Starcrawler @ Repo Record

Early start.  Starcrawler playing a morning show at Repo at 10am on a Saturday.  And free!  I'm in.

I was introduced to Starcrawler at Punk Rock Bowling earlier this year and enjoyed their set, so I thought I'd come and see what they could do in a smaller venue.

I got there as the doors opened and about 50 or so people headed into the back of the store, where they'd cleared a space for the 5 piece to play.  Starcrawler had played at Cat's Cradle the previous night and were headed to Atlanta to play tonight.  I love the daytime gig.  I wish we could get some more bands to do this in Charlotte.  

Rocking from the first note of She Gets Around, Starcrawler played as it were a regular gig, and the early morning crowd were into it.  I Love LA was played early in the set - I remember that from May.  And somewhere midset singer, Arrow de Wilde pulled out her backbend.  I really liked No More Pennies, Roadkill and their cover of Pet Sematary.  16 songs in 45 minutes.  Yeah I'll take that at 10am before I go and get my groceries.  Starcrawler finished the set with a rocking Chicken Woman, which saw guitarist, Henri Cash, stride through the crowd, jump up on the front register and blaze away from the rest of the band.

Great show.  Better than Punk Rock Bowling, mostly because the energy transferred better in a small closed in venue.  It's not often I see Repo do in-stores, but I will always keep an eye out for future shows.

Starcrawler, Repo Record, Charlotte, NC

Starcrawler Setlist

The Crap Facts

This is my 511th concert.
Repo Record is the 139th venue I've seen a concert at.
This is my 111th concert in Charlotte.
This is my 133rd concert in North Carolina.
This is my 311th concert in the USA.
This is my 2nd Starcrawler concert.

New York, NY

New York, NY

New York, NY

Big Day!  Big Day indeed!

We all packed into the breakfast space at the hotel before heading off for a day's adventure in Manhattan at 10am.  We all walked up to Wall Street, not far from the hotel, and then past the New York Stock Exchange to Trinity Church.  We stuck our head inside this ornate church, as well as toured the cemetery, where we saw the grave of Alexander Hamilton. two blocks, and one tourist store, south is the Charging Bull statue in Bowling Green.  We, like every tourist on the planet is seemed, lined up to take a photo.  Not sure why I hadn't been here on 2 previous visits, but it was funny watching people pose with the bull, and we got a great family photo.

We then walked the half dozen blocks up Greenwich Street to the 9/11 Memorial Pools.  Such a somber place.  This is a tragedy that still affects many people, and you can see this in the respect of all the visitors, as the air is tense, and people mostly look in silence or hushed tones.  We saw the names of those lost on that terrible day, and noticed some had white roses placed with them.  I learned that this was done daily and the white roses were for those who should have been celebrating a birthday.  I do find it both eerie and triumphant that this memorial sits in the shadow of the since built One World Trade Center.  Taller than all, this landmark sticks out everywhere in Manhattan, and serves also as a reminder of the overcoming spirit of that fateful 2001 day.

Just west of the area is the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal.  We jump on for the half hour ride down to Staten Island.  Along the way we take in the views of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty (time meant we didn't go over and spend time on the island), as well as Manhattan at the back of the boat.

The stop in Staten Island is at a near empty mall, where we stopped at Shake Shack and had lunch.  Kel & Lucy took the Staten Island Ferry back to the hotel, while the rest of us jumped back on the ferry all the way up to the 

 

New York, NY

We didn't really do anything of significance while my sister and her family came to Charlotte, but we did take off for a long weekend in New York.  A great stop in their month long adventure in the US , and the perfect opportunity for us to take the boys there for the first time.

We tagged along as KJL&M had booked their flights and hotels already.  We book the same.  It's an easy flight up to La Guardia, and a van took the 8 of us straight to our Fairfield Inn in the Financial District in Manhattan.  After our experience in Philly, we opted for 2 rooms with king beds as A&I and the now teenage boys are crammed into a room with 2 doubles.

We dumped bags and headed straight to the Fulton St Subway to get over to High St in Brooklyn.  We then spend the late afternoon wandering around Brooklyn Heights, taking in both Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.  Doing all the touristy pick of the bridges and the Manhattan Skyline.  Eventually we ended up at the Time Out Market, where we seemed to go 8 different ways to get dinner, but still manage to find a table together.  Unfortunately the roof was closed for a private event.  That's where we really wanted to be.  The boys and I had eaten at a Time Out in Montreal, and that was a great experience.  This place may have been even better still.

We continued walking along the East River, just being happy to be in a new city.  Our last stop was at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, for the kids.  From there it was across the street to the ferry, which took us back to Pier 11, just a short walk back to the hotel.

LMB&L, Brooklyn, NY

BMD&L, Brooklyn, NY

DBL&M, Brooklyn, NY

Charlotte Hornets v Miami Heat @ Spectrum Center

We didn't do a ton of stuff in Charlotte when my sister and her family were here.  But one thing the boys wanted, was to see some sports.  So the boys and I took Jason and Maxy, and Uncle Drew, to the Spectrum Arena to catch the Hornets in a pre-season game.  

We got some seats at a good price on the lower level (I've never had that before) and headed into town to catch some dinner at the 7th Street Market before getting into the venue just before tipoff.  The arena wasn't 1/2 full and we probably could've moved down closer, but we were content with some good seats.  Thing were pretty even in the first quarter, then it looked like Miami might start to pull away in the second.  After half time the Hornets came out and dominated, going from 58-62 down to leading 89-81 at the end of the 3rd.  Things remained even throughout the last quarter and the Hornets held on for a 3 point victory.  

I hope the result is the sign of  a good season for the Hornets.  With Charlotte FC having a good year, it would be nice if another Carolina team could follow their lead and get people excited about sport in this town.  Because, while the arena was not half full, the atmosphere in the arena was like that of a library....again.  I'm not sure how to change that, but I'm sure a winning season wouldn't go astray.

Charlotte Hornets 111 (L. Ball 24, T. Salaun 15, M. Bridges 14, T. Mann 14) defeated Miami Heat 108 (B. Adebayo 13, K. Ware 13, J. Butler 11, P. Larsson 10)

Crowd: 10,093