Connecticut: A Walk in the Park

My experience in Hartford has been less large estates and wealthy ladies in pearls and more beautiful parks and a happening financial district. I admit that my narrow-minded ideas of what to expect had come from too many episodes of Gilmore Girls in my college days but I could tell right away that the downtown area where the venue was located was more like other urban cities we have visited and not the land of country clubs I pictured in my mind (not to say that that land doesn't exist on the other side of town). The street where the bus is parked feels intimate, almost like the foe New York streets where episodes of Seinfeld were filmed. A feeling of property ownership surged over me as I walked down the center of the "private" road, until the honk of a car brought me back to reality. 

Hartford is clean as a whistle and although there are still a wide range of characters on the streets, most seem to be business people walking with purpose down the city blocks. I picture myself back a couple years, in my intern days with a company in Santa Monica, walking intentionally down the promenade during my lunch break planning how I could better attack my spreadsheets that awaited me upstairs. I wonder when I will use that part of my brain again, I have never thought of myself as business minded or one who would enjoy a "9 to 5" but maybe there will be a day when I crave that kind of stability in a career like the people who strutted past me. I don't see it happening but stranger things have happened. 

We decide on Trumbull Kitchen for lunch, a "hip" downtown restaurant (according to Zagat) that has very eclectic menu with everything from sushi to mac and cheese. My Ahi Tuna salad with baby bok choy, yuzu, edemame and seaweed hit the spot. We have all been trying to eat healthy on this tour but I could tell right then that  I had been missing vegetables in my diet and should get them in my body immediately. D. Wayne must have felt the same way because he ordered a mountain of spinach on the side of his dish.

After load in to the venue, Daniel Wayne and I went on a long stroll through the park. He didn't want me to go alone because of my experiences the day before and I was more than happy to go out and see the new area together. With freshly cut grass, enormous trees and dozens of squirrels, I am surprised to see there are not more people around enjoying the beautiful landscape. The people that would be enjoying this park on the weekend are probably the same people I saw crunching numbers a few blocks away. The playground for the kids has a stream that runs through the sand and the picnic table benches are actually concrete stacks of classic books (that seems "east coast" to me.) Though I am having so much fun with everyone, it is so nice spend time just the two of us. We relax on a bench until he is called in for soundcheck. As we pass a restaurant, Daniel is recognized by a couple sitting in a outdoor cafe, they are big fans and excited to see the show. Still so strange to me. 

I can barely see the performance from where I am standing in the Union Train Station. I love the idea of using the station as a venue; however, I don't love that they are probably past capacity and I am being elbowed in the face as people make their way to and from the bathroom. I decide to flash my handy dandy all-access pass and stand slightly backstage so I can at least watch the band, even if it is from behind. While I am taking a picture, I am stopped by a women asking if I was a journalist. I reply no but explained how I studied it in college, probably too much information for a stranger but  I liked that I was putting off journalistic vibes. 

The concert was amazing (ending guitar solo especially). There were some slight technical difficulties with sound resulting in some distortion to the vocals but the band pushed through the handicap and it appeared the audience appreciated the performance all the more. "Never let 'em see you sweat" seems to be a mantra of Imagine Dragons. No matter what odds they are up against, the audience will never get a performance with less than 110%. They don't want anyone to get a performance less than there best. After-show discussions exemplify the  level of perfection they demand from themselves, never wanting to settle for anything less. 

The night ended with hotdogs from a vendor just 5 feet from the Dragon Wagon. The location was ideal because most band members made multiple trips, being stopped by fans each time to sign autographs and pose for pictures even hours after the show.