What a fantastic night!
A little bit of context first:
My mom and I went to our first Al concert when I was 14, during Touring With Scissors. We had such a blast that we ended up doing a mini tourchase, driving all over NY/NJ/PA to see the show a total of 9 times that tour. At an age when most kids start to rebel against their parents, my mom and I only grew closer from that experience, and it's a time in our lives that we still both look back on with great fondness. The last time we saw a show together was in 2007*, right after I graduated from college and mere days before I moved out of state.
*(Port Chester last year doesn't count; it was so last minute that we weren't sitting anywhere near each other)I'm 31 now, living about as far away from NYC as you can get while still being in the contiguous US, and I only get to see my parents once or twice a year. On top of that, without getting into details, it's been a very rough year for my family, particularly my mom. So for us to be able to see the last show of this tour together, with Czar tickets -- well, it was very special.
The VIP party was huge! Easily twice as big as I'd seen so far. Got to see tons of familiar faces -- Alicia (who got her beret for Billy!), Diva (who I think I last saw at the Bethlehem show alllll the way back in 2000), Adrian, Anne, Dave, and Jackie. JW serenaded me and sniffed my armpit during Do I Creep You Out. He also remembered me and my costume contest win from SF last year.
I bumped into Jerry, aka Mandatory Fun Al, and we compared notes on our military regalia and chatted about cosplay for a long time. We must have posed for at least 20 pictures together too; there must be something about two people wearing the same costume that amplifies photo requests.
I decided not to enter the costume contest this time around. Dave and Jerry had an intense tiebreaker showdown going on and I really wanted to just watch the whole thing. It did not disappoint! Dave won for a well deserved eighth time, though Jerry and the Canadian Idiot dark horse contestant fought valiantly as well.
The show itself was fantastic as always. I could tell how stoked Al and the guys were to be playing at such an iconic venue to a completely full house. Was admittedly a little sad that he didn't come near us for Tacky or WBUL, but I've been very lucky other times this tour so it's nbd. I loved looking behind me to watch the arm waves during Amish Paradise and the lit up cell phones during the encore. Though I have to say, the crowd seemed a little subdued in general. Or maybe it was just where I was sitting? I dunno. I'm curious to hear if others in attendance felt differently.
Super cool to see Lin-Manuel Miranda onstage during Yoda, and I love that he was as excited as any of us. Also semi-related side note: I'm kind of flipping out that Tina Fey was in the audience. It's probably for the best that I didn't know about it at the time; she's one of my all time heroes and one of the few celebrities I would actually approach in public and fangirl over. So... probably good that I didn't have a chance to make an ass of myself.
After the show we went back down to the lounge to line up for the meet and greet. I'm sad that we didn't hang at the back of the line with the rest of the die hards, but it was pretty late already and we had early morning plans the next day so we stayed up front. The whole band came down to mingle which is a rare treat these days but they stuck to one section of the room. My mom went over to say hi to Steve while I held our place in line, and once he found out I was there he very sweetly came over to say hello and chat for a few minutes. We kind of became buds during Touring With Scissors but he's so elusive after shows lately that we hadn't seen each other in over a decade. It was great to touch base. His son Miles was there too; he's even taller than Steve is!
Shortly after that, Al came out to great applause and the line started moving. It seemed like they were really moving people along fairly quickly, but who could blame them with the huge amount of czars to get through. When we reached the front of the line, JW thanked us for coming out, and asked if my mom and I were sisters (so smooth). I posed for a quick pic with Al, and told him I didn't want him to sign anything but just wanted to congratulate him on a great tour and album, and mentioned that I look forward to the next tour. He took my hand and thanked me. Oh and he complimented my costume! He looked so tired but also very happy.
Sappho is right, this definitely feels like the end of a very important chapter for Al, and I'm sure it feels as bittersweet to him as it does to us. And on a personal note, it's the end of the chapter that started with me dipping my toe back into the WOWAY pool after a ridiculously long absence. Even though I still don't post here a ton, I read the forum regularly and am so thankful to have met some new friends over the past two years and reconnected with old ones. I'm gonna try to stick around this time.

2018 feels like a long time from now but I'm sure it will be here before we know it.
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