That’s Stella

This officially goes on my list of Memorable Life Experiences…

My girl friends managed to get out of work early and caught a ferry from downtown Manhattan’s financial district to Liberty State Park, New Jersey. It started raining as soon as we boarded the ferry and stopped as soon as we put our feet on Jersey ground.

The views were spectacular by day. Manhattan skyline behind us. Ellis island and the powering Statue of Liberty to our right. It was only more magnificent by night.

We caught a bit of Grizzly Bear action, then rushed over to see CSS. It was another mad dash to check out Underworld then we settled at Girl Talk. I was bummed I missed out on The Go Team earlier in the day and also majorly bummed our VIP pass wasn’t that impressive. But the main reason we went was Radiohead.

It was a crowd of 20,000 people at the festival. My girl friends and I braved the crowd and ventured deep into the Radiohead crowd to try and get a decent view. We managed to get right in the middle, so close yet so far. I could barely see Thom Yorke even on tippy toes. The crowd was generally nice and more calm and mature than the Big Day Out mosh pit. Being the 5′3 shorty that I am, men (and women) offered to pick me up so I could get a glance at the stage but declined as it would have been bad ettiquite for me to block someone elses view. The thought of being in the middle of a big 20,000 crowd of people and the overwhelming smell of weed and lack of fresh air was making me anxious. I wondered if I threw up whether I would suddenly have so much space around me, but scanning the crowd, there was no room to budge.

I have been listening to Radiohead since I was 14 years old so, 10 years later, it felt amazing to finally be seeing them live.

The skies were getting dark. There were hints of pink clouds across the Manhattan skyline behind us.

Radiohead started the show and it was overwhelming. Everyone around me kept freaking out. The 30ish year old man behind me kept turning around in circles. “THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IS BEHIND US. THERE IS MANHATTAN JUST OVER THERE. AND JERSEY CITY. I AM LISTENING TO RADIOHEAD. FUCK!”.

I was as high as a kite. I reached my hands to the sky and wriggled my fingers to feel the cool air above me. I started to get teary listening to Lucky - thinking about where I was in the world. How far away I was from home. Thinking about the beauty and opportunities and experiences to be had in my new home. And just like the guy said, the stunning Manhattan skyline, the lights from Jersey city, the Liberty Lady standing over us.