Roadtrip from Norfolk, VA (on TDY for another week) took over 5 hours ... it was a nice drive ... concert venue at the Atlantic City Hilton Grand ... somewhat intimate theater ... while waiting in line to get in un viejo was "going off" in Spanish about his "comp" seats .. then I hear the name "Pacheco" and lo and behold el viejo is calling out for Pacheco ... Pacheco comes over and has some words with the "ticket takers" aka "goons" ... needless to say el senor y la senora get their seats .. Got my seat .. unfortunately not as close as I wanted to be but enough that I can actually see their facial expressions .. anywayzz .. concert starts ... Pascal does his schpiel .. and then ... the experience begins ... Unfortunately I don't quite remember the playlist ... the sound system was awful ... but I did finally get to "hear" Ama Bei Bei and the song with the vilonist .. yeah, I don't remember the title to that song either but the end of the song was quite memorable ... why??? ... Nicolas WALKED OFF THE STAGE at the end of the song with an extreme case of disgust apparent upon his face with some very negative hand/body gestures and comments to Paul et Andre ... oh mai ..(I'm pretty sure it was directed to the sound system, a few of them were having problems through out the show) .. but the band kept on playing .... and playing .. they segued into an instrumental with El Maestro and the Violinist "battling" it out ... it was great ... I think Canut took the lead and did his magic then finally Nicolas came back ... he entered stage right ... provencal gestures in full motion .. arms out .. palms up .. shoulders going up and down .. words were exchanged and he returned front and center ... oh to be a fly on the backstage wall ... a few songs later it was Canut's turn to get disgusted with the sound .. but he didn't walk off ... for some odd reason they did not take an intermission .. the concert was awfully short ... (they must have decided to just get the night over with) .. and ... and .. the Paya Bimbos were out in droves .. there must have been a two for one special going on somewhere ... geez .. the first one got up on stage early on to do her "thang" with Michael ... el maestro found it amusing ... it started to get really old the second, third, & fourth time she got on stage ... the GK did their standard encore ... Bamboleo ... and lordy lordy ... the PB just appeared on stage ... it was hilarious up to the point where Tonino walked off stage ... YEP .. it was Tonino's turn ... he walked off half way through the encore ... them PBs were eveywhere .. but the others kept on playing ... then it ended ... no introductions .. no nothing ... it was ... sad! :-( I drove up 5 hours for this?! Then I thought wait a minute ... my boss is paying for all of this!!!!! TEE HEE!!! Not a cent out of my pocket ... HOTEL & TRANSPORTATION covered .. concert tickets covered by my Per Diem .... YES!!!!! ...

I thought about going to the Sunday night concert but the drive back at night would have done me in .. so that Sunday morning I went back to do some shopping on the boardwalk and get some sun on the beach (haven't seen one in months and was having withdrawls - although I must say AC doesn't quite compare to the beaches of Hawaii) .. went back to the hotel ... waited and waited for valet to bring around my car ... and ... then it happened ... :-))))) .... just like magic ... my "boys" showed up .. en masse ... I saw Paul in front of me first, eyes smiling with that twinkle going ... then I heard "THE VOICE" - Nicolas right behind me ... sweet jesus ... they were all there .... this made up for the concert!!! and then some ... I was in heaven ... til I remembered a most important fact .... I left my camera in the car ... WAAAAGGGHHH!! .. it hurt right down to the core of my soul!!! There were others there who recognized them also .. they did the autograph thing and took photos ... as I stood to the side ... oh how I wish ...

But at least I got my GK fix and for free to boot! :-) .. I think this should last me for the next few months ....

Thus ends my weekend adventure .. hope this entertained y'all for a while ...

Juliet