..the small world I live in..

Readers have probably noticed a bit of a break from The Dailys later in the week. There are good reasons, I promise you. I will tell you of one: Wednesday July 1, 2009.

It was about a week ago that I got an email from a good friend of mine, one Ms. Carolyn Snell:

I have some friends in a band called Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers.  They are super fun in concert & playing at the US Embassy on Wednesday around 630 or 7.  Would you like to go?  If so, please fill out the attached form asap (I’ve gotta turn it back into them soon) with whomever else you want to go with and turn it back into me!

If not, no biggie too…. just let me know.

xo
C.Snell

Right, so, they are “playing at the US Embassy”. What does this mean? Well, I didn’t really know, but I sent my name and the names of four friends to be put on the guest list. As the time drew near for the show, I began to wonder what exactly Carolyn had gotten us into. There were articles on JPost about an Independence Day party at the US Ambassador’s residence in Hertzliya Pituah. The articles were informing the public that some of the Israeli heads of state were calling for a boycott of the event, but that PM Benyamin Netanyahu would be attending. “Surely this is not where we are going.” Being the day of the concert and that we needed to leave Jerusalem soon, I decided to quickly follow the email trail from Carolyn and see if there was anyone who could tell me where I was going (The Embassy in Tel Aviv or to rub elbows with diplomats [read: professional liars] . Luckily, I got in touch with a guy who is with Armed Forces Entertainment. He gave me the exact address to the ambassador’s residence and also asked me which guest list I was on. A little bit of back and forth on who I was and how I got on a guest list to begin with was followed by a phone call from the band’s manager. Apparently there were parts on the guest list that needed to be filled in with passport numbers and dates of birth. So, I filled out the spreadsheet correctly and sent them to Mr. Armed Forces Entertainment’s Blackberry. BUT, he didn’t get that email, so I got another phone call from the band’s manager on our way to Hertzliya Pituah. I called in a favor to The Vern and he resent the email from my computer. Another phone call confirmed that they had received our information and that it would be taken down to security.

We arrived in Hertzliya Pituah, talked to a policeman about where to park, and then got on this shuttle bus:

Apparently, this shuttle bus was going to take us to the future! We couldn’t wait! We rode the shuttle bus to the future with about six other people who were far more dressed up than we were, but how were we supposed to know what future people were wearing? It took us to a street at the bottom of a small hill. We proceeded to walk up this hill where eventually we saw three consecutive security stations spread out along the street. Going up to the first one we put on our “we’re with the band” faces and told them as much. However, we were NOT on their list. So, they sent us to the next security station, where we were also NOT on the list. At the second security station we were placed in a bit of a holding pattern for about 15-20 minutes where we told our story to about 3-4 different folks. Eventually, we were told by an Israeli woman, “I will go find ‘Mr. Armed Forces Entertainment’, and if he can identify you, I will let you in, but if not you will go home.” Unfortunately, he didn’t know what I looked like, so being identified visually was not going to happen. We were then sent down to the third security stations to see if we were on their list. Apparently, this was the security station that the Americans were at, and although they couldn’t find us on their list, they started doing everything they could to get us in (under dressed and all). They gave us souvenir fans to cool ourselves down with and a program so that we could, as the lady said, “at least read something while you are waiting.” We were then told that something was going to happen and if we could wait on the sidewalk for 5 minutes they would then begin helping us. That “something” that was to happen was Benyamin Netanyahu’s motorcade driving by. One lady got on the phone with the State Department soon after to try to get us to check out with them:

“I think I’m going to just let them in. Do you see any problem with that? I really don’t have a problem with it. I think I’m just going to let them in. [to us] What are your names? [gives our names to the State Department]. Yeah, I’m just going to let them in.”

R.M [some sort of military man]: “Come with me. I’ll take you in.” We walked back to the second security station. [to the lady that told us we would be identified or we would go home] “They are okay. Let them in.”

And we were in! Our first stop, the Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers swag table for a “free” CD [thanks all you US taxpayers]. As we moved past the swag table, we saw that this was simply a backyard party with a bunch of American companies represented [i.e. Dominos Pizza, McDonald's, Miller, Jack Daniels, Post, Avis, Ben and Jerry's, etc]. Our second stop after the swag table was Dominos for some American style pizza (the had REAL pepperoni), then we walked by the Miller refrigerator and were promptly, without being asked, given Genuine Drafts. Pizza and beer. In the future, apparently it is the simple things that matter. It was absolutely wonderful.

After the singing of both national anthems by Shiri Maymon, we enjoyed some speeches from the US Ambassador and PM Netanyahu. I chose a spot next to whom I believed to be a diplomat from India and his wife. This is the best shot I could get:

After the speeches it was time to go searching for another beverage before Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers came on stage. The music started and the guys played with gusto as three American students living in Jerusalem rocked out with them. The diplomats were busy being diplomatty, but not us. This was the reason we were here. Well, I shouldn’t say it was just us. The Jelly Belly was there. “It” and I shared a high five a few minutes before the giant bean almost bit it sliding down a short but steep hill:

They opened the set with a song called “Sweet Sophia” off of their current album Glass-Jaw Boxer. This was followed by a cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel“, a personal favorite of mine. It was so great to hear live music that is of a persuasion that I really enjoy. I’ve had the opportunity while living here in Jerusalem to hear a good bit of live music (nothing compared to living in Nashville, though). It has mostly been Classical music, which is all fine and good, but a little too educated for me. I enjoy it and appreciate it for sure, but I miss what I will call “real people” music. Songs that come from experiences and tell stories…and that have words I am a bit of a lyric junkie. We caught up with Stephen, the lead singer, and Kit the keys and bass man afterward. They were expecting us, as Carolyn told them we were coming. They were exactly the kind of people you want behind the music: kind and generous of spirit. We talked about the great divide between politics and the “real people” as evidenced by the fact that none of the diplomats were paying attention to the songs that were hand-picked for them and the event. US tax dollars spent on people who don’t care a lick. That’s Caesar I suppose.

We left satisfied and pretty amazed at what had just taken place. As we arrived at the shuttle back to the past, I called up Carolyn to say a big thank you. I didn’t know she was in the Bahamas. Apparently her boss (who sings real people music) is doing a gig there for the 4th of July. Who knew? Thanks for movin’ me uptown for a evening C.Snell.

***1360 words more than makes up for 3 days without 300 word dailys

a.lenore