A review of MY NY experience

Ok, read it or not....I've never claimed to be a writer, so, some of this may not be gramatically correct, my 
spelling sucks,  and it may not even make any sense, but after reading the review Bernd did for the HP show, I 
figured that I could let everyone know what I thought of the shows, and NY...(I tried not to ramble to much, but 
might have included too much to be interesting...so be ready at the delete button!) 

Tuesday 7/16, 7:30am....The alarm came way too early! Should have gone to bed before 5:30am! Thanks to a friend 
for getting me to the airport on time! Had met Alan McKendree once, years ago, and saw an Eden Matrix Tee shirt at 
the airport, it was him, on the same flight to Newark with me...small friggin world! Unfortunatly...plane was 
full, so couldn't talk more with him until the bus from Newark to NY...(VERY nice guy for those that never met 
him!) Anyway...got to NY, got Alan to a subway, and wandered to the Molly Wee....didn't have much of an 
expectation of the Wee when I left, but the name scared me for some reason....when I opened the door, I felt right 
at home...a wonderful little pub...with Guinness Stout ($4.00/pint, ouch!)...finally about 6:30 people started 
showing up.....being somewhat introverted, I decided to wait for someone to come talk to me...didn't take 
long...Interesting to me, but I really thought I could tell which patrons were on the list...and I think I was 
generally correct...The bartender (sandy?) was VERY nice, and thought it was really cool that we chose thier bar 
for our gathering....glad I told her, because soon thereafter I got a free pint!  Anyway....talked briefly with 
several list members, and some locals....and decided that being the first night, I didn't want to miss anything, 
so I got to MSG at about 8:05....had to wander around the garden for awhile so as not to fall asleep during Joan 
Osboring, but I must say....If your going to see her, see her open for someone....shorter set, less boring than 
the last two shows I'd seen her at....Then the moment I'd waited 6+ years for...another Who show!!!!  And what a 
show it was...you've seen plenty of reviews....but I'll add my two cents...I thought the sound mix needed alot of 
work...no bass or acoustic guitar to speak of...if anything, I'd rather had everything else out of the 
mix....Roger, I don't care what anyone says...he still has it...I've seen them a bunch of times, and don't 
remember being as impressed with his range.  "I'm One"...what can I say...my favorite song....and Pete belting it 
out live!!! I was in heaven...I just wish everyone didn't know the lyrics as well as they did...I really wanted to 
hear The Who play Quad...not the crowd...(thought it was funny though....I think the crowd knew the lyrics better 
than roger...at least they didn't need teleprompters!) Also found it interesting that Pete needed to have so much 
sheet music...I know it was orchastrated, but hey....it's Quad...can't remember it?  They say memory is the first 
to go!  As for the narration...I read someone say it slowed the show down...I whole heartedly disagree...Being a 
fan of the movie, I loved the narration...for those in the audience who didn't know the story, It pulled the whole 
thing together...and the ending...well....it went alot further then the movie in explaining what happened!!  (I 
really liked the 4/1 goodbye wave that Daniels did, and pete copied on Wed or thursday)....I thought the band 
seemed tight...the mix needed work, as I'm not sure I heard much of what Jody was doing, nor were the horns a 
major factor (although I wasn't there to hear any of that anyway!).
I was fortunate in that the people around me were content to sit down throughout, even though most of the garden 
was standing, and nobody around me was being obnoxious...although one guy wasn't singing along, he was 
screaming...but at least he knew the words...Nobody seemed too drunk (the fact they quit selling beer EARLY helped 
that)...and the people seemed freindly (every night someone from Conneticut ended up talking to me between sets), 
and I did meet some genuinly nice people. I really enjoyed the encore, but was dissapointed that John didn't get 
featured (in fact, on tuesday, I don't even think the video showed him much at all).  My seats were good, but I 
did have to rely on the videos to see the real action...and the video director wasn't as good as I would have 
hoped (showing Simon during a whitehorn solo!...and not one shot of Jody that I saw!(although that was corrected 
on other nights (like Saturday when she had on the sexy outfit!)) As for Zak...what can I say...he almost looked 
like Kieth....not as flayling..but much better than the other drummers they've used!  
	After the show, back to the wee...also lucky (tipped) enough to get the 3 for 2 pints! Jerry (another bartender) 
was good to me, and made sure my glass was never empty for too long....got to meet a few more listers....and 
stayed there until late....too late as it turned out....last train to where I was staying was at 1:30am....I got 
to Grand Central Station about 3...oppps!  "You can't sleep here" was heard about every 30 minutes by friendly (!) 
NYPD officers....finally about 9:00 I got up the energy to catch a train...unfortunatly I didn't have the energy 
to stay wake and ended up a few stops further than I intended, and had to take another train back to where I was 
going....met my great uncle at the station (had only met him a few times before!), and got to the house so I could 
eat, and nap.....and prepare for another show!

Wed 7/17....trains are fun! NOT! (but they are punctual...never had a train that was more than 5 minutes late) 
$5.00 each way for a 30min trip, followed by a few mile walk (from Grand Central to MSG)...could have taken a 
subway...but thats another $1.50 each way...and I was on a budget..(my calves hurt!) Another visit to the Molly 
Wee...the same friendly bartenders, and a bunch of locals were there amongst the listers...got to meet a few more 
people...and this time stayed until about 8:30 so as not to have to see ms. osboring..Thought it was interesting 
how many open seats there were, but it sure filled up by the time the real show started....Another awsome 
show...the sound, a little better, the energy seemed greater than the night before, and the video director seemed 
to get it together a bit better.  Was hoping that the encore would be different, and at least got one different 
song (substitute), but still dissapointed that they made it out to be a Roger/Pete show, even introducing John 
with the rest of the band. Took more notice wed of the special guests...I hated Idol during Tommy, but this was 
great...he was just an actor with a bit part, and he did a fine job!  Gary Glitter was fun to watch, one night 
(not sure which) I honestly thought that whitehorn had better watch out or he and Roger could have had a similar 
eye troubles. One thing I thought...Magic bus lacked the spark from the night before...seemed like roger & pete 
kind of got lost...but it may have just been me!  After the show...back to the wee for pints....but left early to 
catch the 12:30 train.....woopppss..forgot where I was going and ended up wondering around times square for awhile 
and missed the 12:30...which turned out to be a forunated mistake...met the cutest girl I'd seen in new york 
struggling with her luggage trying to catch the 1:30...spent a pleasant hour with her before the train, and rode 
with her till I had to get off (almost thought about seeing conneticut with her, had it not been for my limited 
budget and need to see more Who shows!) Wish I had gotten her number!  Oh well, the shy guy in me beat out the 
romantic...yet again!

Thurs 7/18...got up early (noon or so)...got back on the train...and went to the NY public library....more of a 
museaum than a library...very cool new york times exhibit!  Wandered around broadway (sort of looking for the Ed 
Sullivan, but never found it)...and watched some con artists play 3 card monty or whatever that is, taking money 
from shills and some STUPID young people...You could tell these guys knew how what they were doing...had at least 
3 shills and 2-3 lookouts....a cop comes within a block, and they all scater into the crowd, only to set up again 
10 minutes later....talked to them for a few minutes, and they said they can each make about $100 on an average 
day...just goes to show...there is a sucker born every minute! Again....to the molly wee....In three days I've 
become a predictable regular...as the door closed behind me, Jerry was already pouring me a pint!  What a guy!
Met a couple more listers who wanted details on the earlier shows....and had a nice chat with a lovely girl from 
NY who was blown away by the fact that I would travel that far (Austin/NY) just to see the shows. Also got to meet 
a nice couple who I looked up later at the show (sorry my memory sucks so hard for names!)....enjoyed having 
someone to hang with since I was traveling alone, even if only for a few songs....Another great show, the mix 
seemed even better, and the crowd a little less vocal in my section.  I never did make it to my sec 307 seat, as 
there were plenty of single seats closer up (only got bounced a couple of times)....Hoped they would mix up the 
encore again, but you could kind of tell that the whole show was very orchastrated, and improvization hard with a 
16 piece band, but another exceptional performance...followed, or course, with another stop at the Wee....wish 
Jerry hadn't been so gratious with the Jager shots as walking (staggering) back to Grand Central was more 
difficult than previous nights...Couldn't help thinking that Tues or Wed show might have made a better radio 
broadcast for some reason...just seemed a little tighter on Wed...but hey, at least there is a radio broadcast, 
and I'm sure some nice lister will get me a copy (please!!!)

Fri. 7/19....thought hard about going into the city, but decided since family was putting me up (and putting up 
with me) that I would hang, and spend some time with them.  Had a great time getting to know my Great aunt and 
uncle better. And got totally caught up on the sleep I'd been missing for a month or two. Also got to watch the 
History Channel on Cable....I'm calling my cable operator today to request that they carry it...it's as good as 
A&E, Discovery and the Learning channel (My favs!)

Sat. 7/20...Got up early as uncle, cousin and nephew & I went to Reinbeck aerodrome....cool place with pre 1930 
airplanes restored and flying....cute shows...neat planes...unfortunatly the wind prevented alot of them from 
flying that day, but got rain checks, so they can go back another time for free.....On the way back (driving thru 
BEAUTIFUL countryside) I decided I'd hate myself if I didn't try to get to one more who show, even though I had no 
ticket...got back too late to catch the early train...so I had to run (literally) from Grand Central to MSG...got 
there, found lots of scalpers still asking for $100+ for floor seats, even though the show had already begun...Got 
lucky though,....found a guy wondering in with an extra ticket...I offered $5.00 for it....He said $10, I opened 
my wallet, had $9.00...got a Sec 40? seat for $9.00....never did make it that high up....went straight to side 
stage (pete's side) where the ushers were letting people stand on the stairs....got closer than I had been any 
other night, although from where I was, the sound wasn't as clear.  During the encore I wandered all over MSG 
trying to check it out from different angles....was actually moved that EVERYONE was singing along during WGFA! 
Thought the final "introduction" of John was pretty funny ("Pete, this is John"), and the banter about the 
promoter giving the money back floored me....almost thought we might get a couple of "extra" songs...but...hey, I 
wasn't complaining!  I thought long and hard about buying an official tee and program, but the $27.00 price tag 
was just too steep! Bought a pirate tee outside, even though it was fairly lame...at only $10.00 it was within my 
price range...still kicking myself for not getting the program ($15.00)... Headed back to the Wee, where I was 
happy to see that Jerry had noticed my absence before the show, and quickly poured me a stout....Long live the 
Molly Wee and it's bartenders (and it's juke box)! Drank too much, talked to a few more people, and RAN back to 
Grand Central with about 30 seconds to spare....the walk from the train to the house seemed much farther that 
night....(my calves still hurt!)

Sunday 7/21...slept late, got a train to catch a bus to make a plane....I hate Continental....double booked most 
of the seats...so...open seating...and I was at the bar instead of the gate, hense got to the gate late, had to 
sit on the emergency row with non reclining seats....no sleep for the wicked!  Got home around 10pm and was 
flattered that my friends were interested enough to let me tell them the stories of my trip....

I wish I could have stayed another couple of days...I know I'll hear about something they did Sunday or tonight 
that will make these shows "the best"....but I wouldn't trade my NY experience for anything.  Seeing the Who has 
been a highlight of my mundane life over a dozen times now, and every show has something I will never forget.  I 
hope the rumors of a tour come to fruition, but if not, with my memories alone, I'll survive.

It was truly enjoyable getting to put some faces with some names...and I appriciate Stacy's help in finding the 
Molly Wee, and getting me directions to where I needed to go.  I didn't get to meet everyone I hoped (did get to 
see WF but wasn't introduced, and NakedEye was never pointed out to me), but those I did meet were genuinly nice 
people....If anyone of you who met me ever make it to Austin, Texas, you have a place to stay, and a tour guide to 
show you around. I wish I had a better memory for names, but as I see posts, some of the faces will definatly come 
back to me...If you met me at the Wee, drop me a line, so I can try to put my mangled memory back in order.

Enough rambling for now!  Hope all of you who made the shows had as good a time as me, and for those of you who 
didn't make the shows...What were you thinkin?????