Drawing up this list immediately plunged my life into disorder! It has really been the best of times, and the worst of times. The former because I have diverted my attention to other aspects of my life which have been neglected for the past 2 years, and rediscovered my passion for reading, and have also started re-balancing my life. It has been the worst of times because since I drew up that list, my running schedule has gone haywire, and I have totally gone off track with those goals. In fact, there are none!
Still, having said that, I can cancel 3 things off my list: I have finally sorted through my 4 bags of unopened mail, got another person to draw up their list of 101 things to do, and have been to an a-ha concert - theme of this post.
Having stalked them for 25 years, I finally got to see them live last Friday in New York at the Nokia Theatre at their farewell concert. My friend Kathy and I flew to NY that morning, and checked into the Waldorf Astoria (yes, it is very nice!), after which we spent the day shopping. Ah, there is nothing quite like shopping in New York. Therefore it was not surprising to find that we were running late for the concert. Finding a taxi on a Friday night during rush hour in NY is impossible, and we ended up taking a 'green' taxi - one of those rickshaw-like contraptions. I thought I would be flung to my death! No, that is not an exaggeration, but Hannes, our cyclist-driver did u-turns in the face of 6 lanes of oncoming traffic, that did my head in. Know too that these 'green' taxis are rather like articulated lorries - the front goes in one direction and the back in quite another. It was exhilirating and surreal at the same time, but he got us there in good time.
The Nokia Theatre is like a night club, and although I was rather surprised to find that the concert had sold out, I soon discovered why. All the Europeans living in NY were at the Nokia! In fact it was like being back in Europe...the same style and atmosphere, and it was great. We were standing fairly near the front, and had a good view of the band.
I had a fantastic time, but found it to be a highly emotional experience - this is the end of the line, their farewell concert. And yes, it was like breaking up with 3 boyfriends all at the same time. But it was a great night, and I am thrilled that I finally got to see them!
The one and only, Morten Harket.
I'm glad you had such a good time at the concert. The rickshaw sounds like fun. It might just be me, but Morten looks a lot like a young Patrick Swayze in the last picture.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of your concert experience. It sounds like you had a great time.
ReplyDelete@ Frank: you have to try the 'green' taxi thingy one day - it is hilariously frightening! And you are right, he does look like Patrick Swayze. Morten is 50, and although he seems to have held it together well, he looks his age in some of the pics I took.
ReplyDelete@ Christina: I did think of you! It was amazing....and it was the first time in this country that I could buy a beer and no one asked me for ID!