Fanzine:The Last Goodbye - EQ’s Perspective

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The Last Goodbye - EQ’s Perspective

By: TheEqualizer
Events: August 7, 2008


The final show had always seemed so far in the future. But then on Sunday night, the day before Jones Beach 1, it finally hit me. The End is imminent. Probably because Jones Beach was the original "last show." I really started to freak out.

I could not go to Jones Beach 2 as Lil' EQ's first school play was on that same day. She was Narrator 3. Couldn't miss that. Not even for Stewart.

So my flight to NY was set to leave late Wednesday night and arrive the morning of the show. I hadn't done any packing until getting home from work that day. Couldn't decide what to wear. I was pretty sure I would wear my "Stewart Copeland and the Rhythmatists" shirt given to me by Don't Box Me In. But I figured I'd need some back ups—just in case. Determined that I would not bring my black GITM shirt or my Leroy since I figured others would likely be wearing the same thing. So I packed my Cameroon Football Jersey that Stewart wore at Bonnaroo 06 with Oysterhead and with Gizmo. No one would be wearing that. Oh, another reason I didn't bring my Leroy as I knew there was a chance that Bongo Boy would be wearing his, and I always thought his was cooler given he decided to order his in Krypton Green.

So I packed my lucky tube socks sent to me by another Nutter which I have worn to just about every Police show and some Bermuda shorts inspired by an old avatar of DM's and I was ready to go.

On the drive to the airport, I learned Brett Favre was just traded to the Jets, the first surprise of my trip.

On the flight to NYC, I listened to Police bootlegs from this tour. My theory was that by getting used to hearing the songs, I would be less emotional at the show. Ever since the SLC show, I was afraid that I would be a total wreck at final show if I were to go. Luckily, I was able to get some fairly decent sleep on the flight.

I arrived at JFK at around 7 am. On the train to midtown, I continued to listen to Police bootlegs to desensitize myself. I did not want to cry at the final show.

The train took me straight to Madison Square Garden essentially, where I had to pick up my ticket. I go to the box office but it is still closed. While waiting for the box office to open, I meet a guy from Israel named Nadev. He says he tried to get tickets for the last show yesterday but was told there were no tickets available but advised he could try again the morning of the show. He then asked me if I had tickets. I then tell him "You're not going to believe this, but..." I then tell him a very truncated version of how I ended up with a pit ticket. He seemed to be in disbelief yet still believing me. I still kind of felt the same way.

The box office opened, and the woman asked me, "How did you purchase your ticket?" I was flustered for a second. Did I need to tell her about the contest? I then simply said, "I got an e-mail from Derek Power." She then kind of rolled her eyes and pulled out a small stack of envelopes. She pulled one out that had my name on it along with the word "pit." I was not sure until that moment that I indeed had truly gotten a pit ticket. I sign for the ticket and then look inside the envelope. Nowhere on the ticket does it say "pit." It does say GA, but I could not wait to see another Pit ticket winner to see if our tickets matched.

I then talked again with the guy from Israel who advised me I thought he could get a ticket from Craig's list. I give him my cell number and the address to Fat Annie's. I tell him if he wants to meet some crazy Police fans, he should go there. Forgot to mention, his goal was to get seats behind the stage so he could see Stewart play. It was clear he was there for Stewart. I figured he'd fit in at Fat Annies.

So I was milling about a bit when I hear someone say, "EQ". I looked around and saw no one I recognized. "EQ!" I hear again. It was coming from a nice platinum blonde. She introduced herself as Koko. This was the first of what was going to be a common yet still odd/bizarre event in NY where people would come up to me seemingly knowing me even though we had never met. Koko told me she was from Germany, and so I asked her if she knew Dietmar, who was high on my list of people I wanted to meet. She said they were from the same city but they did not know each other. However, she said she came over on the same flight as Maude. She was another Nutter I really wanted to meet, but she was nowhere to be found.

Shortly thereafter, I then ran into Midori. I think I kind of frightened her so I didn't really speak to her the rest of the trip. I hung out near the box office waiting for other Nutters to come and pick up their tickets. Meanwhile, I asked security where the line up would be for GA/Pit ticket holders and was told it would be at the far right doors. I waited around there for quite some time but no one was there. I thought for sure that at least Dietmar would be in the pit line bright and early. But there was no one. I also showed security my camera and asked if it would be ok to bring in. They said it would be no problem.

There was no line, so I figured I would walk around NYC a little.

I tried to check in to my hotel, which was right across the street from MSG but was told check in is not until 3 pm, though I am told I could try again at 1 pm. NY hotel check in people certainly are cut from a different cloth from their Vegas counterparts. In Vegas, they actually try to be polite.

So I walk a bit more around NYC. I then get a call from PDXRacer. He tells me his flight had just come in. He doesn't have a room, so I tell him he can leave his luggage in my room after I check in if he wants. I notice that this is that same Nutter-to-Nutter hospitality generally shared by just about everyone I saw in NYC from the boards.

I then text Dive, Empty, and Betsy that I have arrived. The replies are "Squeeeee" and "WHOOOOOOOO" and the like.

I see a place right next to MSG called Stage Door Deli. There is one of these in Vegas, and I like it quite a bit, so I figured I would get something to eat there while I waited for check in time or other nutters to show up. Dive texts me again and asks what I am doing, and I simply reply that I was eating an omelette. I later discover this simple text served as a basis of a thread over at SC.net as well as a call from Conroy, which I never got until I returned to Vegas.

Side story about the meal. I ordered an omelette since it said it came with coffee and OJ. The coffee was in a standard coffee cup with the OJ was a glass no bigger than most Vegas bars serve their shots in. A real "Welcome to NY" moment.

After my eggs, I walked back to MSG and hung around the backstage area watching the Police's equipment being unloaded. I noticed that some of the cases were green and labeled KK followed by some numbers. I wondered if this was a coincidence.

I then saw someone I recognized as Takeshi walking towards me. He was accompanied by a tall good looking guy in a RDB shirt. I am again surprised when Takshi recognizes me. The guy with him introduces himself as Steve (stevel). We had emailed each other a little since I sent him a DVD of the Manchester show, where he was the flag bearer. This was the start of a trend. I would later meet many people who I mainly knew from having sent the Rio DVD or the Tokyo DVD or whatever recording.

Steve then tells me that he was told by the MSG people that the line for GA ticket holders was outside, which was a way different place that I was previously advised. We walk to the location Steve was advised to go to and find a large sign stating "General Admission Entrance" so I figure I was given bum information previously. Steve looks at me and says, "Looks like you are the first in line for the pit." I look around a bit surprised as I suspected that at least Dietmar would be in line already.

No sooner did I think this when Dietmar came around the corner with a piece of pizza in his hand. Apparently, he had been waiting at that entrance for quite some time and left momentarily to get something to eat. He was in such a hurry to get back in line that he even forgot to get napkins. So I finally got to meet the legendary Dietmar.

I seem to recall that we were only able to talk for a second when another cool cat came strolling by. It was Bongo Boy. He was wearing a "Stewart Copeland and the Rhythmatists" t-shirt that was identical to the one I had planned to wear at the show. Bongo Boy described the shirt as one of his prize possessions. I knew I would not look nearly as cool in the shirt as Bongo Boy, so I was glad I had brought a back up plan.

This was one of the main things I was looking forward to doing in NY—sitting around with some hardcore Nutters, talking about The Police, Stewart, and just about everything under the sun. We sit at the GA just chatting about everything. I gotta tell you; I was a bit nervous at the thought of meeting Dietmar. He is such a Police fan icon—the real deal ("Ask Deitmar") while I'm just a guy who wastes a lot of time by posting. However, he is such a nice approachable guy. And Bongo Boy just oozes coolness. And Steve is not too far behind in the coolness factor. We seemingly talk about everything—what our favorite Police albums are, what the best shows have been, bootlegs, and other, less Police oriented things.

However, my old childhood friend, Vermontfan, was due in from Vermont shortly (he was driving in). He called to say he was near the hotel so I had to leave the group to meet him. This was really the last intimate chat with Nutters that I was able to have in NYC. The rest would be a mad dash of conversations in a room chock full of more Nutters than you could shake a Vater at.

On the way to meet up with Vermontfan, I pass CharlieArnold and his wife. I tell him I just left Dietmar and crew and he advises me that the NY Times has a full page ad about the Police. So he goes back to the hotel with me, which is where he is staying as well. As we enter the hotel, Vermontfan calls me and tells me he can't find the valet entrance to the hotel. Given the urgency, I unfortunately have to "ditch" Charlie. This unfortunately happens more than once in NYC due to circumstances. Time is so short and there so many things going on and so many Nutters that I found myself having to occasionally interrupt conversations so I could communicate what I needed to say before I had to dash off. Sad.

Vermontfan and I are able to get his car valeted and I manage to check in even though it is well before 1 pm. In the room, I dress in the clothes I intend to wear during the show. I put on the green Cameroon Football Jersey, bermuda shorts, and my Police concert tube socks and shoes. I also give Vermontfan a spare pair of tube socks so he could fit the part.

Another thing was that one of my old college roommates works in Manhattan and we planned to eat some pizza in Little Italy together. However, Dietmar had gotten in my head enough that I considered canceling lunch with my ex-roommate. Vermontfan was simply willing to do whatever I wanted. I made the call that I would risk my place in line and possible flanagling my way into a soundcheck in order to see my friend. He is really a special guy (as an aside, he lived in the dorm where Madgrad worked in the cafeteria during college; small world).

So I head back to the pit line to tell them I would be going off to lunch. However, the pit line had grown a bit. It now included a few more people, including Stinging in the Rain, Dirty Martini, and Moeskido. DM and Moe were heading off to lunch as well, so I didn't feel so bad. So Vermontfan and I got into a really long taxi line intending to go to Little Italy.

Did I ever tell you how much I hate riding taxis in NYC? Its like playing with your life when you enter a cab in midtown. The narrow streets. The cabbie's determination to slam down the accelerator and then slam the break and then repeat the process for 4 miles.

So we have pizza in Little Italy with my old college roommate. It was either Ray's Original or Original Rays. Or something like that. But the pizza was unbelievably good. Pesto ricotta olive. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. My friend could only spend like 45 minutes together but we made the most of our time. He's one of the good people on earth.

So Vermonfan and I head back into a cab and head towards MSG. Floor gas. Slam breaks. Repeat.

When we get there, there is NO ONE at the GA entrance. Shocked Shocked My immediate thought is, "FUCK!!!!! While we were out, Dietmar was able to get everyone in to a soundcheck! And I missed it!!!! FUCK!!!!!!"

I call, I think, Dive, and ask where everyone is. She says that they just saw Dietmar and he was in line for the pit. I tell her that I was at the GA entrance but no one was there. I am then advised that they had "gone inside". FUCK!!!

But I am told that everyone was at the Tick Tock Diner, which was just around the corner from where I was. I go there, and the Nutter fest begins. It seems like everyone is there (though it turns out to be nothing compared to Fat Annie's later). Dirty Martini. Dive. Gina. Lynne. Hannah. Nancyrose. Conroy. Laurie. Tamadue. PDXRacer. Moeskido. And More.

I introduced everyone at the Tick Toc Diner to Vermontfan. While doing so, I realized that many of these people I was introducing him to I had actually never met before even though I felt like I already "knew" most of them very well. The Nutters were all at a long table. I really wanted to talk to Dive, whom I had never actually met before, but she was pretty much at the head of the table and there were no empty seats by her. Fuck.

However, Tamadude was at the other end of the table. Great, great guy to talk with. My first impression was that he was not as tall as I thought he would be. Mind you, he was tall. Much taller than me. I was just expecting a nine foot wookie. One of the first things Tamadude asked me was really funny, which was "Are you logged in (to SC.net) right now?" So Vermontfan and I talked with Tamadude about lots of things which occasionally being able to squeeze in a "Hey" with the other Nutters between their conversations with others. I was also able to speak with Lynne for a spell. Not only is Lynne from my original neck of the woods, but also she had just seen the new King Crimson lineup and Vermont fan and I are HUGE Crimson fans.

It was also at the Tick Tock Diner that I first met Dermot. Super nice guy. I get the sense that he is a bit hesitant to be with ALL the Nutters, which I felt was a real shame.

I decide to text Meg to find out where she is, and she responds that she was in the pit line. Hmm. I had thought everyone in the pit line had gotten into a sound check. Kellie leads all of out of the diner and the others say they will visit with the others in the pit line before heading to Fat Annie's. Hmmmm.

So we head over to MSG and I learn that the people in the Pit line hadn't gotten into a sound check. Apparently, they were all directed to a place inside MSG to wait. Interestingly, it was the area I was told to wait at at the start of the day before I had run into Stevel and Takeshi.

The group of Nutters really began to grow at this point. Skaman. Animal (in his Animal t-shirt). DrummerDaveF. Vespapod. Sockii. Pecos. Ted. So many, I'm starting to forget. Meg was there but Dan had already taken off for Fat Annie's.

I had never met Sockii before, so when I first met her and she gave me a hug, I gotta admit I had NO idea who she was. It was the blond wig. Also, she was taller than I imagined her to be.

I think the first Nutter I spoke to at length there was Skaman. As cool as they come. Before long, Tamadude joined the conversation. I could talk with these guys for hours.

I saw that Kellie still had the Flag. I was a bit surprised as I had assumed that Team Copeland already had the flag and were incorporating it in the show. Kellie advised me that her intention is to pass the flag in the pit. It became apparent that the final plans for the flag are still not set in stone. Shit.

Vermontfan is able to sign the flag. I also sign the flag on behalf of Don't Box Me In, who could not attend the show due to a gig he had. Unfortunately, the flag is so full that I can't include the cities where DBMI had seen the boys.

After hanging and chatting with the Nutters, a bunch of us decide to go to Fat Annie's for the party. I am torn. I want to wait in the pit line but I also really want to see all the nutters. I still hadn't seen Betsy or Dan or Madgrad or Maud or . . . .

I figure that the pit line is not that long, so I decide meeting up with Nutters takes precedence over prime location in the pit. Also, I still needed to pick up the ticket for Vermontfan which Agroovie1 was going to give me. So I head off to Fat Annie's with the other Nutter, leaving most of the Pit people at MSG.

I get to Fat Annie's and the first person I see outside is Agroovie1. He had generously agreed to give Vermontfan the ticket he won in section 119 from SC.net even though he had never met me or Vermontfan before. We talk about bootlegs for awhile (surprise surprise) and then I head inside.

Total. Nutter. Overload.

Charlie Arnold is near the door giving out name tags. I quickly meet Bella, who give me a waaayy cool lanyard. I tell her I almost didn't recognize her without a shirtless guy in a cowboy hat next to her, which earns me a swat. I run into Schmaffy, who looks at me like we are old high school classmates and gives me a hug. I see Madgrad, but I am unable to really get her attention. I run into Muse and Maggie, who I hadn't seen since the Copeland meet and greet thing at Guitar Center. Most of the other people from TP.com seem to have no idea who the hell I am (even some who I had met before).

I see Amy, who give me a guitar pin with flashing lights. However, I am more focused on the fact that I know Amy has Jose's Flag. She gives it to me, and I proudly sign it for our friend in Peru. It feels great to be able to sign nice and big as well as include a little message on it for Jose.

I run into Betsy, who is quick to point out her Pit shoes. They are HUGE platforms to help her see over any monolith dudes who get in front of her in the pit. They are so tall, I knew she would have no problem seeing over Yao Ming if he happened to be in the pit that night.

I run into Nutter after Nutter. Chatchka. Luddite Lady. So many I lose track. Unfortunately, with most of them, I'm really only able to say, "Hey! Great to finally meet you!"

I run into Maud. She comments how it seems like I am always posting at all hours of the day. Seems to be a theme.

Sect404 from TP.com had put down $1000 at Fat Annie's but we were not able to spend anything against that down payment until 5 pm (bastards!). So when 5 pm hit, the drinking and eating commenced. I decided against drinking too much as I wanted to avoid needing to go to the restroom too much. Also, though I usually live to eat rather than eat to live, I am to excited to really want to eat anything. However, the food is actually much better than I expected.

It was at Fat Annie's that I realize that the final show fan get togethers would not go as I imagined they would. I had imagined that I would be able to have some really in depth discussions with a lot of Nutters in a way that posting at SC.net would never allow. Just too many people for that to happen. But I realize that that's ok. I'm there with one of my oldest and dearest friends (Vermonfan) and surrounded by multitudes of Police/Copeland fans. Just soaking in the party atmosphere is good enough. I decide to enjoy the experience for what it is regardless of what my expectations were. And I'll tell you, just being there was really fucking fun.

So I decide to head back to MSG to get into the pit line. Before I get to the Pit line, I pass a security guy near a barrier. He's not even looking my way when I pass him. I later discover that this was the only security check I would encounter the entire evening. This was the more lax security of ANY show I had seen on this tour. I would have had a whole recording studio and IMAX camera with me. Amazing.

Once in the pit line, I get to chat more with some of the Nutters who will be in the pit. A little confession. I was intimidated by Pecos. She was REALLY REALLY nice and seemed very approachable but I was nonetheless intimidated. She was the real deal. The uhrl Nutter, as she would later demonstrate. I wish I could have gotten over it and spoken to her more.

The crowd here was a bit more subdued, which was more conducive to better conversations. However, then St. Jeff arrived at the scene. Sooooo nice. Seemed just like another Nutter. A Nutter who works closely with The Man, but another Nutter nonetheless. He tells a story how the equipment caught on fire during soundcheck. At first, I am under the misunderstanding that the fire started while the Boys were playing AC/DC's Back in Black. However, I am later corrected. It was Danny, Dennis, and Jeff playing Back in Black when the fire started.

There is some obvious Flag confusion while Jeff is out there. He needs dimensions of the flag for when they display it on stage. However, at no point do I see the flag measured. Also, the flag remained in Kellie's possession even after Jeff left, which confused me, but I am getting ahead of myself. While Jeff is still there, he is busy talking will all the Nutters, so I don't bother him with asking to have a pic taken with him. However, Vermontfan manages to take a pic with me next to him. Right after that, Tamadude give me his camera and asks if I could take a picture. I assume that he means a pic of him next to Jeff like Vermontfan did for me. I was about to take the picture of Tamadude and BongoBoy right next to Jeff when Tamadude stops me and says, "Not of that, of us" indicating to him and Bongo Boy. Shocked I'm kind of surprised by this, but I heed Tamadude's wishes and take his pic with Bongo Boy.

Before long, Jeff leaves with Vespapod for treatment on his foot. We all return to our regularly scheduled waiting in the cue. Dietmar is particularly anxious. He is separated from the rest of the cue near the entrance of the venue waiting for the word of when we can be let in. It won't be long now.

The people at MSG somehow let us know that we can start lining up inside right near the turnstiles, essentially. There are two lines and I decide to be in the line opposite from the one Dietmar is at the head of. I am the second person in my line.

Its funny how high the tension is at this point. My friend Vermontfan says he's going to go back to Fat Annie's to party with the other Nutters as there is no reason to go in so early since he does not a pit ticket. However, shortly after he leaves, I call him on his cell to see if he could bring something back to the hotel room so I don't have to keep it in my pocket during the concert. Little do I know but this call sets off a mini-panic with some non-pit Nutters. My request for Vermontfan to come back to the line is misinterpreted as a call for help as if something had gone wrong. I later learn that Vermontfan and Tamadude quickly trade cell numbers "just in case." When I give the item to Vermont fan to bring back to the room, I get just an "Oh."

But then near disaster actually strikes.

I see Dirty Martini digging through her stuff. I see Skaman running around looking for something. Dirty Martini has lost her Pit Ticket!! (Sorry Kel if you wanted to keep this part of the story hush hush, but...) In the crazy stress with dealing with the flag's appearance at the final show, Kellie must have misplaced or dropped her ticket. FUUUUUUCK!!! Various Nutters assure her that she was going to get in regardless because if any of us was going to get in, she was going to. Moeskido then does what he has to do—he gives Kellie his ticket and says she should go. A heart of gold. The attention shifts to how we are going to get Moeskido in.

Throughout this, there is Pecos. Cool as a cucumber. I imagine that inside her head, she is rolling her eyes thinking "kids", though she doesn't actually do this. In a very unassuming way, Pecos effortlessly fixes everything. It's like the master (DM) becomes the pupil in the presence of the true Jedi master, Pecos. I'm not sure if everyone saw this, but Pecos makes a call on her cell phone. Within like a minute or two, all is resolved. Kellie has a pit ticket again. Like magic. All done on the down low by Pecos. A glimpse of the awesome power of Pecos.

I find out that somehow Jeff measured the flag using his arms. Still was unsure of the flag's fate, though.

And then. We are let in.

Though I am second in my line, there are like six turnstiles. By the time I get through mine, there are like at least five people ahead of me. At this point, my mind is racing so fast I'm not sure who got ahead of me. We then start running through MSG. I notice that Dietmar's line leads to a different part of MSG. FUCK!! I suddenly have a feeling that I'm in the wrong line.

MSG is the only venue I know of where you have to go UP stairs to get to the floor level. FUCK! Running down halls AND going up stairs (ok, an escalator, but I wasn't just riding it, I assure you)? FUUUUUUCK!! I scream "NO ONE TOLD ME THERE WOULD BE EXERCISE INVOLVED!" Luckily I have my cucumber and lemon Nike running shoes on.

I get to the floor entrance just in time (meaning before I have a coronary). I see the line Dietmar was in lead to the entrance on the other side of the pit and thus was not as far as I had done. Thus, the peeps in Dietmar's line are getting in well before the peeps in my line. Also, the security on my side are acting with no sense of urgency. Slooooooowly checking tickets. Sloooooowly putting on the yellow Pit braclets. Slooooooooooooooooooooooooowly marking each bracelet with a black X.

I get into the pit and find myself pretty much where I had wanted to be. All that anxiety for nothing. I was pretty much right in front of Andy. I pretty much never look towards Sting during the show, so I didn't mind having him so far away. I learned in Utah and in Vegas that due to the set up of the drums, if you wanted to see Stewart's face during the show, he would usually be looking in Andy's direction. When he's grooving on his hi hat, he will look forward into Andy's direction and if you are in front of Andy, it will seem like Stewart is just staring right at you. As DM pointed out, its because he probably is.

The pit is HUGE! Much bigger than I anticipated. I thought there would be only 200 people in the pit. This pit easily would accommodate 500. Lots of beer vendors in the pit but I abstain. I didn't want to risk having to take a leak during the Police set. BongoBoy said he wanted to walk the fine line of being properly hydrated and not needing to take a piss. I was willing to risk dehydration. Once I had staked out my position in the pit, I went to take a piss just to be sure. Luckily, the restrooms are really close to the pit entrance.

I come back and mill about waiting for the show. Waiting. This is it. The final show is coming. Right after the B-52s.

We are waiting in the Pit for the B-52s when Pecos pulls out her phone and says, "Let's all take a moment to think about Ian." He really should have been there but I know he was there in spirit. I felt bad as no one was wearing a Leroy Coolbreeze in the pit. FUUUUCK. Everyone seemed to be wearing the SC.net "Don't Care" shirt. Didn't get the memo. If I knew this was the case, I would have totally worn my Coolbreeze. FUCK. Anyways, so I look at Pecos' phone and see a picture of a mountain landscape. I was totally confused. Was this picture intended to calm me so I was in a better mindset to think of Ian? Some of my pit mates look similarly confused. Pecos then looks at her phone and says something like, "Fuck, I've got it to the wrong picture." She then switches the picture in her phone to a great candid shot of Ian.

I then look around. I see the whole front row is essentially all Nutters. This was not how I pictured it would end. I figured that we would all be mixed in with various big wigs and vips. Instead, I felt like the first row were the generals in Stewart's army. Disbelief comes over me. To my left is Conroy. In my mind, he's essentially user zero of SC.net (having been a member of the site longer than any non-admin person other than "Bab"). To my right is Bongo Boy, the fucking composer The Flag Anthem. I look down the row again and see Dive. And Pecos. And Sockii. And DM. And Dietmar. Fuck. I still can't believe I'm there.

And then I remember all who should be with us in the Pit. Gio. Jose. Georgy Girl. I imagine if TOWOS is with us, the concert would have to be stopped in order for paramedics to use the debfibulators on her. I'm usually pretty calm and I'm about to have a coronary and the concert hasn't even started. But I feel like I am representing all the Nutters who couldn't make it to the show but are true fans of the Maestro through and through.

I look to sections 111 and 119 and see the Nutters start to fill up the sections. Damn, those are great seats. The show hasn't even started but it appears those sections are already rocking. E appears to be leading the way in her section. I see Tamadude and Skaman and see that they have snuck their way into Stew Heaven (sort of) and hope they manage to stay there for the whole show.

Forgot to mention this. When I went to the restroom, I ran into Jdez from TP.com. For those who don't know him, he is in a wheelchair. I was glad to see that there was disabled seating right in the first row right behind the pit. I introduce myself. He seems super nice.

The waiting is nearly unbearable. But then 8 pm hits, the lights go out, and its time for the B-52s.

The B-52s. They start off with Planet Claire. Wow. What a way to start a set. I always thought of that song as an encore type song, but I'm not really a fan, so I'm not sure if this is a common set opener. Man, those chicks have fantastic voices. Amazing. So strong and sharp. As good as they were 25 years ago. As amazing as their voices was their showmanship. They were fucking rock stars. They weren't there to just play music. Their poses were just pitch perfect. Was that a hand-held theramin that Fred was using?

While I love Elvis Costello, the B-52s may have been a better choice for an opening act for the final show. Before the show, many Nutters were talking about this last show like it was going to be a funeral. Saying they considered wearing dark suits. No. Uh uh. This was no funeral. This was a PARTY!! A celebration. A celebration of great music. A celebration for the fans to say thank you to a legendary rock band and for said band to say thank you to its fans. Something the fans and the band were denied in Melbourne all those years because the future was still uncertain at that point.

The band was a BLAST. For some reason, the first Nutter my eyes were drawn to was Moeskido. He clearly was having a blast. I was surprised how much fun he was having as I didn't suspect that this band was his bag. The whole pit was really getting into it. However, my attention really began to focus on sections 111 and 119 (well, 119 mostly as I couldn't see 111 as well). That section was fucking ROCKING. I found myself staring at that section as much as the B-52s at some points. It seemed like E was leading that section. I may have been hallucinating, but I swear the Pit was getting peep points from that section all night. They were having some real fun up there.

I was looking around a lot during the B-52s set. Looking for celebs. Of course, absolutely did not notice Stewart hanging out right to the side of the pit. D'oh!

The drummer for the B-52s live is Sterling Campbell. He's cool as shit and rocks like a Mo Fo. I've been a fan of his from his work with Bowie on tour and he did not disappoint this night either. I was wondering about the bass player. Was this the same chick that played bass for Sting on the Nothing Like the Sun Tour? Hmmm.

The set ran almost exactly 50 minutes, just like Costello's sets had been, bringing the time to 8:50. I knew the Police would be coming on at 9:20. Even though I hadn't had anything to drink since the last time I took a piss (which was just 50 minutes earlier), I still decided to use the restroom one more time. Just in case.

The line to the restroom on the Andy side of the stage is really long so I head to the restroom that is Sting side. I run into Sect404 who is clearly in a great mood. I hurry so I can get back into the Pit. I head towards the security guard near the pit entrance and reach into my pocket to get my ticket. My ticket. MY TICKET! Shocked FUCK!!!! Cell phone? Yes. Camera? Yes. Letter from Jose to The Police just in case I ran into them? Yes. Pit ticket? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

One quick thing I forgot to mention about the B-52s set. Before the show, we had all been talking about how the set would not be bad as long as they didn't play Roam. I think I mentioned that given that they only had 50 minutes, that had other songs they were more likely to play than Roam.

So smack dab in the middle of the set, what do they play? Roam. When this song starts, the whole front row of the Pit look at each other and just start to laugh. It was obvious that everyone had remembered that discussion.

At least they didn't play Shiny Happy People (yeah, that's an REM song, but close enough).

So where was I? Yeah, I was looking for my ticket . . .

FUCK! I can't fucking find my ticket. I have been checking every five minutes ever since picking it up at 9 that morning and here it is ten minutes before the start of the Police's set and I've fucking lost it. I start to believe that even Pecos can't help me this close to the start of the show.

But then I remember the yellow wristband. Duh! "That should be enough to get me in the pit, right?," I tell myself. So I go up to security and present my wrist. But I forget which wrist my pit wristband is on and show the guard my CHA! bracelet instead. Surprisingly, the guard is very surly when I do this and looks like he is about to throw me out. And not very gently. Luckily I have the presence of mind to quickly show my other wrist, and I am let in quickly.

So I go back to my spot between Conroy and BongoBoy. St. Jeff comes out and adjusts Stewart's drums, or whatever he does. He waves to the Nutters as he does so and the Nutters go NUTS. He then throws out some points and the Nutters EAT IT UP. Everyone is ready for a really great time.

I look at my cell phone and start yelling out the time before the set. "Seven minutes!!!" No one is listening to me. But I am getting so...nervous? anxious? that there is nothing else that I can think of doing. At that point, I check the pockets of my shorts again. I remember that I am wearing kind of cargo type shorts which have pockets lower down on the thigh as well as in the standard spots right below the waist. I check this pocket and there is my ticket. Where it had been ALL day so that I would not accident pull it out when I took put my phone. Where I had checked on it a thousand times that day before entering the venue. D'oh!!!

"Two minutes!" Still, no one listening. For some reason, I think, "Wouldn't it be cool if The Boys started the show with a cover of 'Get Up, Stand Up' rather than coming onto stage to that pre-recorded song?" Shortly after, "Get Up, Stand Up" plays over the PA.

THIS IS IT!!!!!

BongoBoy is still cool, dancing in place to Marley. I, on the other hand, wonder if I still might piss myself even though I had used the restroom 90 times in the last 3 hours despite maybe only having 1 drink during that time frame.

The lights are down, and The Boys come onto the stage. Stewart is wearing his blue GITM jersey. I would have bet money that he was going to wear his Leroy shirt. The blue GITM shirt was my second guess.

But something is odd. Stewart is at his drumset and the percussion rig (including The Gong) is not raised. Hmmmm. Doesn't seem like the first song will be MIAB. I then look towards Sting. He's got his bass strapped on and no acoustic guitar in sight. Hmmmmm. Doesn't look like it will be Bring On The Night as the first song.

Probably for the first time this entire tour, I have no idea what song they will be playing. Not a clue. For some reason, I suspect that maybe they'll belt out Synch I. But Andy doesn't have his 12 string and I just don't feel like that the song they will play.

Meanwhile, Stewart eyes the crowd. It appears apparent to me that Stewart did not know what the Nutters' plan was for the final show.

What the Nutters would do during the final show was the subject to great debate and discussion for quite some time (months?) both on SC.net (briefly) and off. The idea to have all the Nutters in attendance hold a mini-paper flag was brought up pretty early, though idea did not always get the warmest reception. I gotta admit, I had reservations about the idea. My concern was that the Nutters would be dispersed too much through out the venue to really be THAT noticeable and thus not very effective. However, the ticket lottery fixed that. Sections 111, 119 and the very front of the Pit was a solid, in your face green.

When Stewart came onto the stage, it was like he was hit upside the head with a wave of Kryton love. Stewart's eyes were popping out. He was stunned. He was happy. Dare I say, he was amazed. He was not expecting something like this. The goal of the Flag all along was to let Stewart know he had his fans that were loyal to him and supporting him whole heartedly. These miniflags accomplished that goal. At that point, I could not think of something that could have been a more effective statement of our love and devotion.

But still one thing remained. What the hell were the going to play?

IT'S FUCKING SUNSHINE OF YOUR FUCKING LOVE!!!!!

Ok. This part may sound bad, but this is how I truly felt at the time. First, I love Cream. I love Sunshine of Your Love. I love the idea of the Police playing covers. I love the idea of the Police playing a song they never played during a "proper" concert during their final show.

BUT, something felt off. Starting off the show with a cover. I immediately felt that this should have been an encore. And the rendition The Boys were playing was very good, but it just wasn't how I had imagined it would be in my mind. Mind you, I would probably venture to say that this version was maybe as good as the version played by Cream themselves on this very stage not that long ago. Hell, I think Stewart's drumming was probably better than Ginger's drumming during that reunion. But it was just slightly off for me. It was an A performance when I was ready for an A+. Thinking about it, it was probably that I really wanted to hear some Police songs before they started with the covers. Of course, it appears that the cover is quite the hit. All of MSG seems on its feet and the place is rocking.

Then, another curveball. After Sunshine is over, the percussion riser comes up, and there is..JEFF!!! He looked ABSOLUTELY PSYCHED and he's got the gong mallet in his hand (I cringe at the fact that a review in the paper the next day indicated that is was a "roadie" who manned the Gong). The Nutters go BEZERK!!! I feel so happy that Jeff gets some stage time during the final show.

Now, before the show, word had leaked to the Nutters that one of the special guests at the show was going to be a "drum and bugle corp" during MIAB. The IDEA of this before the show went over like a lead zeppelin amongst the Nutters. Disbelief at the concept seemed to be the general consensus. A bad omen of the things to come. Were we in store for a Kanye/Fergie duet? GOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!

And out came the NYPD Drum and Bugle Corp. Ok. No one mentioned the NYPD Drum and Bugle Corp. Almost instantly it felt like this was the ABSOLUTELY perfect thing to do. The crowd is totally floored. This was the A+ we were waiting for. A++. I was right in front of Andy and he was clearly VERY happy how this was going down. This was going to be a fucking great night.

Stewart was going point crazy. I had never seen points like this before. Not even close. Machine gun points to everyone in the pit and first couple of rows who was holding a miniflag. He shot off a few hail mary points over to section 119. Fired off a few more points into section 111. Man, someone was going to get their eye poked out with all these points.

And then, during Driven To Tears (I seem to recall, though in retrospect, I'm thinking it may have been earlier in the show), mid song, Stewart rips out the mother of all points. I have seen lots of points, live and on video and there ain't been a point like this before. It was like a fucking thunderbolt in the middle of the song. I half expected the recipient to have a burn mark on their chest as a result of this fucking point (it was to the middle of the Pit, so I suspect that the recipient of this Zeus Thunderbolt Point was Dietmar, Pecos, or DM). This show was clearly going up to 11.

Now, all these points to EVERYONE made me think that this whole miniflag idea was the best idea ever. I recall Charlie Arnold had started the thread about how DM should be the flag bearer at the final show. That day, I remember e-mailing Kellie about the plans for the flag at the final show and how the miniflags were a go. I then made the comment that this was great cuz this would be like it was all of SC.net as the flag bearer at the final show, and she agreed. And I'll tell you, it really felt like it. Not just the people in the pit, on the floor, sections 111 and 119, and anywhere else at MSG, EVERYONE at SC.net who ever posted or even just sat and read the post, enjoying this crazy journey known as Tourzilla. Sting rattled off some stats about how many people had seen this tour (something like 3 million) and how the 19,000 people at MSG represented everyone who had seen them on this tour. I felt exactly the same regarding the Nutter. We were ALL there in spirit and Stewart was clearly feeling it.

Some general comments about the show. This was really the best show of the tour for me. By far. Actually, probably the best show I'd ever seen. The energy was totally off the chart. They were absolutely playing like this was their last show. Made me suspect that there was no click at this show, or at least less click. But beyond the supernova energy level, the precision with which they played was also at about the best I had heard all tour. As Pluto described, they really dotted all the "i"s and crossed all the "t"s. The only mistake that I noticed was during Don't Stand So Close To Me. It was either Sting or Andy who made the flub (they clearly weren't on the same page during a brief moment), but it was very quickly corrected. There was a point where Stewart just started throwing sticks in the air. Must have been like five in a row. It was craaaaaaaazy.

Now, at the time, I had no fucking idea that the whole "flag's fate" thing was as up in the air as it really was. I felt everything was just going as planned. The Flag was being handed slowly down the front row from center to Andy's side. BongoBoy was the last Andy's side Nutter with me to his left and Conroy to my left. When Conroy handed The Flag to me, it was around Voices/WWIRD. The problem was that Andy was blocking my view of Stewart at the time and WOULD. NOT. BUDGE. If only Pecos could nail Andy with a CHA ball right then like she later did. But Andy was not moving. Fuck. But I was generally ok.

So I handed the Flag off to BongoBoy, who was waaayy into the show and hadn't realized that the Flag was being handed down the row. It was like he had just caught up with an old friend. BongoBoy's view was similarly blocked by Andy (move around for Christ's sake, Andy!!). But BongoBoy did something with the Flag which I am not sure I can absolutely describe. He was doing this little flag dance. Instead of just holding it up a la Stevel or waving it, he held it off to on side and then quickly brought it back towards his chest and then back out towards his left. Now, I couldn't figure out if this was indeed BongoBoy style flag waving or if BB was trying to hand the thing off to me cuz i was clear Stewart could not see the Flag where it was at the time due to Andy. So I let BB do the flag dance for awhile when BB outright says, "Stewart can't see this" and unambiguously handed me the flag. The flag still can't be seen from when I am either (MOVE ANDY!!!!!) so I quickly hand the flag off to Conroy. I think Conroy and I may have held the flag together for awhile, or it may have been BB and me, or it could have been both. But Conroy didn't seem to give a fuck if the flag could be seen. He was just having a great time with the flag this last time at the final show. Before long, The Flag left the hand and me and Conroy and headed back slowly towards the center of the front row of the pit. That was the last time I ever touched The Flag. The end of my personal experience bearing the actual Flag not just at this show or even for this tour. But ever.

A little aside, which will be come more relevant in a minute. I tried to keep my eye open for celebs at the show. And there were plenty there. Leo DiCaprio and his mom. Bruce Springsteen and Patti. James Gandolfini. Paul Rudd. Gerald Butler. Deborah Harry. And more. But they were back in the seats. Makes sense. Less chance that they would get disturbed, gave them an opportunity to sit if they wanted, and they were generally too old for the pit stuff.

The exceptions were Rosanna Arquette, who was actually in the camera pit, the area right in front of the Pit. She was seated in front of Dive for most of the show. I also saw Taylor Hawkins right outside the camera pit. At first, he was just wearing this white shirt and hat that was not too dissimilar to BongoBoy's. Later, Taylor was wearing a black jacket and black baseball. I could be wrong, but it seemed like it could have been a Synch jacket. True Nutter. Don't think anyone else saw him, but you can see him in some of the pictures that show the stage and the pit.

Anyway, so I remember looking around the pit wondering, "so exactly who the fuck are these people?" Someone told Vespapod they they had designed one of Andy's shirts. I remember looking at someone and they had these really cool backstage lanyards that said "Guest of Stewart Copeland" which had a pic of Stewart's face in the middle of it. I was trying to figure out who the fuck they were. I then remember seeing a bunch of kids in the Pit. By "Kids", I mean someone younger than me. I had no idea how old they really were, but it seemed like they were just teenagers. Seemed like good kids, though. One girl I remember in particular was one wearing this like white shirt with Synch-type stripes on it. Hmmm.

So ELTSDIM starts. I this is a very personal song to me for various reason and so obviously one of my favorites. I was also very curious regarding the new "Deathwish" style beginning that Dietmar had mentioned was played at Jones Beach. Yes, the beginning was very Deathwish-y and good.

So there are some "kids" in the camera pit. Vespapod is high-fiving them like he knows them. I then begin to figure that they are Police kids. Hmmm.

ELTSDIM is truly MAGIC this night. And then I see three young girls on stage. I partially expect Sting to do a Stewart-to-John-Mayer-esque-Who-the-fuck-are-you to the girls. They are dancing around and having a total blast. They are taking pictures of themselves and the band. They were exuding fun. And Sting didn't seem to mind. Actually, he seemed like he was having fun as well. Actually, the whole thing really reminded me of the video for ELTSDIM. Not the studio part but where they are outside performing. People just genuinely have fun because of this great performance going on. I then see the kids Vespapod had high five go onto stage and start dancing with Andy. It clicked that they HAD to be Andy's kids. And I've never seen Andy happier. Pure joy was just BEAMING from Andy's face.

looks around to see if anyone's looking

I actually really begin to cry at this point in the show.

takes a break to compose myself while writing this

To me, this was THE point in the show. This was the PERFECT moment. This was what the final show was supposed to be. Not a funeral. A party. A celebration. An expression of love from the Police to and with everyone that had made the Police what they are. I try to hold back my tears so that Conroy and Bongo Boy don't see. But DAMN YOU, ANDY!!! You were so clearly sooooo happy, I could not stop crying.

Of course, the girls on the stage were not contest winners of some sort like I initially thought but Sting's daughters. Who were watching the show right next to me just minutes before. I am able to compose myself by song's end, and I think neither BB nor Conroy saw the waterworks. I think they were distracted by something like a fantastic performance or something. Wink Laughing

Ok. Going back a bit. During Hole In My Life, St. Jeff came out like he always does to twiddle with Stewart's drums. The Nutters go craazy and Jeff is obviously having a great time as well. Does Jeff do some points while he's out there? Honestly, the show has become such a mash up in my mind that I can't remember.

Really, there is a lot about the performance I don't remember. I remember the energy of all three being outstanding, with Stewart being particular nutso. I remember Andy being more precise than usual. I recall Sting seemingly like he was generally in good voice, but the one thing that I specially recall not hearing the whole night was Sting's bass. Not that it was down in the mix. But I was so focused on the other components of the show that have no memory of what Sting's bass was like that night.

I forget if Wrapped is the song where Stewart completely whacked part of the percussion rack right off (could have been KOP). But Jeff had to come out at some point and make some make shift repair. I remember it not sounding quite right after the repair (though I am sure it was the best that could be done given the emergency) but the coolness if Stewart breaking his percussion rack mid song was worth the slight off sound.

De Do Do Do began with Sting doing the Do Wop Diddy Diddy Dum song (what the hell is the name of that) but he did not seem to really return to that theme during the song like he did at Jones Beach.

Next was Invisible Sun. Not my favorite song of the tour to say the least, but I always like the photos displayed on the screen during this part. They would be what would make this song manageable. But there was no screen behind the stage, so I could not see the fucking photos!! However, the photographer who took those pics was in the camera pit in front of us for most of the show. He seemed pretty cool (more on him later).

As this was an obvious lull in the show, Pecos came up to me, to my surprise. As noted before, Pecos kind of scared me. Not because she was not nice in any way. To the contrary. In my observations of Pecos from afar, Pecos seemed very warm, funny, approachable, and sharp as a whip. But she is such a legend (lacquered pancakes anyone?) that I was intimidated nonetheless.

Pecos asked me if I wanted to have my picture taken with the band behind me. I was DYING for a chance like this. I didn't want to be an asshat and bother someone during the show to ask them to do this. But Pecos is such a total sweetheart (I know she'll laugh if she reads this, "Me, a sweetheart?") that she volunteered this without my needing to ask.

My camera is a piece of shit. ALLEGEDLY, it is supposed to be a pretty good camera. But it takes shit pictures during concerts. I always have to fuck around with the settings. Portrait. Sport. No flash. It's hit and miss. One pic will be fine when on Portrait mode but another pic just two seconds later on the same setting will turn out like shit.

So I had my camera set for sport mode and no flash. This kind of takes multiple pictures in a row automatically. I didn't want to waste Pecos' time during the show fucking with my camera, so I just handed her my camera and hoped for the best. Pecos snaps the picture, but she tells me immediately they didn't turn out. I look at the view finder and series of dark blobby photos. So switch the camera mode to Portrait with Flash. I normally would not put a flash on, but I figured it would be just one fucking picture.

So Pecos starts to take my picture again when Mr. Douchebag Asshat decides to be funny and knock Pecos' hand while taking my picture. We end up with a very nice picture of Dermot's backpack.

Right then, I feel like Samuel L. Jackson at the end of Pulp Fiction when he decides not to kill Tim Roth. Had I not been in such a great mood, had I not been at the final show of the Police, the guy would have had his head fucking torn off his head and shove waaayy up his ass. I may come off as a nice, easy going guy. But I have that other side that unfortunately has to rear its head from time to time given that I spend most of my day dealing with fucking lawyers. And trust me. You don't want to see that fucking side of me. But this jackass has caught me on a good day at a good time, so I kind of laugh it off and Pecos tries to take my pic one more time.

I didn't notice this at first, but Bongo Boy had been watching this all go down. So before Pecos takes my pic, Bongo Boy steps between Pecos and Mr. Would-Have-Been-Dead-On-Any-Other-Day. Pecos is able to take my pic, but Mr. Fuck Face decides to grab Bongo Boy's hat. Now, Bongo Boy is like the definition of easy going. I imagine him listening to Marley not even having to toke up to be as mellow as the others listening to reggae with him. However, Ass Bag has crossed BB's line. It was almost like "Bongo Boy isn't home right now, but his really pissed off twin brother is and he wants to kick your ass." But BB is too good hearted to pop the Shit Head, though he deserved it. Instead, BB gives him this "I should SOOOOOOO kill you, but I'm watching Stewart right now" look. It works and the guy steps away. The pic by Pecos only sort of turns out, but there was no way in hell I was going to ask her to try one more time. But I am still eternally grateful for what she did.

So the end of Invisible Sun means one thing . . . the start of Can't Stand Losing You. Frankly, I had been dreading hearing this song at the final show. Not the way I dread hearing EBYT. No. To the contrary. CSLY is certainly one of my favorite Police song. It was one of the songs that really turned my into a die hard Police fan. Particularly the cover of the 45. I thought it showed such a dark sense of humor that it really touched my soul. This was one of the songs that helped me get through my father's death (kind of hard to explain, but its was its humor which tell you to not be so serious about things even if you think you are confronted with a overwhelming situation—my musical "Lighten up, Francis."). I was worried since Utah that I couldn't hear the line "I guess this is our last goodbye" without crying since the Utah show, and I knew I was already emotional enough to cry this night. For me, it always felt that CSLY would be the end.

Something that I think helped was at the very start, Andy's guitar or amp or whatever was not working. He was playing the intro already, but you couldn't hear anything. It was fixed quickly, though. But not hearing the Andy's intro alone helped me control my emotions.

Frankly, I can't remember a lot of details of this song. Right before the sing along part of RDB, I expected Sting to say something like, "Now this is the LAST TIME EVER that we will be doing this, so make it good" similar to what he said in Hyde Park for his last show in the UK. But to my recollection, he didn't. And maybe its because he only did one round of the sing alongs during RDB. But for some reason, this song was kind of a let down. Don't get me wrong, Stewart was fucking on fire during that song. But I guess nothing could have matched my expectations that had been building up for months for that song. So I though I cared, I didn't cry.

FUCK! Forgot something. During the end of Invisible Sun/right before the start of CSLY, someone (was it Brad) walked into the camera put and approached Dirty Martini. This was it. The Flag was handed off to him from DM. As Brad or whoever walked though the camera pit towards backstage, the whole front row of the pit watched as The Flag left us on its way to its final destination.

So back to where I was, I waited during the break after CSLY wondering what the fate of The Flag was. And the break seemed like it took FOREVER. I assumed that it was some technical issue involving the Best Buy webcast. I was hoping that it was not something to do with a special guest coming out for the encore. Little did I know that the rest of the area (who could actually see the video screens) was watching Sting get shaved. Jumping ahead a bit, I had no idea that they showed Sting getting shaved until waaayy after the show. I recall during the encores looking at Sting and noticing that he didn't have a beard. I figured that he started the show that way but I just didn't notice because I was too busy staring at Stewart and Andy the whole night.

Another fucking thing was that my camera's battery had already died. Usually, my camera battery could last just about a whole show if I was conservative with it during the show. However, I had taken so many pictures earlier that day during the pre-show meet ups with all the Nutters that my camera battery could not make it even to the start of the encores. I would have probably bought a spare battery (this thing does not use Duracell but a specialized rechargeable battery), but it was not until like a day or so before going to NY that I learned that I would probably be able to bring a camera into the venue. Before that, I was convinced that I wouldn't even be able to bring a cell phone into the venue (by cell battery was just about to die at this point as well). So, I really didn't have time to think about buying and bringing a spare camera battery. Not like there is going to be anything worth taking pictures of once the encores started, right?

So after a nearly intolerable wait, I see Stewart emerge from back stage . . .

Stewart emerged from backstage bearing The Flag! Yes, include one Stewart Armstrong Copeland amongst the list of Flag Bearers for the Police's 2007-08 Reunion Tour. He was strutting with it, like he was victorious regarding something. Like a dog who had just snatched a NY strip off a plate. No more rules! The Flag was his to do with as he liked. He could wear the nasty green thing as a little cape if he wanted.

If only they had put a light on him. THE moment we/he had been waiting for and he was essentially doing this in the dark. Now, given the last minute nature of all of this, I guess its not that surprising that the lighting people might not have been expecting this little display. Heck, the lighting people, like 99% of the people at MSG, probably had no fucking idea what was going on. But we/he did. And even in the dark, it was fan-fucking-tastic.

In reality, it really didn't take all that long to get a light onto Stewart. I had expected that the Flag would be displayed on The Gong. I really hadn't expected this little victory lap by Stewart. I kind of expected that during KOP, the percussion riser would come up and the Flag would be there. It would just be there while Stewart played, kind of a coy acknowledgment of the Nutters. But Stewart has never been subtle. He is not a shrinking little wallflower. He had his flag and he was going to live it up!

I suspect that this next little part may be a little unpopular amongst some of us, but oh well. Remember that little incident with the Flag in Mexico? Flag-gate? The event that was supposed to cause us all to want to pour gas on ourselves and light ourselves on fire? Well, I can attest that Stewart's little South of the Border brief dalliance with the Flag did not diminish this final presentation of the Flag to Stewart one iota. Stewart was going bonkers. All the Nutters were going mega Ape shit. It could not have gone better. It was totally Flag-gasmic!!!

To my surprise, they had what I can only describe as a make shift crucifix on stage. The Flag was mounted onto the pipes of the little flag stand, and Andy started playing some jam.

Before we go further, I want to talk about Mr. Conroy Jett. Holy shit. Conroy fucking RAWKS. Want to debunk a little myth first. Contrary to common belief and folklore which started in Savannah at a little music festival, Conroy does not go WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! very much at concerts. I have experienced concert mates with lung power and tendencies to scream that would make Conroy seem like a monk who had taken a vow of silence (cough cough Irish Rose). But I am not sure I've ever seen anyone FUCKIN' RAWK at a concert quite like Conroy. This show made me want to move to Virginia so that I could go to concerts with Conroy on a regular basis. Watching him and Policerule just get down in the Pit was quite a sight to see. But it was Conroy's adventures with Sally that solidified Conroy's status as a concert legend in my mind.

During the break between CSLY and the first encore, Conroy inflated Sally with a hand held pump. I was amazed at how quickly he was able to get her fully inflated. Must be noted, though, that I had no actual experience with inflating love dolls (really, I don't) so I am not sure how long it normally takes, but Sally was fully functional in no time.

I had never been at a show with Sally before, but I guess she is usually pulled out during Roxanne (appropriate given the hooker theme of the song). However, the Police did not start their encore with Roxanne. Instead, the ripped into Hendrix's Purple Haze! Shocked Shocked

The crowd goes nuts over Purple Haze. But the nuttiest has got to be Conroy with Sally. Conroy is totally rocking out with Sally, making her head bang along with the music non-stop like a teenager at a Metallica concert. Conroy has some jumbo balls on him as he was right in front of this security guard the whole time. While he was inflating Sally, I tried to block the guard's view of what Conroy was doing, but I later realized that I probably didn't need to do that. Conroy is FEARLESS. He was pretty much rocking Sally right in the security guard's face from Purple Haze right to the end of the show. He was rocking her so hard, Conroy had to partially re-inflate Sally a few times before the end of the show. It was quite the sight to see, and anyone who was there to witness this will not soon forget it.

Pretty much right in front of Conroy in the camera pit was the photographer that took the pics for Invisible Sun. He was so impressed by Sally's rocking that he took a number of pics of her with Conroy and I think he might have also caught some of this with a video camera as well.

As BongoBoy and I later discussed, I think Andy was really amazed by all this. Andy has seen Sally a few times by that point but I doubt it had ever been like this before. I wish I could adequately describe Andy's eyes as he watched Sally headbang in the front row. I think he was almost stunned as how long Conroy was head banging Sally. It was non-stop and Andy LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED it.

Man, I've got to party with Conroy some more in the future.

Rewinding a bit, before the band went into Purple Haze, Andy plays a little bit of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. I assumed this was in honor of The Flag. However, knowing now that Sting had just been shaved, I now suspect that the Ode to Joy was directed to Sting finally losing his beard. Of course, his beard wasn't the only thing Sting was missing when he came back for the encore. He was also sans shirt. From a guy's standpoint, I gotta say "Ugh." Seriously, who are you—Flea? More like Flea's dad. Sure, he's in great shape, but still...My immediate thought is that Sting took his shirt off to focus the attention back to him after the focus had been Stewart due to his Flag antics. But now, I am not too sure, and suspect it might have something to do with his just being shaved.

Anyway, with the Flag now proudly displayed, I take picture of it with my cell phone and send it to my best friend in Chicago (some of you may remember him from the 11-2-07 MSG show). During the encores, the Best Buy webcast begins. My best friend is obviously watching the webscast, because before long I get a text message from my best friend. It reads, "Throw Sting your shirt, eh." This text turns out to be somewhat prophetic.

My feelings towards Purple Haze are similar to how I felt towards Sunshine of Your Love. I liked it and Stewart's playing was great, but I can't say I really LOVED it. Overall, I'd liked to have heard another Police song instead. But don't get me wrong, it certainly was not bad at all.

At this point in the night, my mind is all higgly piggly (as they would say in Bloom County) such that I don't think I can give much detail. They played the standard encores after Purple Haze. The playing was good. Sally was rocking. And the crowd was loving it. I'm sorry that I can't get more specific than that. The end was near, but we were going to enjoy the hell out of every last second.

Frankly, the encores are pretty much a blur for me other than what I reported already. At some point, I recall that all the Nutters flipped their mini-Flags to display the "Thank You" side. I can't remember if this was done at the end of CSLY or If everyone waited until the end of EBYT. Regardless, all the "Thank You"s were clearly visible in sections 119 and 111 and were quite a sight to see.

Next To You was played as the final song and out came all the Thank You signs once more. I recall motioning to Andy (pointing to the sign and then to him) that the signs were not intended just for Stewart but for ALL of them. Andy acknowledged this with a look straight into my eyes which said, "I see it, and I am at a loss for words." Of course, Sting was on the other side of the stage from me so I could not do this to him, but it was very apparent that he was looking and these signs and it was very apparent that he was touched my the sentiment.

Shortly after Next to You ended, suddenly some music played and there were people in costume that appeared on the percussion riser. It was kind of hard for me to see, but I think it was Dennis, Danny, and Jeff. One of them was dress as a female opera singer with overly exaggerated fake breasts exposed. The "opera singer" then began to lip synch to some pre-recorded opera music. While they did this, Stewart got on his knees and started bowing. Hate to say this, but this really seemed exaggerated and almost rehearsed. Then, the music to ending to the Looney Tunes cartoons began to play (where Porky Pig goes "That's All Folks") and for some reason, I focused on Sting doing The Twist.

Gotta tell you. For me, this was like an emotional hamstring pull. To go from the emotions that I felt at the end of Next to You to the farcical ending of the fat lady/cartoon ending, I was really thrown for a loop. Initially, my reaction was "ugh, they're gonna end it like that?" But a moment later, it hit me. The ending was very appropriate for at least 2 reasons. One, this was the sign to the fans. The fat lady has sung. This is IT. And this was about as clear as they could make it. Secondly, this was not a funeral. Like I said before, this is a party. A celebration. This was supposed to be FUN.

The music ended and The Boys took their bows. And what happen next stunned me. The Flag was on stage, so there were to be no final flag points, like Stewart usually did at the end of the show. Instead, Stewart came out to the edge of the stage and slowly gave Peep Points to the Nutters in the front row of The Pit. Of course, my camera battery was long dead at this point, so I could not capture this on my camera. I hoped to God that Dermot was able to capture it on film. Here it was—the Final Point—The Final Point of the Show, The Final Point of the Tour—The Final Point of Stewart Copeland's career with the Police. And I was on the receiving end. I cannot express in words how this felt.

Stewart then went to the center of the front of the stage and proceeded to take his shirt off and throw it into the pit. I wondered who was the lucky recipent and hoped it was a Nutter. Little did I know, but Dietmar had a sign that read, "Stewart Throw Me Your T-Shirt". Fuck! I should have thought of that. Oh well, I wanted his Tron/Stargate/Doiley shirt anyways.

The show was over, and I was still blown away. I had been to some great concerts in my life. I had been in the front row or close to it for some of them. Foo Fighters. Bowie. The Who. Elvis Costello. None of those came close to the show I had just witnessed. Not by a mile.

And then an odd thing happened. Someone came from the stage and I could SWEAR he had The Flag in his hand. And this person was trying to give the Flag back to Kellie. Honestly, I could not actually see what transpired next. However, Kellie later told me that they tried to give it back to her, and she said that unless there was another show tomorrow, she didn't want it. (I will let Kellie's account provide the actual story).

TheEqualizer with Stewart's shirt at Madison Square Garden.


So I walk around the Pit in order to see who got THE shirt. And I was happy to see that it was Dietmar. Someone quickly asked Dietmar if they could have their picture taken with it, and Dietmar was kind enough to oblige. I was quickly second in line, but again my camera had no batteries left. Luckily, a number of Nutters were happy to take a picture of me with it. Before the picture was taken, I quickly took a look at the label in an attempt to give me a clue as to where I could get one like it as I had been searching for one like it since the shirt had debuted on this tour. All the label said was Primal Wear, which I had suspected. My hands were soaked from handling the shirt. It was like the shirt was just fished from a lake. However, I don't seem to recall any particular smell. I then passed on the shirt to others so they could have pics taken. Won't name names, but subsequent holders of the shirt may have taken a sniff.

I then walk towards the seats near the back of the pit and meet a few more Nuttters for the first time. In particular, I recall meeting njperry, who I had always wanted to meet, as well as aamiel. Aamiel had actually sent me a pair of great green tube socks seemingly out of the blue at the end of 2007. They are actually great socks and I began to wear them at every Police show. Unfortunately, I only have a chance to say hi to her for a second before security tells everyone that we have to go. I feel really bad about this. Sounds odd, but I really love those socks, and I was not able to run into aamiel again before I left NY.

Leaving the venue is a bit of a clusterfuck. A bunch of us head out one direction only to learn that there was no exit that way so we have to then go towards the opposite end of the venue. Meanwhile, I get another text from my best friend. He asks me what the last song was. I thought this was a very odd question. However, I later learn that the Best Buy webscast did not broadcast all of encores.

When we finally get out of the venue, my mind is totally fried from the whole experience. I am walking towards Fat Annie's with, I think, Empty, and I tell her that I am not sure I can write a post about my experience and feelings about the last show. She says, "You can always just write, 'FUUUUUUUUUUCK!'" As we cross the street, I feel that Empty is right. There is no way I could describe this whole experience in words.

Let me step back again for a sec. So the show had just ended and I was still milling about in the pit. I decided to go over to Pluto and get his assessment of the show. I always like getting Pluto's take on shows because of his well thought out approach at analyzing shows. So I asked Pluto what he thought of the show and he simply and matter-of-factly said, "It was good. It was good." It really kind of took me aback at how casually he seemed to be taking in the show given the fact that I felt like my soul had just been melted.

Now, part of me thinks that this reaction was due in part to the fact that Dan had gone to both Jones Beach shows earlier that week. I have talked to a number of people who went to the last three shows in NY, and the general consensus seems to be that Jones Beach 2 was the best show of the tour. Initially upon hearing this, I found it hard to believe that The Boys could have possibly played better than they did on 8-7-08. But thinking about it further, it sort of makes sense. I'm sure they didn't have the pressure at Jones Beach 2 like they did at MSG, which allowed them to play looser and thus better. (I'm still curious as to what Pluto's real feelings were right after the show).

Anyway, back to where I was. So I head over to Fat Annie's. My immediate priority was to find my friend, Vermontfan. My cellphone's battery was quickly fading, and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose him. I called him, and he was up in our hotel room having a quick post-show beer and changing his contacts. Vermontfan is a beer connoisseur and had brought some awesome beers with him. Anyway, PDXRacer had stored his backpack in our room, so I had Vermontfan bring his bag down. I was not sure when PDXRacer's flight was, but I didn't want to risk him not being able to get ahold of us when it was time for him to go because either my cell was dead at that point or because I was drunk and passed out in a NY alley.

So I waited for Vermontfan outside of Fat Annie's. There, I spoke with Agroovie1, who mentioned that he too thought Jones Beach 2 was better than the show he had just seen. Shortly thereafter, I ran into Stevel, who made it a point to say that he owed me a beer. I just kind of nodded my head, cuz I alway feel a bit weird when someone says they owe me a beer. So I remained outside chatting to the likes of Skaman, Tamadude, and Bongo Boy when Stevel actually came outside with my beer. The beer was much appreciated given my earlier refraining from drinking of anything as to avoid having to take a leak during the show.

A few moment later, Dietmar came walking down the street. To my surprise, he was WEARING Stewart's shirt. I would have never thought to do this and not just because it had been soaking wet not long before. Luckily, Dietmar was wearing a shirt underneath Stewart's. I talk to him briefly, and get the impression that he was not planning on staying at Fat Annie's for long.

It is a little while, but Vermontfan finally appeared. We chatted outside with Skaman and Tamadude, with whom Vermontfan had gotten to know before the show. We eventually head inside for some drinks, but I find that the table are mostly full at this point. I do, however, get to FINALLY meet E. I LOVE meeting people as enthusiastic as her. I also got to see njperry again, whom I was only able to speak to briefly at MSG.

Since the tables inside were full, Vermontfan and I headed back outside. There were plenty of people out there to talk to, like Bongo Boy, Tamadude, and Skaman, and people seemed to occasionally be stepping outside to talk, like PoliceRule, so outside was not that bad of a place to be. It seemed like some of the people were kind of hungry, including me and Vermontfan given that we were really too excited to eat much before the show. Skaman got some interesting chicken from who knows where. I asked Vermontfan what he felt like, and he said he felt like something Middle Eastern. So I went inside and asked Empty to call me if the group headed somewhere else and then Vermontfan and I went exploring the streets of NY for something to eat.

So Vermontfan and I began walking down the streets of NY looking for food. It's at least 1 am and I begin to wonder what places are still open. However, Vermontfan tells me that he was not really looking for a restaurant. Apparently, through out the day, he had passed this particular street vendor that was located between our hotel and MSG. The smell of that cart had been tempting him all day. We were nowhere near that cart, but luckily there are similar carts everywhere and it didn't take us too long to find one that was still open.

Apparently, all they had available at that hour were meat skewers—chicken or beef. That was fine cuz that was EXACTLY what we were after. Yep. here on the cart were piles of at least partially uncooked beef and chicken. Un-refrigerated. Sitting in the hot NY air. This made me drooooooooool. Anthony Bourdain has NUTHIN on me. Andrew Zimmern does. But not Tony. I tell Vermontfan that good street food is the true way to know if a city has good food. All the top restaurants of any city are gonna be pretty close. But what sets a city apart is the street food. And in that department, NYC is the Taj Mahal of food. The vendor asks me if I want this sauce. Yes, please. If I want that sauce. Yes, please. I have no fucking clue what he's squirting on my food, but I don't care. It just looks and smells incredible.

So Vermontfan has a chicken skewer and I have a beef skewer and a Coke. We decide to have a seat right on the ground in front of a store window. A city of, what, 9 million, and there seems to be not soul for blocks. It seems so eerie. The street that was crammed with people just hours before was now desolate. Just me and Vermontfan. And two vendors grilling meat for our pleasure.

So there on the barren street, Vermontfan and I finally had a second to drink it all in. Everything we had experienced over the last maybe ten hours or so. So much had happened but now we had a chance to savor the moment. This was a time we would never forget. A time we would cherish forever. this was pure bliss. It was perfect.

So I get 2 more skewers of meat cuz I am such a pig. I then see that I have a text on my phone.

I look at my phone, and I see I have gotten 2 text messages from the guy from Israel I met at the MSG box office when I picked up my ticket that morning. He wanted to know where the party was that I had mention where all the Police fans would be. So I call him back and tell him to meet at Fat Annie's. It seemed a bit odd as I had told him that was where the party was going to be that morning. I had even given him the address.

So Vermontfan and I headed back to Fat Annie's. The place was a bit less full but most everyone from TP.com and SC.net were still there. Things are a bit fuzzy but I think Tamadude, Skaman, and BongoBoy were still outside as was maybe Chatchka and a few others. I forget their names. but the people who are making the fan made documentary were there interviewing people about the show and their experiences. I stayed away from them as I had read one of their posts at TP.com about how their film was changing from being about the love of the band to how the various snafus along the way really fucked up this reunion tour in many ways. I wasn't really to hot on this. So I thought it be best not to be any part of it just in case this was how the film turned out.

Near there door was Nadev drinking a water. I approached him, and he seemed to happy to see me. I offered him a drink. but he told me that he was already very drunk so he could not take any more. I asked him what he thought of the show, and he said he was drunk for most of the show, so he couldn't remember a lot of him. However, he told me that he had wanted more. In particular, he had hoped that they would play the last three songs from GITM as those were his favorite. So he was disappointed that they didn't play Omegaman, Secret Journey, and Darkness. Yeah, I would have loved to hear those three songs too, but given that of those three, only Secret Journey has ever been played live and only a few times at that, I can think you couldn't be disappointed in their last show because they were not played.

We then talk further, and Nadev mentions that he had actually seen the Police's first show in the US. I get really excited about this and want to talk to him about this, but then he mentions that the show was in Boston. I tell him that I don't think that was the very first show in the US, and he maintains that it was. I tell him that I was pretty sure the first show ever in the US was CBGB's, which I was sure of given the recent contest at TP.com. He still doesn't believe me so I call over SkaMan, who was not too far, charming a lady. I ask him where the Police's first show ever in the US was, and he says, "Easy, mon, CBGBs" and then goes back to charming the lady. Nadev kind of shakes his head and then pull his shirt up. He says that he's wearing the shirt he had gotten at the show, which showed Boston as the first date. Sure enough, the shirt does list Boston as the first date of the tour. But it was a shirt from the GITM tour.

I'm pretty sure the Police toured for Outlandos, RDB, and ZM.

It was a really weird feeling inside Fat Annie's. I wonder if it was just me. Tons of Nutters still there but yet I really wasn't able to get myself to get into any serious conversation with anyone. I figured what all I really needed probably was another drink and then things would be ok. But then I found out that Fat Annies was no longer serving drinks. FUCK!!!! City that never sleeps my ASS. I guess I'm too used to Vegas, were there is no closing time. So we all decided to head over to an Irish Pub near MSG. The problem is that it seems to take FOREVER to get people to head over.

Eventually, the crowd begin to head towards the Irish Pub. On the way over, we pass the area of MSG where the gear is being loaded into trucks. There I see a lone fan waiting, apparently hoping that one of the Boys will come out and say hi or something. This was something that I normally do so it wouldn't have been so odd except that it was like 2 or 2:30 in the morning in NYC and I swear this girl was only like 14 or 15. One of us, can remember who, went over to talk to the girl. I'm not sure shat they talked about, and I hope every thing turned out ok. I later remembered that I'm pretty sure I saw this same girl in the front row in the Hyde Park video.

So our motley crew filters into the Irish bar, which still has a good number of people at the bar but no one at the tables. So a few of approach the bar for a drink and we find out THEY WON'T SERVE US!!! FUCK!!! Are you kidding? A lot of us are upset. But then one of us is told that this was a misunderstanding and that they WOULD serve us. So we push together a few table and sit. But shortly there after, we learned that they will NOT be serving us. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!! So we all get up determined to find another place to drink. I think DAO and Jennym and maybe a few others stayed behind because they believed they would be able to get served (still don't know if they ever did, but my gut says they did).

Someone remembered from earlier that the Tick Tock Diner had a liquor license, so the plan was to go there for drinks given that it was maybe only 50 yards away. I really wasn't in the mood for going to a diner to drink, so Vermontfan and I duck out to the Duane Ready across the street to get some water and to assess our options.

We get some water and the crash happens. Keep in mind, I flew over on the red eye that morning and hadn't slept the night before. So I made the call. I was going to call it a night. VTfan had a LOT of great beer in the hotel room. But the big thing was that I didn't want to have to say goodbye to everyone. I dreaded that thought, especially since I feel that I hadn't properly gotten to get to know everyone yet. I had seen Empty completely breakdown in tears back at Fat Annie's earlier that night when she started her goodbyes, and I didn't want to follow suit. So I just chicken out. Sorry everyone. I truly am sorry for this to everyone who was there.

So VTfan and I got back to our room and began drink some awesome Belgian beers. We turned on the television hoping to catch some news on the Favre trade to the Jets. All day, we had seen stories about this one the news but never with any accompanying sound. So we go through all the channel but nothing on about Favre. No ESPN news even. FUCK. Oh well. The beer is the last straw and I quickly essentially pass out.

*

It was the day after. I had completely miscalculated my schedule. My flight back to Vegas was not until that afternoon but I misjudged how long it would take to get to JFK from my hotel and how long it would take to get through security and the like at the airport. So I ended up getting to the airport waaayy too early. So instead of hanging out with the Nutters again at the post show brunch or just hanging out in NYC or getting to spend more time with Vermontfan, I spent seemingly forever waiting in a nearly empty gate at JFK. Fuck. I did have a chance to speak with my best friend in Chicago for awhile about the show, but that was about it.

On the flight back, I began to really believe, contrary to how I felt shortly after the show, that I would be able to describe my final show experience in a multi-part post at SC.net. I started to map out the story in my head during the flight home.

The flight from New York was like slipping through a worm hole, like I was coming back from an alternate reality. Back in Vegas, it was like hell. I really hadn't told many people that I was going to take off from work and why. I rarely take vacations, so word spread at my office why I had been gone and what I had done. People were coming up to me and asking questions that I just didn't feel like answering. "I didn't know you like Sting so much." "Stewart who?" "How can you like someone who's just the drummer?" "Did you like it?" "Was it worth the trip?" "Did Sting play any of his solo songs?"

I was now back in the world where no one understood me at all. No one understood why I would fly across country across he country for just a concert. Why I would be so excited to see a show by a group that hadn't released an album in 25 years. Why I was not very excited about having seen Sting but instead was more excited by some guy who just played drums. I wanted to drive a spike through my head. I felt so outcast, like no one understood. i was genuinely miserable.

But you know what. Though I had left the Nutters behind in NY, SC.net was still there. A whole sea of people who not only understood how I felt about the final show but understood my feelings about the Police and Stewart. Understood why that 10 inch Klark Kent album I discovered in college meant so much. Understood why I needed to "accidentally" keep the Texas Chainsaw Massacre II LP from the radio station that I had DJ'ed at in college. Understood why I had a series of athletic jerseys (GITM, Leroy, Cameroon football) even though I NEVER exercise. But it was more than that. These Nutters seem to understand beyond my Police obsession. These are people who seemed to be like-minded and understood my life in general. And even when I differed, I enjoyed the differences.

So the final show was AWESOME but what the final show experience really did was make me appreciate all the Nutters (whether they were able to make it to NY or not). Before tourzilla, I truly felt alone, like I did right upon returning to Vegas from MSG. But after meeting all the Nutters in person and the explosion of posts after the final show, I felt like the castaway in MIAB walking on the beach finding a hundred billion bottles. I am not alone, and am happy to be a nutter.

*

My story is already over, but I wanted to add some "Thank You"s...


While I was waiting in the airport to fly back to Vegas after the final show, one of the things my best friend and I talked about was how I was still blown away how generous Stewart was for providing so many of his fans tickets for the last show. And my best friend, who is far more astute than I will ever be, told me, "Stewart did it because he KNEW you (i.e., the people at SC.net) would really be able to appreciate it." This really hit home for me.

I would really like to thank Stewart and Team Stewart (including Derek and Cynthia and all of Team Italia) for the opportunity to see the final show. I took the effort chronicallying my whole experience (to the most minute detail) in hopes that you would be able so see that your generosity was not wrongly given. I hope my account shows how I truly appreciated being able to experience the whole final show experience due to you. More than that, I hope my account makes clear that I was not alone; that everyone at SC.net who you enabled (directly or indirectly) to go to the final show truly appreciated it. You gave a lot of people at SC.net an experience that will stay with us forever. And we all thank you for that.

While I am handing out thanks, I have to thank Sting and Andy as well. Sting—in many ways, without you, this final tour would never have happened. But more than that. This final tour, you proved to me that you really are a hell of a bass player, something I would have NEVER believed 2 years ago. And to Andy—you proved to the world that you could really let it loose on guitar even though in the past with the Police you hadn't chosen to play that way. Though I always knew you could.

Beyond The Boys, this post was written for all the Nutters I shared the Final Show experience with. Like Bongo Boy said, its like we all went through a war together, and I'll never forget it. As great as the actual concert was, it was you Nutters that made the whole thing extra special. Not just the best concert in my life but one of the best experiences overall in my life. Even if I didn't get to speak with you personally much or even at all, your mere presence made everything so special to me.

Finally, this thread is also my love letter to all the Nutters who weren't able to make the show. I tried to give as much detail as possible so that you could have a real taste as to what it was really like to experience the whole MSG experience rather than just give the typical concert review. You must believe me when I say your presence was truly felt in MSG during the final show. When Stewart saw all of the mini-flags/thank you signs, I am sure Stewart (and the rest of the band) felt like the love was truly coming from ALL of the nutters at SC.net, and not just those able to physically make it to the show, cuz that's what I felt.

For all those who stuck with me for the last month despite my meanderings, poor grammar, and typos, I thank you. Let the fat lady sing as That's All Folks.



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