Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Boston 2009

I headed up to New England to celebrate the birthday of my nieces. My family was all present. The kids got a new Wii and we spent the afternoon creating Mii and playing with the Wii. Sunday, I spent the day with mom and dad and we went to the local casino. Monday, I headed back to NY. Tuesday, I was in the office. Wednesday, I had two appointments out side of the office and then went to my first class of the summer. Human Behavior.

I was entrolled and excited over the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court Justice. I qualified Woman of Puerto Rican decent. There would be no grander thing. For many years the PR community in NY had to fight for their rightful place among the other Latin communities and among American. Justice Sotomayor, a kid from the South Bronx who went to Princeton and Yale and is smart except she is a Yankees fan....

Thursday, I went back to New England and Friday, I was out with mom and dad before I had to leave for Boston and Leonard Cohen. I had purchased two tickets to the two nights in Boston before the NY tickets went on sale, so I ended up seeing 4 shows on this tour.

The first two shows were in NYC. The first was pure excitement. Never seeing LC before, this was the opportunity of a life time. It went by like a blur. The songs that I listened to for a long time now hearing them live. It was a life changing experience. Everything was new, the cartwheels of the Webb Sisters, the solos of Sharon Robinson and Javier Mas, on guitar. The Broken Hallelujah. Teddy Thompson was in front of me. He was in the Hal Wilner project and in the DVD so I was interested in his reaction to the Future ( a song that he sung too) THe night had an excitement that belonged to NYC. Leonard at Radio City Music Hall... Fans, friends, and celebrities all paying tribute to LC.

Sunday, back at Radio City again... I went to the 9th ave food festival first and saw my mechanic on the street. I ran into the Gay Marriage for NY protest and Cynthia Nixon and David Hyde Pierce, Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. Patterson etc were there... Finally, I went to Radio City to sit in the Mezzanine for LC...

This time around, I knew what to expect and could just it back and enjoy the moment. I had my camera and snapped pix of the screen and stage. I sat with a couple who were LC fans and there was plenty of excited people who hadnt been able to get tickets for Saturday so they came on Sunday. I didnt share their first night excitement because I was on my second. It was like wine, savored but familiar. The crowd was more European with lots of languages that were not english being spoken. It was a great night of music.

In Boston, Show number 3 - Boston, I met my friend Karen before the show and after finding street parking and Karen, we chatted until the show. I found my seat and it was way in the corner of the back orchestra. I asked the house manager to move me if she could on this night of a sold out show. She placed me in a private box on the second floor. The corporate boxes were not used and I had space and 6 seats to myself. I was to the left but had a great view and a private space. There was accessible bathrooms and it was pure comfort. The show was the best of the three. LC was loose and playful and the sound was great. The singing was spot on. I think it was best of all of the shows. Boston Night 1... not the folky crowd but i did see someone I knew in the crowd.

Boston show 4..... center row mezzanine seats. Same as the night before. Set list was different. The Partisan was in the set list. I knew that as she show was ending that this may be the last time that I saw LC live. I didnt want it to end but I wanted it to end on the best of songs. I was unsure whether to sit or stand for the end of the show. I stood and took some pictures and ended my last LC show with a let down that there may not be any more.


I tried to take some pictures