Though never on any list of mine, I finally managed to get to hear the Boss , Live at Wembley.
As it's suggested, when you badly want something, the universe conspires to make it happen. In my case for some reason (sheer luck) I actually checked if Sprignsteen was actually still doing live shows, figured he was in UK in May / June. Then the second lucky break came , an office events dates got changed and brought forward (preponed as we would say !).
Then there was the small matter of getting the all important tickets. By the time I had checked , the show had been sold out (I guess many time overs :) !!!. Then begin the constant monitoring of StubHub . I finally bought the ticket on the 4th of June (the show was on the 5th !).
Bruce , the Boss , first played in London in 1975, Hammersmith Odeon. I find the opening of Thunder Road as possibly the best live performance of the song I have come across (esp. the way he says 'you ain't no beauty but you are alright '!, I can imagine a cold dark November evening in London with the lovely piano piece filling in the night, haunting lyrics , still open for interpretition (town for losers and I am pulling out to win).
(more to come ...unfinished : and I am rejecting drafts for now !)
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
The World Cup and Chinnaswamy stadium
I have had the good fortune of being at all (I think all) matches hosted in Bangalore where India featured in the World Cups.
The fun affair started in 96 when it became clear that India would be playing Pakistan in the quarter finals. The hard work started when we queued up at 7:30 PM , the day prior to when the tickets were to be sold. More than 13 hours later, braving a few lathi charges and madness through the night we finally got our hands on the elusive tickets at 9:00 AM in the morning.
Great memories of the game. Miandad's last match , one of the greatest runner between wickets , caught short by Jadeja. Jadeja himself had the audacity to take on one of the greatest exponents of reverse swing and hammer Waqar for 40 in his last 2 overs (I thought the stadium would come down when Jadeja launched into him). The Prasad Sohail episode was one of a kind, the kind you watch cricket for (a bunch of boundaries by Sohail, Sohail taunting the bowler, who comes back to clean him up !). And it was the first game under lights, another surreal experience for sure !
The celebration (or the madness should I say) continued well into the night around MG Road. The high was matched only by the low of being knocked out in Eden a few days later :().
The WC returned in 2011. This time it was the game against England. A run feast. A Tendulkar hundred (the jinx of the WC : Tendulkar got 2 hundreds and India failed to win both games, a tie with England and we lost against SA). A tie ! The WC was Sachin's final hurrah. He was in vintage form , determined to conquer the cup which had remained out of his grasp all those years. Fortunate to be there !
Come 2016 and it was the game against Bangladesh and it was the shorter version of the shorter version of the game (T20). It was one of those matches where you felt disappointed for 239 balls of the game and the thrill came only on the 240th ball when somehow magically Dhoni pulled a rabbit out of the hat and won the game for India with the run out (in hindsight , a tie may have been better : Dhoni wins WC's when there has been a tie ;)).
Not sure when the next World Cup game happens with India involved . I will be there !!!
The fun affair started in 96 when it became clear that India would be playing Pakistan in the quarter finals. The hard work started when we queued up at 7:30 PM , the day prior to when the tickets were to be sold. More than 13 hours later, braving a few lathi charges and madness through the night we finally got our hands on the elusive tickets at 9:00 AM in the morning.
Great memories of the game. Miandad's last match , one of the greatest runner between wickets , caught short by Jadeja. Jadeja himself had the audacity to take on one of the greatest exponents of reverse swing and hammer Waqar for 40 in his last 2 overs (I thought the stadium would come down when Jadeja launched into him). The Prasad Sohail episode was one of a kind, the kind you watch cricket for (a bunch of boundaries by Sohail, Sohail taunting the bowler, who comes back to clean him up !). And it was the first game under lights, another surreal experience for sure !
The celebration (or the madness should I say) continued well into the night around MG Road. The high was matched only by the low of being knocked out in Eden a few days later :().
The WC returned in 2011. This time it was the game against England. A run feast. A Tendulkar hundred (the jinx of the WC : Tendulkar got 2 hundreds and India failed to win both games, a tie with England and we lost against SA). A tie ! The WC was Sachin's final hurrah. He was in vintage form , determined to conquer the cup which had remained out of his grasp all those years. Fortunate to be there !
Come 2016 and it was the game against Bangladesh and it was the shorter version of the shorter version of the game (T20). It was one of those matches where you felt disappointed for 239 balls of the game and the thrill came only on the 240th ball when somehow magically Dhoni pulled a rabbit out of the hat and won the game for India with the run out (in hindsight , a tie may have been better : Dhoni wins WC's when there has been a tie ;)).
Not sure when the next World Cup game happens with India involved . I will be there !!!
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