NASCAR
Another weekend, another JAG event. Saturday evening was spent at the Gateway International Raceway watching some live NASCAR racing. The venue is about a 15 minute drive from downtown and as we made our way there the signs were not good as a thunderstorm threatened to cancel the event. Thankfully the storm passed and after about a 90 min delay to dry the track the race was ready to start. The weather did not dampen the spirits of the american crowd many of whom had arrived at the circuit twelve hours before the race start time to take part in the now legendary sport of tailgaiting. The race itself was won by Colin Edwards and was relatively exciting with the lead changing hands on several occassions. The one downside was that it was sometimes difficult to determine who was winning as there were 43 cars racing on a 1.25 mile oval circuit. I have attached a couple of photos of the action.
RCA Tennis Championships
Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd July was spent in Indianapolis mainly at the RCA Tennis Championships which is a male ATP tour event prior to the US Open. Phil and I had tickets to the semi finals on the Saturday and Finals on the Sunday. We originaly wanted to go as both Andy Murray and Greg Rusedski had signed up for the event but unfortunately Great Britain organised a Davis Cup tie on the same weekend and the duo had to pull out, nevertheless the final was contested between James Blake (American and world No. 5) and Andy Roddick (American and world No. 10). Blake won the game 2 sets to 1 winning the final set on a tie break. In addition to the tennis we also managed to fit in a trip to the local Scottish bar 'McNivens' which we had spotted the last time we went to Indy. I couldn't resist ordering the haggis neaps and tatties from the food menu and I washed it down with a couple of pints of Tennants, bliss.
Def Leppard
Friday 21st July saw me return to the UMB bank Pavilion for the second time in three weeks this time to see Def Leppard. Unlike the Counting Crows gig this was a sell out with 18,000 or so packed into the outdoor arena. The support act was a band called Journey who from what I have been told were pretty big in the states in the 90's. Def Leppard's set included some of there old tracks from the 80's and 90's and some new stuff from there new album called 'Yeah'. Most of the night went pretty well as the expected downpours stayed away which is quite important when you are in an uncovered venue. The one downside was the two hours it took to get out of the car park after the event. This is apparently common at this venue and would I think there would need to be a really good band playing if I was to return there in the future. I have attached a photo from the night which were taken pretty far away from the main stage. A Def Leppard concert and not a mullet in site what is the world coming to.
Les Miserables
I made my second trip to the Fox Theatre on Tuesday this time to see Les Miserables. Personally I got into this show a little more than Phantom of the Opera which was still a really good show. Les Miserables is set at the time of the French Revolution with the main plot following the live of a reformed convict who makes a promise to look after a dying womans child etc. Other plots include a love triangle and by the end of the production most of the main characters are dead. If you want to know more then read the book or rent the DVD. In summary the show was very enjoyable and I am already planning my next Broadway Series show which is likely to be Monty Python's Spamalot.
Live on the Levee
This past weekend was spent in St Louis where I managed to find a couple of things to keep me entertained. On Friday night I headed to the arch grounds to listen to a couple of bands who were playing as part of 'Live on the Levee'. Live on the Levee is a series of free music gigs which run each Friday and Saturday night from Mid July to Mid August. The bands playing on Friday were 'Sister Hazel' who were a pop rock band and 'Better than Ezra' who apparently have charted in USA on several occassions. Each night after the music there is also an hour long fireworks display that I did not stay for on this occassion. I have attached a photo of 'Better than Ezra' performing on the Budweiser stage. The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the good weather which was consistantly in the high 90's while on Sunday I took in another Cardinals Baseball game where the home side beat the LA Dodgers 11-3 to maintain there lead at the top of there conference.
World Championship Boxing
This Saturday started with a trip to the Omnimax theatre in the Science Centre. The work social club (JAG) had arranged for free tickets to one of the movies. I went to a movie called 'Adrenaline Rush' which was a documentary on the activities of adrenaline junkies. For those of you that have never visited an Omnimax theatre you are basically sitting in a dome shaped theatre and the movie is projected on the roof and walls. The first photo is of the Planetarium building which forms part of the Science Centre. This building has lights installed which allows it to change colours. This looks pretty cool at night unfortunately my photo is taken at 12:00 in the afternoon so you will just need to take my word for it.
On Saturday night Don King and his entourage came to town for a night of world championship boxing. The main event wast the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship fight between hometown hero Cory 'Next Generation' Spinks and current world title holder Roman 'Made in Hell Karmazin' from Russia. The fight was superb although I thought there was a bit of home town scoring when Spinks won a unanimous points decision. There was seven other fights on the undercard although some of them were complete miss-matches and lasted ony a few minutes. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed in the event (blame Don King) but I did get some snaps when I attended the weigh in on the Friday which was held outside at Kiener Plaza. The middle photo is of Spinks, King and Karmazin for all non boxing fans.
Counting Crows & The Goo Goo Dolls
The UMB Bank Pavilion in St Louis is and outdoor music venue which attracts some pretty good performers throughout the summer. On Friday night it was the turn of the Counting Crows and Goo Goo Dolls. The venue has seating available or you can choose to sit on the lawn at the back. As it was a nice night we were glad we had tickets for the lawn. The Goo Goo Dolls provided a good support act and the Counting Crows blasted out songs from there Greatest Hits Album 'Films About Ghosts' including Big Yellow Taxi and Recovering from Satellites. However they didn't perform 'Accidently in Love' (theme tune to Shrek 2 for the less informed of you). The photos were taken from my seat on the lawn which was pretty much in line with the centre of the stage. I am heading back to this venue in two weeks to see Def Leppard so look out for another blog update.
July 4th - American Independance Day
July 4th in the states is known as American Independance Day which also means it is a public holiday. I decided to spend the early part of my day on the golf course. Scott Simmons house is situated right next to the 18th fairway of a golf course so he invited Phil, Mark and myself over for 18 holes of golf followed by a barbeque. Lets just say golf over here is a little different to that in the UK. Firstly everybody uses golf carts to get about, secondly the course had its fair share of water and finally the greens were lightening fast. We also must have broke the world record for lost golf balls. After we made up our scores we headed back to Scott's for some food and drink before settling down to watch the annual hot dog eating competition on the box. You have to see this to believe it, twenty idiots have twelve minutes to eat as many hotdogs including buns. The winner was some japenese guy who ate 53.75 dogs. This left me thinking ONLY IN AMERICA. I have attached some photos taken during the golf. The guy in the Rangers top is Phil.
Formula 1 Grand Prix
The first weekend in July involved a trip to Indianapolis to see the USA Formula 1 Grand Prix. St Louis is approximately a 3.5 hour drive from Indy so we hired a car for the weekend and Phil, myself and Sally from my work headed of on Saturday morning. We arrived in Indy around mid afternoon and met up with Sally's brother Drew who was putting us up for the weekend. This was mainly due to the fact that I had booked a hotel which had not been built yet. It's a long story so I will spare you the details. Saturday was a day of eating, touring the city and visiting the local Scottish pub called McNivens. Sunday was race day and we headed to the Indianapolis motor speedway early to take in the atmosphere. The pre race entertainment consisted of some live music by a band named 'Crew', this was followed by a visit to the merchandise stalls where did the american thing and buy an official Renault baseball cap. Finally we made it to our seats where we were forced to watch the Formula 1 grid girls before the start of the race. The race was full of action with a major crash on the first lap and only nine finishers. The race was won by Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari. Superb weekend and photos posted.
