[quote="Moeskido"]Shit, where'd I put it, now? SHIT![/quote]
Haha. Jackass.
[quote="BongoBoy"]if there were grenades strewn about the lobby Nutters would have been throwing their lime green bodies on them.[/quote]
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Feelin' the love, Stewart.
I think.
*****
Checking out the space, it's pretty clear that I'm screwed. The camera track area isn't big -- but it's big enough. I'm sorta tall -- but not tall enough. I envision Lisa Lisa and stings and their ill-fated flowers for Sting that had landed beneath the stage. The only way I can think that I'm going to have a chance in hell of getting the Flag to the stage is if I ball it up and pitch it -- and something tells me that the dozens of Flag Minions in the audience might get a bit miffed at me for that.
Steve is pretty tall and closer to center, so he seems like a decent candidate and happily agrees to reach toward the stage with the Flag if duty calls. Honestly, I'm still not convinced Steve and Stewart would be able to make contact, but Steve would have a better chance of throwing than I, so I figure we'll make the best of what's around.
I make sure that the pit crew has flag/Thank Yous and walk around the inside and outskirts of the pit, handing them out with the genius vetting question of "Stewart fan?". I meet a nice couple just outside the pit who offer to buy a paper flag (I give it for free, of course) and then feed me pretzels. Very kind.
Folks start filtering into the various sections, and at some point -- either before the B-52s or after or both -- a few spontaneous rounds of You Show Yours And I'll Show Mine breaks out with green flags flashing all over 111, 119, and the floor. It was cool to see all the green -- good lord, even the paper flags kinda glowed -- and really cool to see all the love and enthusiasm flying about. I really look forward to seeing how these will look in actuality. Plus, it was just a shitload of fun.
The B-52s were quite good -- voices better than I expected live, guitarist sweating profusely, and one damn curvy bassist -- and all of us were blissfully unaware that Stewart was stalking us at the time. (Hi, Stewart.) But before The Police came out to play, a couple of flag-related events occurred -- but I'm afraid I'm getting mixed up as to which happened before The B-52s and which happened after. But somewhere in there --
I met up with BABA at the pit fence. He quietly -- but happily -- mentioned how he had played on Stewart's percussion rack with The Police at soundcheck (yay!), and then told me to make sure to find him at Fat Annie's later so that he could sign the Flag. But thanks to the indubitable Jeff Seitz and his crack team of flagpole-builders, that wasn't an option. So I grabbed the Flag and got BABA's John Hancock. The very last signature collected on said rag belongs to BABA.
I also realized that we hadn't taken final pictures of the daft thing and needed to do so quickly. So with the help of surrounding nutters, Mo got a few last shots of the front and back of the Krypton Glory:
front:
http://copelandia.smugmug.com/photos/35 ... ouf-XL.jpg
back:
http://copelandia.smugmug.com/photos/35 ... Dzw-XL.jpg
(I'm actually surprised at how much paint held on during these last few weeks. That sucker was dandruffing all over the place after Hyde Park -- but many of those chunks of dried paint have valiantly hung on for dear life. Apologies that some of your brain and most of your trachea have gone MIA, Stewart.)
And somewhere in there -- I think it was between The B-52s and The Police? -- Brad called Pecos. I think. Or Brad texted Pecos. I honestly can't remember what the hell happened here. Pecos and I were standing on the front line together, and I remember a bunch of her phone antics, and then I remember having information. I know that I didn't receive the info by phone -- I'm nearly positive that Brad doesn't have my US mobile #, and I even checked my phone to make sure. The only thing I'm pretty sure about was that the source wasn't Jeff -- but seriously, fucked if I know anymore.
But whatever -- somehow, some way, I got the info that Brad would come for the Flag during "Invisible Sun." So the "Next To You" stage-tossing plan was out; a surreptitious hand-off was in. And I was saved from worrying about flying flags. Excellent.
[ETA: thinking back but too lazy to rewrite, I'm pretty sure this info came just before The Police took the stage. I remember having arranged for other folks to hold the Flag during the show and saying that I just needed it back for the end -- and then needing to amend that pretty late. So while I can't remember who gave us the info, I'm pretty sure they did so just before (theoretical) gong.]
Meanwhile, between sets, Jeff came out to play. He banged on some drums; he splashed a few cymbals. We waved a ratty green flag at him, and he -- don't tell Stewart -- pointed. And at one point he yelled something at me that I clearly misheard. He was sitting at the kit tap-tap-tapping and yelled something that I can't remember, but whose spirit -- I thought -- was whether or not we were on for this whole flag thing. So I yelled, "Yes!"
What I later heard from smudge was that she heard him ask if I wanted the Flag back. Well, no -- that would sort of defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? Unless we were planning on doing this all again the next day, it didn't seem to make much sense to take the Flag back. But I said "yes" to the question that I thought I was asked, Jeff finished up, and pretty soon the band hit the stage. . . .
Dramatic highlights & a unique musical cosmos. Guaranteed.