New Years 2006
As more astute types will know by now, I spent my New Years Eve in L.A. with the Flaming Lips. It was pretty fucking cool.
I left as rescheduled at 6:30 am Sunday morning. This required waking up at 3:00 after being out until 11ish the night before. Smart staying out that late...but definitely worth it. Headed over to Kath's where I parked (3:45), she got me to the airport (4:00), checked in...and got to the gate at about 4:45. Way too early dammit. But I was there and stayed awake so I wouldn't miss the boarding and all. Passed out as soon as I got on the plane and didn't wake up until we were descending into L.A. Took the Super Shuttle to the hotel intending to drop my bags and explore the city. Got there at 8:00 and they let me check in right then. Got a room w/ a king size bed and passed out until 2:00. Oops. It's vacation though, right? Nobody to care what I do with my time! Finally ventured out, had some dinner, explored downtown a bit, then time for the show!
I got to the show at 6:45...it's scheduled to start at 8, so doors should open at 7ish, right? They waited until 7:20 or so, then did the craziest security check I've ever seen at a concert, sporting event, airport...it was the slowest security line ever. Of course this meant nobody was inside by 8:00, so Cat Power didn't go on until 9 (this may have been planned, I don't know.) She was ok, but not too spectacular. I'd been told to expect this, so whatever. Gnarles Barkley was up next, and they made up for it. The songs are all veeery short so Cee-Lo talked quite a bit, joked around, but the momentum kinda died between songs as well. The crowd didn't seem as into it as was warranted. But they did all my favorites, teased "Space Oddity" by Bowie (that's the "ground control to Major Tom" song), and left me happy. Wish the crowd had cared more. Ah well.
Then the Lips. Setlist:
UFO entrance/Ta Da!
The W.A.N.D.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Suddenly Everything Has Changed
---break while waiting for midnight---
Race For The Prize
What a Wonderful World with Gnarls Barkley and Cat Power
Yoshimi
Vein Of Stars
Free Radicals
Do You Realize??
Encore: Spoonful Weighs A Ton
Very short set sadly. I have to say they couldn't have ended my year much more appropriately than "Suddenly Everything Has Changed." The show was pretty great, but the energy around me was not quite what I had hoped for. This may have to do with being in a seat rather than front row GA as I was the last 2 times I saw them. The whole row next to me got floor wrist bands at one point and disappeared, the seat on one side of me (towards the stage) was empty, and in front and on the other side of me were couples having a great time on New Years. It was a very different vibe than looking up at Wayne and being totally immersed in confetti. I got to see lots from where I was though...the UFO was crazy, would have looked better from underneath, but the BALLOONS at midnight...holy crap. Right when the clock hit midnight on the giant countdown on the screen they launched into Race for the Prize, turned the confetti canons on full blast, and started pumping the place full of giant (3-4' wide) blue and white balloons. You could see them piled behind the stage, but it was impossible to tell how many there were until they started filling the place. A minute or so into the song the entire stage disappeared to those of us on the sides and you couldn't see a THING until the song ended and people started popping them. It was incredible. Then they followed it up with "What a Wonderful World" and absolutely killed the mood. Cat Power sucked that one up badly. Wayne did an admirable job trying to rescue it but there was not a lot of rescuing to be done. The rest was great though and Spoonful was a fitting end. "The sound they made was love..."
All in all I'm glad I was there. It wasn't the life-altering experience of the Bricktown Events Center or Red Rocks, and an experience like that should absolutely be shared with a loved one, but it was a hell of a way to get into the New Year. It was good for me.
The show ended around 1 and I went outside planning to catch a cab back to my hotel and get a drink at one of the bars there. Sadly I was not the only one looking for a cab, and the cabs were not stopping. After an hour of hanging out near other clusters of people similarly desperate for a taxi I started walking North toward downtown, crossing my fingers that I'd find a cab before things got too sketchy. About 5 blocks up the road I got one. Got back to the hotel at 2:15 and everything was closed for the night. No champagne for Anthony. Poo.
Woke up on Monday at 11ish and got out of the hotel (checkout time was noon). I had no idea what I was going to do, this being a gloriously absolutely unplanned trip, so I wandered over to the requisite Wall of Touristy Brochures. Found one advertising that the Metro runs right to the Rose Parade route! Spectacular, 'cept that it's 11:45 and the parade is pretty much over. I figure I'll head over that way though because you can go see the floats after they get off the parade route. I start working my way across town and it's taking a long time...I only have 5 hours at this point before SuperShuttle will pick me up at the hotel, and I don't want to waste 2 of those on the Metro. So I get off the train and hop on going back the other way, figuring I'll go out to Hollywood and wander around there.
Hollywood & Vine sounds like a good place to get off the Metro so I do so and start walking West with no clue where I'm going. Call Kath in the hopes of gaining a destination through the existence of a nearby In-N-Out Burger. No such luck since she doesn't know Hollywood well, but there is one on Sunset Boulevard! I have no map, no bearings, and no knowledge of the geography of this place, so I give up the idea of a tasty burger. Keep wandering and eventually...hey, that's Grumman's Chinese Theater! I'm at Hollywood & Highland (which turns out to be another Metro stop) and there's all the famous stuff! Street performers! People in costumes! (2 Spidermen in a block...should have coordinated that guys) Shops! The Kodak Theater! Handprints and footprints in concrete! This is spectacular.
I enjoy the sights for a bit, then wander into a Hot Topic to check out the Zim stuff. Ask the girl if there's an In-N-Out nearby because I haven't eaten since dinner the night before, it's 2:00, and I'm hungry. Why yes there is! Sunset Blvd. is just right down the block, turn right, and it's right there! I take off walking...and 20 min later decide that she pointed the wrong direction along Highland. I see the Hollywood Bowl and the Ford Amphitheater on this excursion though, so that was unexpected. Wander back, get my burger and fries (yum! The stretch Hummer full of Finnish folks behind me was impressed as well...), kill some time with retail therapy (new shirt at Banana Republic, new belt at Fossil), then back on the Metro to the hotel, SuperShuttle to the airport, 2 hours in an airport bar watching the Sooners flail, flight back to Denver, finish Wizard & Glass right as I land, then back home.
Quick little trip. Worth it. I needed the time away.
And some video:
Opening-
And footage of Race for the Prize. Shot from the stage, sound sucks...but the BALLOONS!!!