Skip to main content

Music After Midnight

The smoke from the fireworks began to subside and the crowd slowly dispersed.  Before long, only a small number of the tens of thousands gathered there earlier remained.   Midnight had come and gone and a new year – a new millennium – had officially begun.  Yet, here I was, still standing along the reflecting pool on the National Mall, waiting for the program to resume.

The concert had aired live on stations across the country, ending in an extravagant fireworks display along the Mall.  As far as those watching on television – and many of those gathered on the Mall – were concerned, that was it.  The plans for a post-fireworks encore were never actually confirmed, simply rumored.  Those of us who stayed did so purely on faith, or maybe it was curiosity.

For a while, nothing happened.  The stage remained empty and revelers continued to stream away from the Mall.  Then, more than thirty minutes later, just as my friends and I had resigned ourselves to leaving, a single spotlight focused on the stage.  There stood the rumored encore, an internationally popular rock star with nearly twenty years of hits to his name.  He sang one of his group’s slower-paced hits, at half of its typical speed.  Then, he walked away and the stage again was empty.

With that, my friends and I, too, turned and walked away.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Universal Round Trip

In hindsight, we should have known something was not right. On our way home from an annual vacation in southwest Florida, we stopped in Orlando. Our plan was to spend a day at the area’s newest theme park, Universal Studios. The park had only been open a few weeks when we arrived. My family and I were excited to be among its first visitors. My parents, siblings, and I arrived just as the park was opening. We purchased our tickets and stood in line, waiting to enter the park. As we made our way through the gates, a park employee handed each of us something that looked like an index card. Excited to get to the rides, we only glanced at the cards, not really taking in what we were holding. It was not until we were in line for the first ride that anyone in my family really examined the cards we all held in our hands. A bright shade of blue, the front of each card was marked with the Universal Studios logo. On the reverse, alongside several lines of fine p...
1 comment
Read more

Catch A Cab

We had been walking for about forty-five minutes, making our way from Manhattan’s South Street Seaport to the Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street. When we were within fifteen blocks of our destination, some of my companions decided that we should complete our journey by cab. Despite my attempts to convince them to keep walking, they were insistent. The trip that ensued was a true New York experience. After a few minutes of trying, one of my companions was able to hail a cab. However, we wanted to go north. The cab that stopped was going south. It did not seem to matter, though, as my companions still got in the cab. One person sat in the front while I slipped into the backseat, between the other two. Hardly before the doors could close, the driver had fought his way into Manhattan traffic. Without warning, he took a sharp right turn onto a side street and began to head north, steadily increasing his speed. Within seconds, the cab was weaving a...
1 comment
Read more

When in Rome . . . or Seattle

What was I doing here? I do not even drink coffee. Besides, all of these places basically look the same. This place was no different, really. What was the point of my being here? I had no intention of ordering coffee. Yet, there I was, standing in a tiny Starbucks Coffee shop in Seattle. I was not alone. The store was packed to the point where I could hardly move. While most of the people in the store had a drink in hand, I spotted a few who, like me, were just looking around. In any other city, this might have seemed exceedingly strange, going to Starbucks with no intention of getting coffee. But, this was different. This was the first Starbucks. Seattle and coffee are somewhat linked. It was in Seattle that coffee became a pastime. What was once a drink largely reserved for mornings and evening meals, became a day-long obsession. Granted, Starbucks is just another large corporation. But, it was in Seattle that Starbucks began. Seeking out the first store see...
1 comment
Read more