\Tuesday, May 14 - Newcastle, England
| Monday
morning In Liverpool was gray and rainy. The Beatles experience didn’t
seem worth it, and after a pot of coffee, the girls threw me into the shower
and subsequently deposited me into the car for the LONG drive to Newcastle.
I alternately napped and enjoyed the view, and the view was principally
of:
Sheep! There truly IS something restful about sheep and I watched them rest in their paddocks peacefully, sheep after sheep after sheep; hence the naps. The excitement for us usually begins after we reach the venue town. No matter what directions we have, we seem to run afoul of the “roundabouts”. No one had ever mentioned this English road peculiarity to me before! It’s like being twirled around in a slingshot and then flung God knows where. And God knows where has been where we have usually found ourselves. Luckily for us, Newcastle only has two of those confusing and damned annoying road moments. 
Newcastle was not an exception to our usually complicated and prolonged
entry into a new city! We saw the sign we needed for our hotel after
we passed it and then it was impossible to get on the right path.
We wandered the city, and being women, stopped at a gas station for directions.
Oddly enough, we haven’t had much luck asking people for directions!
Sometimes we just can’t understand a word they are saying, sometimes we
DO understand but sadly get lost again, and then there are the ones who
sweetly give us directions and we KNOW they are wrong. Sigh
Every trip in the car is an adventure.
SueC and I felt rested on Tuesday morning and decided to venture out in Newcastle to find 800 speed film. A British friend had recommended a chain of camera shops, and the clerk at the front desk thought one was in town. Although I know they exist, there were no yellow pages in our room, and the front desk didn’t have one either, saying someone had borrowed it and not returned it. (?) Our taxi driver was a bright fellow, and took us right to Jessops. After cleaning out three camera shops of their supply of film, we went in search of the castle, but instead found the AETFs hungry for a taste of home and diving into the Pizza Hut buffet with a vengeance, and with tell-tale pizza sauce dotting their chins. We weren’t hungry, but the companionship was lovely and the smell was wonderfully familiar. There’s always something a bit wrong here, even in the smallest, most mundane things and at Pizza Hut, it was CORN. I don’t know if corn is a Newcastle thing (I’ll keep watch for it), but there was corn in the pizza and corn in the tuna salad. How was it? Ok, just odd to see. After lunch we walked a bit around Newcastle, hoping to find the castle, but it was cool, and at times we were stopped in our tracks by the cold and powerful wind. Our taxi driver made sure we saw the castle then ran us back to our hotel. A nap later (I’m surviving on naps) we were off to the venue. The Venue City Hall does not mean what “city hall” means to me. It is not referring to the local seat of government. We entered another in a series of old stone buildings. This one was nice, and in a nice area.  Stone
steps led up to the door where a pleasant fellow tore your ticket and directed
you to one of two doors to the auditorium. Security was very
limited. The inside of the venue was much prettier than the outside
portended, with a striking ceiling. It had a pattern of inset rectangles
in teal and cream with a Wedgewood effect and the lower walls had brick
red panels against the cream. There was a single balcony, which was
shaped like a horseshoe around the interior. Four rows of seats were
on each side of the horseshoe wings, facing the opposite side, which I
thought would be awkward since you would have to twist in your seat to
see the stage. The rear balcony did not stretch over the main floor
very far, and the hall was nicely filled; perhaps not sold out, but close
to it.
The stage was uncomfortably high for the seating arrangement. It was a small stage, with no wings to speak of. Large doors were on either side of the stage, and the monitor board was close to the wall. The mikes were pushed to the front, around three feet from the edge of the stage. There were speakers hung from the ceiling on both sides, and a stack of seven speakers on either far side of the stage. It was not a good venue to sit near the front. I was second row in the left section, one from the center aisle and could not see the Jays feet or lower legs and could just see Justin’s head and shoulders if he stepped back from his mike. My vision was further obstructed by Ray’s monitor, but I had a great view of Ray and Graeme. The same UK setlist was performed (including Forever Autumn) with a 15 minute intermission at which ice cream was sold. What a civilized country! The Fashion Report RT – Black on black GE – Jimi Hendrix shirt, black slacks, black short slvd shirt with pink and white design on right chest second half JH – White long slvd shirt, ruffles down the front (sleeves rolled up to show off lower arms), black slacks, PMS JL – White long slvd oxford shirt with placket hiding the buttons (cuffs unbuttoned), leathers, boots, same shirt in black second half The Concert The most striking thing about this concert was the keyboards. It had been mentioned to some VIBM (Very Important Band Members) that we in the audience could barely hear Paul. Apparently, they took it to heart, and so at Newcastle, I could ONLY hear Paul Bliss! I must say, he is an awesomely talented musician, in addition to being a great guy. After Newcastle, I know exactly HOW talented he is, because I couldn’t hear anything else, not even the drums. LOL!!! There seemed to be no mix at all in the speakers on the stage at the side...only keyboards with some light vocals. Sigh The highlight of this evening of Bliss was Gemini Dream, where the keyboards were overwhelming. Keyboards are the dominant element in GD, and I only have this to say: PAUL ROCKS!!! It was fun to hear it that way, and Paul should have been pulled out to center stage to take a bow. Justin varied his spoken introduction to The Actor in Newcastle, saying a bit more about the history of The Band as a lead in. Slide Zone featured a great performance by JL, with lovely, “spot on” high notes which we aren’t privileged to at every performance of that piece. I noticed particularly at Newcastle one of my favorite moments in a Moody concert – the drums in IKYOTS. I love GE’s drums at “thunder in the air” which remind me exactly OF thunder, and I thrilled to the GE/GM exciting drum crescendo to its climax. The drums “make” IKYOTS for me! Forever Autumn was as beautiful the 10th time as the first. Sigh To hear that one song is worth the price of admission alone! It has to be one of the most beautiful concert songs I’ve ever heard, pared down to just keyboards, acoustic guitar and one glorious voice. Justin’s performance is exquisite and has been consistently WONDERFUL throughout the entire series of concerts. It seems that he loves performing it too. : ) Great concert! “Spot on” is one of the expressions I don’t hear in the states – wonderfully descriptive, and heard said with passion and pleasure, particularly in connection with the Moodies concerts. The one word I’m getting sick of is “brilliant”! It’s used for EVERYTHING. The couple being seated at the restaurant in front of us in the queue were offered a table by the window to which they replied: Brilliant! 
It’s used to mean anything and everything and so means nothing. I’m
confused by the meaning of “cheers”, which is followed by “Ta”. I
know “Ta” means goodbye, and perhaps “cheers” means bye as well, but does
the combination mean “goodbye and farewell”? I usually reply with
“buh-bye” in my best Jerry Seinfeld manner. I get GREAT pleasure
in the little conversations with Brits, and I wonder if they get a kick
out of our own bizarre American lingo, and so hate to disappoint them if
THAT is the case. It’s amazing to me how difficult it is to communicate
with people here, requiring repeated questions accompanied by puzzled looks
on both sides. I called for directions to our hotel in Newcastle,
and the desk clerk cheerfully obliged, telling me to look for signs from
the City Centre for “The Key”. I didn’t see any! Luckily for
me, one of the four in the car knew (though didn’t share with the rest
of us) that “key” was “quay”, meaning on the waterfront. Aaaargh!
MaggieMay |
Wednesday, May 15 - Manchester
No review and no photos from Manchester, I'm afraid. The venue exterior was completely hidden behind towers of scaffolding, so there was nothing to see really. |