Eleanor in the Rain

I'll get to why the title of this blog is what it is... later. All in good time.

The Passover Holiday is almost over. It's been pretty good. I had a lost of fun at the second Seder and the food was really good. The first Seder I did at home with my grandmother and that was very nice as well. It felt a bit lonely... but it was still nice. It's been a very tiresome holiday... having to clean and cook and use the special pans and dishes... it makes me pooped! That's why I deserved that FRANZ FERDINAND SHOW!!!

what a great night. What a great show!!! So I drove into the city and found free parking on 29th and 8th... which was really great. I was early so I walked around a bit and I bought a ring. A really bit sparkling ring. Pictured here...

Then I went to meet Honey and we put the stuff in the car. I called my step sister Jen and we decided to meet up and sit in starbucks. She works in the city and I'm always saying that I should call her when I come in and I never do... so I decided to do that. It was fun sitting in Starbucks with Honey and Jen just talking about tv and movies and some music. Jen and I are very alike in the way we watch and remember movies. we both got very excited bc we both took this pop culture test through VH1. It was so funny that we both took it. we laughed a lot and it was the first time I ever got together with Jen outside the family circle.

It was raining on and off all day, so we found this quaint little cafe type place and they had seating upstairs. I had all my Passover Jew food, which was funny and honey had her food. We called Robyn to tell her to meet us there and she did. We talked about Robyn's plans for the summer and next semester. We talked about "other" things and it was really fun. We decided that it was time to head over to the venue being that it was almost 6 o'clock and we hadn't picked up the tickets and we had no idea when the show started.

We get there and the line is the length of the avenue and it was a little insane. The line started moving at 6:30. Robyn tried to get the tickets but the doors were closed, even for the will call tickets. But as soon as I saw a dude that worked for the venue and the line started moving I asked where we go for will call tickets and we totally cut the line and he put us in front and we went inside. We went to the window and they said that if we were on a bands list then it would be like another 15min. Which was a drag... but it didn't matter bc we didn't have to pay for these tickets at all. So we waited and saw this lady drop off an envelope at the side window. I asked that same lady when the band tickets would be ready and she said that it would be another few minutes. Then she told me the time of all the acts... The Cribs would go on at 7:30pm... Death Cab for Cutie would be going on at 8:20... Franz Ferdinand would go on at 9:55. It was going to be a great show. While I was talking to her, Robyn went and our tickets were ready. She was on the list for the Cribs.

We went to get our tickets scanned and the lady said make sure the seating person sees the red star on your ticket, it means special seating. We went up one level of the mezzanine and the lady had no idea what we were talking about. And I was like well someone needs to tell us bc there weren't that many available seats left. so I talked to like 4 other people until finally someone knew and she put us right in the first row so no one was in front of us. It was really awesome. We got ourselves situated and talked for a bit. The Cribs went on and at first Honey and I kinda liked them... then they played there next song and they weren't so good anymore. The drummer was fun... I enjoyed him.

Then there was a long intermission and time to pee in shifts. Death Cab came on... in my opinion I just thought they were alright. There were like 3 or 4 songs that I liked. But the last song I thought was brilliant. It was a great song... reminded me of Radiohead. I said to Honey that if all there songs were like that I could get on board with that. And she said that all of Sigur Ros, songs are like that and that made me excited to start listening to them. I did like the set up they had on stage with the trees and the houses.

Then there was another long intermission and I watched them undo the whole thing... it was kinda cool. Then the moment finally arrived and Franz came charging onto the stage with "This Boy." No one in our section was really dancing, so I didn't get up yet. It was killing me not too. My whole body was shaking. I couldn't take it anymore. "Do you want to" started and I jumped up and I started to really freak out. I jumped up and down for like a good 5 minutes, and that's a really long time for me. It was an amazing show. Every single song was so great. I danced and jumped all over through the whole set. "The Outsiders" was incredible. When Andrew and a rodie get on the drums with Paul it's mind blowing. I've seen it before and it NEVER gets old!! At one point Alex just jumped right into the audience!!! It was crazy. Then he climbed the right stack of speakers!! It was such a fantastic show.

Robyn was feeling really overwhelmed and tired so she headed home. Honey got an awesome Vinyl of Franz and a Death Cab t-shirt. I tried to get a set list but they were all gone. :(

Honey and I headed outside to the stage door to wait with about 30 other people for a band... Franz for me!!! We met these 2 crazy girls from Staten Island. they were friends and one of the girls parents took them to the show and waited with them until 1:30 AM!!! It was so awesome of them. Where do I start?

We were waiting for some time, but having fun. Then Bob Hardy came out. The bass player from Franz Ferdinand. He's so sweet and gentle. I told him that the show was amazing and asked him to sign our stuff and take pics. One down...


Some time later Andrew Knowles (he's plays several instruments for franz and is the drummer for the fiery furnaces) he was so HOT!!! He has this amazing hair cut and he's so cute!! Honey said that it was awesome how he plays everything. and he said it's bc he's greedy. It was cute. He signed out stuff and took pics.

There was no real commission or anything and I barely even noticed him. But Nick McCarthy came out and he was signing things. He was amazingly sweet and again had such a gentle side to him. I told him that their music makes me crazy and just makes me want to dance and move around. Honey said that it makes her insane. He thought it was so sweet that we thought that. I told him that I thought that everyone was so down to earth and sweet. And honey was like but on stage you guys are insane. He was really very cute.

Paul Thompson came out next and he went to put his stuff in the bus then came and talked to us. He came and signed our stuff and took pictures with him. Honey told him that we worship him and he was like, you don't have to do that. And I told him that he reminded me of Animal but in the best possible way bc he I do worship him. but he's so crazy on the drums and he thought it was cute. He's also so gentle and sweet.

The crowd dissipated and there were only about 10 people left. There was a dude standing there and I say to honey, "isn't that guy from death cab?" And she was like ya... it was Nick Harmer, the bass player!! He was very cute. Honey was like your awesome. And we took some pics with him.

The crowd was down to me and Honey and the 2 Staten Island girls. It was 1:30 at this point and the girls mom was like we are going and that's final . So they left and me and honey were left alone. The only people that were around were roadies and other types. There was a chair by the stage door, so I went to sit on it. All the buses were still there. Honey and I made a time packed of when they shut the lights off in the venue or when the buses drove off. We watched with much amusement the "ballet of the roadies." All this shit fit into this truck and it was really interesting to watch. Everything had a rightful place.

It was about 2:30 when I thought I saw the lead singer from death cab, but when I was getting up to check, I saw Nick from Franz across the street. So I made a b-line for Nick. He was talking to his wife, who I am sure is normally very nice, I mean it was late and maybe she wasn't in a good mood or something, but she was a bit icy. She walked away and Nick turned toward me. I said hello to him and said that I had already met him earlier and he was like ya I remember seeing you. And I was like I was just wondering if he knew when Alex was coming. I told him that I felt like Alex was our "Moby Dick" our "Everest" or "the one that got away." He told me that he went to "dinner" with some friends and should be back soon. He said that he can't promise anything, and he doesn't want to ask me, but he pretty much told me that I should just wait for him and he would be along soon. I pointed to Honey and then waved her across the street and was like that's my shy friend. When Honey came over we ended up talking to him for like 5 minutes. It was so awesome. We were having an actual regular conversation. He was so sweet and slightly drunk. Honey asked him a really great question and we also told him that we were at their MSG show and that it was so great. Honey said that his wife was waving him in, which I didn't really see. but I think if she wasn't there he probably would have talked to us for a really long time. He was so hot.

Bob and Andy came out of the venue at the same time and Bob waved to us. And Andy came over and gave us both high fives, it was really weird but cute. We were waiting for a bit, but we just had a feeling that everything was going to go down as it should... and it did.

It was 2:50 and Honey says to me, "Is that Alex on the corner with a girl?" I look far ahead of me and I am thinking that it is him. (This following part of the story is why my blog is called Eleanor in the Rain). It was Alex and a lady in a very stylish, (I think Yellow or tan) big collared, tailored, retro looking raincoat. Alex embraced her and you could tell he was holding on tight. Even from as far away as we were. They kissed and said goodbye. Honey and I were completely silent not believing what we had just seen. We knew we were not meant to have seen it... but we did and it was beautiful. It was a private, quiet moment between lovers saying goodbye. It was really quite sad. I think Honey spoke first and said, "did you see that?" and all i could say was "uh huh." I couldn't believe it.

I saw him coming, I said to Honey "he's coming... and he's wearing the pants!" (he was wearing these amazing pants at our show and he was still wearing them. They were tight and striped and he looked HOT!) He was walking towards us but didn't really look at us. He was looking sad and staring at the tour bus. He really looked like he stepped right out of a movie. Wearing his leather jacket, like he was in "rebel without a cause." It was almost 3 in the morning in the New York streets, no one was around and he was just walking, alone. There should have been mist coming from somewhere bc it was like a dream. As he came closer he saw that we were waiting for him. He came right over to us and asked if we were waiting this whole time for him and we said yes. He couldn't believe it. We were like we know it's late but can you sign this and can you take a pic with us. And he was like of course. So incredibly sweet. We told him that it was a great show and we had such a great time. I told him that the moment they came on the stage I couldn't stop dancing. I said that I can feel their music in my bones. He was happy to hear it and said that this was his favorite show in NYC they have ever done. I was like, that's cool. I asked him if I could have a hug and he was like of course. It was so sweet. Honey asked for a hug and he gave her one too. We were so grateful and said thank you. He headed back to the bus. I couldn't move for a second and Honey grabbed my arm to start walking to the car. I started to cry. I couldn't even believe that i was crying. Until Honey was like, "Are you crying?" And I wiped my tears away and sniffled. "Ya, I can't help it. He makes me so happy." I just couldn't believe it. He was so incredibly kind, sweet and yes I am going to say it again, GENTLE!!! I think I really love Alex Kapranos. He's amazing. (Honey told me later that Alex looked back at us and was grinning... that's good stuff right there).

What an amazing band. What a great bunch of guys. I remember someone telling me once that they are really sweet boys. And she couldn't have been more correct. They really are just amazing. I definitely wasn't expecting the reaction I had from meeting Alex. I was sort of shocked, but I was just so happy.

THANK YOU ROBYN FOR GETTING THESE TICKETS AND TAKING ME!!!

The rest of the weekend was really nice with Honey. We went to the mall and I did some errands. We did a lot of cooking and we went to see my mom. She was really happy to see Honey and we took her outside. It was so nice out. I'm glad you came up for the show Honey and I'm glad you actually like Matzah. Thanks for helping with my errands, I greatly appreciate it. Thanks for being HARDCORE like me and sticking it out till 3am!!! Quitters never prosper :)

Honey and I rented "History of Violence," which was a pretty decent film. But what was amazing was the sex scenes in the movie. It was all kinds of Viggo Hottness!!! MAN ALIVE.... DAMN... It was good!

Here are some last minute addition pics of the Matty Nay show and Matty Nay with me. I just got the pictures and wanted to share them with everyone. I love him... he's too sweet.

Joe's Pub, Early Show->

<-Joe's Pub, Late Show