Lady Gaga at Madison Square Garden

On Friday night I made my way over to Madison Square Garden to see Lady Gaga in concert. She added an extra show at the last minute, and yes, it sold out. She's already scheduled to come again in the winter.

The tickets indicated the show started at 8, which I thought was funny because I always had thought they started at 9. The warm up band, a glam rock group a la Queen started at 8 and played for a half hour. At around 9:35 Lady Gaga took the stage. There were a lot of younger kids in the audience (8 - 12 year olds) and that surprised me, but since it wasn't a school night....

Lady Gaga spent a lot of time speaking to her fans (the "little monsters") and assuring them that being different is a good thing. She was kind and sweet when she spoke, and I could see how kids would respond to that. The show it self was entertaining - the sets were elaborate (thus the need for all the talking between songs) and the dancing was just like you see on the videos. The one disappointment was that she sang to her own tracks - not for every song, but for any with the big dance routines. Less than a handful were too new to have the big production, and she accompanied herself on the piano. I kinda miss the days where a live concert was actually live.

At any rate, MSG was a pretty good venue - though I was in the very tippy top row, and I had to scootch down to see the video screen Gaga had installed. For a game, though, the seat would have been great. The permanent jumbo-trons (is that what they still call them?) were easily in sight, and the chairs were pretty comfortable.

A good night of chair dancing :)

Ruthie Foster in Madison Sq Park

Tonight I went out for the free concert Ruthie Foster played at Madison Square Park. I tried really hard via facebook to get a date, but unfortunately it didn't happen. Around 3 it was looking like rain and I considered not going thinking it would be called off. When I left the apartment, it had rained at some point between 5:20 and 6:45, but wasn't raining right then, so I put on my new science sandals, grabbed my camera and an umbrella and made my way back to the park outside the building where I've been working.

I was very pleasantly surprised that the park wasn't entirely mobbed. Usually when you go to a free thing in NYC, 3 million other people want to go too. This was wonderful because the park itself was relatively open - even bench seating was available from the North side. The stage was set up near the Shake Shack (I'll review this place later when I've actually eaten there!), and all the tables and chairs were filled with people eating and drinking, and then extra seating in front of the stage was for blankets for people to bring picnics - just like Prescott Park in Portsmouth! People walked though and stopped to listen and moved along, and I actually got a chair behind the sound guy. This wasn't a great seat for watching, but in the middle of fans so very enjoyable!
After the beer I got (a Shakemiester brewed especially for the Shake Shake by the Brooklyn Brewery) I sat, watched, clapped, and did a very good job of not singing the choral parts from Rock My Soul's versions of "Joy" and "Death Came a Knockin'" arranged by Cheryl Lynn Stromski for the group. I'm proud of me for being relatively quiet :)
I decided I had to buy a cd, and of the 8 options, the person at the stand recommended "Runaway Soul" as the most gospel like of the bunch. I just listened to the whole thing and highly recommend it to my gospel loving friends :)
I started on my way out with my CD while the band was riffing on "Death Came a Knockin'" and watched the folks in the middle of the park ballroom dancing! I tried to upload this but blogger nixed that. You can see the last photo (with the girl wearing a see through crinoline skirt as a shirt) that there are people dancing in back.
I mentioned on fb that this was the most fun I've had on my own in NYC, and I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the MSP music series as this was only the first show.
If you come to the swamp, otherwise known as NYC in the summer, put this on your list :)


PS - Pandora has a Ruthie Foster station for your enjoyment :)

La Cage Aux Folles with Kelsey Grammer

On Thursday night I had a ticket to see La Cage Aux Folles, looking forward to a comedy with Kelsey Grammer (aka Frasier) playing Georges. Kelsey did a fine job, but his co-star, Douglas Hodge stole the show as Albin. Robin de Jesus as Jacob (Albin's Housekeeper) was pretty freaking hillarious too!

La Cage is the same story as the movie Birdcage released in 1996 with Robin Williams as Georges and Nathan Lane as Albin.

The stage production is interestingly produced, well contrived sets and super dance numbers. But the truth is, I continually thought of the movie. I guess I am too old to watch a show like this ;) Either that or Robin Williams has big shoes to fill :)

Final Concerts at Giant Stadium - Bruce Springsteen

Rick's boss's boss gave us tickets to see The Boss last night at Giants Stadium. Bruce Springsteen was saying goodbye to his home town stadium before they demolish it, and he even wrote a special song for the occasion :) In addition to being an amazing artist, Bruce has quite virulent fans! The parking lot opened for tailgating at 1:00, and people took advantage of it! This made for very disgusting port-o-potties (I mean much more disgusting than usual). Although the parking lot did not appear as party-centric as a Jimmy Buffet concert (nothing resembling a Springsteen version of a tiki bar or shark fin in sight), inside was an entirely different story.

We walked in to the field as we had general admission tickets, and since we had just seen the Patriots play 2 weeks ago, it was really cool to be on the field where they just played! Looking up into the stands was surreal! While we were meandering around the field, I serenaded Rick with a version of the Star Spangled Banner only he could hear - but now I've sung in Giants Stadium too :) I think that general admission is the best way to go to one of these concerts if you can - yes you stand for the concert, but you'd stand if you were in the seating area too. And there is so much room to dance and run around, and the concessions are right there with you, so you don't miss anything if you go get a beer or a water. We did sit on the ground for a while - you could still see the huge screens from the floor so it worked :)

Bruce gives an amazing show - though I'm really surprised he doesn't have nodes on his vocal chords by now. He sang, and played and danced his heart out - he ran down into the "pit" (the area in the very front of the stage where some general admission winners are allowed) and he was interacting with the fans. They must have been *thrilled* to have his so close! I know I would have been ;) And some of his songs he just held the mic up to the crowd and the ENTIRE stadium was singing the song, and you could even understand them! It was amazing!! I guess that's how you avoid the nodes - have the fans sing :) It really did make for an incredible experience.

While the concert was going on, I was really surprised to hear all these BOOOOOOOOO's in between the songs. I was like - what the heck? How can they Boo the Boss? Isn't he the home town hero? Let the guy breathe for a sec while the band transitions. While in line for a beer, I asked the chick behind me - Are you from around here? Why are they boo'ing??? And she laughed - Oh you aren't a *real* fan 'eh? They are saying Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuce. Oh. Hmmm. Well that makes sense I guess!

On the way home, I was very much looking forward to PIZZA! Some late night food was in order - we hadn't eaten since 4:00. I was so disappointed when we got home - the city that doesn't sleep actually does sleep. Our favorite pizza places closed at 10, and the chinese place closed at 11:00. Damn. I made some fried egg sandwiches, but would have really liked pizza. I'm going to have to scope out which places are open late night so we are ready for our next adventure :)

Jets v Patriots

We took the 351 bus from Port Authority to Giants Stadium to watch the Jets v Patriots. We got awesome seats - 23rd row at the 50 yard line :) We went up to the top layer to get a sense of how the field looked up there. Looks pretty good! I don't think there are bad seats here! It was perfect weather - 70's and sunny.

This is the view from our seats. 80K fans were here, but it was reasonable and didn't feel too over powering.

Patriots doing warm ups before the game



Brady watching from the sidelines.

Moss during warm ups - he looks really tall on the field.

Sure would have been nice if we'd been able to see the Patriots make a touchdown, but I guess we'll have to go again to see that :)

Bobby Flay in MidTown East

I was walking back from the Bed Bath and Beyond superstore on 61st and 1st, and on the way back I was looking for a place for lunch, peering into the restaurants on the way home for a comfortable place to sit. I saw Bobby Flay sitting in the window of Energy Kitchen around 57th and 2nd. It looked like he was interviewing someone - there was no food in front of him, and he was not eating. Very deep in conversation :) Hopefully the young dude he was talking to was up to snuff :)

Michael Jackson Memorial in Times Square

This is the ABC monitor in Times Square. The closed caption on this picture says "I think that he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived."

The tone in Time Square was somber - it was weird watching the screen without sound, especially since music was the primary focus of his entertainment. I wish they'd had some kind of audio. Some folks had their pocket radios tuned into the ABC or Fox station to listen to what was going on.



This is in front of the Fox News screen. Notice the people who brought lawn chairs. There were lots of chairs in and around Times Square - people were there for the duration of the memorial.

A Duck Tour bus came by, and put "ABC" on their loud speakers. The people in the open area danced in the bus, and people in Times Square cheered and started singing along.




A British news station asked me for an interview. I declined as I didn't have my TV makeup on. I took a picture of the next victim.



The New Years Eve ball was at half mast, lit and rotating colors - very pretty.

Celebrity Sighting!

Today on the way home from my mammogram (how fun is that?) I saw Anne Burrell from "Secrets From A Restaurant Chef". She looks exactly as you'd expect :)

Ina Garten's Book Signing at Crate and Barrel

Today was the only book signing in Manhattan for Ina Gartens new book, Back to Basics, so I made my way to Crate and Barrel. I waited about 45 minutes in a line that snaked around the outside of the entire store on 59th and Madison. When I spoke to Ina, I forgot to ask the question Rick had - "Does your husband Jeffrey get jealous when you have parties for your friends who are boys?" Instead I raved about the coconut cupcackes. Ah well. I guess I was a little star struck. She was very gracious, and it was a pleasure to meet her.

One of the employees at Crate and Barrel offered to take pictures of us while we talked, so that is me talking to her :) The store handled the signing very well - there must have been 70 employees on the floor to help people find their way. I heard there were 600 in line when I left at 4:30, and I think Ina may need some advil for her writers cramp tonight.

I'm looking forward to trying these new recipes and enjoying this beautiful book :)

Chelsea Market and Rachel Ray!

After our wine tasting at Del Posto, we took the time to visit the Chelsea Market. I'd compare this to a Fanuel Hall in Boston - lots of great places to get food (not quite so squishy which is NICE!), and unlike Fanuel Hall, lots of stores with amazing ingredients!!!


Right up front we found Rachel Ray signing autographs. It was about 4:30 and she was on schedule till 5:00. I did't think we could get through the line for a signed book, so we didn't wait. I was able to snap this quick photo!



Visting the Chelsea Market looks a little like this:




We visited Buon Italia, a gorgeous Italian Market with more types of olive oil than you count. These crates are all olive oils.

I stopped into The Lobster Place - Rick refused - too smelly - I found lots of great fresh fish. We were planning to go out for dinner so I wasn't interested in actually buying something, but I was interested in understanding what I could get there. LOTS OF GREAT FISH!! I would be able to get Chilean Sea Bass for less than I could have in Portsmouth, but at the same price as Cod. Kinda funny:)

Great foodie experience! I got some cook shaped pasta, and an interesting chocolate for later :)