What all started out as crazy talk between me, Kris, + Olivia in the chat room + via email about trying to make the last Virgos show became reality in the end. Our last-minute plans came into effect + everything worked out successfully. With our pockets shot out the door + our minds stuck in the clouds, we didn't regret a thing about our decisions.
I was fortunate enough to make it to Virgos' last stop of the tour in East Rutherford, NJ on such short-notice. It was a great time. The trip to + fro, the people I was with, the Virgos show itself, getting around a 'foreign' place for the first time---the entire experience was unforgettable.
I had to drive into Orlando Int'l Airport with Olivia at 3am Friday morning for our flight out to LaGuardia Airport, NY. Such a tiresome morning, since I had not slept that night just to make sure we didn't oversleep + end up missing our flight. Trust me, it's happened before. We arrived in Orlando just when the clock hit 6am, just enough time to check in + wake up. We met up with Kris + breezed through the check-in counter + security without much hassle, much to our surprise.
Our flight into LaGuardia arrived at around 11am on Friday, the day before the show, so we had a whole day to get a feel for New Jersey + New York. Our rent-a-car ended up being a rent-a-TRUCK, having a Chevy Blazer as their 'standard' size. It was challenging trying to maneuver around in a huge automobile on narrow roads with merge lanes that don't even tell you that they're about to merge. Fine by me. I wasn't the one driving. After closing my eyes for the first half hour, I became immune to my new environment + its people's hazardous driving + accepted my fate.
This was the first time I had ever been in New Jersey + New York, so I was avidly taking photos as we drove by all these widely-known historical landmarks in NYC. Namely, CBGB's [which was covered in scaffolding, so that sucked for photos], China Town, Little Italy, Fifth Avenue, Wall Street, Times Square with the huge teletrons. We even drove by a restricted area by accident, which lead us to drive right beside Ground Zero. Of course, we weren't supposed to be there, but as we were waiting to turn to get out of the area, a huge 6-foot slab of concrete that was being lifted by a construction vehicle was dropped to the ground + cracked on impact. We were right beside the vehicle when this happened, at least 10 feet away. That shook us up a bit, so we scooted on out of there.
After we had our day's worth of being city tourists, we decided to check into our hotel, which was nicely situated about 5 minutes away from the Continental Airlines Arena. Our room was on the 5th floor. Didn't seem like too many people were there yet for the concert. We figured a lot of Creed fans would be occupying the area. Nope. It was pretty empty. Kris even had a choice of what room to pick when we got there. From the hotel window, we had a great view of the arena including the well-known Giants Stadium. Beside the other two venues, we also saw a racetrack with horses on chariots. It was bizarre because at one point all the horses would take off running in one direction, then a couple of them would flake off + start running in the other direction. We couldn't really tell what the hell was happening.
At one point, we heard some people talking in the room next to ours. I swear that I heard some Southern drawl coming from the other side. With 'Virgos' being the topic of the day, we came up with the notion that they were in the same hotel as ours. I decided to find out by peeking outside the hotel room's door. Of course, as it turned out, it wasn't them.
Hunger soon began to take over, so we went on a quest to find good eats in East Rutherford. When we went downstairs into the parking lot, we saw a couple of cars with South Carolina + North Carolina plates. That might explain the drawl coming from the other room--Creed fans, I'm guessing. We drove by a lot of little neighbourhoods that sat beside a row of Chinese + Italian restaurants. We finally decided on a Korean + Japanese restaurant called Arirang House that offered a lunch deal for $6.95. That included a main entrée [I ordered tempura shrimp + veggies] along with some miso soup, one dumpling, salad, sesame noodles, white rice, 3 California sushi rolls as well as an assortment of sampler dishes for all 3 of us. Good stuff, I'd say. It's too bad our waitress was from the waitress from hell. Before we had ordered anything, Kris wanted to find out what katsu sauce was since he's never heard of it before. He decided to ask our waitress. On most cases, the server would willfully explain something on the menu that you want to know more about. So, Kris asks her what katsu sauce was + our waitress quickly retorts to his question. "If you're not sure, then pick something else!!" says the scary mean-eye-browed Korean woman. He then shot a look back to my sister + me. We knew exactly what he was thinking.
Soon after, we decided to scope out the venue to find out what we'd be dealing with the next day as far as Will Call issues + parking. We took some photos of the marquee that advertised the Creed show. Unfortunately, like most of the venues we went to for the tour, it did not advertise Virgos. Of course, no one really advertises opening acts. The photos should come out great because you could see the cityscape + most prominently The Empire State Building behind the marquee. While we were still taking photos, I get a call on my cell phone. I pick up the phone to find out that Deacon is on the other line. I really found his timing funny. I'm sure he was just expecting to shoot the shite, thinking I was still back in Florida. The beginning of the conversation went like so:
D: Hey dork.
K: Hey, what are you doing?
D: Sitting around. Doing nothing. Getting bored.
K: Really. Where're you at? [Acting oblivious]
D: In New Jersey. At a hotel in Secaucus. What're you doing?
K: Oh nothing. Just standing around the venue with Kris + Olivia.
D: What venue?
K: You know... the arena. The Continental Arena.
D: You're full of shit.
K: Seriously. We're in New Jersey.
D: Haaaaa... [Laughing lazily]
D: I don't believe you.
K: Really! Say hi, Kris. [Kris is saying that that won't prove a thing, hehe.]
D: Well, when did you get into town?
K: We just flew in this morning.
D: You mean to tell me that you were here all day + you didn't call me?
K: Well, we were going to surprise you guys.
D: And *when* were you going to tell me?
K: Um, haha, at the show tomorrow?
D: I have been sitting here BORED at the hotel for the past 2 days + you were going to wait until tomorrow to let me know that y'all were in town??
K: HAHAHAHAHA! [Laughing my ass off, as you can tell.]
Poor guy. So, he continues to give me hell for a few good seconds. I tell Olivia + Kris that Deacon's bored + wants something better to do than sit around his hotel room with no one to talk to. We tell him that we're going to tour around the East Rutherford area for a bit before heading out to Secaucus to join him. After we wrap it up at the venue, we get lost in a maze of neighbourhoods that leads us to an empty sandlot overlooking the NY cityscape. I wanted to take some photos of the landscape, so we decided to get out of the truck for the photo op. Kris said it reminded him of numerous scenes in movies when kids are playing ball in a sandlot where you could see the city in the backdrop. Olivia + I both heartily agreed at the notion + enjoyed the scenery.
We finally found the guys' hotel. When we got to the room, I knocked on the door while my sister is blocked the peephole with her elephant-head-on-a-stick toy. [You all should see this thing--it gets quite amusing on a boring 2-hour flight.] Soon after knocking, we see one of those door signs slide out from the bottom slit of the door that reads, "Privacy Please. Do Not Disturb." Yep. This has got to be the room.
The door is opened by a guy clad in a black G.I. Joe graphic tee complete with grey Dickies slacks. Olivia, Kris + I greet Deacon, and then walk inside the room where Bobby is busy using his laptop at the corner desk. The room looks pretty neat + well kept. The beds were made. Various luggage + duffel bags lean up against the walls on the floor of the hotel room. Besides all the luggage, the structure of their room looks very much like our hotel room. We all hang out for awhile, numbly watch TV + chat. Deacon played "Brother" for us to hear our thoughts of the song collaboration. [This was the version that included both Brett Hestla + Scott Stapp singing vocals.] I asked Deacon if he knew who the second opener was going to be for tomorrow's show. "Days of the New", he said. I found it ironic that they replaced Tantric, who are ex-members of DotN plus Hugo. Deacon already misses the Tantric guys, seeing that they all got to hang out a lot during the Creed tour + became good friends.
I talk with Bobby for awhile. He just came into town today + will room with the Virgos guys just for the night. [For those who are unfamiliar, Bobby works for the Virgos guys as both manager of touring + sound for the Creed tour. He just recently toured + worked with Breaking Point. This guy's normally got a lot on his hands from other times that I've met him, so it was nice to see him laid-back + relaxed.] Olivia brings out the elephant toy, which highly amuses Deacon.
Hunger arose again + we were in the mood for some snacking. We decide to get some Dunkin' Donuts + hot coffee from the plaza in which the hotel was situated. The guy we get donuts from is a total Moron. Deacon said that he has been dealing with this same guy all week, cussing him out on the poor service he gets day-to-day. It's like he was The frikkin Donut Nazi. After that fiasco, the others wait outside while Deacon + I went next door to get some $3.50 Pocky packs. Mmm. Those things are addicting. We get them much cheaper in the south, but I was craving them so I told him to get me a pack. Expensive for my liking, but ineluctable.
We come back to the room to schmooze around again, eating our snacks + drinking our coffee. They poke fun at me because I like my sugar with coffee + cream. I show him the photos that I took for their first 2 shows of the tour. Later on, he then tells me some things that they wanted to add and change out from Virgos.cc. Deacon + the guys have been keeping up by reading the reviews that were being posted from every show. It's a good thing to know that they are looking in on the site during the tour.
Hunger strikes us a third time, but this time it's mostly Deacon. He wants to have more Chinese food downstairs for dinner, even after having Chinese for lunch earlier that day. The time was about 8pm. While we are eating, my phone rings yet again. I get the phone to find out who it was + see the name 'Marchant'. I quickly pass the phone to Deacon for him to answer + surprise Marchant, since he has no idea that Olivia + I were all the way up in New Jersey. When Deacon answers, all we could hear was Marchant yelling out loud from where we were sitting. It was hilarious. So, they talk for a bit while we try to finish our dinner. Later, I get the phone back from Deacon to talk to Marchant about website stuff among other things. Then after a good 45 minutes to an hour of grub, we head back to the room. We decide to leave their hotel at around 9pm to shower + get some shut-eye, since Kris + I were the walking dead [we both have not slept all last night just so we could make our flight on time].
"G'night, everyone."
