silver hoardings

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Unexpected Treat

J called me at work and asked if I liked Neil Diamond, thinking she was asking for hints for a Christmas CD I said not really. Oh she said I have some tickets to his concert. So I backpedaled and said well he's not that bad! She could not go as she was working until late and thought that S and I might like to go. We arranged that she would leave the tickets on the kitchen table and I would see if S wanted to go at such short notice. When I got home I couldn't find the tickets and thought she may have forgotten to leave them, as I had not been so keen at first. I had resigned myself to not going, until I went to make the tea and found the tickets, she left the tickets by the tea tray! When S arrived home he was more enthusiastic than I expected, so I quickly rustled up our dinner and off we went.
We arrived safely at the venue and after a bit of a scramble in the parking lot found a space and joined the line of folks waiting to enter.
After a lecture on no cameras and a quick peek in to my handbag on entering the arena we easily found our seats overlooking the side of the stage up high on the terraces. S and I settled down to play scrabble and read the English paper while waiting for the show to start. Gradually the seats below us filled and then around us people were making themselves comfortable. A group of 4 quite large men came in and arranged themselves in front of us. Laughing and joshing with one another one of them complained that he was squashed, as I knew the seat next to me would remain free I suggested that he moved, introducing himself and his friends he did so. In fact they introduced themselves to everyone and chatted to people all around asking if they were fans of ND and so on. It transpired that one of them had been to 35 Neil Diamond concerts and knew the back up singers!
The stage looked a bit empty with just a few coloured lights swirling on it.
But suddenly the arena lights went down and the show lights came up and the stage floor opened up and in three or four sections the band and back up singers arose from beneath the floor. The audience cheered and applauded and as the music started loads of people got up and started dancing including the enormous man in front of me!! But it was ok as it all just added to the fun. After a nudge from his friends the three oversized fans decided to move onto the stairs at the back where they could sing and dance to their hearts content. They really made it more entertaining for us and the one sitting next to me said it was like having our own floor show!! their enthusiasm was infectious and we sang along and really enjoyed the show. ND sang all the old favourites.
After a safe journey home I phoned J and thanked her and Jm for the tickets, what a wonderful and unexpected treat.

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