Berkeley, Conshohocken, Insiders, and more....

[sparky]

Originally Posted by carrie721

yeah, it really does. i feel as though LB has hidden behind his studio trickery and layering for all these years, and this record isn't much different.

It seems silly. Like it is about the layering and processing more than the songs. He never struck me as so style obsessed. But I guess he is.

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by amber

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...0975232E6A3DCA

Jason, you are so fabulous.

[Rickypt]

Paula--great writeup, pics, and video. Thanks for posting.

[jkmaletic]

Hey Paula-

HILARIOUS posts! I love the pics too. I like the one of you guys on the porch, but where are Bo, Luke and Uncle Jessie??

I'm glad you had another great Stevie-related adventure. They are fun, aren't they? I wish I'd have seen a funny word like Conshohocken on our 5 hour trek to the FM Bakerfield show. But we did ok guessing what might be in the dozens of 18-wheelers we saw on the way up....hmmm, maybe that one's got purple dildos in it?

I got one -

F*ck you and the Conshohoken you rode in on!

~jamie

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by amber

On my porch beering before the show, Paula, Ryan, Jaz

I don't have time right now to read this thread, but I will. I do know that I want that t-shirt bitch!

[skcin]

OK, I'm back. I thought I'd better spend a few hours with my husband after leaving him for a week to hang out with all you WaMu's. But he's out & about running errands for family so here I am.

So. Ry & I leave his place at 9am Friday....and promptly stop for breakfast. It was some little Mexican dive diner type place, and ho**** was it good. I had a breakfast burrito (eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, cheese & ketchup in a huge burrito - did I mention I wasn't counting points this trip?) I swear I was full for about 8 hours. Sooooo good. Plus, an old black guy checked out my ass. I knew there was a reason to stay chubby.

The drive up to Oakland was not great. We passed through Boringtown, then Dullsville, and then we spotted the cows. THE COWS! As far as they eye could see, thousands of cows in a pasture. The smell lasted for at least 15 minutes & made me ill. So if you travel up the 5 in Cali, be prepared for the cows. I've decided that as far as the central part of the state goes, No Cal & So Cal are the best, and the rest is a parallel Nebraska universe.

We drive up the street & see an insane woman jumping up & down on the sidewalk. Of course, it's Amber, and of course I told her to do this to welcome us or we'd be offended. We take the conshohoken to the grocery store for beer & snacks & return to get ready. Amber's apt. is small, but not as small as she lets on. Of course, there are lots of books, incense, pics of Stevie & herbal tea - just as I had imagined. And the kitties - I don't think any of them hated us, but Spanky was not happy when I had a towel on my head & went down to pet him. I think he's racist against people with turbans.

Jaz arrives & we chat for a bit until it's time to jet. Deborah is late, so we assume that she's ditching us & call the cab. We're in the cab (a mini van that reeked of Eau de Smelly Drive'r) and Deborah calls, so we ask Mean Mr. Smelly to stop & wait a minute. Mind you, we've only gone 3 blocks. He whines, then Amber points out that the meter is still running, so why should he care. He says he'll wait & Amber jumps out to run & get Deborah. I tell Jaz to leave the door open, and thank God because not 30 seconds had passed when he started threatening to leave. I say "they're right there, I can see them walking down the street now, they'll be here in less than 1 minute" and Jaz chimes in "one of them can't run because of her hip dysplasia." Anyway, they get tot he cab in 45 seconds & we're off.

We went to Blake's. Great food, not pricey at all. Jaz & Ry flirt with our gay Guatamalan waiter & get his number, and he gives all of us Amber's student discount. I still can't figure out how dinner for 5 including several drinks came to only $54, but I'm not about to look a gay gift horse in the mouth. Eliza & her friend Pam (Kim? Damn...) meet us there briefly & then go to find parking. We decide to hoof it, since it's not really that far from the venue.

Now, if you'll recall, I had tix for Sat but not Fri. Amber was vey sad about this, but we had decided we just didn't want to pay $80 (after fees) for a SRO ticket. So we tell her we'll walk up there with them to check out the neighborhood & meet them after the show. Of course, we find 2 tix for $60 each from a scalper & we say "screw it" and go. They were section 5 row 19 (dead center, but almost top row.) Decent deats that had a face value of $65+fees.

I won't go through every song. Petty's always good, he has never disappointed me. The lights, however, did annoy me to no end. If ya'll haven't heard, all the lights went out during "Listen to Her Heart" - the opening song. I mean, ALL the lights. They shined flashlights on Petty & Mike Campbell for a bit, then got the spotlights up & running. Eventually, the lights/screens were back, only to go back out later. All I could think of was "Oh, no, La Nicks will NOT like this, it's all about lighting, oh no..." So that sucked, I don't know why it bothered me so damn much, but it did & I honestly couldn't relax & completely enjoy the show. Except Insider, of course.

Although Jaz already posted his vid, here's mine anyway. You can never have too much Insider.

[mikeschmike]

Sweet pics, and I love the vids from the concert. Sounds like the trip was drunken and bordering on debauchery. Love it!

[skcin]

The show itself. Petty & the boys are just so damn good, with our without our girl. They really are. "It's Good To Be King" is fan****ingtastic. Never a huge fave of mine, but the jam at the end is phenomenal. "Don't Come Around Here No More" is one of the best live performances I've ever seen from anyone. Here's Saturday night's version; please note Stevie's air violin and spastic strobe dance. This is the last of my concert vids:



After Friday's show, we all meet up near WillCall & briefly talk with Anita & makes plans for the next night. Then Deb, Jaz, me, Ry & Amby head to the gay bar. Amber makes it sound like we were all "ew, don't talk to me freak!" Well, maybe we kind of were. Only because we wanted to chat amongst ourselves & find out more about eachother, that's all. Kind of hard to ask Deborah about her horses or her favorite hair band when a complete stranger is standing literally 6 inches away from her staring at her hair.

We take the hint to leave when the bar guys lock us onto the patio. We walk back to Amber's & try some karaoke. Well, we scared the **** out of Ryan, who apparently had no clue just how deep our obsession was. He looked like a deer in headlights. Jaz left, Deb left, so it was me Amber & Ry (who had had lots to drink and was not much fun.) I think we finally made it to bed around 6am.

Saturday was obviously a very late start, but we get up, grab coffee & head out to breakfast. In the cab, I accidentally tip over my almost empty coffee cup & spill it on my leg. Oh, and down my leg onto my crotch. Great - now it looks and feels like I peed my pants. Yuck. It kind of dries as time goes on. The food was good, but the place was debatable - our salt shaker had sour cream (we think) on it, so we told the waitress. She takes it, then brings it back half wiped. Gee, thanks. We used the other shaker. Oh, and they were out of Bloody Mary's. For brunch on a Saturday. Hmmmmmm.....

We are very low on time, so decide to take BART to the mall in San Fran & do a little shopping instead of sightsee. Never have I been so uncomfortable in my life as I was in that mall. 5 levels. FIVE! And so many people, way too many people. Later, Rickypt tells us that it was the grand re-opening so that explains it. But that does not explain why there are bathrooms on levels 1 & 5 and that's it. Also, why there are only 6 stalls so I had to wait in line for 15minutes to pee. That's just wrong. I'm at a mall, not a Bills game for f*ck's sake. Wanna know what else is wrong? That Leslie such & such at Bare Essentuals has groupies. We were told they were lined up the day before waiting for her autograph, but she didn't show. Ryan and I, being ignorant to the Bare Essentuals/ Minerals Leslie phenomenon, were clued in by an employee. We saw her picture & to us she looks like Tori Spelling's chubby brunette sister. But I digress.

We realize it's very late, so we head outside. At least I can say I actually saw San Francisco. Very cool, but very crowded. And people don't say excuse me or sorry when they slam into you, which I'm not used to. My bro says it's the same way in AZ. We stop at another store, then Ry gets a $5 cup of that we end up waiting 10 minutes for them to make. We get back on BART & Ry & I start commenting about how much conshohoken is probably on the seats & railings & such. I get out my Purell & sanitize.

Sat pm we're all in a great mood, ready to go & meet everyone for sushi. Deborah drives (thanks, sweetie!) and gets a kickass parking space near the restaurant. Right on, I say (well, I say it now, anyway - not a common saying in my neck of the woods, but I adapted.) We meet Eliza, Rickypt, and Jaz at the restaurant & eat some really great sushi. I mean, really great. Poor Deborah about starved (She ordered something that was apparently an appetizer, and a very small one. She did have some of our) pity sushi, picking out the seaweed of course.)

After din din, we figure out who's riding with who. Rickypt & Jaz & me go with Deb; Amber, Eliza & Ry get a cab. Parking is not fun near The Greek. We did find a spot in a ramp - then saw a sign that said it closed at 11pm. So we went to another ramp, only to hit a dead end & watch a woman attempt to back up, hitting a curb in the process TWICE! We finally find another ramp & Deb squeezes her can into the tiniest spot of all time and we're off & brisking walking. We get there right as Frank Black ended, grab a beer & find our seats.

A comment about The Greek. Coolest.Venue.Ever. Seriously. Literally not a bad seat in the house because the incline is steep. Here's a pic of the stage & some of the side section after the show to give you an idea:



After the show, enjoying the novelty of stone seats:


Me & Ry after the show:



More to come, including drunken fun with a mop head, 4 am karaoke & the Pacific Coast Highway....

[skcin]

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by skcin

watch a woman attempt to back up, hitting a curb in the process TWICE!

[JazmenFlowers]

Originally Posted by sparky

F*kc. Smokin hot. I wanna see all of it.

me too. unfort, that's all there is out there. my camera f'ed and didn't get any of it and someone on 7 Wonders got it, but can't figure out how to upload it. so this clip is all there is which pisses me off cause my midpart growl was dead on. glad you like it!

Originally Posted by Rickypt

was this not like the most hilarious things ever?! I have laughed my ass off while reading Paula's recap. I knew it was a good choice to let her do the work.

[amber]

Originally Posted by skcin

The drive up to Oakland was not great. We passed through Boringtown, then Dullsville, and then we spotted the cows. THE COWS! As far as they eye could see, thousands of cows in a pasture. The smell lasted for at least 15 minutes & made me ill. So if you travel up the 5 in Cali, be prepared for the cows. I've decided that as far as the central part of the state goes, No Cal & So Cal are the best, and the rest is a parallel Nebraska universe.

Yeah, central CA, sorry about that. We just tell them to grow our food and keep quiet about their existence, otherwise. Nice places in Central CA: Chico. That's it. Southern Central CA. is worse than northern, too.

Originally Posted by skcin

We drive up the street & see an insane woman jumping up & down on the sidewalk. Of course, it's Amber, and of course I told her to do this to welcome us or we'd be offended. We take the conshohoken to the grocery store for beer & snacks & return to get ready. Amber's apt. is small, but not as small as she lets on. Of course, there are lots of books, incense, pics of Stevie & herbal tea - just as I had imagined. And the kitties - I don't think any of them hated us, but Spanky was not happy when I had a towel on my head & went down to pet him. I think he's racist against people with turbans.

It's because Spanky had previously met our cab driver. After Paula called Spanky handsome, and took the turban off, he loved her.
I'd also like to point out that I only have one big pic of Stevie on top of my bookshelf, and a couple small ones on the fridge, two of which someone gave me. And I only had 1 kind of herbal tea. Wait, two. Okay. And who doesn't have incense? I had some Champra, but didn't bust it out.

Originally Posted by skcin

Jaz arrives & we chat for a bit until it's time to jet. Deborah is late, so we assume that she's ditching us & call the cab. We're in the cab (a mini van that reeked of Eau de Smelly Drive'r) and Deborah calls, so we ask Mean Mr. Smelly to stop & wait a minute. Mind you, we've only gone 3 blocks. He whines, then Amber points out that the meter is still running, so why should he care. He says he'll wait & Amber jumps out to run & get Deborah. I tell Jaz to leave the door open, and thank God because not 30 seconds had passed when he started threatening to leave. I say "they're right there, I can see them walking down the street now, they'll be here in less than 1 minute" and Jaz chimes in "one of them can't run because of her hip dysplasia." Anyway, they get tot he cab in 45 seconds & we're off.

"hip displaysia".
This was actually my second bad experience with a cab in two days, oddly.

We went to Blake's. Great food, not pricey at all. Jaz & Ry flirt with our gay Guatamalan waiter & get his number, and he gives all of us Amber's student discount. I still can't figure out how dinner for 5 including several drinks came to only $54, but I'm not about to look a gay gift horse in the mouth. Eliza & her friend Pam (Kim? Damn...) meet us there briefly & then go to find parking. We decide to hoof it, since it's not really that far from the venue.

I forgot about the discount! That waiter really was cute. Kim was Eliza's friend, who later saw me eat it in the bathroom (slip on the floor) trying to rush back to the show. Along with a whole line full of other people. If I didn't do embarrassing things in front of people all the time, I mighta cared. I also ate it again moments later on the way down the hill/stairs.

Oddly, I hade made the same trip up and down twice awhile before that - I tried to go to the bathroom, but as soon as I finished sprinting up the hill/stairs to the bathroom, Insider started, so I breakneck speeded back down the hill/stairs - I had also gone up to get beers at the beginning. Both those previous times I was more buzzed, and did not fall, but at the very end when more sober, I fell twice. Curious. Plus, there were all these drunk people clogging the stairs that I had to dodge or push. hehehehe.

Maybe the first two times my dangerously full bladder was holding my balancing muscles in place, or maybe I was just worn out. I fell twice in one night on the Vegas stairs, too, for the same reason. I think I know what to expect next concert I attend. I shall wear ankle braces.

Now, if you'll recall, I had tix for Sat but not Fri. Amber was vey sad about this, but we had decided we just didn't want to pay $80 (after fees) for a SRO ticket. So we tell her we'll walk up there with them to check out the neighborhood & meet them after the show. Of course, we find 2 tix for $60 each from a scalper & we say "screw it" and go. They were section 5 row 19 (dead center, but almost top row.) Decent deats that had a face value of $65+fees.

That was such an awesome suprise, it was like my birthday! I was so excited.

I won't go through every song. Petty's always good, he has never disappointed me. The lights, however, did annoy me to no end. If ya'll haven't heard, all the lights went out during "Listen to Her Heart" - the opening song. I mean, ALL the lights. They shined flashlights on Petty & Mike Campbell for a bit, then got the spotlights up & running. Eventually, the lights/screens were back, only to go back out later. All I could think of was "Oh, no, La Nicks will NOT like this, it's all about lighting, oh no..." So that sucked, I don't know why it bothered me so damn much, but it did & I honestly couldn't relax & completely enjoy the show. Except Insider, of course.

I barely noticed the lights, it seemed like they just went out briefly twice. And not during Stevie. And we could still hear. Sorry they bugged you. Not like I was in charge of checking the lighting or anything.

Originally Posted by skcin

Although Jaz already posted his vid, here's mine anyway. You can never have too much Insider.

That's true!! Kick ass vid.

[amber]

Originally Posted by skcin

After Friday's show, we all meet up near WillCall & briefly talk with Anita & makes plans for the next night. Then Deb, Jaz, me, Ry & Amby head to the gay bar. Amber makes it sound like we were all "ew, don't talk to me freak!" Well, maybe we kind of were. Only because we wanted to chat amongst ourselves & find out more about eachother, that's all. Kind of hard to ask Deborah about her horses or her favorite hair band when a complete stranger is standing literally 6 inches away from her staring at her hair.

That's true, it wasn't that bad, I had just never seen yours and Jaz' faces do that before.

We take the hint to leave when the bar guys lock us onto the patio. We walk back to Amber's & try some karaoke. Well, we scared the **** out of Ryan, who apparently had no clue just how deep our obsession was. He looked like a deer in headlights. Jaz left, Deb left, so it was me Amber & Ry (who had had lots to drink and was not much fun.) I think we finally made it to bed around 6am.

I still thought it was fun, but Ryan was totally freaking just because we were singing. Also we went outside and Khrista sang with Ryan, then sang a song for us, then Ryan and Jaz totally freaked out at her voice and Ry never stopped talking about it. It was very good. My neighbors loved us, it was only like, 4 in the morning. Luckily they are used to me doing that, singing at all hours, so whatever.

Originally Posted by skcin

Saturday was obviously a very late start, but we get up, grab coffee & head out to breakfast. In the cab, I accidentally tip over my almost empty coffee cup & spill it on my leg. Oh, and down my leg onto my crotch. Great - now it looks and feels like I peed my pants. Yuck. It kind of dries as time goes on. The food was good, but the place was debatable - our salt shaker had sour cream (we think) on it, so we told the waitress. She takes it, then brings it back half wiped. Gee, thanks. We used the other shaker. Oh, and they were out of Bloody Mary's. For brunch on a Saturday. Hmmmmmm.....

Yeah, the bloody Mary thing was lame. The salt shaker thing was expectable to me in such a busy small place, but she shoulda wiped it better.

We are very low on time, so decide to take BART to the mall in San Fran & do a little shopping instead of sightsee. Never have I been so uncomfortable in my life as I was in that mall. 5 levels. FIVE! And so many people, way too many people. Later, Rickypt tells us that it was the grand re-opening so that explains it. But that does not explain why there are bathrooms on levels 1 & 5 and that's it. Also, why there are only 6 stalls so I had to wait in line for 15minutes to pee. That's just wrong. I'm at a mall, not a Bills game for f*ck's sake. Wanna know what else is wrong? That Leslie such & such at Bare Essentuals has groupies. We were told they were lined up the day before waiting for her autograph, but she didn't show. Ryan and I, being ignorant to the Bare Essentuals/ Minerals Leslie phenomenon, were clued in by an employee. We saw her picture & to us she looks like Tori Spelling's chubby brunette sister. But I digress.

So lame. I hate malls. It was pretty funny, though. I'm sad I didn't get to show you the way cute parts of Berkeley that are non crowded and right by my house instead of stupid crowded malls in SF. But I felt compelled that you should see SF, also that the Berkeley shops wouldn't have the makeup Jaz wanted. If I had known, like everyone else in the world, that that was the grand re-opening of the (now) biggest mall on the West Sy-eed, I would have reconsidered.

Originally Posted by skcin

We realize it's very late, so we head outside. At least I can say I actually saw San Francisco. Very cool, but very crowded. And people don't say excuse me or sorry when they slam into you, which I'm not used to. My bro says it's the same way in AZ. We stop at another store, then Ry gets a $5 cup of that we end up waiting 10 minutes for them to make. We get back on BART & Ry & I start commenting about how much conshohoken is probably on the seats & railings & such. I get out my Purell & sanitize.

Oh, that's what you were talking about! This was also the birth of Conshahoken for me and Jaz. They were cracking up on BART, then we found out why. Then all shared in the joy and germs, we all caught the conshahoken on BART. That's why Jaz is sick now...

Originally Posted by skcin

Sat pm we're all in a great mood, ready to go & meet everyone for sushi. Deborah drives (thanks, sweetie!) and gets a kickass parking space near the restaurant. Right on, I say (well, I say it now, anyway - not a common saying in my neck of the woods, but I adapted.) We meet Eliza, Rickypt, and Jaz at the restaurant & eat some really great sushi. I mean, really great. Poor Deborah about starved (She ordered something that was apparently an appetizer, and a very small one. She did have some of our) pity sushi, picking out the seaweed of course.)

However, they sat us way in back by the bathroom, which I was pissed about especially after waiting in line, and was about to make a "fuss", but Ryan said he liked it because it was private - I still hated it, but decided to let it go. It was all cute and nice up front, I wanted to sit with the people, not be shunted in back like we all had the conshahoken or something. Oh well. The sushi was good. Sorry Deborah!

Originally Posted by skcin

After din din, we figure out who's riding with who. Rickypt & Jaz & me go with Deb; Amber, Eliza & Ry get a cab. Parking is not fun near The Greek. We did find a spot in a ramp - then saw a sign that said it closed at 11pm. So we went to another ramp, only to hit a dead end & watch a woman attempt to back up, hitting a curb in the process TWICE! We finally find another ramp & Deb squeezes her can into the tiniest spot of all time and we're off & brisking walking. We get there right as Frank Black ended, grab a beer & find our seats.

We took a cab to the venue, actually had a great driver this time, he drove all fast and aggressively, zoomed up the hills, etc. Thank god.

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by JazmenFlowers

was this not like the most hilarious things ever?!

Again, thank god for Deborah. I would have just dropped you all off at the venue and gone home at that point.

And....the weather here today is what I wanted you all to enjoy last weekend. Absolutely beautiful.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by skcin

Spanky was not happy when I had a towel on my head & went down to pet him. I think he's racist against people with turbans.

Spanky ?

OMG. I have a buddy named Spanky.