oh, what a night...

so, i was taking some pics of my favorite things around my pad, and i feel one item in particular is so precious to me that i decided to write about it. i discussed all the shenanigans on the now-defunct mondo-retro.com, but here it is again. the jack daniels bottle you see is not part of the story, but has a great story of its own: i saw the damned just before halloween in 2001 at the north star bar in philly, which is a teeny tiny place, and i was practically on stage with them--i was standing on the steps leading up to the stage, literally 2 feet in front of captain sensible the entire time. during "smash it up," dave vanian held my hand and sang a few lines to me--i kid you not. i thought i was going to have a heart attack. anyway, at one point the band and all the people in the front were swigging from a bottle of jack like old drinking buddies---and i ended up with the empty bottle. :)

but here's the story of the dead flowers inside the bottle, taken from what i wrote when i got home from the strokes/white stripes show at radio city music hall in august of 2002:

HASTILY WRITTEN REVIEW OF THE WHITE STRIPES/STROKES SHOW 8/15/02

i have to get this all down before i forget the amazing details. this was, by far, one of the most magical rock-n-roll evenings of my entire life. everyone who knows me is aware of how into both these bands i am. the fun started before we even got in radio city music hall--fabrizio stuck his cute, curly head out of the dressing room window, and we snapped some pics of him and albert, and waved and stuff. very cool. little did i know my MIND WAS ABOUT TO BE BLOWN!!! wheeeeeeeee! oh, and as i was staring at fab, who should walk into the stage door DIRECTLY BEHIND ME but meg white!!! she looked very chic and beautiful, of course.

the white stripes were amazing. really, really amazing. they did "isis"!!! i can't remember all the songs or the order, but this is what is coming to mind right now:"dead leaves...", "hotel yorba", "apple blossom", "offend in every way"...sheesh, my mind is mush. oh, "we're going to be friends", complete with audience handclaps. nice.

by the time the strokes hit the stage, people were just completely losing it with glee. the vibe at this show was AWESOME. they plowed through practically all of "is this it?", plus "meet me in the bathroom," "you talk too much," and "ze newie."it was one of those few times that i was completely, absoloutely, honestly MOVED by music. the build-up to the end of "alone,together" was like the greatest, most electrifying moment, man...i rocked out like i haven't rocked out in YEARS. the strokes just totally do it for me, man. it was just one of those shows. poor jules had to sit on a stool the entire time, since his knee is not better yet, but it did NOTHING to hinder the energy WHATSOEVER. jack joined them for "new york city cops", which may have been the most insane moment of the entire night. or so i thought...

as we were leaving, we walked by the same window that fab had been leaning out of earlier. i saw the top albert's 'fro peeking out above the sill, and we realized, "hey, they're in there!!" so, we (along with a bunch of other people) walked over to the window, and ALL OF THE STROKES and JACK AND MEG leaned out of the window, waving, talking to us...and everybody was screaming like they were the beatles. it was amazing. they/we stopped traffic on 51st street and everything. i was lucky enough to be right below the windows, and they just started tossing stuff down at us---first it was guitar picks and stuff, and then jack leaned out of the window with a bottle of champagne, and poured it into our mouths and on our heads...and down my dress, actually. it was amazing. he threw down flowers (yes, i got flowers, too!), chopped vegetables from their backstage trays, albert threw julian's (i think) shirt, jack took his shirt off and threw that, meg was tossing ice down to the sweating masses...people, it was MAGIC. then fab sat on the ledge as if he was going to throw himself out of the window, and everyone outstretched their arms and began chanting, "jump! jump!" it was a riot. they were LOVIN' it. another hilarious moment was when matt came to the window, and, as he was wearing a red t-shirt also, everyone thought he was fab. so, people were losing it, screaming, "fab! fab!" and then fab slowly rose up from underneath the window, and pointed at us and laughed, like "GOTCHA!" what a scream. oh, what a night. if you all could see the looks on their faces...they were all in complete fantasy rock star land, and seemed genuinely happy, elated, surprised, and flabbergasted that we just all stood there, telling them how much they rocked, how much we loved them, etc. WOW. i am still totally losing it. i can go to sleep tonight (well, this morning), with the satisfaction that jack white essentially showered me with flowers and champagne, and jules waved at me. like, right at ME. wheeeeeee! i seriously think i'll be telling my kids that.












(ed. note: the photo, taken by the guy i was with at the time, shows jack mid-pour. i was directly under the stream. the photo next to it was taken inside the dressing room by some professional photographer-type guy.)

next day: i am (slightly) more coherent than last night. i heart the strokes!! i heart the stripes!! what a genuine moment the whole show was. i predict some write-ups about this show all over the place. and of course i will provide that info to all of you. yes, you. THE MASSES. i have it in my head that people are actually following my escapades...oh, and if the sweet couple i met at the show, whom we were going to hang with after the show---i'm sorry we lost you guys! after all that hub-bub...well, you know. you guys were so nice. they pointed out the fact that ellen barkin was there, only a few rows in front of us, and looking SMASHING!


ahhhh, memories. :) i still have that damn carrot in my freezer. oh, and two days after that show, i had 4th row beck tickets for his tiny solo acoustic warm-up tour, and after the show i met and hugged him. man, that was one bitchin' weekend...