september 2000 - the diary |
||
Wednesday 27th
|
||
The weather has turned nice and sunny again, and I haven't given up on the whale watch thing. On my short visit monday I had found out that Newburyport had a boat leaving around 10AM today so I start the day by driving up there, and yes this time I'm in luck! The exit from Newburyport reveals a beautiful view of the town, and once out on the open sea it's evident that although there's not a lot of wind today the effect of yesterdays storm is still very noticeable - luckily these boats have plenty of things that you can hang on to!
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
And not too long after we reach Stellwagen Bank a Minkie Whale appears quite close to us. It is one of the smaller species of whales but I'm still very impressed with finally seeing a real live whale out in the free nature. Late September is close to the end of the whale watching season here, and we do spend another hour without spotting any more whales, but I still find it to be a great way to spend the day. | |
Back in Boston Juliana is playing at the Roxy this evening. I've read a lot of warnings about the chaotic state of the Boston traffic situation, so I decide to get in there quite some time before the show. And yes it does take a while to reach the inner parts of the city but all in all it's not too bad, and there's plenty of parking available in the neighborhood. I've got a few hours to walk around downtown, and the initial impressions are filled with contradictions. At one time it's very obvious that this is a very old city by US standards, and the weird amphibian tourist vehicles are all over the place so that everyone can get a look at all these things from the past. But looking at the overall city planning it seems that all the old buildings have been totally ignored. So you want to build a 50 story skyscraper right next to this old church? Well sure go ahead, build a whole wall of them if you want! Well at least it makes me feel lucky that we have much stricter rules about preserving old buildings and their surroundings back in Copenhagen. The Roxy is quite a large place compared to the Skinny in Portland - and the crowd is quite big - maybe 600-700. Also quite a different crowd, many being dressed up as if they are mainly here to be seen themselves. The less intimate atmosphere does seem to affect the show a bit, she cuts down on the small talk between songs, and this happens to be the only show of the week where she actually leaves the stage before the encore. Still it is a great show indeed. This is the first time I get to hear her try a new variation on the ending of "When you loved me", where she starts singing "intoooooooo a fool" and hits some beautiful notes on the way out. Jon adds a great solo to "Houseboy" this time around - leading straight into "My Protegee" - those TSF songs sure does rock live. And the band has a great laugh when Juliana manages to play the intro to "Using you" a whole note too low - also a very nice live song by the way. Introducing "Spin the Bottle" she adds "I'd like to dedicate this song to Todd and Dean - cause they're in the house". Surprisingly there isn't that big a reaction from the crowd, maybe a lot of them doesn't actually know who Todd and Dean are. And if you don't know either, then I'd better teach you that they are Todd Philips and Dean Fisher who played drums and bass in "The Juliana Hatfield Three", who of course gave us the chance to "Become what we are". And Todd carried on playing drums for her until after the release of "Bed". As encores we get a couple of quiet and really emotional songs, "Slow motion" alone on stage followed by the awesome "Tomorrow never comes" cover. |
||
|