by luddite lady on 18 Apr 2009 07:05
Shucks, thanks for your kind words. And there was a second washroom in the venue, smudge? This knowledge is no longer timely, but thanks just the same.
Part 30
Once the concert ended, Sporterella and I managed to join up with a great green current of Nutters in the process of exiting the venue. We were all exuberantly exchanging thoughts about the gig in fluent Kopelandic.
I can imagine others in the crowd wondering what obscure little country this large tour group hailed from:
“I think they’re speaking some sort of Germanic language, honey. At times, it almost sounds like English.”
“Maybe it’s Celtic. After all, look at all the green they’ve got on.”
As soon as we passed through the venue gates, Sporterella informed me that she needed a restroom. However, the security guards refused to let us re-enter and we found the park washrooms closed. As a result, we hightailed it to The Sunrise Diner, where the post-gig meet up was to take place again. The Jones Beach parking lot was a quagmire of cars and I’m normally a timid and generously yielding driver in such circumstances. But this was about getting two fully loaded female bladders to the nearest known ladies’ room. The way I manoeuvred through that parking lot and tore up the expressway would have made Mad Max proud. We were, unsurprisingly, the first to arrive at the restaurant.
Eventually, a fair sized contigent of Nutters filtered in, while another bunch had chosen to go to a nearby bar instead. Among our ranks were DM, Nancyrose, smudge, empty and Pluto, Dietmar, and Dive Mistress. Sporterella fit in with our gang rather seamlessly. It makes sense, really. The mood among us was something akin to that of a group of teenagers converging for an after party following the senior prom. We were happy, tired, a little overwhelmed by the evening’s events and a tad melancholic. The end of this marvellous ride was just around the corner and we were trying to enjoy every moment, but the finality of it all added a slight tinge of sadness.
I was concerned for Dirty Martini, hoping that the ever increasing pressures of the flag logistics were not becoming unbearable as we approached the big finale. With her usual grace and aplomb, she assured me that she was fine. I had extra reason for concern because I had a bit of insider knowledge about some of the machinations taking place behind the scenes. In the parking lot before that night’s show, DM and Charlie Arnold had taken me aside and let me in on the MSG flag for every Nutter scheme.
I reacted to the news, “Sting is going to have a fit!”
DM smiled slyly, “Oh, it gets better.”
I guess I looked a little worried because she hastened to add, “It’s OK. We’ve been given the green light from on high.”
I could tell from the grin on her face that she wasn’t going to elaborate further. And I knew better than to ask. While in Belfast it seems that Gio taught DM how to raise her teasing abilities to a whole new level.
Honestly though, I felt privileged just to be in on the small flag caper. It was all still very hush-hush at this point. They were enlisting CG5 and me to help distribute the flags to Nutters in section 119. It all seemed so covert, especially as we had no idea how serious MSG management was going to be about the policy forbidding signs and banners. A few of us from both sections 111 and 119 were to pick up the flags from Charlie and DM at Fat Annie’s before Thursday’s concert and were to smuggle them into the venue. Charlie, DM and some other hand picked agents were responsible for supplying the Nutters in the pit. I was feeling a bit like a character from Get Smart. All that was missing was Conroy’s Copeland beacon flashing across the New York skyline.
In Dallas, the only game that really mattered was in the word gamelan.