Ship of Dreams, Nightmares, and Delusions

Ship of Dreams, Nightmares, and Delusions

I would like to thank all the people who extended me a kindness during my recent health crisis. As many know, I spend a large portion of my recreational time in pursuit of the perfect concert. I developed symptoms while away enjoying this activity, and am still recovering.

It began with my feeling very tired all winter, unable to work as much overtime as I wanted, I was just unable to function after several hours awake every day, and had trouble getting out of the car, and climbing a half flight of stairs to get home at the end of the day. I was sleeping 9-10 hours a night, and felt depressed. I tried vitamins, and exercise, and only felt worse as the days continued. I had seen a few hints on my eventually diagnosed condition, but had been assured that I was being an alarmist, and that my pain complaints were out of proportion with the problem, that I was having cramps of the female type.

So, I pack my bags, consulting with my friends, and off I go, on a new adventure. I had never been a fan of cruises, but not having been on one, I was slightly less closed minded than I pretended to be. I didn't see the point of going in a big circle, and staying in a small room night after night. Now having done a cruise, I still don't see the point, I have been told I am missing the point. The room was small, and this was the deluxe balcony room, and there is not enough room for everything, and we are very experienced packers, and have all been in European hotel rooms, so it was not culture shock. And what is the point of all the food? You can't eat everything, and yes the offerings were vast, but after the second night, redundant. I chose and ate my favorites, never went hungry, or overstuffed, but a remarkable display is just a pretty sight, like the food halls at Harrods. Not 5 star by any stretch, and for the amount of money my companions and I spent, we could have stayed at a 5 star resort, in a glamorous locale, and dined well, and had concert package seats, and left over cash, for the same amount of time. Many people complained about the pricing, but as long-term concert chasers, we can say that this is how much it costs to travel well. We were less upset with the price than with the accommodations.

It was pleasant to see friends and distant acquaintances, to greet, hug and kiss all the nice people I have met along the way, and it was not nice to see people who made faces, wrinkled and turned up their noses, or pointed and whispered when they saw someone not on their friend list. I was surprised by all the people who greeted me, stating that they knew me by my picture. I must have missed that email, I didn't get any passenger identification photo memo. But as Happy as I was to be present, I was missing that fire in my blood, that burning and tingling feeling I get when living a Rock Tour. I initially thought it was because this was an unusual situation, but my spirit was willing, my flesh was growing weaker. I secretly made a note to myself to see my doctor when I returned home, for some antidepressants, as I felt sure my problem was chemical. I was on a cruise, so many friends and family had been condemning my European Vacations, telling me that the Caribbean was the place to go, that I had been going on the wrong vacations. I am not one to follow convention, nor do I adhere to trends, perhaps I was avoiding cruises to be oppositional, and I was not having fun just to be difficult. But I was having fun, why did I feel so poorly?

 

I would like to add that my special cruise luggage tag was laminated and attached to my suitcase with several staples, dropped off at the assigned spot next to the ship, along side my room mates cases, also with stapled  tags, yet, when we went to our rooms, my bag was not delivered. It did not arrive until late that night, and without its tag. How fortunate that I did not need anything that had been packed in this particular bag. One of several small unrelated events that occurred during the cruise.

 

I was so weak and tired, I missed several of the concerts I had so hoped to attend. I spent much of the cruise plopped in a seat, observing, conversing, and listening. That first full day, we sat down near the stage, waiting for the Band to appear for a Q&A. There were several folks already in place, we found a great seat, and staked out our claim. As the time neared, and as we suffered through the extremely egotistical chef honk his own horn a bit too much, more people arrived. A few of our friends came by, and found seats on their own near us, but it was the total strangers, whose rudeness stands out. I was sitting on the bench surrounding the pool. The pool in front of the stage was covered for the cruise, as a dance space, but was fenced off at this time as they were painting the logo on the floor, so this entire area was unavailable. Poor timing, in my mind, for such a big event. Well, a lady of advancing years, typical for this Band, came by. She was not very nimble limbed, nor was she petite, neither of which made her unusual in this crowd. She asked us to move so she could climb over our bench, we suggested she try the stairs 10 feet away, and she then told us she was sitting here, and plopped her very non petite bottom where two of us had been sitting for 2 hours, in the sun. We politely pointed out that we were already here, and she really needed to find herself another seat, and she told us she wasn't taking up too much room. Now her one behind was taking up more room than the two of us together, neither of us famous for having bony butts, and we pushed back, she really did not want to take no for an answer. Her voice got higher pitched, and more fake sickly sweet, but we didn't fall for it, and she finally moved. I think she did finally curse us, also, but we had been there for two hours, had towels to sit on, water bottles, we were dug in good. I am no amateur. I turned and said to my other travel partner, the one not getting butt checked out of her seat, "and so it begins."

Sal, the interviewer, and our cruise MC, was a weasel. Not only were the questions irrelevant, and redundant, even the Band looked bored. Please do not paint them as disinterested, ask questions they may want to answer. Sal the weasel also constantly told everyone that he was a fan of the band and a great friend of theirs, which raised eyebrows by said Band more than once. He also needed to tell the audience that he was older than he looked, before and after every other question. He was on my list of people not to invite back, there are other DJ's out there more versed in the Band's history, and who are true fans of the genre and period, better than this weasel.

We had our concert that night. A surprisingly large amount of people were able to attend both shows, and managed to complain anyway. We had very nice seats near the front, but when the gentleman in front of me sat in his seat, it gave way, and he landed in my lap. So, that seat went empty for the night, giving me an unobstructed view, except whenever someone tried to sit in it, so most of my concert consisted of a head, and a security guard shooing the head, and the rest of the body, away. And across the aisle from me was another empty seat, one in which the security guard initially monitoring the area allowed someone to sit, never checking her tag for seating assignment. Meanwhile, twice before the concert started, other security guards were sent to my seat, asking me to show my credentials, my seat assignment, one guard even tried to tell me I didn’t belong there, until I pointed out that my seat number matched my tag. This has been happening to me on a very frequent basis at all these concerts, almost as if someone was telling security to check me out, pointing me out specifically. I was very polite, I looked around, wondering who thought my seat might have or should have belonged to them. We were asked by a few folks how we got these seats. We got them the usual way. How did you get yours? I wanted to ask, but I was ever so polite.

The seat across the aisle? A very enthusiastic lady manages to stay there for much of the show, bothered the folks behind her, as they felt they paid to sit there, and she didn't. I will never condemn anyone for dancing to any song at a concert, but do it in your own seat. And the people complaining were more disruptive than the dancing. Now, good manners in concerts dictates that when confronted by security, and asked to leave the seat you didn't pay for, you do the walk of shame, and slink back to row L Hell, or worse. But she was relentless, and declined to show her tag, or leave the first few times she was asked, She had to go back to her room and get her tag, to be let back in, making me wonder how she got in at all, as I had to show my tag several times, even when I was talking to Band Staff. I was doing nothing wrong, so I wasn't upset until I saw all the tags on folks from the previous seating in this concert. At the end of the concert, I was shoved quite hard while I was standing up, applauding, so hard in fact, that I got knocked into the broken seat, and spun around, bumping the gentleman in front of me, I apologized, he said no no, you were pushed, and he helped get me right side up again. Well, several of the people that ended up in front of the folks in the front row, had the other tags on, a few were from this night’s show. It was not the peace loving aging hippy crowd that some were professing, it was more a contact sport. And in my incredibly weakening state, I was losing, and I wasn't even in the competition. I even saw one person passed out, with a bit of moisture out the side of their mouth head bobbing down into their chest during the show. Why was I looking around? Because of the empty seats next to, and in front of me. From the second half onwards, there was an ongoing parade of people trying to sit in either or both seats, with the increasingly ineffective security hustling them away. Very disruptive, and the Band noticed. The Show lost a bit of heart with all these antics. I felt bad for the Band, me, and all the fans out in the audience who had no idea what was going on. I did not feel for the ones who were disruptive, rude, pushy and ill mannered in general. We all paid money to be there, some more than others, but it was voluntary, no one held any guns to any heads forcing them to spend the higher amounts, there was a choice.

Another event was the VIP reception, where we were informed that we were to meet and mingle with the other VIP's, and the Band was to make an appearance. This was changed from the first early advertisements promising a reception with the Band, and it was a victim of its own popularity. Nowhere did I see official reference to any sort of meet and greet, autographs or photo ops. Nor did I infer this from the description. But many did, and ran with it, planning out conversations, presentations, and other assorted fantasies of what they wanted to happen. I have been along with this Band for many years, and while I say never say never with them, I was fairly sure there would be no contact with the Talent. The line formed up for entry, and we all had our tags checked, though some were seen in the line who didn’t have the correct tags. As it happened, Sal the Weasel was there, and no Band, they cancelled. We were asked who went to the most concerts. I know who has been to more than me, and they weren't there, so I won. Not that I was competing. It is just a fact. There was the usual grumbling from the same people. Hey, it is not like I knocked anyone over the head and stole their tickets, or spent disability funds, or child support, or didn't pay my bills to be there. Or lied about how many shows I have been to, like some have. Because I have been to over 300 shows, and many of my friends have been to almost that many, or more, we know who has been there, and who has not. Yes we do indeed. Well, Sal the weasel had a few people tell their stories, one lady said she just discovered the Band, went to one concert, and wanted to know if they had her gift, thanking them for over 40 years of music. That math doesn't add up, how can you thank someone for something you had no part in? And, shocker, she wants to start a petition to place them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Did she not listen to them say it doesn't matter? More than once? Sal the Weasel didn't, kept at it until I was embarrassed for him, and I didn't like him. Hint, if you want to be a hard core fan, invest some time in exploring the Band's history before spouting off, makes you look ridiculous. And so ended our VIP reception, which I spent mingling with the few VIP's I enjoy spending time with, even when we are common folk, on land, at concerts, or on trains playing with red balloons.

 

 

End of part one.