely doesn't wear those clothes anymore either, and hopefully regrets what she has done to humanity)...and the tight jeans - maybe if i were a man, i might have more appreciation for those, but i'm not, so EWWWW - leave a little something to the imagination girls, a little mystery never hurt anyone

day 2 - finally another morning person on a trip, not that I mind wandering off by myself in strange cities....hotel is appropriately close to a wicked market with fruit and veggies (thank god, i don't have to eat rotten ronnies this time around) and starbucks of course...today is the DAY!!!!! Will, Matt, and John Angus (and associated rockers) all together in the BOWERY BALLROOM!!! shopping on 34th, forgot my damn MP3 player at the hotel, and more purses than I have ever seen...I just don't get it - how many do you really need? I have one...I throw shit in it...I don't match it to my clothes or my shoes or my panties...frig!!! but between the 4 of us, we crossed the border with 4 and now we're going back with 15 or something bizarre...but the girls enjoyed themselves and i got a cool jacket out of the trip, so it's all good...attempt to visit the megalopalis camera store at 9th and 34th ends in disaster - it's Friday afternoon at 2 and the fucker is closed...bastards!! back to the upper west side to get ready for the show, and our adventure in finding the bowery ballroom begins...

wrong subway line...oops! wrong stop...oops! thank god for sue's handy dandy little pocket map...many many blocks, a bong, canadian ciggies, and a ciggy holder later, we find our way to bowery and delancey...and there it is...the building that crosses a life goal off the list...#6, the bowery ballroom...ok, so if you're from NYC or any other actual city, it's not a big deal...but i'm not, so it is...big ole purple tourbus out front that transports Will and the boys so we know we're in the right place...off to find some damn food cause we're starved and early...shitty pizza and back to the show...

bowery rocks! and i'll say it again and again...what a wicked place for live music...the trews started er off and were FANTASTIC!!! mich fell in love with John Angus (but of course wouldn't cheat on Matt) and the crowd was admiring Jack's pants...they seemed to play some new stuff and/or stuff i just don't know, but they sounded good...no camera this time...i just wanted to ROCK OUT!

pee break and beer between bands, meet erica america in the bathroom and spot Tim Jim Baker, mayor of dartmouth (not in the ladies of course 😊 back up and find a big crowd for wormburner (right on nyc band - check em out)...i'm the only one that likes them, mich and nicole go exploring...sue sticks it out with me...good set, lead fellow has a wicked jacket on, and i buy their cd later...

next break we get back to the front for Matt and the boys...we did drive all the way from canada to give our fellow maritimers some love after all...and we weren't the only canucks to make the trip...gotta love it...Matt and the boys rocked out, and some other people there even knew their songs...great set - move your mind, travelling, what are we gonna do come the end of september, cocaine cowgirl (of course), new song that i've seen live three times now but don't know the name of) etc - mich screams at Matt and Andy and gets smiles that make her night (and scores a wicked picture for nicole) ...the boys aren't hard on the eyes, that's for sure... good times, good times...

i refuse to leave my spot within arms reach of the stage, and darling sue brings me beer...mich and girl ferris chat it up with the boys from el torpedo while sue and i get ready to rock out with will hoge and his boys...crazy peoples all up around the front of the stage...elbow dancer, some drunk canadian fratboy types (that I grew to love as the night went on), HOOCHIES GALORE!!!! and the list goes on...

MEMORABLE QUOTES: "If Will Hoge (they said it Hodge) looks at me tonight, I'm going to have to sleep with him." - HOLY SHIT!!! Do people really think like that? I'm not even convinced that band members can see the crowd with all the lights shining in their eyes, and the sweat and all that...but Will and the boys seeem to have a pretty steady tour schedule, so while the sexy voice and rock star look is wonderful, I have my doubts that he's going to sleep with every hooch with a low cut shirt in the crowd...

While Will was getting a little down and dirty with his guitar during July Moon - "I wanna take him home and reinact this scene in my bed." Alright, well fine, we all have dreams...except that this bitch was like 400 lbs and had a very foul odor. I guess beer could make this a workable solution.

to my left off and on throughout the show was the earlier mentioned rowdy fellow canuck whose crowning achievement was yelling "Take it off" during a slow number I thought, his keepers, and 6 die hards with solo male accompanyment....I have to say I've never heard anyone actually FUCKING SHUSH SOMEONE AT A CONCERT BEFOE, but these ones...holy crap....they literally SWOONED!!! people don't really do that, I guess they didn't get the memo...the show was too good for them to annoy me for too long, but I don't know how that piss warm shitty american beer got on the ringleader of annoying land's pants, honest 😊 and there's the blond girl who ignored the entire show to take pictures of two other girls who were having a little PG style sex front and center for all to admire (not to be confused with the non-pg/pretending to be Will/gross sex)... at least they weren't gross, so maybe lots of people enjoyed it...and they knew all the words to the songs, so at least they were fans...and there was a weirdo that wanted Will's shoes...and a bathroom catfight... etc etc

enough about the idiots....Will and the boys fucking rocked it right out!!!! they played nearly the entire man who killed love album, some sweet magdeline, a couple of covers, a song or two I don't know, and some I just can't remember now... I've never heard them sound better (granted, I've only seen them 4 times since they are from nashville, which is pretty friggin far from frederictonville nb)...encore was AMAZING with Matt, Andy, Jarrett, John Angus, and Colin coming out to play along...to be honest, i was so impressed with the whole thing that i didn't notice if Rob, Tim Jim, Sean or Jack were there...

got a little album signing action going after the show...Will and Jeff signed my again somewhere tomorrow cd, freshly purchased...had a little chat with Will about how pleased he was with the show (I later found out they sold out bowery, so i'd be pretty friggin impressed with myself too) and nicole pretended to be me and got two of the boys from wormburner to sign theirs for me (granted, i had to stop her from having everyone in the known universe sign it too 😊

cab ride back to the hotel, strange cabbie and stranger conversation...and a picture of willem defoe on his cell...and a story about matt dillan being a dick and drew barrymore being nice...again with the celebrity obsession...WHO GIVES A SHIT WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!!!!!!!!!

day 3 - still thrilled from day 2, we hit battery park, greenwich village (FINALLY A CAMERA BAG!!), times square again, and back to the hotel myself while the girls hit rockefeller center...remembered the mp3 player this time round, and rocked out to Will, Matt and the Trews on the streets of manhattan...gotta love it... some parts of that city are just better when you can't hear stuff

comedy club last night...near pissed myself laughing...and had a good enough time that i didn't mind paying $9 bucks for a beer...don't know any of their names, never heard of any of them before, will likely never see any of them again...but i laughed and i loved it...

and so here we are, now passing mile marker 195 in the interminable state of maine....eta for home some time early evening...all in all, a great trip, only a couple minor adventures in being lost, nicole got her first taste of nyc, sue got to drive in nyc, mich got some culture and a ciggy holder, and i got the subject for my longest blog entry ever... no more public bathrooms for a long time hopefully, some frigging vegetables for supper as soon as I get home, and a break from stilettos, spandex leggings, and boots (at least until new brunswick catches up)... the things I'll do for live music 😊

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