R.E.M. - In Action!!!

I am a big big huge huge R.E.M. fan, in case you did not already know.

When I was a kid, my folks wouldn't get cable because I was still in school, and they thought that cable would corrupt me. My only companion was a radio that did not even have FM. Thanks to my mom and sister, I listened to a lot of Michael Jackson, Cliff Richards and the Beatles, and the occasional nice song on the radio.

Things changed for good when MTV, for some strange reason, collaborated with Doordarshan in 1994 to show "western" music videos on India's national channel. That is how I was introduced to Rock & Roll. That is how I came to know that the music world is not just about MJ, CR and the Beatles, that there is an entire array of bands making exceptional music, and that the greatest band in the world is R.E.M..

Every saturday morning I would get up at around 9:30 to watch the European Top 20, which had a lot of techno, and dance music unlike the US Top 20, which mostly had alternative songs. But on that lucky day, for some reason, they did not show the European Top 20 - instead they showed two concerts of R.E.M., one of them being the Unplugged. They showed the other concert first, and I was just amazed by Michael Stipe's (I didn't know his name back then) enormous levels of energy, his jumping around, and his interaction with the audience! I of course did not know any of the songs they played. Then I saw the Unplugged in which Michael Stipe kept smiling throughout the show. The one song I remembered from the show was "Half a World Away".

The very year R.E.M. released "Monster". I was at home one day, almost ready to go out and play soccer - was just tying my shoe laces when "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" came on TV. The super-psychedelic video caught my attention immediately. More than the orange/blue/green lights emitting from the TV tube, it was the sound, the music, the "wailing" solo and the amazing bass line that made me sit back and watch the entire video. I instantly knew that this was and would be my most favorite song for the rest of my life (trust me, it still is). There was an instant reaction in my head and heart.

I watched that video everyday.

I bought "Monster" very soon and listened to the entire cassette every day - for hours.And that was just the start. I soon bought "Automatic For The People" and "Green". And then "Out of Time". After about five years or so I asked my sister in the US to bring me the rest of the R.E.M. CDs. She did. After listening to the entire catalog, I sat down to think - about how a band can make such amazing music that touches the heart and makes you appreciate their music all the more. The energy, the joy, the sadness, the anger in the songs made me more curious, and thanks to the Internet, I started learning about the songs/ lyrics to know what really the songs and the band were about.

Cut to March 2008.

I am not in India anymore. I am in the US now. I graduated in December 2007 and have a job now. I don't live in New Delhi, India anymore. I live in Ames, IA now.

I was super excited to know that R.E.M. was releasing "Accelerate" this year. I was reading about it online, and most of the articles said that it would be a "rocking" album, unlike the last three. I was glad to hear that, but the reason for my heightened levels of excitement was not the fact that Accelerate would be "rockier" than the previous three, but the fact that an album launch means the band would go on tour soon(and thank God they did). As soon as they announced their tour, I bought a ticket to their concert in Chicago which was scheduled on June 6th. $100, which meant that I would be very very close to the stage. I was counting down days. I can't tell you how excited I was. You had to be me to really know it.

I told everyone at work that I would take 6th June off because I am going to see R.E.M. live in action. I told them that I had waited 14 years for this day. All my colleagues were excited for me.

On 6th June I was to fly from Des Moines to Minneapolis to Chicago. It is a weird route alright, but it would take me to Chicago, so no complaints whatsoever.

6th June comes. I reach Des Moines airport. My flight to Minneapolis was to take off at 12:10 PM. I check in and get to know that it has been delayed and that now it would take off at 1:05 PM. My connecting flight from Minneapolis to Chicago was at 2:40 PM. It was a 45 minutes flight from Des Moines to Minneapolis, which meant that I would still make it to Minneapolis in time to catch my connecting flight.

I board the flight at 12:30. everything's going really well, I say to myself. The plane starts to taxi towards the runaway. I say "wow", and "finally" to myself, and that is when the plane halts. Right before the runway. The pilot announces that we would have to wait there for around 15-20 minutes. Apparently, the weather in Minneapolis was really bad, and the pilot was to get another report from the air traffic conroller about when he can take off. I am still okay.

After 20 minutes, the pilot announces that we would have to wait there for another 50 minutes. He also said that we should call NWA and reschedule our connections. I said "f*ck" to myself and did just that. Now I was on the 4:30 flight from Minneapolis. After an hour or so, the pilot announced that we would have to wait for another hour or so at the very spot because the weather was really bad in Minneapolis and that no planes were allowed to enter the Minneapolis airport. I called NWA again, told them to put me on a different flight - perhaps on a direct Des Moines - Chicago flight. I lied to the rep and told her that it was a "life and death situation" and that I had to be in Chicago downtown by 6:30PM. She apologized and said that she realy could not do anything because "everybody is in the same boat". I said very well. She put me on the 5:30 flight from Minneapolis to Chicago.

At around 4:15 PM the pilot announced that he was going back to the gate because he has not been given permission to take off. After getting deplaned, we were given "our sincere apologies, get $25 off on your next reservation" coupons. The plane was now to take off at 5:00PM.

I could not believe that all this was happening to me. I called NWA again and put myself on the 7:00 PM flight. I was really desperate to see R.EM. As I mentioned before, I had waited 14 years for this day. That's a crazy amount of time. I figured that even if I reach Chicago downtown by 9:00 PM, I would be able to see R.E.M. , if not the opening bands.

The flight finally TOOK OFF at 5:45 PM. It was a good sign. At least, I was on my way to see R.E.M., and it looked like I would make it successfully to Chicago in time. I reached Minneapolis airport at around 6:35, and I ran towards my gate, which was at the other end of the airport. When I reached the gate I looked at one of the wall mounted monitors and realized that my flight was delayed. It was now scheduled to take off at 7:30. Excellent. Instead of taking off at 7:30, I boarded the flight at 7:30, and then I kept sitting inside the aircraft for another one hour and fifteem minutes before it took off.

I reached Chicago airport at 10:15PM. United Center was another hour away from the airport. There was no way I would have made it in time. I said screw it and went straight to my friend's house. I did not go the venue at all.

I met my friend, ate my dinner, and took control of his mac immediately. I was agitated. Frustrated. Annoyed. Sad. I could not believe that what I had gone through that day had actually happened to me. Me. A nice guy, who doesn't do any harm to anyone. Who always wishies well for others.

I went to remhq and looked at R.E.M.'s schedule. They were performing at Jones Beach on the next saturday, which was the 19th.

My next set of actions:

Ticketmaster->Buy ticket to Jones Beach concert.

Nwa.com-> Buy MSP to JFK and back for $284 (for some strange reason, DSM to JFK was $800!).

Spent saturday and sunday with Vinay and Shalva, which diverted my attention from the most ridiculuous friday of my life ever.

On my way back, same shit happened. My flight from Chicago to Minneapolis was delayed by 5 hours. I again missed my connection and ended up spending the entire night at the Minneapolis airport. The next morning, I was put on a flight to Des Moines at 10:20AM which was delayed by an hour because a "VIP" was flying over Minneapolis and our guy was not allowed to take off. Thanks to the VIP, I missed my bus from Des Moines to Ames.

I had to call Andrew who was more than willing to pick me up from Des Moines. I reached home at 3:30 PM on monday the 9th of June, year 2008.

Cut to 13th June, 2008.

I rent a car and go to Minneapolis to catch my flight the next morning at 7AM. Luckily (thank you God!), my friend who lives in NJ, decides to join me for the concert. Without him, I would have missed the concert again!

The next morning, as I am about to board my flight to JFK, I realize that I had forgotten to bring my concert ticket with me! I could not believe it again. It was deja vu all over again. My "jinxness", if you will, had started. I said "f*ck".

But it wasn't going to be as bad as last week after all. My friend would be with me this time. I forwarded him the ticketmaster email that had the link to the ticket and asked him to print it out for me (I emailed him from my phone, which made me realize how important technology is to mankind). Now, the email had a link that my friend was supposed to click to get the actual ticket that he was to print. The email clearly mentioned in bold that "THIS EMAIL CANNOT BE USED FOR ENTRY".

I meet my friend in Wantagh. He was hungry, so we went to the nearest McDonald's to grab a bite. After that we sit in his car and he gives me the ticket.

My friend had printed the email, not the ticket.

I told him that he had made a mistake.

We now drive to the nearest Kinko's, which was 6 miles away. We do get lost a couple of times but finally make it to Kinko's. At 45 cents for 15 seconds of Internet, I print my ticket. Not one, but three - just to be safe.

Before going to the venue, we go and spend some time at the Jones beach - but more about that some other time, or maybe never.

We enter the venue at around 6:30 PM, and sit at seats that did not belong to us. I am all charged up and excited. I MADE IT!!!!

The National opened at exactly 7:00PM. They are a good band, but I did not really pay much attention to their music, perhaps because I was eagerly waiting for R.E.M. to come on stage. they played for 45 minutes and then made way for Modest Mouse, which I should admit, were really good.

Modest Mouse played for around 40 minutes. They were still playing, and it started to rain. What?? Yes, It starts to rain, and I have not seen R.E.M. yet. People start moving here and there to seek shelter, but I convince my friend to keep sitting , telling him that it's an adventure and all that shit and crap. He sits for a few minutes but soon gets up to protect himself. I keep sitting, and I plan to keep sitting. It is raining like crazy.

And that is when it happened.

Lightening struck. Around 20 seats behind me, and I am not joking. It was perhaps one of the cruelest sounds I have heard in my life. The moment it struck, thousands of people got up and started moving towards the exits. I had to move too.

Chaos chaos everywhere, not a glimpse of R.E.M. to be seen.

Thank God nobody slipped on the stairs, otherwise it would have been a major stampede. It was almost a stampede as it is.

It was raining like crazy now. There were thousands of people not inside the arena, but outside, hiding under covered roofs. The organizers announced on the PA system that the show had been postponed by an hour, and that R.E.M. would come on stage at 10:00PM.

But it was raining so bad that I almost thought that the show would get cancelled. In my mind I was making plans of going to Atlanta next saturday, and the same time was wondering why I was being punished for being a loyal R.E.M. fan. I could not really find any logic behind whatever was happening to me. Then I thought that perhaps I was being punished for something that I might have done in my previous life.

But "Sweetness Followed" soon after. It was announced that R.E.M. would indeed come on stage. Luckily the merchandise store had started to sell ponchos (for $5. I have dedicated a pocket for it in my back pack) which my friend and I bought. We entered the arena with courage. The courage to stand in the rain.

R.E.M. came on stage at around 10:20. My reaction:

It was all good from then on. I finally got to see R.E.M. I saw them perform "It's the end of the ..." which they played only for us - the crowd at Long Beach...Micheal Stipe was very chatty..he talked with us a lot...he said we looked like garbage bags, which was true yet funny.

My dream had come true. My dream of 14 years, and I am proud to announce to the world that I did whatever it took to make it come true. From New Delhi to Ames to Chicago to Ames to Long Beach - who would have thought.

The one thing I want to do is meet them in person. I don't think it's possible. I don't think it ever will be. If I ever have children, I will tell them how adventurous their dad is, and what he did and had to go through to see the greatest band on this planet.

I can die peacefully now.

#remjones