Greetings from New York: our last full day in New York

For our last full day in New York, we went to the prestigious Radio City Music Hall, a magnificent art deco building that hosted the greatest from the 1930s to today: Eddie Piaf, Frank Sinatra, Lenny Kravitz, BB King, Sting and many others. It was also there that the first great album of American punk was recorded: the first album of the Ramones (1976). We also went to pay homage to John Lennon at the Strawberry Field Memorial located in Central Park, far from the Dakota Building where he lived with Yoko Ono.

Then head to Madison Square Garden, one of the most legendary concert halls in history. A historic place that has hosted Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and David Bowie on numerous occasions. This is also where Led Zeppelin recorded their live album. The Song Remains The Same in 1973.

Throwback to Thursday

Then to close the day, we went to the mythical Wah café, in the heart of Greenwich Village, which saw the debut of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or Bruce Springsteen make their debut.

After the excursion in Soho, direction Rudy’s Music Shop. We received a very warm welcome there with the pleasant surprise of being received by a saleswoman who spoke impeccable French. Rudy Pensa, the founder of the store, is also the one who made, with John Suhr, the guitar that Mark Knopfler used on the album and the tour On Every Street by Dire Straits. Several copies and versions of this guitar are of course on sale in the Show-Room. They are decimated there among a crowd of Fender, Gibson, etc. as well as a large number of “vintage” instruments dominated by a splendid Les Paul from 1959 displayed at $350,000. A crowd of photos displaying Rudy in the company of Carlos Santana, Dave Grohl, Kirk Hamett, Tom Petty, Brian Setzer let us easily imagine the prestigious clientele having their habits in this shop.

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