It's all about my FAVE artist, baby!
Bethlehem, PA, concert review and photos
Touring With Scissors, November 4, 2000, Stabler Arena
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It's all about my FAVE artist, baby!Bethlehem, PA, concert review and photos Touring With Scissors, November 4, 2000, Stabler Arena |
Table of Contents |
Many Thanks!I can't believe it's all going to be over in a few hours! The past year, and especially the past 6 months, has been such a blast! Al, Bermuda, Steve, Jim, and Ruben: Mere words cannot express my sincerest thanks to all of you for all the fun, music, and laughs you have given me over the years! I was just a fan of the music in the beginning, but when I discovered that you all are just so nice to us fans, that made me want to support you even more! Your genuine sincerity and the appreciation you have shown to all of us fans is truly appreciated! To all my crazy new Weird Al fans: My life would be a lot dimmer without you! I am so glad I met you all! To Al: Thank you so much for 20+ years of laughs! Thank you for 16 great, great, great concerts! Thank you for the boxers! Thank you for being so accessible to your fans! (Who knew that one innocent concert and one innocent meet-and-greet would spark such an obsession!?!?) To Bermuda: Thank you for being so cool and coming out to say hello to me after concerts! Thank you for signing my tattoo without thinking I was a total freak! To Steve: Thank you for your solo music! Thank you for being so nice to me. Thank you for giving me a copy of your new, not-yet-released, CD in Valdosta! To Jim: Thank you for Coconut Hat! Thank you for being so nice to all us fans! To Amy: Thank you for being Louise to my Thelma. Road-tripping would have been a lot less exciting without you! Amy and I were very quiet on the trip from Wilkes-Barre to Bethlehem. We couldn’t believe it was going to be over! I just knew I was going to cry before, during, and after the Bethlehem show! I even warned the fans on alt.music.weird-al on Nov. 1, 2000:
I made an iron-on transfer of my best pictures with Al, Bermuda, Steve, and Jim and put it on a shirt. My goal was to get everyone’s signature on it. But, it was the last night, so I wasn’t sure I would get everyone to do it. My trusty old camera died during last week's Morristown concerts. I bought a new camera during the week, so obviously, I did not have a chance to test it out prior to the TWO MOST IMPORTANT CONCERTS OF THE ENITRE TOUR! I explained very carfeully about what I needed the new camera to do and even talked to a couple of reps. What I didn't know was that I made the wrong choice. So, after taking 15 rolls of film during the last 2 concerts, I only got about 20 good pictures. I have posted some of the bad pictures below, because, hey!, even a bad picture is still a memory! Back To Top
The great thing about this, the last ever RWS concert, was that every hardcore fan from across the country was there! Almost everyone was at Wilkes-Barre, but everyone was in Bethlehem. There was a lot of picture-taking, and general wishing that it wasn’t over.
Everyone who was there got their picture with everyone else who was there. But, right after the concert, we got everyone together for a group photo. Of course, my stoo-pid, horrible, brand-new, camera let me down:
Everyone was speculating about whether or not Al and the guys would do something out of the ordinary because it was the last show. Alas, practically nothing changed. During Nirvana, Al did jump on Steve’s back and ride around for a while.
Some of the crazy, hardcore fans wore santa hats and waved Christmas lights for Santa and light sabers for Saga The concert was high-energy. perhaps the highest energy concert of the entire tour. To me, it seemed like it was over in two seconds. I was begging for just One More Minute with Al!
At the end of the concert, the whole band did not come to the front of the stage like they did in Wilkes-Barre. However, when Al was leaving the stage, he didn’t just walk off like usual; he sort of slowly backed away as if he was taking it all in one last time. Al looked sort of wistful. It was really a sweet moment. Luckily, Amy and I had backstage passes again. A lot of the hardcore fans did. I did manage to get everyone’s signature on my shirt. It was a total coup! Back To Top
Al graciously had one last meet and greet with his fans. I am sure Al, Jon, Steve, and Jim just wanted to get the heck out of dodge (so to speak). Skip herded everyone who was waiting outside to get in line to meet Al. It was the largest meet and greet I had ever seen. Thanks Al! I wanted Al to sign my shirt. He signed just above his picture, very carefully, as you can see.
 I also met Jay Levey for the first time and got my picture taken with Jimmy the bus driver.
The greatest moment of the meet and greet was seeing Betsy Manning finally get to meet Al in person. When she walked up to the table, Al yelled, “BETSY MANNING!” Betsy sat on Al’s lap after he carefully signed her Weird Al jester doll. The look on Betsy’s face was priceless. I was very glad I was able to see that in person! Back To Top
Amy and I spent the night in Bethlehem and went to the Crayola Factory before hitting the road. We got our picture taken to commemorate the occasion. Watching the crayon-making process was fun and informative. But the interactive games and activities were more fun!
One of the activities was making your own slide and projecting it onto the wall for all to see. Of course, I pledged my allegiance to Al!  Not wanting to leave and actually admit that it was over, we squeezed everything out of the Crayola Factory as we could! But, finally, reluctantly, grudgingly, and with much bitching, we got in the car to leave.Thus ended our whirlwind Touring With Scissors Extravaganza! |
