Some tales from New York

I'm not convinced anyone actually reads these things but it helps me remember what we've been up to. In this spirit, I'm going to attempt to summarise our 5 days in New York City for posterity. The first thing that struck me getting off the plane at JFK was how humid it was. The last time I was in New York was about the same time of year so it should have been no surprise. It's the first time I've arrived by air though. We did the obligatory yellow cab to the hotel, which gave us some good entered views approaching Manhattan. I was surprised how near the airport was and wondered why it takes up to an hour to get to Midtown. I realised why when we Manhattan and had Jimi's Crosstown Traffic stuck in my head for the next 20 minutes or so.
The hotel was the Affinia Manhattan, chosen using the old 'look through Tripadvisor ratings to find the highest rated one that you can afford in the right area' technique. It was a very swanky lobby and I felt quite scruffy after a long flight and rather hot cab journey. This didn't bother the receptionist who checked us in and upgraded us to a suite. Yay. He was really confused why we weren't going to see Coldplay that night at Madison Square Garden (which was just across the road), especially as we were English. I restrained myself from launching into a tirade against dullness. The room was not the most modern but it was comfortable, well equipped (kitchen, lounge, bedroom and 2 bathrooms) and best of all with a view of the Empire State Building (ESB to those in the know...).
We were determined to not go to sleep until as late as possible so went out to find the world's largest camera shop. It was completely bewildering inside - like a technologically-advanced Argos with entirely Jewish staff and the most gadgets I've ever seen. Got a nifty camera bag in the end. We had a bit of a wander round and a nosy round the old ESB which was handily scaffolded and covered up at the bottom. Found a rubbish shopping centre before paying our one and only visit to Sbarro. I think we did quite well. And we managed to stay up past 10pm. What jetlag?
Day 2 started promisingly as we didn't get up till 9am. Wish it was that easy to recover from jetlag in the opposite direction. Plus I was excited that we were going to get to see Pearl Jam that evening. We decided on this trip we should try to do the things we didn't get to do last time and top of that list was a good nosy round the Rockefeller Center. Those of you who don't know what it is, see the link, but it's a marvel of Art Deco town planning. Beautiful buildings with loads of steel and murals. They've done up the top of the GE building so you can once again visit it. 'The Top of the Rock' apparently. We went up and needless to say, I am definitely still not keen on heights. Impressive views from up there though. The sun was blazing as well and it was nice to have a sit down up there and think just how far away from work I was!

We took a self-guided walking tour of the Rockefeller Center, taking in the sights of St Patrick's cathedral, Radio City Music Hall and some of the buildings on the Avenue of the Americas. I think I was starting to be obsessed by the end of this so we headed over to the International Center for Photography which had some interesting exhibitions from Japan and the USA. Then it was time to pick up the Pearl Jam tickets and buy a pizza that was unfeasibly large. It was supposedly a small but I've never seen one so large over here. I've gone into a lot of detail in previous posts about the shows so I direct you to those. I had a pretzel the size of my head on the way back to the hotel. It was sad to see so many homeless people sleeping rough as I think it's something you don't see so often over here these days. I think New York is still very much a city of a thousand contrasts and the USA feels like such a different place to the UK, even though we speak the same language. Actually, I doubt that after constantly asking for people to repeat themselves and people keeping thinking I was Australian.

Day 3 was a good start to the morning knowing that I would be off to see the greatest live band in the world again that night. We called in to Macy's on the way to the subway. The New York Subway is cheap and relatively useful, but also insanely hot and humid so we headed for the cool climes of the American Museum of Natural History. It's enormous and the main entrance hall has two dinosaurs in it (I think they were a brachiosaur and an allosaurus but I've slept since then). As it was so massive, we decided to tag onto a tour of the highlights of the museum. We saw dinosaur fossils, gemstones and minerals and proper retro-looking diorama featuring bison and other animals. We finished off our visit with the planetarium (I will always get 'Sanitarium' by Metallica in my head at this point) in the Rose Center's nifty planetarium. More steamy Subway travel, a quick visit to Times Square and the world's largest toy store (disappointingly i's a Toys R Us but it has a huge, mechanical T-Rex in it) then off for another great show at Madison Square Garden.
Day 4 and the time's going for too quickly. We went off to Grand Central Terminal to see the impressive vaulted ceiling and decorations. Had a knish in the food court underneath, set out like a train carriage, then nearly had a divorce over a wiped memory card upstairs in the concourse. Brian K Vaughan (writer of comics/graphic novels) was doing a signing at a comic store near Grand Central and I'd promised the long-suffering other half that we could go. Plus, I finally got to go inside the Chrysler Building and coo over some more stainless steel and art deco. The geek line, I mean comic queue, wasn't too long, but I had time to have a wander off and stumble on a completely vegetarian burger bar, Zen Burger, which I earmarked for having tea in. Other half met BKV, I sulked that I didn't get to meet Pearl Jam and we fed our faces with burgers. Went back to the hotel and checked out the cocktail bar in the hotel, Niles. I had a cocktail and it was lovely. Then I had another one. Then we got one for free. Then I went to bed.
Day 5 had a slightly postponed start due to the sophoritic effects of 3 cocktails on a complete lightweight. We were booked on a river cruise from the South St Seaport to see some great views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Olafur Eliasson's Waterfalls. It was the hottest it had been that week I think but nice to get a breeze off the river. I was glad I hadn't had 4 cocktails though as I don't think I'd have appreciated being on a boat. On Friday nights, the Museum of Modern Art is free. We thought it would be a goodidea to visit then, not realising that everyone else would have the same idea. It was busy and so we didn't get to see all of Olafur Eliasson's installation, but saw some impressive works nonetheless including Warhol's soup cans, lots of Mondriaan, Klee and of course a load of old Pollocks. Sorry about that. The photography exhibitions were impressive too. We called at the Rockefeller Center again on the way too to re-take some of the photos I thought I had lost, including Chris Burden's public art project, 'What My Dad Gave Me' - a 6-storey skyscraper made out of 1930s replica toy parts. We finally got to go to Franchia as well, a Korean vegetarian restaurant on Park Avenue. It was a lovely place and really tasty, though I am pleased to report that Manchester's own Koreana does a nicer bibimbap.
Day 6 meant a whistle stop trip to Central Park for a geocache near the Dakota building and a little wander round. I decided to attempt some shopping in the Time Warner Building but ended up with an Owly book and a Napoleon Dynamite board game. Very useful. A quick shower at the hotel, final trip to Macy's and it was time to get in our yellow cab back to the airport. A slightly disappointing duty free session (no beer and not the right perfume) and it was time to get on the plane. Sadly not time to take off though as the thunderstorm that had been threatening the whole week decided to show up. It's not much fun sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours in a thunderstorm but I guess it's less fun flying in it.
And that was that. I think I could keep going back and still never see everything. A busy place but not in a tiring way. Of course, Pearl Jam and cheap flights are always a good combination and excuse.

Pearl Jam - Madison Square Garden, New York City, 25th June 2008

Well, I wasn't going all that way to not see Pearl Jam for a second night if they're in the same city. There was a complete fiasco surrounding posters outside the venue earlier on but I put it behind me and the staff inside the venue seemed to have a modicum of respect and intelligence so rudeness and unhelpfulness is not indicative of everyone there.
Anyway. We got in and were sat slightly nearer the stage for night 2 and thankfully the two beered-up ones in front of us weren't there either, so things were looking up. Managed to miss the support band again as we were getting some food and having a little rest after a day out sightseeing in the very humid climate. I was wondering what it was going to be like, seeing that they had played a good set the night before. They came on to Release which, to be honest, justified the flight prices alone to me. Eddie's voice sounded spot on and the whole of the Garden was singing along - I very nearly started to have a little cry but I'm a grown up these days so I didn't. It did remind me how very special this band can be when they get it right. I did worry that they rest of the show wouldn't match up to this opening, but we weren't disappointed. We had another 2 3/4 hour set with some surprises in it. World Wide Suicide and Severed Hand upped the tempo and even though we'd had Corduroy the previous night, I will never tire of hearing it. The backing singers came out again for All Night which sounded good again but made it clear we were going to get at least those 3 songs again from the night before. I'm not complaining as lots of bands these days play similar sets each night so us Pearl Jam fans are spoiled rotten with such varied setlists, but the element of surprise was gone for a couple of songs. Cropduster was a nice addition to the set as I think it's one of the better songs on Riot Act. Much as I like all their albums, the early-era stuff still gets me the most excited these days, especially when they pull Garden out of the bag. It sounded amazing and haunting and I think the crowd were one of the loudest I've ever heard. It's almost a spiritual experience being part of that. It's a rare thing to feel so engaged with a band in such a large venue. They must be doing something right.
They attempted to start Marker in the Sand (which made my husband happy as it's one of his favourites) but Mike seemed to completely forget how to play it. A bit of a reminder off the rest of the band though and he was sorted out. Next was a song I've never heard them play - I'm Open off the No Code album. It's not the most spectacular song they did but it reminds me of listening to No Code on repeat just before we went to see them for the first time in '96. Wishlist is nice to hear too. State of Love and Trust will always be one of my favourite songs in the world and tonight they pulled off about the best performances of it I've seen them do. My voice was starting to go at this point from so much singing. Next was EvenFlow, which is a lot of people's cue to spend a penny if needs be. It's a great song but I've heard it a million times and you have time to get out and back before the end of the guitar solo. Top tip there.
We had Who You Are with the guest vocalists nest, which was pretty much the same as the night before. Next was another song I've not seen them do: Rats which built up with Given to Fly with a frenetic end to main set of Do The Evolution and Go.
First Encore started with Inside Job then WMA with the guest vocalists again. Eddie invited us to settle down for some campfire music before launching into the short, sharp shock that is Lukin. I'm still too slow to sing along with that one. CJ Ramone came out again for I Believe in Miracles (see right) and the band didn't look any less in awe than the night before. Eddie started to sing Betterman and managed to get the whole of Madison Square Garden singing the wrong verse and collectively realising it. He started again but let the crowd continue. I thought he looked visibly touched by the intensity of emotion coming back at him from the crowd. Beautiful. Rearviewmirror was next and sounded as intense as the first time I saw them play it.
Encore number 2 started the same as the previous night with Eddie and his solo spot. A nice touch was seeing the band relocate to the back of the stage, complete with Matt on a little set of drums, to play Last Kiss for the people sat behind the stage. Every seat in the place was taken, even those all the way round the back of the stage. Why Go sounded massive but I was already starting to feel sad that the show would soon be over. I thought that would be it for the surprises too, but they brought on no other than Ace Frehley to play Kiss' classic Black Diamond (see left). Eddie left the stage to leave Mike to start on the vocals and Matt to take over. I have to say I was really impressed with Matt's vocals. Eddie came back on for Alive and then we had Yellow Ledbetter which usually indicates the end of the show is nigh. I think that's why it always has a strange melancholic air to me. Mike finished off with a searing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner during which Eddie and Boom seemed to go for a sit down behind the drums before gazing in awe at Mr McCready.
And that was it. No more Pearl Jam till the next tour. It was really worth it though!
9.5/10

Pearl Jam - Madison Square Garden, New York City, 24th June 2008

Right, first things first: I'm not mad - it's perfectly normal to travel to another continent to see a band. If you don't agree, then you must never have seen Pearl Jam. So, me and the long-suffering husband packed our bags and headed out to the Big Apple to see a couple of shows by my favourite live band and get a bit of sightseeing done on the way. The first night, I was still really tired and everything seemed a little surreal - picking up the tickets, going into Madison Square Garden and seeing it packed to the rafters. Things started very well indeed with the band opening with 'Hard to Imagine' - a song I've loved for years but never seen them play live. They stepped up the tempo with Save You and Why Go and it quickly became evident that we had definitely done the right thing in coming out to NYC. The crowd were really going for it too, right from the off. The band seemed to relax a bit more after the first few songs. I got the feeling at several points in the set that they were still trying to take in the fact that they were playing to a packed-out Madison Square Garden crowd who were singing their hearts out like their lives depended on it.
Another song I never heard came out next: All Night. They brought on 3 backing singers from New York to add a different slant to the song and I think it worked. Corduroy and Elderly Woman.. were massive singalongs as well. There were a few more surprises in the main set too with Present Tense and the backing singers coming out again for Who You Are. It's not amongst my favourite of their songs but sounded better with a new lease of life. This short East-Coast tour isn't promoting an album but there's a definite air of it being part of their intention to get people to vote in the upcoming elections. There's some well-received Bush-bashing and general incitement to encourage people to speak up and have their voice heard.
A rousing Do the Evolution ends the main set in style and everyone's rabid to hear more. Eddie said at the start of the set that they wanted to make it a special night and they continued to do so by playing their version of the Who's Love Reign O'er Me that they recorded for the film, Reign O'er Me. Eddie's voice sounds as strong as ever and the whole band looked happy to be out playing again. Stone seemed to get a bit more of the limelight than usual too and Mike's still bouncing around with far more energy than I'll ever have! Backing singers came out again for a stripped-down version of WMA, then we get Leash which is one of my favourite songs of theirs as it's got so much enthusiasm in it. There's some subtle lyrical changes ('Delight in the truth!') that prevent them from sounding like a band trying to recapture past glories. Spin the Black Circle is a frenetic few minutes that makes you think that the end of the show is nearing but we're proved wrong when the lights stay down when they leave after Wasted Reprise and Porch.
Encore 2 starts with Eddie and his guitar. Anyone who's seen the band in the last few years realises that 'No More' is coming and duly sing along with Vedder's protest song. Crazy Mary is atmospheric as they come and I get goose pimples hearing 20 000 people singing along. Probably the biggest surprise of the evening arrives shortly after when CJ Ramone joins the band on stage, replacing an ecstatic Jeff Ament on bass for a rousing rendition of I Believe in Miracles which PJ recorded for a fanclub single a few years back. All of the band look like they can't quite believe it and Vedder in particular can't keep his eyes off the erstwhile bassist. Alive is greeted with massive applause and the band leave the stage for the third time and the lights come up.
That must be the end, right? Wrong. Back on for All Along the Watchtower and then to be proved wrong by assuming that Yellow Ledbetter was going to be the closer by them playing Indifference to a crowd bent on screaming their lungs out and filling that very large room. That really was the end but after 30 songs, 2 3/4 hours and a pretty special set-list, I don't think anyone was feeling short changed! It wasn't the best time I'd seen them but it was certainly a good one!
9/10

Still catching up - into June now - Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell, June 12th, Manchester Academy 2

I was really looking forward to this. I've loved Mark Lanegan's work with the Screaming Trees and the last solo album, Bubblegum, in particular was a fine effort. I'm not that familiar with Isobel's old band, Belle & Sebastien, but aware of her dreamy voice from the first album she did with Mark a couple of years back. They've done a second album now, Sunday at Devil Dirt, which builds on the dusky chemistry of the first album and is laced with lots of folky americana. Sadly, the first thing that hits me as the gig starts is that that chemistry does not appear to be captured live. Actually, it's the second thing, the first being that Isobel's ethereal and breathy vocals are lost in a venue as large as the Academy 2. It's sold out, no doubt on the strength of their two albums and both's strong musical heritage, and she's drowned out. Mark's voice is as strong as ever and though he sounds on top form, it's a shame we can't hear her very well.
With barely a glance at each other, it's hard to tell quite where the albums have come from. Both stand quite still when singing, though Isobel's obviously a multi-faceted musician and plays several instruments during the set. There's very little in the way of audience interaction either, though Mark's not the most chatty person on stage in any case.
They play a mix of songs from both albums, though the two that stand out to me are Backburner and Keep me in Mind, Sweetheart which show the range of their music together from brooding and atmospheric to gentle and playfully lilting. I think they're both great singers, but all the way through I'm wishing I was somewhere like the Night and Day where the atmosphere I was expecting could really have built. It's unfortunate too that the song that sounds best to me is when Mark sings one of the songs off his last solo offering, 'Wedding Dress'.
On the whole, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as I was hoping for so much more, but I'm afraid it's a case of it working much better on record.
6/10