We hadn't planned on it, but we stayed over with our Long Island friends after the show and came back to the city the next day (Saturday). By the time we regrouped at the hotel that afternoon, Paul and Linda had already left for the show in Boston that night. Again we had missed the chance to say a proper thank you. We hoped to see them that night and have a moment to do so, but once again we were out of luck. I believe there was a party or something after the show, so although we stayed at the hotel quite late, we were exhausted and couldn't wait long enough to see them arrive.
One of the many great things about seeing him during the tour was that he had to be on some kind of schedule. We got to know approximately when they would leave and return, and so we didn't have to spend the entire day and night at the hotel waiting. We knew when to be around and when we could leave. There was no show scheduled on this next day, Sunday, and in turn, there was no predicting when they might come out, if at all. As it turned out, we never saw them, and now it had been two days since we had received the tickets and we still had not been able to thank him.
On Monday we were all back to our routines as we stood outside the hotel waiting for them to come down. Evidently, word had gotten out that they were staying there, and so on this day there was a bit of a crowd gathered. One thing we had learned about him very early on: if there was a larger crowd present, Paul went into his "Beatle" mode. He put his guard up and became the smiling, waving superstar that the public craved, which was nothing like the "normal" unguarded person he was when he was around us. As P&L appeared at the lobby entrance on their way out, the crowd took over. Whenever this happened, we would just stand to the side out of the way. We did not want to be anywhere near, or in any way associated with the crowd that flashed pictures in his face and yelled things at him. As we stood off to the side just watching all the people and everything going on, he saw us. He broke out in a big smile, waved and gave us the "thumbs up" as they got in their car. Of course we were happy to have been recognized, and we smiled and waved back. Still, no opportunity to say the important thank you we had been trying to deliver for days. (On a side note, there is a selection on the DVD included with the WOA boxed set called Photographer’s Pass. Among all of the photos included, there is one at the Stanhope showing the gathering crowd. If that was taken on the day of the show, we were out of camera range, but we were there. Here's two pics from those weeks during the tour, Paul's wearing the same jacket in the DVD photos....)
One of the many great things about seeing him during the tour was that he had to be on some kind of schedule. We got to know approximately when they would leave and return, and so we didn't have to spend the entire day and night at the hotel waiting. We knew when to be around and when we could leave. There was no show scheduled on this next day, Sunday, and in turn, there was no predicting when they might come out, if at all. As it turned out, we never saw them, and now it had been two days since we had received the tickets and we still had not been able to thank him.
On Monday we were all back to our routines as we stood outside the hotel waiting for them to come down. Evidently, word had gotten out that they were staying there, and so on this day there was a bit of a crowd gathered. One thing we had learned about him very early on: if there was a larger crowd present, Paul went into his "Beatle" mode. He put his guard up and became the smiling, waving superstar that the public craved, which was nothing like the "normal" unguarded person he was when he was around us. As P&L appeared at the lobby entrance on their way out, the crowd took over. Whenever this happened, we would just stand to the side out of the way. We did not want to be anywhere near, or in any way associated with the crowd that flashed pictures in his face and yelled things at him. As we stood off to the side just watching all the people and everything going on, he saw us. He broke out in a big smile, waved and gave us the "thumbs up" as they got in their car. Of course we were happy to have been recognized, and we smiled and waved back. Still, no opportunity to say the important thank you we had been trying to deliver for days. (On a side note, there is a selection on the DVD included with the WOA boxed set called Photographer’s Pass. Among all of the photos included, there is one at the Stanhope showing the gathering crowd. If that was taken on the day of the show, we were out of camera range, but we were there. Here's two pics from those weeks during the tour, Paul's wearing the same jacket in the DVD photos....)
As we turned to go, Alan Crowder (the tour manager) stopped me, handed me an envelope, said, "Here, this is for you" and immediately got into a car and drove off. I barely had a chance to process having just seen Paul (which was always a kick that never got old), and now I was handed...what? The four of us quickly turned the corner away from the hotel and the crowd, and huddled around a mailbox to see what I had been given. This was the second mysterious envelope I had been handed in just a few days, and we were a bit shaky to look inside. Very slowly, as if something might jump out and bite, I opened the envelope to find four tickets for the second show at Madison Square Garden, Tuesday, May 25. If we had been excited the first time this happened, we were speechless now. We just looked at each other, then the tickets, then each other again. This really couldn't be true.....
This second set of tickets were located on the opposite side of the arena from the first ones we were given, and these were great seats as well. As we came to understand later, we were in the “family” section. Sitting behind us and slightly to the right were John Eastman (Linda's brother), Rose Martin (Paul's housekeeper for years and later on, Mary & Stella's nanny - sadly Rose passed away in September 2013 at age 92) and other assorted faces that we recognized, all of them “inner circle” folks. And here we were, among the family, sitting where Paul had wanted us to be.
We could never really know the truth, but all four of us had the same suspicion. The Monday night tickets from Eastman & Eastman seemed to be arranged through the management team, as if Paul had said to someone, “Here, take care of this.” However, the second show on Tuesday seemed more special. Sitting with the family made us feel as though he had personally seen to it that we were there, making sure that we were right where he thought we should be that night. And all of it seemed to be arranged on the sly, without Linda being aware or involved. When we finally did get the opportunity to say a great big thank you to him for his thoughtfulness and generosity, we made sure it was out of Linda’s presence, just in case. He seemed to be genuinely happy that we had been in attendance, and that he was responsible for making it happen.
For the record, it was way better than scalping tickets.
This second set of tickets were located on the opposite side of the arena from the first ones we were given, and these were great seats as well. As we came to understand later, we were in the “family” section. Sitting behind us and slightly to the right were John Eastman (Linda's brother), Rose Martin (Paul's housekeeper for years and later on, Mary & Stella's nanny - sadly Rose passed away in September 2013 at age 92) and other assorted faces that we recognized, all of them “inner circle” folks. And here we were, among the family, sitting where Paul had wanted us to be.
We could never really know the truth, but all four of us had the same suspicion. The Monday night tickets from Eastman & Eastman seemed to be arranged through the management team, as if Paul had said to someone, “Here, take care of this.” However, the second show on Tuesday seemed more special. Sitting with the family made us feel as though he had personally seen to it that we were there, making sure that we were right where he thought we should be that night. And all of it seemed to be arranged on the sly, without Linda being aware or involved. When we finally did get the opportunity to say a great big thank you to him for his thoughtfulness and generosity, we made sure it was out of Linda’s presence, just in case. He seemed to be genuinely happy that we had been in attendance, and that he was responsible for making it happen.
For the record, it was way better than scalping tickets.
