Over the top Weekend

I had a big weekend to put it midly. Started off friday when I drove from London to milton to play a quick round of golf at Rattle Snake with my buddy Preston. I was in meetings all day out in the london area and didn't finish untill 1:30. Knowing I wouldn't get back to the shop till 3:00 i decided to head the other way and try to play some golf. When i showed up i could see flag sticks practically parellel to the ground due to the wind. I have never seen wind like this on the golf course. Almost everytime i put my bag down it blew over. So it was to be a battle. Unfortunatly a massive weather system rolled in on the 6th hole and we had to make the long walk back to the club house. Just as we stepped under the roof it started pouring. Wether thats a good things or a bad thing is up for debate, none the less, we had to get a rain check and hope for another day.

Saturday was the big one. Awaking at 6:00 Am i quickly ran to the office to straighten up a few things before boarding a plane to the NYC. My cousin Jamie, Rodney, his broad Bunny, and Christian were on our way to see Ben Harper at Radio City Music Hall. It's been over 2 years now since our last trip to L.A. to see him, and I was really looking forward to it. Not only have I never been to NYC, but to see him in such a historical and famous venue was going to be a real treat.

So we show up at the hotel just off of 5th avenue and start with all the checking in bs. We weren't at the hotel for more then 10 minutes when all of a sudden a huge bus pulls up to the front door and of course, out walks Harper himself and the band. Crazy. For some of you that think i'm the biggest groupie ever, i swear this was a total coincedence. We are staying at the same hotel as them. Harper instantly recognizes my buddy Rodney, as does the rest of the band, and then proceedes to greet the rest of us. Maybe recognizing Jamie and myself, but I can't be sure of that. He did comment on my shirt saying he liked it. As lame or cool as that is, I was stoked just to get a quick intimate 5 o 10 minutes with the man himself. Pretty cool we always seem to run into this guy. In L.A. we ran into him on the street and chilled for a while, and it seems to happen everywhere we go. I'll admit, we do try to meet him, but it usually works on a rondom basis. Whatever, still made the day.

Anyways, after checking in and throwing our crap in the room we hop in a cab an head down to the Soho area. Basically this area was Queen St. in Toronto on steriods. Super cool area with tonnes of cool shops, small bistro's and reasturants, and of course tonnes of people. But its cool how everyone moves so smoothly. Did the shopping and lunch thing for the next couple of hours, then decide to head back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner and the show.

During that time, I headed up town to. Also by chance, my friend happen to be in NYC to see his GF who goes to school there. So i went up to meet her and chill with him for a little while. She lived about 100 yards away from Central Park in a nice apartment. From what I understand about the living costs in NYC she must be paying quite a bit for her place. It was cool seeing both of them, and my quick glance at Central Park had me really waning to come back. First off it is huge, and it's crazy thats it's in the middle of the city. My cab drove right through it, but the cool thing is from the road you can't see into the park. The road is down lower then the park and there is huge trees and bushes obviously grown to block the view into the park. I'm sure it a very nice detail for the people in the park trying to avoid the car and cement for the brief time they are in the park. That side of the city was also very upscale, very nice.

A few hours later we headed down to the hotel restaurant for a quick bite to eat and a few drinks. Then headed over to the venue. Walking up and all of a sudden seeing the Radio City sign was pretty cool. Took a few pictures, but due to my cave man camera (disposable, i know, the only person without a digital camera still) none of the pictures I took turned out. So we walked in just in time to grab oine more beer and head to our seats. Funny story about the seats. Rodney had 5 tickets. 2 were beside each other and the other 3 were singles. 1 in row H, N and P. I volunteer to take the one in P, but Jamie hands me the N tickte, takes the H for himself, and Christian gets the P. Christian and I have almost the same seat, jamie is a few rows infront of us and he thought he had the good one. As we all get to our seat i notice something funny. My seat is the best one. Jamie and christian were in the same section off to the right of the stage as I was, but theres were all the was to the left of the section, mine were almost on the aisle to the right giving me the best view. Jamie was moving around all night trying to find an open seat so he could see better. I had the most perfect view. By chance there was an open seat beside me. I texted Jamie first ot let him know and he didn't respond, so I called christian over and we had to seats together with a great view. About 3/4 of the way through the show, Jamie responds saying he's coming over. Luckly there was another seat open a few spots downs, and the guys beside me were nice enough to move down one seat and now the 3 of us were chilling from my seats, Pretty sweet.

The concert was good. A number of songs stood out. whipping boy, a few of the new ones, and a couple rare songs were played that made the conert. The rest of it was pretty slow and to be honest, completely different from what i wanted. I checked all the setlists before going so I knew what I was in for, and was still very happy I went. I'm willing to bet that 80% of the crowd had no idea what they were in for. None of his staple songs were played, and most people probably didn't even recognize the songs he played. If you didn't have the new album, you would have been pissed with the setlist. Also if you were a new fan since the last record, you didn't recognize anything. The only songs that he played that weren't on the new album came from his very first one which very little people know about, only the "true" fans have that one. Let me make something clear, I am not saying I didn't like the show. It was a great show in an amazing venue, in a great city. It was great for me, I loved the rare stuff and fully appreciated what Ben was trying to accomplish on this tour. His voice is the best it as ever been, and the band was tight, and it was an all around great show. Very happy I got to see it. Next years tour, if he does one, will be back to normal i assume, and will be just as good as this one. I'm throwing it out there, I want a bar tour next year. Jus travel around playing bars, that woudl be so sweet. Anyways, 2 more shows to see here in Toronto at Massey Hall. Anticipating the same type of setlist (it won't change) but still looking forward to going. I have 7th row centre seats for that one, so it should be sweet.

Thats it.