New York, New York, what a wonderful town!

Well, all we can say is we thought we were so lucky just going on the Rockin' Roadtrip, but after today, we realized we actually have horseshoes.... and are really rockin"!
Just by chance, Celia's brother Andy was in NYC on Sunday, so he invited us to stay at his posh, boutique hotel, blocks from Central Park and Times Square.  If that wasn't enough, he surprised us with "All-Access" backstage passes to the sold-out RUSH concert in Madison Square Gardens!!!!  Andy works at Anthem Records and is the Artist's Liaison for Rush when they're on the road - that means if someone wants to meet with Geddy Lee and they boys, they go through him. 
We'd never been to Madison Square Gardens and when we arrived, went right into the bowels of the building and saw all the workings of this fabulous place.  Jim went crazy over the dressing room areas of the Knicks and the Rangers and gawked at all the historical photos of championship teams.  Then it was off to watch the sound check with only about 6 other people in the entire Gardens.  It was eerie - looking at all the empty seats waiting to be filled and amazing listening to the band, casually chatting and playing a few key songs.  Brother Andy then took us right on the stage and here we are...

Neil Peart's Drum Kit

2011 Time Machine Tour Stage

Geddy Lee's Organ

Geddy's 8 Bass Guitars

After that, we schmoozed with the crew, recording people and media over dinner and drinks and then got to meet the band themselves!

And one other piece of trivia - this backdrop was made by Celia's brother Mike who is an artist.

Finally it was show time and what a performance!  These guys are close to 60 and played a 3 hour concert with incredible energy.  Jim said Neil Peart is the best drummer he's ever seen.  Oh, and did mention that we watched from our 8th row floor seats?  Here's a taste of the concert.

Celia also ran into another cute guy - recognize him????  She asked Paul Rudd if he's available now that he's no longer dating Pheobe Buffay of Friends.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Exhausted, but on a huge high, we walked the 20 blocks back to the hotel and sunk into these beds at 2:00 a.m.  How can we ever top this experience?

Next post will be the beautiful campus of Yale in New Haven, Connecticut.