CHAPTER 2
NEW YORK CITY
We arrived in
the Big Apple through the Holland Tunnel at 5:30 am. After getting a decent
spot near Vince's apartment, we woke up Kat. This proved a near impossible
task. Being quite tired our own selves, we left Kat sleep in the car in
mid-town Manhattan with a note as to our locale. Vince has a nice place near
everything. Looking through his tapes I recognized my own handwriting from the
time when Vince and I traded in the NAGNFC Fanzine days.
Vince was
nothing but an awesome and kind host. We had the opportunity to stay with him
for 2 nights. He could only get a short nap before heading to work. I was lucky
enough to grab 7 hours of sleep before waking up to the sound of the door
buzzer at 2:00 in the afternoon. It was Kat. Her and I started to get ready for
the show and look for roses she could wear to the show on her wrist. She liked
going to the shows dressed as Dawn, and she did it to perfection.
There wasn't
any action at the pre-show gathering on the next block from the Irving Plaza,
so we got our place in line along with Numanboy and some other familiar faces.
Kat was still in search for a rose, so in high shoes, ventured off into the
country's biggest city on a quest for the red flower. She was gone for about 15
minutes when we saw a woman with a box of roses walk by. We nearly stopped
laughing by the time Kat returned 30 minutes later with her rose.
The Irving
Plaza was a 1000 seater and was sold out. A massive TV projection screen
displayed Marilyn Manson videos until Switchblade was to come on. I met Brett
Wallace from the UK Numan Press Office and his wife at the show. Brett and I
spoke on the phone just before I left for the Philly show. He was asking about
decent places to stay in New York City. He told me at the show he ended up
paying $100 for a lopsided floor that made him feel like he was drunk. So with
all the money he saved on beer, it probably made the room quite the value for
the money.
When Numan came
out, it was a spectacle like no other. I had never seen a Beatles concert, but
the crown reaction couldn't have been much different to that of the Irving
Plaza that night. And Gary sucked up all that energy and gave it right back to
the crowd. It was truly an amazing show.
Flyers
announced "PLEASE JOIN GARY NUMAN FOR HIS AFTER SHOW PARTY AT
ALBION". We knew for sure it was a sham, but after the show, and after
meeting Gary to shake his hand, and after meeting some folks involved in the
Random 3 project, we had nary another suggestion about what to do.
We parked near
the club and started walking. We met a couple of friendly English blokes who
were coming back from the club. They recognized us from our Numan apparel. I
decided to take a chance and ask if their names were Paul McDonald and Keith
King. Indeed they were! They, too, e-mailed me before the US Tour requesting
tips for a trip to the Big Apple. They weren't recommending the club as it was
playing 80's music and there was no sign of Gary. This happened to be our
favorite type of music, so we continued on.
We didn’t see
Gary either, but were surprised to hear Cars being played in this massive and
trendy dance club followed by Dominion Day. We all got some good dancing in,
and decided to call it a night. It was already about 4 and things were still
hopping. I wondered how long this place stayed open anyway?
As we exited
the club, talking about what a scam those flyers were, we saw Gary and Gemma
outside hailing a cab. It was late and we didn't want to keep them, so we only
offered a quick hello before they were off…