It wound up being one of those in which you have three hours total sleep over a three-day period and in pictures it kind of looks like zombie nation, but enjoyment-wise it'll be tough to top.
Enough of the vague-irities. First sis was coming in from Florida, first for the Devils season opener (which 'ark told everyone who would listen -- and a few that probably didn't want to -- that he was benched and unable to attend.) As sis and I have been doing the Devils thing together since Nov. 23, 2001 (in-joke: Ellyosh and seeeee-kora), and this being the first game of the new season we planned it that way for sis time.
So the Devils have two scoring lines and two power-play lines now (something we haven't had for a few seasons), so that's great to see. Zachariah Parise scored the first Devils' goal of the new season and my boy Patrik (Patty) Elias had the game-winner. All good and lots of fun.
Mere hours later we were up and heading for the bus to Atlantic City to see Lindsey Buckingham and 'ark ... not necessarily in that order. After dumping the bus voucher credit in about half an hour, we did a lot of shopping and some eating. AC has better Devils merchandise, than the freakin' Devils Den.
Funny moment when I was buying something on the boardwalk when both Pook and 'ark saw each other before I did. I believe sis' quote was "It's either Mark or some pervert." Hey she was doubly right! ;)
More shopping and lots of joking and general frivolity ensued. Not sure sis took it as a compliment when 'Ark said we not only look alike but have the same method of reasoning. We played the water gun balloon arcade game. 'Ark won twice and the girls took the prizes, haha.
Oh yeah, we still had Lindsey to see. It was a small venue, Xanadu at the Trump Taj Mahal, and there were a ton of empty front seats at the beginning, but the diehard fans started moving forward. It turned a staid early show into an incredibly vibrant meeting of the minds. The band (particularly Lindsey and guitarist/keyboardist Brett Tuggle) really seemed to appreciate it.
Here's a great vid of "Go Your Own Way." I don't know how 'Ark stood still, me personally, I was pogoing around not of my own free will. It doesn't have quite the energy level we experience, but I just love the fans playing the guitar with Lindsey near the end.
I made a small nuisance of myself during band intros with the ol' harmonica ... and by yelling "Play Jessie's Girl, Brett" to Mr. Tuggle -- two decades ago he used to play backup for Rick Springfield. The girls my age seemed to get it.
One of my fave parts was the encore "Second Hand News." I was standing on two front-row chairs by then and there was some kind of go-go dancing going on. This is not yet up to full go-go strength at the beginning of the song...
And akin to Pook's Clapton experience back in 1990 ... "Tusk" is the new "Cocaine"!
It took us forever and a day (plus a bus, two trains, a cab) to get back to Newark and another two trains (one broken) and a plane to get Pook home, but I'm still flying high on all of it. Thanks Pook and 'ark!
