Concert Reviews
From the UK to the US -for two great concerts.
Friday, August 11, 2006 and Saturday, August 12, 2006
Set off for the airport last Thursday to find that there had been some security issues!!! Bit of an understatement, There was a lot going on at the airport but very little info was coming through, myself and jane were flying from Manchester then Frances was flying from Heathrow and Angela from Germany, we had no idea at this point what was happening, got to check in and were given plastic bags and all we could take on board was our purses, medication and passports so everyone was at check in repacking all their belongings into their cases, went through to departures to find all the shops shut and could only buy certain things from the duty free shop, couldn't buy perfume or any cosmetics, or sweets, and still very little info, we heard that it had something to do with liquids and that Heathrow had been closed so we were worried that Frances wouldn't even be able to take off. Finally got to the gate for our flights and it didn't appear that there would be a delay so felt quite fortunate, boarded the plane only to be sat on the plane waiting for clearance for 3 and half hours!!! Eventually took off and had a pretty uneventful flight, landed at Newark and were told there would be about a 45 mins delay due to the extra security procedures, mm another 3 and half hours later we finally got off the plane. To be faced by another 3 hours trying to get through customs and to retrieve our cases, eventually after all that I went to get my phone out of my case so I could contact the other girls and found that case had been ransacked, every bit of make up including brushes, my phone charger, sunglasses, contact lens solution, and several other items inc camera films had been taken, now in the interest of security I am more than happy for certain procedures to be put into place but this was just indiscriminate theft as far as I can see, as my friends case had not been touched and I had still had liquids in my case. So I was extremely angry and upset. Finally made our way over to the car rental place to find that poor Angela had been sat waiting for us for 11 hours as she hadn't had delays and Frances had arrived a little before us BUT.. without her luggage, she had nothing at all, she eventually picked up her suitcase with her clothes in on the day we flew back and her other bag with all her cameras etc in is still somewhere in the US on a FedEx van.
Anyway onto the good bit lol, after the nightmare journey we arrived very late (early next day) at our hotel in Bethlehem and grabbed some choc and crisps at 2am. Like you do lol, and went to grab a bit of sleep, got up, had breakfast and went shopping because Frances had nothing to wear and I had no make up, went to a local shopping mall, found it ok but had a real job finding our way back, put it this way we saw a LOT of the outskirts of Bethlehem and Allentown.... Finally found our way back to the hotel and proceeded to get ready for the concert, we were chatting to a couple of the festival organizers about our journey and they said they may do a story on us and we explained that we only had the one phone and that it would only accept incoming calls and that's how he took my name, unfortunately they never did ring us so that's how there was never a story and how he had my name, so it looked a lot more than it actually was/ fame at last eh, mm don't think so lol. we had been really lucky to have got front row seats so was looking forward to it more than ever, arrived at the Zoellner centre, which is such a lovely theatre, looked at our seats and were ecstatic at how close the seats were, and the travel problems were all forgotten, thank you so much to the US girls(Janie, Dianna, Barb, Charlotte, Carol, Nancy and anyone else I may have forgotten) who were so pleased to see us and welcomed us so warmly, after a brief chat we went and sat in our seats to wait for DC, well the concert was wonderful, I even forgave him the shirt lol, he was in fine form, his voice is just so awesome and we were very lucky that he held our hands and sang to us several times during the concert, at one point he held Jane's hand and has she was pulling away he said " I wasn't going to let go" so Jane held on lol, Charlotte got some great cuddles, she was beaming, wish I could have captured that, but no cameras were allowed, Frances's face was a picture and ive been told mine was too, but then mine usually is.Angela had the silly grin as usual too, I know I would have had a real stupid look on my face I always do. He did mostly the usual set, ( I can never remember set lists etc) but I really loved Lyin to myself, after he had done the acoustic bit, ( and no guitar problems) the rest of the band came back on stage and they stood very close to David so it looked a neat little combo, wish I had a piccie, sully was on his right, Frank on his left and Terri playing the bongos at the side of Frank, at one point two little girls were stood behind us trying to reach over for a hand hold(they were with the lady who bought David's mini cooper) so we helped them over the seats so they could reach him that's when he made the comment about climbing over the seats lol, when he was talking-to the older girl his face was inches away from mine -, though he wasn't looking at me I felt like I could hardly breathe, what are we like when he gets near us lol. All too soon the concert was over and we were making our way out of the theatre once again.
Next day we had to set off to Alexandria real early but Frances had been onto BA and been told that some of her luggage was due to arrive at our hotel between 9 and 12, which meant we had to wait, in the end it never arrived and this also meant we would be way late for that nights concert, and it was general admission which made it even worse, we eventually arrived in Alexandria and only had 30 mins to run in get changed and get a cab to the venue, never got ready so quick, when we arrived at the Birchmere it looked a bit like a local social club, ( not very appealing) but I tell you the atmosphere was fantastic and the concert was fabulous, when we first went in we couldn't get anywhere near the stage as we had arrived so late, so we went off to the side, they say everything happens for a reason and I truly believe this which will become apparent later, well we found a table at the side and joined 2 American couples, the first couple it was the man who was the fan and his partner had bought him the ticket and he was a DC virgin, he loved the show so much, the 2nd couple it was the woman who was the fan and it was her second time seeing DC. We had a bit of a chat with them and then the show started, this was yet another great concert but from a totally different perspective, it was so different watching it from the side, he did pretty much the same set ( different shirt) didn't do lying to myself though, encore on both nights was cry which he dedicated to Jack, and appeared to get quite emotional, he was in a very kissy mood and loads of the front row girls got kisses, Nancy gave him some flowers and he kissed her, you should have seen her face, priceless, a lot of women came down from the back for hand holds, he was great with everyone, though a few people started asking him to sign things at which point he said something along the lines of well I can either sign all of these or do what im paid to do and sing, that seemed to stop it all and he got on with the show, he seemed to be in a terrific mood, I love it when his face has those little apples on his cheeks when he's smiling and how he seems to glow form within when he's on stage, such a feel good atmosphere. Anyway to get back to what I said earlier about there being reasons for things, if we had been on time for the concert then we wouldn't have met the most wonderful couple, they took us out to the waterfront in Alexandria where we had a seafood meal, there were a couple sat behind us who had just got engaged so we serenaded them with I think I love you, !!!! don't think they will forget that in a while lol. The next day our new friends picked us up from our hotel and took us around all the Washington sights, and then we went out in the evening with them too, Words cannot express how wonderful and hospitable these two were and we are so glad we met them, yes it would have been nice to have been at the front again, but we had had such a wonderful experience the night before who could wish for more, all the hassles about traveling and luggage were forgotten as we watched DC on stage. And now I just can't wait for the next DC adventure.
Sorry for going on so much, just the whole experience was truly fabulous.
lotsaluv
Janxx(UK)
