UK76’s TRAVELS: Hartford
Monday, September 17th, 2007
After my last post I was taken by car to Hartford, Connecticut which is about 2 hrs to drive from Boston. The city itself is extremely unspectacular. Once we arrived I checked in at the hotel and right afterwards we headed for a tailgating party on a parking lot near the Civic Center. It was much fun meeting so many nice fans, some of them members of the official Genesis messageboard. By 7pm we went back to the Civic Center and I tried to sell a pair of spare tickets. There were so many people trying to sell tickets that I ended up getting about 10% of what I paid for them…
I then entered the Veterans Memorial Coliseum (the actual concert arena) inside the Civic Center. It was great to finally see the indoor stage with my own eyes. Again, I met quite a bunch of fans and soon it was already about time to take my seat for the show. In my opinion the light show and use of the video screen is now even better than it was outdoors. Not only because it’s dark inside the arenas but they now have lights at the side of the stage and use a few slightly different animations on the screens. The stage is also much lower so that people on the floor can actually look onto the stage floor when they are standing.
The set of course was exactly the same as in Europe though Phil and Chester have slightly different variations now for the barstool drum duet. The interaction with the audience was great. It really makes a difference if Phil talks to English speaking people or not! During Land Of Confusion he even grabbed a cell phone from someone in front row and sang right into the phone. I’ve seen Phil do something similar on his last solo tour in Chicago already. The “scary people” story was a bit extended as well. Even more scary this time!
After the gig I headed back to my hotel and straightly went to bed as I had to catch a flight at 10am today. I got up at 6.30am this morning and took the bus to the airport. The flight I was talking about was going to Cleveland with a connecting flight from there to Philadelphia. Strange routing but a cheap rate! When it was time to board the aircraft I was called to the counter where a lady asked me if I would be willing to take a different flight. As usual the flight was overbooked and quite a few people were waiting for spare seats. They offered me to book me on a direct flight with a different airline, departing 1.5 hrs later but arriving in Philadelphia about 1 hour before my flight via Cleveland, and a flight voucher worth 200 dollars. Well, how could I resist? Of course I opted for the direct flight and the voucher.
The direct flight was not only on time but arrived about half an hour early in Philly. During the drive into the city I already saw the Wachovia Center with the famous Spectrum right next to it (as well as Lincoln Financial Field and the Citizens Bank Park). Now I’m at my hotel already. Great weather outside so I will head into the city to see a few things. No need to hurry though cos I’ll be here until Friday. A lot of time to see everything. And not to forget the run of three shows in a row starting tomorrow night!
Ulli
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