Opening Day!

Mets win 7-1 over the Florida Marlins.

Paul McCartney at Citi Field

When I bought my tickets, I felt a sting in my wallet. I had never seen McCartney in concert and I thought this might be the only time I would have the opportunity to see the Beatles legend live. The closest I came to anything remotely related to the Beatles was attending the John Lennon memorial in Central Park in 1980 a week after he was killed.

So I figured I'd pony up the dough and take the wife to the first concert in Citi Field, in itself an historic event for the new stadium. And boy, was it the best spent money in a long time! Although the slight rain that came down for about an hour might've dampened our clothing, it didn't dampen our spirits as McCartney blazed through a myriad of songs, old and new and rocked the stadium.

A video backdrop behind the band included pictures of the young Beatles days, computer-animated Beatles from the video game “The Beatles: Rock Band”, video of a Wings photo shoot during "Band on the Run" that included James Coburn, Christopher Lee and Robert DeNiro, and even a couple of simulated Obama headshots during "Sing The Changes." I'll try to add some photos and maybe a video later.

One particular thing that warmed my heart were the parents who brought their young children to witness the Rock 'n Roll legend. There was a dad with his daughter of perhaps 9 or 10 years of age, who sat in front of us and knew every lyric to every Beatles song being played. To our left was a mom and her 5 year old girl who sang along with "Hey Jude." In this age of the Jonas Brothers, Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus, it's nice to see the history of rock music being handed down to the next generation. Too many times I've come across some in their late teens and early twenties who think the genre started with Nirvana and answer questions of The Beatles with, "Who?"

If you can come up with the scratch and can score tickets for one of the remaining two concerts, it's well worth the experience.

Jon Pareles has an excellent write up in the New York Times.

Here's Friday night's set list:

“Drive My Car”
“Jet”
“Only Mama Knows”
“Flaming Pie”
“Got To Get You Into My Life”
“Let Me Roll It” (with a “Foxy Lady” coda)
“Highway”
“The Long and Winding Road”
“My Love”
“Blackbird”
“Here Today”
“Dance Tonight”
“Calico Skies”
“Mrs. Vandebilt”
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Sing the Changes”
“Band on the Run”
“Back in the U.S.S.R.”
“I’m Down”
“Something” (on ukulele)
“I’ve Got a Feeling”
“Paperback Writer”
“A Day in the Life”/“Give Peace a Chance”
“Let It Be”
“Live and Let Die”
“Hey Jude”

Encore:

“Day Tripper”
“Lady Madonna”
“I Saw Her Standing There” (with Billy Joel)
“Yesterday”
“Helter Skelter”
“Get Back”
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (reprise)/“The End”

Today's Experience with Faux Patriotism

I went to the Mets game tonight and experimenting with the new and varied food choices at the new ballpark, decided on La Verona Taqueria. I couldn't resist after hearing Keith Hernandez rave about them on television.

While standing in line (about 15 minutes before game time) the announcement came on for the singing of National Anthem, which was not clearly audible in the food court behind the centerfield scoreboard due to the large amount of people standing in line waiting for their food, having conversations and ordering their beers.

All of a sudden, just as the anthem was starting, I heard someone behind me go off on a little diatribe resembling something like the following:

Take of your caps. TAKE OF YOUR CAPS! Show some respect. This is ridiculous - (to his friend) I don't have many pet peeves but someone not taking their cap off during the Star Spangled Banner really fucking pisses me off. Look at these guys, these guys don't know what the hell is going on. TAKE YOUR CAP OFF! The fucking national anthem is being sung and they keep their caps on. Goddammit! All it takes is 30 seconds. 30 fucking seconds. Would it kill them to take of their caps? Would it?

He continued his outrage... THROUGHOUT the entire National Anthem. This faux patriot spoke through the anthem. He didn't stop once to actually listen to it. He just bitched and moaned while waiting in line for a taco.

So I thought about it for a bit. What would be the proper procedure? Everyone stops speaking, the lines stop moving, the vendors stop selling and we pay respect. Or, this being America, we could choose to honor the anthem in our own way or not, silently reflecting on its performance or laughing at the bad rendition, dissecting the lyrics and what they mean... or just ordering a taco. In any case, my reaction was to initially take off my cap despite my embarrassing hat head, but I immediately decided against it once some asshole was ordering people in the general vicinity to take off their caps. If you haven't guessed, I'm not the type to let people have the satisfaction.

By the way, the Mets lost 8-3 ending a 7-game win streak but the tacos were delicious.

Shea Goodbye

I've been meaning to stop by what's left of Shea Stadium to take some photos. I drive by Shea every couple of weeks or so while running errands and watch with sadness as the building turns to rubble and all that will be left are my memories. My initial idea was to photographically archive the dismantling with a week by week progression, but one never has time for such things.

Luckily, a friend stopped by to take some pictures last Saturday. It's almost all gone. The bulldozers and wrecking balls are doing their job. The remnants are scooped up and trucked away. Here are a couple of photos my friend sent of what's soon to be the Citi Field parking lot.

(Click for full size)

Out With The Old...

...in with the new.

Some of you may know that I'm a Mets fan. A rabid Mets fan. I've been a Mets fan since I went to my first game in 1975. It's been 33 very long years, with two World Series appearances and one World Series Championship. The Mets have won two championships in their 46 year history but I was too young to remember the first in 1969. So I'm left with one. One... in thirty-three years... in a town that shares baseball real estate with the New York Yankees.

You know the Yankees. 26 World Championships. TWENTY-SIX. And six in my lifetime. And they beat the Mets in 2000. I think Mets fans' only solace is that they haven't won since 2000 even while outspending every other team in payroll. But I digress.

The point was that the Mets are getting a new stadium next season. Citi-Field will open on April 13th. I'll be there rooting for my team, and enjoying the new stadium I'm sure. Shea Stadium was one of those cookie cutter stadiums built in the 60's and 70's. Pedestrian traffic patterns were horrible, not enough bathrooms, the food sucked and the seats were small and uncomfortable, no leg room.

But it's bittersweet because I'll always have fond memories of Shea. My first Major League baseball game watching players live instead of on the screen. My amazement at Dave Kingman popping up a ball that flew higher than the top of the stadium. Going to double headers on my own as a kid with my friends and sitting in the upper deck. Being at the game in 1986 when Dwight Gooden won against the Chicago Cubs to win the pennant for the first time in thirteen years. And my only time on the field watching Billy Joel play the final concert at Shea. So it's a little sad to drive by and see the dismantling of a place that holds a lot of memories. The seats are gone, the scoreboard is down, the field is slowly being covered by debris.

Anyway, a friend sent this picture to me - his brother was coming back from vacation and took this shot as he was landing at LaGuardia Airport. (Click picture for full size.)

Out with the old, in with the new. And hopefully a change of luck in the process. Those season tickets are getting expensive!