March 16, 2007 Bowery Ballroom, New York City
Okay, who's up for a little adventure?
It had started raining the night before and the weather reports were predicting a messy wintry mix in the Northeast. Just in time for our trip to New York City for the Blackfield DVD shoot. What do we Blackfield travelers do? We rent a 4-wheel drive Jeep and, at about 12 noon, we leave the Baltimore area heading North into a big messy, frozen rain storm. As we neared Philadelphia, the frozen rain started to coat the highway with a slick layer of ice. By the time we reached the New Jersey Turnpike, we could no longer drive 55. It was more like 35. We passed several cars that had slid off the road and were stuck in the frozen mess. We got a call from Lucsam and he had heard from his friend who said that the traffic about an hour behind us was at a stand still. We just kept on driving. We reached the already well coated New York City at about 5 o'clock pm and checked into our hotel. We were almost certain that no one would be crazy enough to be waiting outside already for an 8 O'clock door time in this this freezing, cold mess.
We decided to check it out anyway and, sure enough, there were about six folks there waiting under the Bowery Ballroom awning. I joined them and Jason ran to get us some snacks and an umbrella. So, there we stood, all of us shivering and getting freezing rain and snow on us. We all started talking, and that helped the time go by faster. The guy right ahead of me was Matt (aka Vapor Trail) who had traveled with his father all the way from Minneapolis. They had already been to the Philly show and also had the rest of the tour on their agenda. You have to love us "Die Hards." Lucsam and Moonchild (Jon & Linda) showed up. They already knew Matt from the PT forum. We heard that the show and the DVD were both still on despite the horrible weather conditions. All of the Studio M guys had made it.
The staff opened the doors early at 7 pm because of the weather and we thanked them for that. We were all getting numb out in the cold. We were let in to the basement bar area where our tickets were taken. Unfortunately, I got the will call tickets on the Internet which meant no actual tickets for me! They just checked my name off on a list, so no ticket stub. I ran into Susan who had just endured a four and half hour drive down from Hartford, Connecticut. After a little waiting time in the bar area, we were allowed to go upstairs to the stage area. We all made our usual mad dash upstairs. The front of the stage had been taped off and a train track of sorts was there so a steady camera could slide across it to film the show. There were also cameras on either side of the balcony and a single cameraman moved back and forth while filming the back of the stage and also the front of the stage at different times. GK showed up with Serge after a horrible drive like the rest of us. I had told him that I would save him a place next to me up front with us so he could get on the DVD since he was left on the cutting room floor on the PT DVD, for some reason.
Jordan opened up again and moved the crowd yet again with his powerful selections from Progressive days past. There were a lot more singers this night, singing along to Yes's "Soon" and Genesis's "Carpet Crawlers." He also played "Lazarus" again which had us all singing along. Jordan's performance was also filmed by Studio M.
Then, after a short break to clear Jordan's gear away, Blackfield were all set to take the stage. The lights dimmed and Tomer Z came out and started things off. Then came SW and Seffy and the keyboardist. Finally, Aviv joined in just as "Once" came crashing in. Aviv had his glitter eye shadow back on and a chain wallet for this show. The crowd was very enthusiastic as the set continued "Miss U", "Blackfield", "Christenings." I found myself watching Tomer Z quite a bit. I really think he is a very facially expressive drummer and despite, the fact he is in the background, he has quite a stage presence. Seffy also did quite a few interesting dance moves.
Aviv got into the whole sexy, rock star thing, unbuttoning his shirt in "Where Is My Love" and taking it off for "End Of The World." I thought he could of used a few hundred push ups myself, but it's his show and his DVD shoot. I'm not sure SW really thought it was a great idea from some of the looks he gave Aviv.
The band encored with "Hello" and another rocking version of "Once" and then everyone sang along with "Cloudy Now." I personally think that they played better in Annapolis, but I think everything went okay for the DVD shoot. On the other hand, Studio M also filmed the Philadelphia Grape Street show and that footage has never surfaced. Also, I remember waiting out front on the second night for PT in Chicago and there was talk that the first night's DVD footage was too dark, and they didn't know if they could use it and they did. So, who knows? We'll just have to wait and see if all of us in the front row and beyond show up on the DVD or if we end up on the cutting room floor. One thing is for sure. A lot of us really went through a lot to get there.
SET LIST
Once
Miss U
Blackfield
Christenings
The Hole In Me
1000 People
Pain
Glow (Aviv Solo on Keyboard)
Thank You (Just SW and Aviv)
Epidemic
Someday
Open Mind
My Gift Of Silence
Where Is My Love
End Of The World
ENCORE
Hello
Once (Twice)
Cloudy Now
It had started raining the night before and the weather reports were predicting a messy wintry mix in the Northeast. Just in time for our trip to New York City for the Blackfield DVD shoot. What do we Blackfield travelers do? We rent a 4-wheel drive Jeep and, at about 12 noon, we leave the Baltimore area heading North into a big messy, frozen rain storm. As we neared Philadelphia, the frozen rain started to coat the highway with a slick layer of ice. By the time we reached the New Jersey Turnpike, we could no longer drive 55. It was more like 35. We passed several cars that had slid off the road and were stuck in the frozen mess. We got a call from Lucsam and he had heard from his friend who said that the traffic about an hour behind us was at a stand still. We just kept on driving. We reached the already well coated New York City at about 5 o'clock pm and checked into our hotel. We were almost certain that no one would be crazy enough to be waiting outside already for an 8 O'clock door time in this this freezing, cold mess.
We decided to check it out anyway and, sure enough, there were about six folks there waiting under the Bowery Ballroom awning. I joined them and Jason ran to get us some snacks and an umbrella. So, there we stood, all of us shivering and getting freezing rain and snow on us. We all started talking, and that helped the time go by faster. The guy right ahead of me was Matt (aka Vapor Trail) who had traveled with his father all the way from Minneapolis. They had already been to the Philly show and also had the rest of the tour on their agenda. You have to love us "Die Hards." Lucsam and Moonchild (Jon & Linda) showed up. They already knew Matt from the PT forum. We heard that the show and the DVD were both still on despite the horrible weather conditions. All of the Studio M guys had made it.
The staff opened the doors early at 7 pm because of the weather and we thanked them for that. We were all getting numb out in the cold. We were let in to the basement bar area where our tickets were taken. Unfortunately, I got the will call tickets on the Internet which meant no actual tickets for me! They just checked my name off on a list, so no ticket stub. I ran into Susan who had just endured a four and half hour drive down from Hartford, Connecticut. After a little waiting time in the bar area, we were allowed to go upstairs to the stage area. We all made our usual mad dash upstairs. The front of the stage had been taped off and a train track of sorts was there so a steady camera could slide across it to film the show. There were also cameras on either side of the balcony and a single cameraman moved back and forth while filming the back of the stage and also the front of the stage at different times. GK showed up with Serge after a horrible drive like the rest of us. I had told him that I would save him a place next to me up front with us so he could get on the DVD since he was left on the cutting room floor on the PT DVD, for some reason.
Jordan opened up again and moved the crowd yet again with his powerful selections from Progressive days past. There were a lot more singers this night, singing along to Yes's "Soon" and Genesis's "Carpet Crawlers." He also played "Lazarus" again which had us all singing along. Jordan's performance was also filmed by Studio M.
Then, after a short break to clear Jordan's gear away, Blackfield were all set to take the stage. The lights dimmed and Tomer Z came out and started things off. Then came SW and Seffy and the keyboardist. Finally, Aviv joined in just as "Once" came crashing in. Aviv had his glitter eye shadow back on and a chain wallet for this show. The crowd was very enthusiastic as the set continued "Miss U", "Blackfield", "Christenings." I found myself watching Tomer Z quite a bit. I really think he is a very facially expressive drummer and despite, the fact he is in the background, he has quite a stage presence. Seffy also did quite a few interesting dance moves.
Aviv got into the whole sexy, rock star thing, unbuttoning his shirt in "Where Is My Love" and taking it off for "End Of The World." I thought he could of used a few hundred push ups myself, but it's his show and his DVD shoot. I'm not sure SW really thought it was a great idea from some of the looks he gave Aviv.
The band encored with "Hello" and another rocking version of "Once" and then everyone sang along with "Cloudy Now." I personally think that they played better in Annapolis, but I think everything went okay for the DVD shoot. On the other hand, Studio M also filmed the Philadelphia Grape Street show and that footage has never surfaced. Also, I remember waiting out front on the second night for PT in Chicago and there was talk that the first night's DVD footage was too dark, and they didn't know if they could use it and they did. So, who knows? We'll just have to wait and see if all of us in the front row and beyond show up on the DVD or if we end up on the cutting room floor. One thing is for sure. A lot of us really went through a lot to get there.
SET LIST
Once
Miss U
Blackfield
Christenings
The Hole In Me
1000 People
Pain
Glow (Aviv Solo on Keyboard)
Thank You (Just SW and Aviv)
Epidemic
Someday
Open Mind
My Gift Of Silence
Where Is My Love
End Of The World
ENCORE
Hello
Once (Twice)
Cloudy Now
posted by The Bald Monkey at
7:14 PM
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