This Eric Clapton and Elton John concert at Shea Stadium, home of the Mets, was memorable for many reasons. My wife, her sister, my buddy Eric snd I drove to Elmhurst to park on a side street near She Stadium as I have an aversion to pay for parking. I found a good spot nearby, but as we were locking up the car to walk over to Shea a young guy asked me for $20 to “keep an eye on the car” for me. I thought this odd as it was a legal parking space, when the light bulb came on and I realized he wanted twenty bucks to ensure it did not to get messed with by him and his buddies.

We had seats on the Shea Stadium Mets baseball field , where we soon found out they were not selling alcohol downstairs, and there was no heading back in to stadium once inside. As this was before we all had cell phones, Eric and I told security we had to make an important phone call and headed to Casey’s Bar where we quickly consumed large quantities of beers before heading back to our seats where my bride and her sister waited, looking horrified that we had bamboozled security into letting us get to the bar. Elton John opened with “Funeral For a Friend/ Live Lies Bleeding” and my buddy took the lead air guitar down the aisle like a latter day Chuck Berry. It was a night to remember to be sure, with no shortage of misadventure thrown into the mix, with Eric Clapton and Elton John providing the soundtrack.

Further On Up The Road

Rock on!

GQ