We were back at the Travelodge just before two-thirty, took five minutes to check email and such in the lobby, reclaimed the baggage and took the route march across to the Hilton, landing on the doorstep around ten to three. Not quite the advertised time to check in, but I gave it a go and, after an initial reluctance for their system to accept my credit card details (they needed to be entered automatically) we were in.
And in on the 32nd floor. On the way up, as my thoughts turned to the concert, I reflected that, in the words of the Flying Burrito Brothers a gold-plated door won't keep out the Lord's burning rain if you're on the 31st floor, so at least we were safe in that regard.
Madam wasn't off to see Elvis that night, and was keen to head out to shop around, but I needed to recharge the batteries, and spent the next two hours tapping out a bit of travelogue and turning my attention to a popper nap that was, thankfully, disturbed by The Shopper's return just after five.
With a scheduled rendezvous with the Pope of Pop and the Popelets at five-thirty, that just left enough time for a shower and I was all dressed up and almost out the door when a small technical hitch raised its ugly head. I couldn't find the room card. Important, that feller. Doesn't just get you into the room, you need it to operate the lifts as well.
We went close to turning the place upside down before heading down to the front desk to organise a replacement, which made us late for the rendezvous, but that was a minor issue after the recent mole hill into mountain ructions.
Predictably, once the panic had passed and Hughesy was in concert mode, Madam found the missing article tucked away behind the jug in the one place we hadn't looked. Figures.
We had a convivial hour in the Marble Bar before the Popey clan headed off to find something to eat, and I headed upstairs for a comfort stop, figuring a seven-thirty start would see queues in the facilities at the State. As it turned out, we had an eight o'clock start, the doors to the auditorium weren't open and I had time for a leisurely beer while I scanned the incoming crowd for familiar faces.
I had a convenient spot beside the merch stand, but familiar faces were few and far between. I waited a got five minutes after the "show starts in ten minutes" announcement and found I was the only one seated in my particular part of Row L.