Four seconds of Bliss

Several days ago I had a nightmare that I was at the doors of the Apollo theater for Sting's concert and found that I had left my tickets at home. I woke up mildly upset and bothered.
"That's absurd." and dismissed the thought in my mind.That will not happen to me. I am not a novice concert goer. But I checked my tickets all the same and did so everyday since then.

I took a day off that Thursday. I knew I could not concentrate at work anyway. I spent the day at home with my baby and my mom and pretended to work on my assignment for school. I got as far as writing the title page and the reference page of my assignment.

Soon it was time to leave. Before I closed the front door behind me, I triple checked my tickets. "yup, it's there"

checked my camera and the extra battery. "yup, it's there."  Micheal and I were on our way to Harlem. Surprisingly, we hit no traffic going to the City. We passed the Apollo theater on our search for the parking lot. There was a line already. A group of people looked like they belonged to a certain group: wearing a black and yellow strip scarf, much like the colors of a bumble bee. "hmmm" I sat in the car  thinking that they were the few elite fans who were able to get first dibs on the tickets  when it went on sale a few weeks back. We parked our car and headed to the doors of the theater. A nice family volunteered to snap a our picture by the marquee. It was a nice night, even though there were threats of bad weather all day.

I was unable to get my coveted front and center seat. It took me about five hours to get my tickets and the best I could get was orchestra right 18th row. (Note to self: renew membership to fan club site next year)

Michael and I were ushered to our seats. It was the first for both of us to be there at the Apollo. It was a small and intimate theater but it showed  it's age with its dated light fixtures and old carpet.

Eight o'clock came and soon the orchestra filled the stage and Sting came out. He opened with "if I ever lose my faith in you." Today, he was clean shaven. his brown blond hair was nicely highlighted by the spot lights that was trained on him. I was inspired and stayed in awe for the rest of the show. Roxanne, Why Should I cry for you, Fragile, Message in a Bottle and Mad About You were thoroughly enjoyed by this fan. I could not stop sighing. I thought the show ended too soon. I could not even remember the last song. Was it King of Pain? Anyway, I snapped another picture of the marquee  then headed on back to the parking lot.

But I had other plans really. i saw the backstage door was just adjacent to the parking lot we chose. Earlier, although the lot was full, I had to bribe the attendant; "C'mon you could fit another car there." We agreed to a price off the books . "Yes!"


I passed the parking lot and headed straight to the back stage door, already barricaded by security guards. I was one of the first few there. Worried that our car will be locked in the parking lot, I had asked Michael to check on the car. Big mistake! Because soon afterwards Sting came out as I was testing whether to use video or Camera. He came straight at me and I dropped my camera. It's a good thing i had it strapped to my wrist. I got a hand shake and a hug. He thanked me and moved on to the next fan. I was star struck! " Wake up Flo. Take a picture!" I looked behind me to look for Michael with the hope of getting a picture with Sting but alas, no Michael. I recovered soon enough to snap a profile picture. It was that picture and a clip of 4 seconds of bliss captured on video were all I have to show for that experience.