Royalty sees the Soundtrack of Summer Tour at Prudential Center!‏

Near the end of March, I got an e-mail from the New Jersey Devils. Since I'm a season ticket holder, they occasionally offer me discounts & presales to upcoming events at the Prudential Center. I usually don't take them up on their offers. It just so happened that they sent me a presale to get tickets to see the Soundtrack of Summer Tour which consisted of Don Felder, former songwriter & guitarist of the Eagles, Styx & one of my favorite rock groups, Foreigner. When I saw they were playing on Thursday, June 26th, I looked at my schedule. I saw that was going to be an off night. I said to myself I want to go. Since I really didn't want to go by myself, I decided to ask my Cousin Andy who's a big music fan if he wanted to join me. He said he would. With that being said, I went ahead & I bought us a pair of tickets in the upper level. Since we both lack the financial resources, we were just happy to get in the building. It was going to be our first concert there.

After waiting a few months, that night finally arrived. After work, I took the Path train out to Newark, NJ. I wound up meeting my Cousin Andy in the Gateway Center which is the walkway attached to Newark Penn Station at 6:40PM. We then walked over to the Prudential Center for the 7PM show. We went inside & we headed upstairs to our seats. When we got up there, we were told that the upper level was going to be closed. With that being said, they gave us an upgrade to cushioned seats in section 17 which was just to right side of the stage. What a great view we had. 

Don Felder

As for the show we saw, the first act was Don Felder who performed some songs with his own band. In addition, he ‎& his band played a good number of Eagles' songs which included Already Gone, One of These Nights, Those Shoes, Witchy Woman, Heartache Tonight, Take It Easy, Life in the Fast Lane as well as the legendary Hotel California. All in all, it was a nice way to start the evening. 

Styx

Secondly, after a short break, we got to hear the band Styx who were popular back in the 70's ‎& into the early 80's. They were lead by guitarist & songwriter Tommy Shaw who wrote some of their classic hits which included Crystal Ball, Blue Collar Man, Too Much Time on my Hands, Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) as well as Renegade. They also played some of  their other hits, The Grand Illusion, Lady & Come Sail Away. Andy & I recognized many of their songs which made for an awesome time. 

Foreigner

Last but certainly not least, we got to see Foreigner close out the show. I saw them back in the day at Madison Square Garden in 1987. In addition, I got to see them again last year at Citi Field after a Met game. As they say, three times is a charm. That saying held true on this night when I got to see them again. Having seen them last year, I had a good idea of what to expect. 

They started the set with Double Vision, they continued rocking with many of their signature songs which included Juke Box Hero, Feels Like The First Time, Head Games, Cold As Ice, Urgent, Say You Will, I Want To Know What Love Is‎ & Hot Blooded. In addition, we were also treated to a guitar solo by founding member, Mick Jones who has been experiencing health issues lately. 

Overall we got our money's worth ‎& then some. We both had a blast reliving the good old days. These performers are getting old but they still put on a neat show. I'm glad we got to see it. My Cousin couldn't thank me enough for getting him the ticket. As I say, teamwork makes the dream work.

Stay tuned for some special posts that will recap the way I spent the last weekend in June.

Thank you for reading ‎& following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees Foreigner perform a post game concert at Citi Field!

Foreigner at Citi Field

The one and only time I saw the Rock group Foreigner in concert was back in 1987 at Madison Square Garden. Back then, Lou Gramm was their lead singer.

A few months ago, the Mets announced their post game concert series line up. I usually don't like who they have performing. This time was different. I noticed that on June 14th after the Mets were playing the Cubs that the rock group Foreigner was going to do a post game concert which was designed to help victims of Hurricane Sandy. When I found out, I was all excited. Even though, Lou Gramm is no longer with the band I still wanted to see them play live.

Foreigner Live at Citi Field

They have a new lead singer named Kelly Hansen who has taken over. He was active through out their performance as he went off the stage and he walked along both sides of the stands to get up close to those who were sitting in the first few rows on the field level. It was really cool to see him make the rounds.

As for the music set they played, they started off their hour show with Double Vision and they ended it with Hot Blooded. In between, they played many of their hits which included Head Games, Cold As Ice, I'm Waiting For A Girl Like You, It Feels Like the First Time, Urgent, Juke Box Hero and I Want To Know What Love Is which they did & they had the crowd do a sing along with. It was really neat.

I'm really glad I stayed for the performance. I thoroughly enjoyed reminiscing about the good old days. It should be noted that Foreigner first started playing back in 1976.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty w/o 6/10 in review

Monday night after work I came home and I made myself dinner and I relaxed since there were no games in the area that I could get to.

Tuesday night after work I went to Taste of Dolly's on my way to Citi Field to see the Mets open a three game series with the St. Louis Cardinals who were making their only appearance this season. Upon arrival, I saw my pal Sam Citron when I entered the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. As always it was a pleasure to see him again. It was a Citi Tuesday so I went out to the booth behind the Apple in center field. By doing so, I got a free $10 gift card by showing my Citi Mastercard before I headed upstairs to the Royal court which was in session in section 516 on this night. I was joined by David Sack, Frank Anichiarico, Al Linderman, Alan Gimpel & Domish who told me he's been to 140 hockey games this season. That's impressive considering the NHL locked out for a big chunk of the season. He loves his hockey. It was nice to see him again.

As for the game we saw, the Mets got off to a fast start as Omar Quintanilla hit a solo home run and Marlon Byrd added a sacrifice fly off of Cardinals' rookie pitcher Michael Wacha in the first inning to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead. The Cardinals sliced the Met lead in half as they scored a run in the fourth inning on a double play grounder by first baseman Matt Adams to make it a 2-1. They broke the game open in the fifth inning when Daniel Murphy of the Mets made an error at first base to start the inning. The Cardinals took advantage by getting timely hits which included a three run homer by Allen Craig that highlighted a five run inning to give the Cardinals a 6-2 lead off Mets' starter Jeremy Hefner. The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning and one more in the ninth to beat the Mets, 9-2. As a result, Michael Wacha picked up his first major league win.

Wednesday night after work I returned to Citi Field after I stopped off at Subway to have my pre game meal. I was planning to have some Carvel Ice Cream too but the machine wasn't working due to the heat they said.

When I got to Citi Field I saw Sam again. It should be noted this night was another milestone for me. It was my 4,000th Major League game I've seen in person. It turned out to be a festive occasion when I got upstairs. This time we wound up sitting in section 514 which is right behind home plate. We had many regulars on hand and a special guest too. As for the regulars, they were Manny Morales, Rich Wolber, Frank Anichiarico, Phil Butleman, Martin Caamano, Vincent Ascanio, Bryan Gilligan, Steve Tepperman and of course the King. In addition, we had musical entertainment in section 513 as the Hooligan's were present & accounted for.

Me & Megabus Matt at Citi Field

More importantly, we did have a visitor. I'm referring to Matthew Weil aka Megabus Matt who was in the midst of a 25 day 25 ballpark journey. The amazing thing about it was that he was doing it all for $700. He was riding Megabus all over the country. He said he got $1.00 rides to all his destinations. He's originally from Philadelphia but he now lives in Berkeley, California. He told me he likes to do budget traveling. He told me he went from Los Angeles to New Zealand for $399.00 in the past. He knows how to get great deals. When I told him about all the different places the King & I have been, he was dazed and amazed. He said and I quote "that's crazy." Some of the things he's done had me wondering the same thing about him. Everybody looks at things differently. Let's face reality, in order to enjoy life properly, you have to be crazy and daring. If not, you're wasting your precious time. Matt told me that he was heading down South for the weekend. He was going to Atlanta, Tampa & Miami. It sounded like a grueling ride. I told him I could relate from my early days of traveling with the King on Greyhound buses to different parts of the country. He said he was returning to NYC to see the Yankees play the Dodgers. I told him we'll see you again there.

As for the game we saw, it looked like a preview of home run derby. We saw four home runs in the game. Most games we're lucky if we see one or two. The Mets managed to hit three of them. Lucas Duda hit the first one in the fourth inning, David Wright hit one in the sixth inning and Marlon Byrd added one in the seventh inning to back the great pitching of starter Dillon Gee who went six and two thirds innings allowing just one run which was a home run by Allen Craig of the Cardinals in the sixth. The Mets defeated the Redbirds, 5-1 despite striking out ten times against Cardinal starter Shelby Miller in six innings.

Thursday night after work I came home and I made dinner then I braved the elements as I did my laundry in the rain. I thought the rain stopped. I got ready and when I was going to walk out of the house I heard the rain coming down. I was caught off guard but I improvised and I got the job done.

Friday night after work I went back to Taste of Dolly's for pizza on my way to Citi Field to see the Mets open a three game series over Father's Day weekend with the Chicago Cubs.

On this night, we wound up sitting in section 515. Amongst us were David Sack and his friend Andrew, Alan Gimpel, Martin Caamano and Michael Carson. In addition, we had a surprise visit by our pal Manny Bonilla. It was really nice to see him again. He's been busy with school. As for the game we saw, the Cubs raced out to a 5-0 lead after two innings off Met starter Shaun Marcum which set the tone for the game as the Mets lost, 6-3.

After the game, the Mets had a special concert starring Foreigner. When I heard about it a few months ago, I was all excited. I love their music. Stay tuned for a special post that I'm going to do about their appearance.
Saturday afternoon the King & I went back to Citi Field for game two of the three game set with the Cubs.
This time we sat in section 516. We were joined by Manny Morales, Marc Beck, Michael Abrams, Phil Butleman, David Sack, William Frank Guthrie, Vincent Ascanio, Frank Anichiarico, Bryan Gilligan and Rich Wolber.

In addition, we also had Pat Gorman who just returned from his trip to the Midwest. He went on his annual baseball road trip. This time he took a shortened version. He only made stops in Milwaukee and Chicago. He got to see the Brewers at Miller Park, Cubs play at Wrigley Field and the White Sox at the "Cell" if you will. It was great to see him again.

As for the game we saw, the Mets fell to the Cubs again, 5-2. The Mets couldn't overcome all the walks their pitching staff issued. In addition, Cubs' starter Scott Feldman held them to just two hits over the first seven innings. The Cubs put the game away in the top of the eighth inning. They tried to make a comeback but it fell short.

After the game, Bryan drove the King & I and Rich Wolber to Allentown, Pennsylvania. We went to Coca Cola Park again to see the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. They were playing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees Triple A affiliate.

As for the game we saw, it was over early as the RailRiders built a 4-0 lead after two innings. They added some runs late to beat the IronPigs, 7-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,100.

Sunday was Father's Day. We returned to Citi Field to see the finale of the Mets and the Cubs.
This time we were joined in section 516 by Phil Butleman, David Sack, Pat Gorman, Alan Gimpel, Al Linderman and Michael Carson.

As for the game we saw, the Cubs scored a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. They extended their to 3-0 in the top of the fifth inning thanks to a comedy of errors by the Mets which allowed two unearned runs to score. It appeared that the Mets were on the verge of getting swept. Suddenly in the bottom of the ninth inning, they awoke from the dead. Marlon Byrd led off with a solo home run to make it 3-1. Lucas Duda followed with a walk and John Buck got a single. Omar Quintanilla proceeded to bunt them over to second and third base with just one out. Kirk Nieuwenhuis came up and ended the game in dramatic fashion as he hit a game winning three run homer to right field to give the Mets an improbable come from behind win as they beat the Cubs, 4-3.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman