The Long Road to Eden

location: Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
date: May 24, 2008
time: take it easy, don't matter

I did not get any sleep before work Saturday, so little that I actually called work and asked for a wake up call. I haven't done that in over a year I think. Anyway, grapegum called & said we got tickets for The Eagles concert that night. That pretty much secured that I wouldn't leave work until my 11th hour. I mean, where the hell else am I gonna hang out to wait for the concert? It was busy at work too and I was so looking forward to crawling into bed.

So we got there really early because for some reason we thought the concert began at 7pm. It was actually 8pm. The last minute tickets we got were cheap, and SHITTY. Grapegum & JuJu began to bicker, JuJu was gonna go home if we had to stay there & Grapegum was just pissed that no one seemed grateful she got tickets. I got up bcuz I didn't want to hear it and i did eventually go to the usher, who was completely useless. I tried contacting ticket office but got nowhere with that. I left Giant a completely frustrated voicemail and an expletive filled text to Uge-wan. Anyway, after running around like mad through PruCen we finally got a supervisor who got us from section 216 to section 11. When he parted that curtain, I almost had a heart attack. They were right frakkin there! I thanked that supe and we settled in for the show.

A-freakin-mazing. They played all the classics of course. Hotel California was awesome naturally. Since the seats were awesome, all the songs were awesome! I was trying to take pictures on my camera phone and text people at the same time. I thanked Mama for the seats and our luck that we found that supervisor. The Eagles were funny but OLD! When they put their guitars on, they'd bend a little from the weight of them lol... Tay said those songs were old before we were even born. Truth be told, they broke up the year I was born. They cracked jokes, like before they played Lyin Eyes Walsh said the song was dedicated to his wife, aka plaintiff. They did 2 encores which was totally rad and when Don Henley stood in the spotlight all by himself crooning Desperado, I thought I'd cry. They played for 3 1/2 hours total, taking a 15 minute intermission once. Completely worth it. I swear, if Eric Clapton didn't totally do it hearing the Eagles play live makes me want to pick up a guitar and rock out.

Great night. Even better that I was off the next day.

Eric Clapton

location: Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
date: May 22, 2008
time: cream ain't got no schedule baby

Eric Clapton is made of awesome. He played for 2 hours straight, breaking his stride only to change guitars. He got on the stage after a local band played his opening act. Grapegum wondered if at every venue he gets a local band to open for him. Ours was Randolph Runaway Band or something like that. It was packed, of course, with a mixed crowd. Mostly older folks with some younger dudes and my age range.

Anyway, I can't even describe how he played. PNC is an amphitheater, so we're outside. It's cold. The stars are out. I looked up at the stars, the Big D was visible, while he played some sick riffs. Frakkin' awesome. Of course people were just standing up, throughout the whole thing. It's those moments when I wish I was Giant's height. Still cool though. EC said "thank you!" the same way at the end of every song & he just work jeans and a sweatshirt. He's an old man who's the baddest guitar player around. In the end, I didn't want to go from the flow of music and of course we bought souvenirs. $100 went poof like that. =\ Juju bamboozled 2 t-shirts out of me and Grapegum. We're suckers for the old man.

Like Dawn said, "he IS the guitar hero."

Also, it's mad cool that PNC is only 15 minutes away from our house.

fight 'em til you can't! wooo! 2310hrs.