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My Great Adventure: Day Three
I started the line at the security checkpoint around 3:15. The gates opened at 3:30, and by 3:45 I was on my way to my gate. My flight was scheduled to leave at 5:08 am, and would take two hours to reach Charlotte, once again. Hopefully, Charlotte would be more kind to me this time.
On the flight from New York to Charlotte, the woman beside me wore a big fluffy sweater, and big, well-filled jeans. So while my right arm was sweltering, she also managed to continually sit on my leg. She also hogged the arm rest. I'm far from a small man myself, but I felt buried. Luckily, I managed to sleep a bit, which made the flight pass more quickly.
My connecting flight from Charlotte to Chicago was scheduled to leave at 7:45. Once on the plane, I struggled to stay awake for the pre-flight instructions. We soon moved to our spot on the runaway, then waited. And waited. I jolted awake as the pilot came on the intercom, informing us that the plane had a computer issue and needed to return to the gate.
Charlotte apparently hates American Airlines.
We disembarked the plane and I found a seat near an outlet. I was hungry, and as our new departure time continued to be pushed back, decided to wander off to find something to eat. Returning to the gate with my food, I discovered they'd wheeled out a cart full of snacks for everyone waiting! I loaded up on some more food, and found a seat near an outlet to eat and wait.
Once again, a different plane was made ready, and by 8:30, I was finally on my way to Chicago.
I eagerly anticipated the concert in Chicago, as my close friend DC had recently moved there, and I hadn't seen him in a few years. He and his partner Jaysen would be attending the concert with me, which made it more special.
DC and I met in 1988 when I was a freshman in college; he was a junior. I tagged along when a mutual friend went to DC's room. Making small talk, I pointed out the number of cassette tapes he had racked up on his wall.
"I'm really into music," he said. "Who's your favorite band?"
"Well," I replied, "I'm not sure you've ever heard of them. It's Alphaville, from West Germany."
Accustomed as I was to people looking at me blankly when I said "Alphaville", I was amazed when DC reached up to his tape rack and pulled down Forever Young and Afternoons In Utopia!
We've been friends ever since that binding moment. I'd always wanted to attend an Alphaville concert with him; but resigned myself to knowing it never would happen.
Never say never.
My flight originally was to arrive in Chicago by 9 am local time, but with the delays, it was after 11 by the time I left the plane and made my way through the terminal. The only detail I remember from the flight is being shaken awake by the poor man trapped in my row because I fell asleep so deeply he couldn't get past me to use the rest room!
Groggily, I located DC and Jaysen, and we made our way to Jaysen's orange and black mini cooper.
The trip to their house is lost somewhere in my head. I had the foresight to mail a box to DC that contained a change of clothes and a duffle bag, since Chicago was the last stop on the first half of the trip. I showered and shaved and began to look somewhat human once more (or as close as I ever get!)
We left the house to get some food, and ended up at an outside cafe in an area called Albertsville. Many signs made for a great photo opportunity before the show.
We then made our way to the venue.
Chicago is an amazing place, with fantastic architecture and elevated trains that looked like they'd been plucked from a steampunk fantasy land, all girders, rivets, and black steel.
We parked the vehicle, and made our way towards the venue. We'd driven past it while finding parking, but that quick glimpse didn't do the venue justice once we walked up.
The Chase Chicago theater is, put simply, majestic.
Glorious.
Pinch me.
We wandered around until we found the backstage access. I showed Kevin, the security guard, my all-access pass, and he let me in without incident. I told DC and Jaysen to wait while I found Vahe and got their passes, but Kevin just said to go ahead in and come back later!
Backstage was remarkable ... the walls covered with autographs of performers past.
I'd been blown away by New York's venue ... but Chicago turned out to be just as, if not more than, impressive.
Once again, pictures just don't do it justice.
DC peeking over my shoulder.
Splendor all around!
And above!
We spotted this lass while we were exploring, and decided to get a closer look to see what she was doing ...
Ah, of course!
She's a beauty.
We heard the soundcheck began, and hurried back into the theater. Like New York, just the band were playing; Marian no where to be seen.
Christian being "stage dad" again.
He's very tall, always stoic, and really a bit intimidating!
After the sound check, David came over, and I got to ask him the question that has been burning in my mind since Strange Attractor came out:
After, I asked him if he was feeling all right, because I thought it looked like he was limping on stage. He shook his head and said his muscles were just stiff, from trying to sleep on the plane, and you really couldn't relax on a plane, could you? I agreed wholeheartedly with him.
After the soundcheck, we had some time to kill. I wanted to find a sweatband to wear during the show, because I tended to sweat a lot, although not nearly as much as Jakob.
I answered a text from Claudia, who had been trying to reach me to make sure everything was okay! I let her know everything was wonderful.
In addition to a sweatband, the blister I'd developed on my foot was beginning to throb badly, so we stopped in Walgreens first. I found some nice, thick band-aids to put on my poor foot, but unfortunately, no bandanas or sweatbands. So onwards we went.
We decided this ornate, black Target should be referred to exclusively as Targoth.
After we stopped for some more pictures, of course.
We must have walked two miles searching for my head wear. Eventually, I think we ended up in an Old Navy or a Gap, and found a dusty pile of sweatbands. After buying one and looking at the other merchandise they had, we headed back to the theater for the show.
The venue began to fill.
The opening act performed, finished, and a man wearing a silvery suit came on stage to introduce Alphaville. He seemed to have a number of drinks in him already, and I found him difficult to understand. Eventually, he finished, and Alphaville took the stage.
Once again, I lost myself in the show.
During the show, I found myself frequently thinking back over the past 29 years, from the time DC and I met to now.
We'd come full circle, and I couldn't be happier.
We stood for nearly the entire show, but the rows of chairs were so close together that standing meant twisting into an awkward half-sideways position. By the end of the show my legs were cramping, even though the performance seemed to end all too soon! Amusingly, every time I looked up, it seemed like Alexandra was staring right at us. Just for fun, I gave her a thumbs up ... and she gave me a double thumbs up back!
After the show, we made our way backstage. DC had snagged a set list from the stage, and we ran into David, who happily signed it for him. I asked Dave if he was still stiff.
"That's a bit of a personal question, isn't?" he said.
He laughed as I spluttered a bit. I'm pretty sure I blushed.
Backstage in the green room we waited around for Marian to show up. The man in the silver-gray suit who introduced Alphaville was there already, with a woman on each arm. I don't know what usually passes for concert attire these days, but if I had removed all of my clothes, I'd probably be wearing more than the two of them, put together. One man standing with them called out to me from across the room and asked if my boots were Russian made.
"Yes," I replied. He reacted happily, as apparently this had been a topic of discussion between he and his friends. He came over for a closer look, and asked if he could have a picture with them.
"Uh, ok," I said. The picture was taken, and he asked me what size they were. "13s," I replied.
This also delighted him, and he placed his foot next to mine, and his friends took a picture of the size difference.
He then asked me if I had a sharpy. I did, and allowed him to borrow it. He brutally scrawled his name on the wall with the other signatures. As he returned it to me, silver-gray man asked if he could borrow it as well.
I handed it over. "Just keep it," I said. He and his two ladies then scrawled their names on the wall. Or tried to- the sharpy was ruined beyond use.
"Now I know why you said I could keep it," the suited man snarled. "It doesn't work!"
"It did when I gave it to you," I replied with a withering look.
The fans that had paid for the after-show meet-and-greet were lined up, and soon, Christian arrived with the band. They all greeted me with big hellos. In New York, I'd asked Jakob if he'd ever lived there. He said no, but he'd like to. He asked me why, and I told him it just seemed to me like he'd fit in perfectly; that it was his kind of town. Tonight, he greeted me like a long-lost friend.
For the previous two shows, Marian had only been at the meet-and-greet, but tonight, Christian corralled the entire group there. Whenever one of them looked like they were trying to leave, he'd sternly point them back to the group! It was amusing to watch.
As Marian said hello, I told him I had someone very important to me I'd like him to meet after the m-n-g, but Christian told me to go ahead over and talk to everyone right now.
I introduced DC and Jaysen to everyone, and told Marian the story of how we'd met so long ago. Marian seemed genuinely touched and intrigued by the story. As DC was getting his setlist signed, I showed Marian the wall of my room with my three Alphaville posters. I pointed out the Breathtaking Blue promo poster, and he'd never seen it before! He didn't even realize they'd been made back when the album was released in the states.
I also told him that it had been determined that only two people had been to all of the concerts Alphaville had ever done in the United States: me, and him! He really laughed at that. Honestly, everyone truly seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the band and crew were always smiling. Even Christian occasionally cracked a smile.
We got a picture of the both bands together.
And the three of us crowded together for a selfie.
DC, Jaysen, some other guy, and the band's ugliest groupie.
I said I was making up for lost opportunities in the past, because somehow I'd never managed to get a picture of myself with Marian before.
I noticed a woman in the m-n-g line staring at my boots. She looked at me and mouthed, "Outsider?" with a questioning look. I nodded, and she and the man standing with her ran over to me.
"Hi!" she said with great enthusiasm. "I'm Monica, from the mailing list!"
The man also said hello. "I'm Dan from Michigan! Also from the mailing list." He must have noticed my puzzled look, as I didn't recognize who he was. "Oh, I used to be Dan from Portland, but I moved."
"Dan from Portland! Of course I know you!"
We talked a little about the concert, and how happy we were to meet after all this time. They got back in line and DC, Jaysen, and I watched the fans move past the band, while Christian kept sternly pointing at Jakob, or David, or Carsten whenever they'd try to slip away.
Vahe, the concert promoter, came over to talk for a bit. Vahe was an absolute delight to be around. He constantly thanked me for coming to the shows, and earlier, when I'd tracked him down to get badges for DC and Jaysen, he only had one with him, so he gave Jaysen the one he was wearing! He asked me which show was my favorite so far. "Well," I told him, "I loved how much the crowd loved the show in Houston, but the venue was packed in New York and there was so much energy, but then, tonight's venue is so beautiful ... how can I choose?" He laughed.
A large group of of smiling Japanese took picture after picture with the band, and finally were almost physically led away. The bane smiled the entire time. A blond woman came next, and began gushing over Marian, holding tightly to his hand. "You guys can all come over to me house after this!" she shouted. "I have bourbon!"
Poor Marian looked a little bewildered. "No, no, thank you," he said, "But we have to ... uh, we have to do something ... we can't."
DC leaned over and whispered, "I don't think you can call yourself Alphaville's ugliest groupie any more!"
There were fans with personalized Alphaville license plates, and a man with his high school letterman's jacket, with Alphaville and Forever Young embroidered across the back. It was amazing to see.
Monica and Dan came back after going through the line. "Did you see that?" she asked, excited. "I was coughing, and Marian gave me his vodka to drink!" We laughed.
As things wound down, everyone's spirits remained high. I told Marian about Lili's joke the night before about him writing a song for Salt Lake City, and he laughed loudly. "It works, too!" he said.
He looked at me thoughtfully. "Are you still writing?" he asked.
That surprised me. It was a surprisingly complicated question to answer, I found, so I just said yes."
"Good," Marian said. "I have a stack of your writing this high," he held his hand about two inches above the other, "and I really like it and I want to read more."
If it weren't for the titanium plates holding me together, I think my heart would have found the strength to burst out of my chest.
"Oh yeah, sure," I said casually. "I'll bring some more for you next time."
"Great!" he said, "Come on, let's all go upstairs!" and he bounded away.
I turned around and looked at DC. "OH MY GOD!" he mouthed at me.
"OH MY GOD!" I mouthed back, eyes wide. I turned back around, put on a casual face as though this sort of thing happened every day, and we started following Marian, who was already disappearing up the stairs.
"Salt Lake City!" he sang as he bounded up the steps, the Cuban heels on his boots flashing. "You can't let go ..."
The night was far from over, and the best was still to come.