AmsterJam 2006

It felt like college all over again. I woke up, already exhausted from the night before (Wu-Tang concert), but with the thought that I needed to rally. Waiting to hear from Vero, who was most certainly hung-over as well, I took the hair-of-the-dog approach to wellness and pounded a few more beers. Then the call came. “Get your ass over here. It’s time to drink!”

Vero at AmsterJam

I made my way to some penthouse on the east side of town. It was the penthouse of a friend of a friend’s 40+ year-old boyfriend who happened to be out of town. As I walked into the penthouse, I was greeted by a grand piano sitting in the apartment entryway; the rest of the apartment was just as gorgeous. It was me, Vero, and a bunch of girls I didn’t know. Much vodka was had. I should have known then, when there were barely any mixers, but a lot of bottles of vodka, that the day was going to be rough. We proceeded to finish off a few bottles as we waited for one of the girls to finish emptying out her stomach from the night before. Fortunately, she rallied and we headed toward the ferry to Randall’s Island.

We arrived at Randall’s Island just as Busta Rhymes was ending his set. As we wandered around the park grounds, I already found myself disoriented. The heavy cloud cover and the imminent rain didn’t help much. We laid down a blanket near the stage and proceeded to drink some overpriced beer. Tego Calderon came on stage next and we laughed at the fact that no one knew who he was and the only time the crowd perked up was when they heard the beat for Terror Squad’s “Lean Back,” only to find that Fat Joe was not going to appear but that Tego was just going to mumble some more stuff, a la Reggaeton style. Still uninterested, we drank some more. Bad idea.

LL Cool J performs

Then LL Cool J came on stage. We all got up and rushed into the crowd and that’s when things get blurry. I remember taking the blanket with me, wearing it as a cape at one point, and then losing it in the crowd. I also remember completely losing Vero and the girls and finding some random guys who I ended up partying with for a while. The rest is an utter blank.

Right before getting on the ferry, I think...

Pictures from my camera suggest that I was all over the place in the crowd. I vaguely remember seeing Papoose and the Foo Fighters perform. But the next clear memory is of me waking up on the ferry back to the city late at night, soaked from the rain, being woken up by some drunk girl jokingly kicking me. I stumbled off the ferry, which was empty at this point, somewhat to the shock of the ferry workers. Somehow I ended up at home and in a lot of pain. I’m too old for this…