The Last Goodbye - EQ's Perspective

[bella]

I absolutely love the retelling of the saga of Conroy and Sally. How freaking hilarious. Let us thank Laurie (copelandgirl_5) for getting Sally in without a hitch.

And I can definitely attest to the fact that Conroy WOOOOOOOOOed like crazy at the Spectacle taping, for sure!

Too bad about that asshat in the pit, though. If I were down there, I would be willing to bet a million bucks that I would have gotten into it with him. Asshats like that always seem to be magnetically drawn to me at concerts and I am always on the brink of a throwdown. You guys handled it quite well.

[luddite lady]

Great story, EQ! As was already noted by another 119 mate, Sally and Conroy were quite the hilarious sight from a bit of a distance. Aside from Stewart, my gaze was fixed most often on Conrally (or should it be Salroy?) throughout the encores. I kept thinking that somebody way up in the 400's might actually think Sally was real. "Wow! That girl and her boyfriend are maniac headbangers!"

As for the asshat, imagine if daft tart had made it to this show. Given her Hyde Park episode, it's probably a good thing the Atlantic Ocean was seperating her from this guy on that night. Perhaps she can be consoled about missing the last concert by realizing she'd otherwise be doing jail time in the U.S. right now.

[TheEqualizer]

Pt 20

Rewinding a bit, before the band went into Purple Haze, Andy plays a little bit of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. I assumed this was in honor of The Flag. However, knowing now that Sting had just been shaved, I now suspect that the Ode to Joy was directed to Sting finally losing his beard. Of course, his beard wasn't the only thing Sting was missing when he came back for the encore. He was also sans shirt. From a guy's standpoint, I gotta say "Ugh." Seriously, what are you- Flea? More like Flea's dad. Sure, he's in great shape, but still . . . My immediate thought is that Sting took his shirt off to focus the attention back to him after the focus had been Stewart due to his Flag antics. But now, I am not too sure, and suspect it might have something to do with his just being shaved.

Anyway, with the Flag now proudly displayed, I take picture of it with my cell phone and send it to my best friend in Chicago (some of you may remember him from the 11-2-07 MSG show). During the encores, the Best Buy webcast begins. My best friend is obviously watching the webscast, because before long I get a text message from my best friend. It reads, "Throw Sting your shirt, eh." This text turns out to be somewhat prophetic.

My feelings towards Purple Haze are similar to how I felt towards Sunshine of Your Love. I liked it and Stewart's playing was great, but I can't say I really LOVED it. Overall, I'd liked to have heard another Police song instead. But don't get me wrong, it certainly was not bad at all.

At this point in the night, my mind is all higgly piggly (as they would say in Bloom County) such that I don't think I can give much detail. They played the standard encores after Purple Haze. The playing was good. Sally was rocking. And the crowd was loving it. I'm sorry that I can't get more specific than that. The end was near, but we were going to enjoy the hell out of every last second.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

[copeland_girl5]

[quote="bella"]I absolutely love the retelling of the saga of Conroy and Sally. How freaking hilarious. Let us thank Laurie (copelandgirl_5) for getting Sally in without a hitch. [/quote]

Thanks for the saga EQ...soooo much fun to read and be a part of...I feel like I'm "You"! Doesn't get much better than that!

It was definitely a hoot, watching Conroy & Sally from Sect 119...RAWK'n OUT hardly describes it...

And I have to briefly say...after I agreed with Dive to smuggle Sally into the show and be in charge of her...I was like, Oh Shit!...what if she gets confisgated, etc., everyone's counting on you (the, the...voices inside my head) ...oh the pressure...plus I was in charge of getting "flags" in for our section...visions of being "busted". Well all worked out as Bella has attested. I was half in panic mode at Fat Annie's cause I only had a small bag and was sure she would be snatched (did I just say that... ) at the gate. Luckily Chatcha came to the rescue and provided one of the black "Police Tour" bags. So Sally, already enclosed in a plastic bag, went right to the bottom of the bag disguised as "T-shirts"...at least that's what I told the person who was checking my bag upon entering MSG...and fortunately I got in without incident....whewwwwwwwwwwww.

Then I thought, how in the hell am I gonna blow her up, etc., pass out flags, etc...watch the show, etc OMG...and then Bella (thank you) arrives at my seat and asks to take her to the Pit...YAY---YES, YES, YES...that's where she needs to be...pressures off and I'm sooo happy to say the rest is history...Whoooooooooo---Conroy!!!!!!

[Madgrad]

Watching Conroy and his girl Sally from 111 was equally amusing. Glad to hear Andy was amused as well, since we couldn't see his reactions from where we were. . .

[policerule]

[quote="TheEqualizer"]
My feelings towards Purple Haze are similar to how I felt towards Sunshine of Your Love. I liked it and Stewart's playing was great, but I can't say I really LOVED it. Overall, I'd liked to have heard another Police song instead. But don't get me wrong, it certainly was not bad at all.

[/quote]



The songs weren't all that great, imo either, but I still enjoyed hearing the covers. Wish they would have played for another 2 hours!

That thread you've got going on about the covers is a fantasy worth feeding... if they had time to really nail the songs or record them in the studio, it would be too kool.

[bella]

[quote="TheEqualizer"] Sure, he's in great shape, but still . . . My immediate thought is that Sting took his shirt off to focus the attention back to him after the focus had been Stewart due to his Flag antics. But now, I am not too sure, and suspect it might have something to do with his just being shaved.[/quote]


I'm assuming you've never been to a solo Sting concert, EQ? I'm sure neither lil' flaggie nor him shaving had nothin' to do with it. A shirtless Sting is par for the course.

[TOWOS]

"I felt like Samuel L. Jackson at the end of Pulp Fiction when he decides not to kill Tim Roth."

PRICELESS!!!!

[DirtyMartini]

[quote="luddite lady"]As for the asshat, imagine if daft tart had made it to this show. Given her Hyde Park episode, it's probably a good thing the Atlantic Ocean was seperating her from this guy on that night. Perhaps she can be consoled about missing the last concert by realizing she'd otherwise be doing jail time in the U.S. right now.[/quote]

HAHA. Truth. Daft is one scrappy lady.

[tamalynx]

[quote="TheEqualizer"] Of course, his beard wasn't the only thing Sting was missing when he came back for the encore. He was also sans shirt. From a guy's standpoint, I gotta say "Ugh." Seriously, what are you- Flea? More like Flea's dad. [/quote]

Flea's dad. Ha ha ha!

My coworker today was calling shirtless Sting "beefy!" WTF? He's not beefy. So then I had to get some beefy dudes to tell her he's not beefy! So yeah, Flea's dad. I love it!

[TheEqualizer]

[quote="bella"][quote="TheEqualizer"] Sure, he's in great shape, but still . . . My immediate thought is that Sting took his shirt off to focus the attention back to him after the focus had been Stewart due to his Flag antics. But now, I am not too sure, and suspect it might have something to do with his just being shaved.[/quote]


I'm assuming you've never been to a solo Sting concert, EQ? I'm sure neither lil' flaggie nor him shaving had nothin' to do with it. A shirtless Sting is par for the course. [/quote]

Makes me glad I skipped all those Sting shows over the years.

I have seen Sting a few times years ago, but I must have blocked those parts from my memory.

[TheEqualizer]

Pt 21

Frankly, the encores are pretty much a blur for me other than what I reported already. At some point, I recall that all the Nutters flipped their mini-Flags to display the "Thank You" side. I can't remember if this was done at the end of CSLY or If everyone waited until the end of EBYT. Regardless, all the "Thank You"s were clearly visible in sections 119 and 111 and were quite a sight to see.

Next to You was played as the final song and out came all the Thank You signs once more. I recall motioning to Andy (pointing to the sign and then to him) that the signs were not intended just for Stewart but for ALL of them. Andy acknowledged this with a look straight into my eyes which said, "I see it, and I am at a loss for words." Of course, Sting was on the other side of the stage from me so I could not do this to him, but it was very apparent that he was looking and these signs and it was very apparent that he was touched my the sentiment.

Shortly after Next to You ended, suddenly some music played and there were people in costume that appeared on the percussion riser. It was kind of hard for me to see, but I think it was Dennis, Danny, and Jeff. One of them was dress as a female opera singer with overly exaggerated fake breasts exposed. The "opera singer" then began to lip synch to some pre-recorded opera music. While they did this, Stewart got on his knees and started bowing. Hate to say this, but this really seemed exaggerated and almost rehearsed. Then, the music to ending to the Looney Tunes cartoons began to play (where Porky Pig goes "That's All Folks") and for some reason, I focused on Sting doing The Twist.

Gotta tell you. For me, this was like an emotional hamstring pull. To go from the emotions that I felt at the end of Next to You to the farcical ending of the fat lady/cartoon ending, I was really thrown for a loop. Initially, my reaction was "ugh, they're gonna end it like that?" But a moment later, it hit me. The ending was very appropriate for at least 2 reasons. One, this was the sign to the fans. The fat lady has sung. This is IT. And this was about as clear as they could make it. Secondly, this was not a funeral. Like I said before, this is a party. A celebration. This was supposed to be FUN.

The music ended and The Boys took their bows. And what happen next stunned me. The Flag was on stage, so there were to be no final flag points, like Stewart usually did at the end of the show. Instead, Stewart came out to the edge of the stage and slowly gave Peep Points to the Nutters in the front row of The Pit. Of course, my camera battery was long dead at this point, so I could not capture this on my camera. I hoped to God that Dermot was able to capture it on film. Here it was - the Final Point - The Final Point of the Show, The Final Point of the Tour - The Final Point of Stewart Copeland's career with the Police. And I was on the receiving end. I cannot express in words how this felt.

(Later, I found out that Sockii had gotten a great video of this moment and iburnforu had taken a great photo of this moment as well: http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a302/ ... C_0259.jpg)

Stewart then went to the center of the front of the stage and proceeded to take his shirt off and throw it into the pit. I wondered who was the lucky recipent and hoped it was a Nutter. Little did I know, but Dietmar had a sign that read, "Stewart Throw Me Your T-Shirt). Fuck! I should have thought of that. Oh well, I wanted his Tron/Stargate/Doiley shirt anyways.

The show was over, and I was still blown away. I had been to some great concerts in my life. I had been in the front row or close to it for some of them. Foo Fighters. Bowie. The Who. Elvis Costello. None of those came close to the show I had just witnessed. Not by a mile.

And then an odd thing happened. Someone came from the stage and I could SWEAR he had The Flag in his hand. And this person was trying to give the Flag back to Kellie. Honestly, I could not actually see what transpired next. However, Kellie later told me that they tried to give it back to her, and she said that unless there was another show tomorrow, she didn't want it. (I will let Kellie's account provide the actual story).

So I walk around the Pit in order to see who got THE shirt. And I was happy to see that it was Dietmar. Someone quickly asked Dietmar if they could have their picture taken with it, and Dietmar was kind enough to oblige. I was quickly second in line, but again my camera had no batteries left. Luckily, a number of Nutters were happy to take a picture of me with it. Before the picture was taken, I quickly took a look at the label in an attempt to give me a clue as to where I could get one like it as I had been searching for one like it since the shirt had debuted on this tour. All the label said was Primal Wear, which I had suspected. My hands were soaked from handling the shirt. It was like the shirt was just fished from a lake. However, I don't seem to recall any particular smell. I then passed on the shirt to others so they could have pics taken. Won't name names, but subsequent holders of the shirt *may* have taken a sniff.

I then walk towards the seats near the back of the pit and meet a few more Nuttters for the first time. In particular, I recall meeting njperry, who I had always wanted to meet, as well as aamiel. Aamiel had actually sent me a pair of great green tube socks seemingly out of the blue at the end of 2007. They are actually great socks and I began to wear them at every Police show. Unfortunately, I only have a chance to say hi to her for a second before security tells everyone that we have to go. I feel really bad about this. Sounds odd, but I really love those socks, and I was not able to run into aamiel again before I left NY.

Leaving the venue is a bit of a clusterfuck. A bunch of us head out one direction only to learn that there was no exit that way so we have to then go towards the opposite end of the venue. Meanwhile, I get another text from my best friend. He asks me what the last song was. I thought this was a very odd question. However, I later learn that the Best Buy webscast did not broadcast all of encores.

When we finally get out of the venue, my mind is totally fried from the whole experience. I am walking towards Fat Annie's with, I think, Empty, and I tell her that I am not sure I can write a post about my experience and feelings about the last show. She says, "You can always just write, 'FUUUUUUUUUUCK!'" As we cross the street, I feel that Empty is right. There is no way I could describe this whole experience in words.

TO BE CONTINUED . . . (seriously)

[irishrose1969]

EQ

I am totally loving all of these details of your story even if it has been put into twenty some parts...its one of the best reads so far. Great job.

It makes it more on the edge of your seat when you write like that anyhow....

[animal]

Nice EQ.

[Lynne]

Great, EQ!!!!

I loved the fat lady, in part because yeah, it's closure and it's fun instead of funereal, and in part because one of the reasons I'm here is my love of irreverent wit and irony. These boys have it in spades (maybe Sting a little less of it, but he's still got enough that he can hang).