So. Yeah Yeah Yeahs is my new #1 band after seeing them perform live in Orlando. I was initially excited just to go see them perform "Turn Into" live and basically if they did anything else I liked-- it would be the bag of chips to go with all that. Seeing a band play live can always help translate the music from their cds like nothing else can. Songs I didn't really give much attention to before took on a whole new life and I can't stop listening to their albums nonstop as a result.
The show delivered like dominoes from start to finish. Karen O took the stage in some sort of shiny shiny costume thing complete with mask and opened with Cheated Hearts (my 2nd fave) and started takin, takin, takin' it off. It just got better and better from there. Two thirds of the way into the show, it was bathroom time. They began "The Warrior" and I figured the coast was clear to hit the head, grab some cash and refuel. Obviously, they wouldn't dream of following it up with "Turn Into" just like the cd.
The Hard Rock has a long and winding road leading to the long and winding staircase that leads to the basement where the bathroom is (or seems that way). By the time I got to it and began my urine stream, what the hell do my ears pick up faintly as I finish up? "Turn Into". Sometimes you size up a situation and have to come to some harsh realizations. I- I wanted to wash my hands after I finished. 2- I am too old to go running out of a public bathroom at a concert proclaiming "They're playing my favorite song!" 3- There was no way I would make it back up the several flights of stairs and back to my group for enough of the song to make it worth having to just go back down to the restroom area to use the ATM. 4- I'll buy the live album. So I missed most of my favorite song but I did score some cash at the ATM and bought us another round to ride out the rest of the blessed show.
After the best show ever, we were stuck at City Walk trying to find something that fit our needs to no avail. After a lengthy sweep of the area, we decided we could have more fun back at the motel-no-tell. All we needed was a cab to take us back there. An erroneous detour later, we found our way back to the Hard Rock Hotel where we were dropped going to the show and requested a cab back. After Valet guy refuses my paltry tip but insists on a hug (?) he calls us a cab. Minutes later, a cab pulls up and motions to us speaking broken english. We oblige and soon we are on our way.
Ivan (assigned name- He was Russianish) then comes to a stop before we have moved 10 feet and begins arguing with the valet who was courteous enough to call us the cab. The valet blocked him from exiting with another vehicle but soon pulled back enough to allow him to proceed forward with a stern warning not to come back. 5 more feet forward and we are suddenly in park, the cabbie is out the door and we're sitting in stunned silence watching him do a hybrid run/waddle (he was a large man) straight to the Valet's car. His hands disappear into the shadows of the Valets open window and more words are being exchanged. Before we could make a collective decision to bail or not, Ivan was back and his adrenalin was pumping. Ivan hit the gas and began muttering to us about what an asshole the other guy was etc etc. It turns out that Ivan is an independent driver and not the cab Huggie Bear the Valet guy called for us. Drama! We loved it.
So Ivan is going on about the altercation and we're just mainly concerned with arriving alive to our destination (after a pit stop for some adult beverages to drink in the safety of our room). He finally brings the cab out of warp drive long enough to take us to the Walgreens. Becuz they sell beer there per Ivan. Which we all thought was strange but we were in Orlando and Orlando is surely more liberal than Jax. Jenn Shady and Ben-J get out but I stay put. I decided I wasn't going to miss a second of Ivan Theatre. Sure enough, we began circling the Walgreens while he goes on and on about what a jerk the other guy was and how he didn't poke him in the eye but if he wanted to hurt him he could blah blah blah. Suddenly, we stop in the alley behind the Walgreens instead of circling back to the front. Ivan flexes a tight bicep muscle (again huge guy) which is roughly the size of my right thigh. "Feel This" he says. My routine of patronizing him wasn't good enough for Ivan and he insisted I feel his muscle. When you are stopped in a back alley in a strangers car that you're reasonably sure you can't take in a fight, you have to wonder what he's going to make you touch as a follow up. But, I was half liquored so I took a chance, slapped his gun and changed my routine a bit so that he had a second opinion confirming he could indeed have hurt that guy. If he wanted too.
This made Ivan happy and the car starts moving again. Walgreens in Orlando shockingly do not sell adult beverages. But the Chevron across the street did. After Ben-J and Jenn Shady get back from shopping at the Chevron we are off. Ivan's adrenalin has lowered and now he is taking the path of peace. He asks Jenn Shady for one of our "fancy" beers and a couple of her "yellow" cigarettes. Because if something is in a yellow box, it must in turn be that color. Ivan is a prisoner to the concept of color coding I guess. We oblige and Ivan says he is going back to make a peace offering to Valet Guy. After he promises not to drink and drive we send him on his way and head up to our room. What a great way to wind down from the concert. It's not everyday you get to help broker peace between an independent russianish cabbie and a valet guy who hands out free hugs. I like free hugs.
I am still laughing. I am glad life is a circus.
Posted by: jennshady | October 26, 2006 at 11:18 PM