2001-06-18 - 2:21

Just allow

I had high hopes for my weekend in Philadelphia; but it turned out to be twice the experience that I was expecting. Even now, eight hours after returning home, I still haven't come down from a great mood. Surprises can be sweet!

Okay, I'll break the weekend down from start to finish, and you'll see where the surprise came in. Friday afternoon, I flew from a beautiful Ottawa day to an equally beautiful day in Philly. After reaching my hotel, I had some free time before the game, so I spent about two hours exploring the immediate area, most notably Penn's Landing.

Yes, as usual, I was drawn to the waterfront with my camera. The comic highlight for me was seeing Theodore Tugboat (well, Theodore Too, actually) at one of the piers. So, I wasn't the only Haligonian in town this weekend. The sad part is that I waited ten minutes for the breeze to pick up enough to let me get a good picture of the Canadian flag flapping.

Given that Theodore was my afternoon highlight, it's safe to say that I was saving my excitement for the game. I made my way to the First Union Center sometime after 6:00. This was the reason for the trip: 76ers-Lakers, NBA Finals, Game 5 . . . now I just needed to actually get my hands on a ticket.

Of course, the place was swarming with police; and I circled the arena several times without locating a scalper. Finally, I settled on a likely location and played the waiting game. (Insert obvious Simpsons quote here.) Sure enough, someone came by with tickets to sell. This guy was definitely a sleazy character; but we reached a deal.

Did I pay more than I needed to for the ticket? I'm sure that I did. Actually, after we made our exchange, the guy tried to rip me off even more, saying that I had shortchanged him and naming a higher price. Okay, (a) I can count and (b) I'm not too likely to agree to a new price with the ticket already in my pocket. (I must look even dumber than I think I do.) That scene got rather tense for a few seconds, before he said he was joking and sent me on my way, with some racial slurs thrown in for good measure.

In any event, I had my ticket: lower bowl, ninth row. Very cool! I took my seat fairly early and revelled in the atmosphere. I never would have expected to be at an NBA Finals game in Philly; and I loved every minute of it. I had a good chat with the guy next to me, Glen, who had also made a solo trip, driving up from Washington.

I didn't want to bring my camera into the arena; but Glen took a picture of me and wrote down my mailing address, so maybe I'll see that in the mail sometime. As you can tell, there was a friendly atmosphere in the crowd.

As for the game itself, what can I say? Even though we lost, I never regretted being there. It was a close game most of the way through and the Sixers fans are excellent. I was disappointed that there was no championship ceremony after the game; but maybe the officials feared that the crowd would turn ugly, especially after L.A.'s absolutely low class alley oop showboating in the dying seconds of the game.

So, after getting my way into Game 5, which was the point to my trip, Saturday was free to simply check out the city, right? Well . . . no. Rewind to my arrival at the hotel. On my way in, I grabbed the local free newspaper, which I decided to flip though before going for my walk. What do I see on page 36? Live in concert, Saturday night: Fishbone!

Incredible! I reread the date 10 times, I had such a hard time believing my luck. I've been a huge Fishbone fan since I was 13. I have all of their CDs, including Walter's solo album and Angelo's disc of poetry; and they were a huge part of the reason that I went to see their tour with the Chili Peppers and STP last year. Even after that concert, I walked out saying that I had to see the Bone in a club show someday . . . and here it was, totally unexpected. I was in such a great mood all weekend.

With the daytime portion of Saturday free, I stayed with my plan to check out Fairmount Park. I decided to walk there, since my route could take me by City Hall and some other sights. It rained off and on during my travels, often quite hard, so there were times when I had to skip taking any pictures. However, I did check out a lot of the park: the gardens, sculptures, and the walk along the river.

The walk was perhaps excessive. After seeing signs noting the distance to the Falls Bridge, I made it my goal to walk along the east side of the park, then cross over the bridge, and work my way back along the west side. Of course, my sore toe (yes, it's still wonky after two weeks) slowed me down and my limping stride had the rest of my foot sore, too. By the time I was done, I had walked for about five hours, gotten caught in two pounding downpours, and found the Japanese House that I was looking for ten minutes before it was closing.

With the shape that my feet were in, I had my doubts about being able to hang in full strength for a Fishbone show; but time would tell.

Hmm . . . this entry is already ranking as one of my longest. Since I plan to write a full concert review tomorrow, I'll omit the details of the show here; but I will have to convey how blown away I was.

I freely admit that I really write almost exclusively positive reviews. I go to a concert to have a good time, and I'm rarely disappointed. However, some concerts hit me harder than others; and Fishbone rates with the likes of Rollins and Neubauten as one of the greatest concerts that I have ever been lucky enough to witness.

Fishbone kicked it so incredibly hard in a small, sweltering club and the crowd was amped. Every song in a set that surpassed two hours (!) had the audience feeling it. The mosh stayed just inside the lines of chaos, the pace was relentless, and the mood was ecstatic. It was a cool vibe seeing white kids and black kids partying together while Angelo championed the unity message of "One Planet People."

With the band giving it so much, I couldn't hold anything back either. By the end of the night, I was dead tired, soaked with sweat, and dehydrated; my throat was raw from screaming; my feet were mangled; my ears were ringing; and I had taken an elbow to the cheek (accidental contact), a shot to my right hip (which I don't recall clearly), a nasty shot on my left elbow (kids, please don't mosh while holding a bottle), and various other minor bumps. As always, I didn't take any major wounds; and I left completely satisfied.

I talked for a while with one guy before Fishbone started playing; and I found someone else to chat with afterwards. Actually, I ended up splitting a cab with him, and he shared some more musical tales and his opinions on Philly. I'm generally not very talkative or sociable, but that seems to change at concerts.

I have more to say about the concert; but I'll save it for tomorrow. As for today, I didn't feel that I had the energy left to do much in Philly, so I switched to a slightly earlier flight . . . only to spend an hour in a half waiting in the plane for paperwork that we needed to fly. D'oh!

With the mood I was in, though, it didn't matter. In one weekend, I saw the NBA Championship Game and fulfilled the dream of seeing the mighty Fishbone in concert. Oh, and I didn't mention this fact yet, but the show was recorded, so maybe it'll surface on a live album someday. Sweet!

Life is good.

J.