October 5, 2024: Atlanta, GA. It's crazy that our annual show at Chastain in Atlanta is no longer a big deal to us, it terms of the size of the show. These days, the Chastain show is a homecoming gig for us, and it's fun to catch up with our old friends who have stuck with us.
October 10, 2024: Atlanta, GA. We played a benefit for the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials in Atlanta. All of our meals were delivered in plastic boxes, and there were no recycling bins in the dressing rooms, so everything went into the garbage can. C'mon man!
It took me an hour and a half to get to the gig, which I think might be a personal record, definitely a PR for 2024. It didn't matter, though, because the load in was enough of a pain that things were getting to the stage for setup just as I arrived.
Ok gig. This room at Monday Night Brewing is a terrible space for a band. I bet it didn't sound too good, even with our top notch sound engineers. We did get to home at the end of the gig, though, which was nice (and it only took about forty minutes).
October 19, 2024: Atlanta, GA. I got a call on Thursday afternoon about filling in for a friend on a wedding gig, and since I didn't have anything, I thought "Sure, I'll do that."
Maybe not a good idea on my part, as this gig was extremely casual in preparation and performance, and if you know me, you know I like charts so that the song parts and the form (hell, even the key!) are determined before the song starts. So, I made charts for everything--it was about thirty songs. Everybody on the gig showed up with their version of the thirty songs, and we played them, but if my version didn't agree with the version that the trumpet player was playing, it didn't matter--each of us played his own version. Are we going to the outro now? Whomever was playing the loudest dragged the rest of the band into the outro.
It must've sounded fine--the reception attendees were all very happy with the outcome, so maybe it's my own issue. At least now I know how to handle it the next time I get this call.
October 25, 2024: Chattanooga, TN. Back to Yacht Rock gigs. This one was for the American Cancer Society, in a tent on top of the art museum.
Easy gig! Nice looking people! Plus, we went home that night! Chattanooga is all around pretty great.
October 26, 2024: Atlanta, GA. Back to the random wedding gigs! I got a text from an unknown person six days before this, asking if I was available. Well, yeah, on the condition that there would be charts provided, charts that agreed with the rest of the band. There were, so yeah, I'm game.
This gig was at a midtown hotel, on a rooftop space. Nice! The weather was pretty perfect.
The charts--all on iPads, and all interconnected via a network, so when the leader would pick a song, it would pop up on the tablet. That's pretty cool. We quickly learned (the trumpet player and I were the only local guys on the gig) however, that the bandleader had a habit of switching to the next tune while we were still finishing the one we were on, so you'd better memorize the last two lines of music before they vanish! That was pretty funny. It was all very low pressure, so it didn't matter if the horns had to bail out.
Other than that...hmmm. Wedding bands play some weird/musically inappropriate shit. Why not just play the song that way it was recorded? And why are there now horn parts on Don't Stop Believing? Why are there no horn parts on Sex Machine?
Over at 10 PM. The trumpet player and I ran to the elevator to avoid getting caught behind 150 guests (and we made it). I was walking the dogs at 11 PM. Easy night!
We flew home from the end of the tour (Phoenix) on the morning of September 12, 2024, and a week later, we were back up and running. Here's how the end of September looked.
September 19, 2024: Atlanta, GA. We played a private event at the rooftop on Ponce City Market on rented gear. Getting to the rooftop is kind of a pain in the butt, between the parking and the need for someone to accompany you on the elevator. Once you get up there, it's not too bad, though.
Anyway, kind of a lame gig, and the backline guys weren't really on the ball, so we had to wait around (I want to say that they forgot to send all the wireless microphones? Something like that--they forgot an essential part of our show gear). So, it took extra time waiting around because they had to go back and get the stuff, then bring it over, park, do the elevator thing, then hand it over to Zach to get it going.
Another big factor in this gig--Nick got sick and couldn't sing at all, so the setlist was carved up to work around this problem.
not great, but edible--some kind of coconut curry thing
September 20, 2024: New York, NY. The next morning, we were off to the northeast for a few shows. First up: Pier 17 in Manhattan. I'm always about this gig, with a long history of technical problems and personal mistakes. Today was scary, but I made it through without any catastrophes.
Nick was still sick all weekend, so the setlists all worked around it.
ESPN has a studio in Pier 17, and a couple of the producers were cool enough to give us a quick tour in the afternoon.
helicopter pic from my run in the afternoon
the view off the back of the stage
within a couple hundred people of selling out
cookies!
September 21, 2024: Asbury Park, NJ. On the other hand, I always play well here, probably the relief of making it out of NYC. This was a fun one!
almost sold this one out, too
September 22, 2024: Boston, MA. We played in a different place--Roadrunner--than we usually do in Boston. I was glad we were indoors, as the fall temperatures are right on the edge of where I start to get uncomfortable. Nice room!
September 27, 2024: Indianapolis, IN. This one was a bummer. Hurricane Helen made landfall in the Florida panhandle headed for Altanta (and then up to Louisville, KY), so we flew out on the evening of September 26 to stay ahead of it. The band's love affair with Indianapolis goes back to our earliest days, so we were extremely disappointed that we couldn't play the show.
The night we flew out, the outer edges of the hurricane were in Atlanta, and it was pouring! I drove to the airport and pulled into the park-and-ride lot, which had the usual number of cars, but no activity--nobody coming or going, and most importantly, no park-and-ride shuttles! I circled the lot until I found a shuttle, but she wasn't driving, just blocking an opening in the fence that could be an illegal entrance/exit. She said that the tower could see me, so if I would just go back to where the signs told me to park, a bus would come and get me. So I did. And stood under the tailgate of my car in a torrential downpour for at least fifteen minutes before I gave up and called a Lyft to get me from the lot to the terminal. Except...a Lyft driver won't come in the lot, so I had to walk in the aforementioned torrential downpour and the accompanying three inch deep rivers raging in the parking lot to the front gate, where at least I was out of the rain (but my socks and shoes were soaked, and my jeans were wet up to the mid-thigh). I waited on the Lyft guy, but then probably twenty-five minutes after I'd driven on the lot, a park-and-ride bus finally circled over to me and picked me up. I was thankful, but also awfully annoyed that it took so long. Plus, canceling the Lyft cost me three bucks.
So, yeah, we got to Indy just fine, spent the night, got up the next day and went to the gig. It rained and the wind blew all day, it was ugly, but it felt like nothing more than crappy weather.
nothing to do but practice!
It felt like the storm was going to move away enough that the wind advisory would be be lifted and everything would be ok, so we waited it out, but in the end, the gig was canceled, mostly because of the potential risk from the high winds. The state fair accident was weighing heavily on a lot of the local crew's minds (you can read about that here).
September 28, 2024: Atlanta, GA. We all flew home Saturday morning, giving me enough to time to go home and change clothes before heading to the Trolley Barn for a jazz trio gig as part of a private event. It was a really satisfying evening with two friends, Craig Shaw on bass and Kevin Bales on piano, both of whom played beautifully.
One scary moment on this gig: about thirty minutes into the night, a man had a seizure and collapsed on the floor. We didn't really know what to do, so I helped keep him on his side and tried to keep his mouth/airway clean until the EMTs arrived. That was nuts! After maybe ten or fifteen minutes, he had recovered and they got him on the gurney so that they could take him to Grady for further treatment.
September 30, 2024: Atlanta, GA. Home recording time! Mark Dannells sent me a song of his that needed a sax section sounding part, and he played some stuff into his computer that generated some kind of musical notation. Between the recording and the chart, I was able to tease out what the parts were supposed to be. It was a tedious process.
It ended up being four voices, so I recorded twenty sax parts, doubling everything so that he'd have blend options. Here's a sample of how it sounded.
We spent the summer touring as the opening act for Train and REO Speedwagon, something we'd never done before. Most of the days were the same: get off the bus, get coffee, go practice flute, set up my keyboards on the rolling riser, eat lunch, go practice clarinet somewhere else, soundcheck, warm up on keyboard, warm up on saxophone, eat, play the show (we played for forty-five minutes), put my gear away, go for a run, shower, get back on the bus. Therefore, this will probably be mostly pictures.
July 8, 2024: Somerset, WI. We flew to Minneapolis the night before (the closest airport), and then the next day we took cars to meet up with the bus, which was already parked at the first venue. Right off the bat it was time to put some luggage away and go eat lunch.
dogs at the venue!
Since we were just getting situated, this happened a few times--shuffling clothes from a suitcase under the bus to a duffel bag that lived on the bus.
back of the venue
roller dogs
This particular venue had a backstage area with trailers and this big tent for hanging out.
Show number one!
We used tracks on a couple of songs, but the playback (coming from the electronic drum pad) misfired and played several samples on top of each other, and then it wouldn't stop. Oops! Nackers got it sorted out after a few seconds.
This is Mike, my college roommate. He hasn't seen me perform since my senior recital, twenty-eight years ago. He and his family live in Minneapolis, and we were finally close enough for them to come to a gig!
Most of the guys did not shower on the first night, but I gone for a run, so I definitely wanted to get clean before we left.
In the bunk for our first night! We were warned that the bus would be cold, so everybody went to bed with plenty of clothes on, only to wake up hot, take the clothes off, open the vent, freeze, close the vent. It took a few sleeps to get this figured out. After the first night, I just slept in boxer shorts like I always do.
That thing on the ceiling is some kind of video system. Never even opened it. The bus had wifi, so I only looked at my phone at night.
July 9, 2024: Indianapolis, IN. We had a day off in Indy, so everybody got hotel rooms (which was a good thing, because most of the guys couldn't sleep on the bus for the first few nights).
Pete, Nick, and I did a little TV promo at the local news.
Indian food for dinner!
In the evening, we met up with a few of the Train guys for drinks. A tiki bar was the second location.
We unsuccessfully tried a third location...
...eventually ending up drinking on one of the Train band buses parked in downtown Indy.
July 10, 2024: Noblesville, IN. We departed from Indianapolis around lunchtime and headed north to meet the bus.
All of this was still very new. Not much of a backstage, but I did find this shady spot to play.
cookies!
So here's a story...after I'd finished our part of the day and packed up and ate and showered, it was still only 8:30/9 PM. I went looking for a place to practice for a while until it was time to go to bed. Train was on stage, so I went into their warmup room and practiced flute in the corner, figuring that 1. playing in here would disturb the fewest number of people, 2. Train was on stage, so they wouldn't be using the room. I played in there for about an hour, and a few people came through, but no complaints (and I did ask each person if they wanted me to stop). When Train's set was finishing up, I packed up and left.
Later in the night (maybe 11/11:30 PM), I went into an empty dressing room to play a little bit of clarinet before giving up for the night. Right around midnight, our tour manager came to get me--he'd gotten a furious, profanity-laden phone call that I was disturbing the crew loading out, so I immediately went out and got on the bus to hide. Oops! I'm still not sure why somebody didn't just stick their head in the door and tell me to knock it off. This whole thing got needlessly blown out of proportion.
To me, the whole thing was basically somebody flipping out because I was practicing flute in the corner of an empty room, and then practicing clarinet in an empty room.
By the end of the tour, the retelling of this story included the lie that I was shirtless? Umm, what? I was probably shoeless, but definitely not shirtless.
July 11, 2024: Pittsburgh, PA. So yeah, I woke up as the most hated person on the tour.
This is one of those places where the band can face outward during the summer and play an outdoor show, or they can close the back wall and face inward. Today, the inside area was our backstage.
There was a pretty good multipurpose path along the river right next to the venue--a good spot for a run. The far end of it passed by this old prison.
This was the first gig where I felt like we really nailed what we were trying to do.
July 12, 2024: Cincinnati, OH.
Our dressing room was unused for most of the morning, so I was able to practice there.
After lunch, the maintenance guys let me practice flute in their shed.
July 13, 2024: Tinley Park, IL. Suburban Chicago.
Today I practiced in the pavilion outside of the amphitheater.
There weren't enough dressing rooms to accommodate us, so we ended up in the fitness center for this place.
This place was our first cancellation. There was weather in the area, so the start time kept getting pushed back until it was too late to fit us into the schedule. Whatever storm was threatening ended up going around the venue, so no rain or anything.
I was able to go for a run--about a mile and a half down the road, there was a neighborhood where I could safely accumulate some miles.
July 14, 2024: Cleveland, OH. Day off. Pretty much everybody did laundry. The hotel didn't have any quarters (and no plan how to get any more), so we were scrambling to figure that part out.
Other things--went for Indian food, and either I didn't know how the place operated or they didn't have any servers, but after sitting around and not getting served, I ended up at a Subway. On the way back to bus, I stopped in a CVS for supplies, and a homeless guy asked for a money. On the way out, I noticed he was following me, so I had to alter my route to keep from getting mugged.
I also went for a run and did a little hotel room practicing.
July 15, 2024: Cuyahoga Falls, OH. We got back on the bus on this morning and rode the short distance to the venue.
morning flute practice
This particular venue set up a small petting zoo in the afternoon. No dogs, but it was still pretty cool.
This place has cool architecture.
Parking lot laps after our show. There was nowhere else to go. The parking attendants thought this was really amusing, and I got cheers every time I went by like I was running in the olympics.
July 16, 2024: Maryland Heights, MO. Suburban St. Louis.
This is Piper, one of the truck driver's dogs.
I was out practicing flute in the pavilion as the rain moved in and I was forced to find somewhere else to go.
I ended up in this single-seater bathroom, but it was stuffy, so I propped the door open. As the rain intensified, it came closer and closer until it crested the threshold of the door, so I had to shut it. Then, the rain began to come in under the door, so I backed up to stay out of the water--no big deal because there was a drain in the middle of the room. The water kept coming and the drain couldn't handle it, and I ended up basically pinned to the back wall between the sink and the toilet as that was the last high spot in the bathroom! After about an hour, the rain subsided enough that I could escape.
lunch
Later in the afternoon the rain finally moved on.
green room
July 17, 2024: Kansas City, MO. The loading dock/backstage area was too small for our busses to park, so we were stationed outside the fence next to a park. There was a picnic area close by, so I practiced there.
After lunch, the picnic area was used as the meeting place for the local security/hospitality crew, so I moved clarinet practice down the road.
got it
I ran before the gig, but stopped to say hi to this dog standing on the sidewalk.
July 18, 2024: Indianapolis, IN. Day off/travel day. The drivers slept while we did our own thing. For me, the usual mix of practicing, running, and laundry. Great weather.
At the end of the day, we got back on the bus and rode overnight to the next show.
July 19, 2024: Lewiston, NY. Basically Niagra Falls.
a sad lunch
not much room to preset our gear, so today it sat in this trailer
Canada is right over there
Canada, right over there
another weird improvised meal--a bed of rice and then a bunch of salad toppings
not all the food was bad
We played here a couple of years ago, randomly opening for Richard Marx (you can see that here).
Nick had flown home from Kansas City, and after really bad airport delays due to a nationwide computer failure, he came screaming back to us with about two minutes before we were scheduled to begin. Made it!
this police dog was not so sure
This place had showers, but they used well water that was cold and smelled like sulfur. I went for a run before the gig, so I had to shower before the end of the day, but this was really terrible, and I smelled like rotten eggs for hours afterwards.
parking lot hangs
July 19, 2024: Toronto, CA. In the middle of the night, we did the border crossing thing. We'd been warned that it could be miserable and take hours, but the border guard came on the bus, checked our passports, and let us go back to sleep. Kip had handled the paperwork beforehand through some kind of private agency, and that kept the delay to a minimum.
There was some kind of Formula One race practice going on for most of the morning.
Post-gig run pics:
dog fountain
classical pianist Glenn Gould and I discuss the Africa solo
As I was putting away my clothes at the end of the night, I realized that somewhere in the day I'd misplaced my laptop! I checked inside my rack in the gear trailer, but it wasn't there. I checked the green room, but it wasn't there. It dawned on me that I'd put it down while packing my stuff after we played, and I never picked it back up. Fortunately, someone on the loading dock turned it into the local production office, so I was able to get it back before we left.
July 21, 2024: Clarkston, MI. Outside Detroit. In the middle of the night, we did another border crossing. We had to go inside and present our passports to the US guys, so it took a little longer.
Pine Knob. Pure Michigan.
Patron practice room
I went for a run after the gig, but I missed my turn and ran a mile and a half past it before I turned around.
July 22, 2024: Buffalo, NY. Day off/travel day.
parking lot practice
We had a band dinner at The Anchor Bar, the place that invented buffalo wings (read about it here).
we walked back to the bus
I practiced a little bit more on the bus before we left
July 23, 2024: Saratoga Springs, NY.
part of the springs
July 24, 2024: Bethel, NY. Woodstock!
We watched most of the Woodstock documentary on the bus that night.
July 25, 2024: Cherry Hill, NJ. Day off/travel day.
We had hotel rooms here, so everybody went inside, leaving me the back of the bus to use as a practice room.
the other guy's hat
clean sheets
In the evening, we had a band dinner in Philadelphia. This was good, but I needed two or three times as much to fill me up. Cacio e pepe!
We also stopped at an Irish bar.
Some hotel room practicing.
I also got my laundry done. Someone else had brought their laundry (and suitcase) in, and promptly abandoned the whole idea. Hopefully when they woke up, the came back for it.
July 26, 2024: Camden, NJ.
After we played, I went out for a run, so I asked the security guard if I would be ok. "If you stay on this main road, you'll be ok." Except that the main road was only about a mile long, and then it got super sketchy, so I turned right and ran along the Rutgers/Camden campus, still ok. Then I ran over by the hospital, still ok. Then I tried to turn back in the direction that I thought the venue was in, NOT OK. Sooooo, I headed back to the hospital, back to the Rutgers, back by the Delaware River, then things got sketchy again, so then I went back by the venue and ran on the main road.
July 27, 2024: Jones Beach, NY. This place is pretty great.
green room practicing
music stand
There were bikes available to ride, and a path on which to ride them. We all partook at different times of the day. This particular model's handlebars were loose at the stem, and they would drastically slip if you hit a big bump.
I didn't eat this, but it was pretty incredible by backstage catering standards
Evidently I have stolen Stumpy's mojo. Much sorrow!
July 28, 2024: Gilford, NH. This is probably the only place that could top Jones Beach.
I sat in with Train at this show, soloing over their song Mississippi, so nervous that I could barely play.
Afterwards, there was a big hang out by the pool (just past the mini golf course).
July 29, 2024: Burlington, VT. Day off.
Scenes from my run:
On the way back to the hotel, a mentally ill guy threatened to hit me with a rock if I didn't keep a passing cyclist (who he claimed had hurt his daughter) away from him. That was nuts.
July 30, 2024: Burlington, VT.
Our part of the evening was cut because of weather, but Train played, and I once again got to sit in on Mississippi, which went a little better.
July 31, 2024: Syracuse, NY.
I decided to try and do laundry here. Unfortunately, the staff washed all the dinner pots/pans/serving trays at the sink right next to the machines, and at one point, they dropped a large pan that had been used to cook and serve fish, and the liquid from the pan was sort of pushed down the drain in front of the dryer but not really cleaned up, and damnit but I dropped a shirt in that when I was transferring it from the washer to the dryer and it smelled fishy and awful, and I had to handwash it later to try and get enough of the smell out.
August 1, 2024: Holmdel, NJ.
There I was, playing flute in the pavilion next to this delivery of light beer, when three weirdos in a golf cart came zooming by--some teenage boys working as grounds crew. They swung the cart around next to me, listened for a little bit, applauded, asked me to play something. I couldn't think of anything from this century, and they couldn't really communicate what they wanted (there was a bit a language barrier), but I blew them off enough that they left without a song.
About a half hour later, they came back, whipping the golf cart around the pavilion, and once again they wanted me to play them a song. I don't know why it popped into my head, but I played The Hustle and they liked it, the three of them drumming along with The Hustle on the golf cart, and that finally satisfied them. With a cheer, they left. Do I need to have a Taylor Swift melody in my head for self defense?
Later on, I moved over to the merch area because I could lean my iPad up against the boxes to see it.
This venue had a pet adoption/petting zoo thing after lunch, and we had a good time loving on the puppies.
The gig was crazy looking. No telling what sort of acoustical challenges it presented to the front-of-house guys.
Tiny green room, but a pretty good shower
two shower heads and soap provided!
August 2, 2024: Hoboken, NJ. We awoke in a parking lot in New Jersey, directly across from Manhattan.
After a run (which was hot and awful), I gathered my saxophone and a backpack, and Mark Bencuya and I took a car to the ferry to New York. Once we landed, I hopped in a cab and headed down to meet Sam Dillon for a saxophone lesson.
Sam is one of my favorite modern sax players on the New York scene, and I was able to schedule some time for a lesson at his home in the West Village.
We played and talked about lots of stuff, and spent quite a bit of time talking about triad pairs within diminished scales. That gives you six notes, which you can play as triads or you can combine into a six note scale and play patterns within that, and depending on which diminished scale you use, you get different triads, aaaaaaaaaaannnnd my brain melted.
I'll just leave it at that--I'm not sure I could explain it any clearer anyway. Maybe it'll make more sense when I finally have time to work through it some more.
Regardless of all that, it was cool to be in the same room with someone so much better than me, while also depressing to realize that I'll never be as good as that guy.
After grabbing a late lunch, I made it up to Birdland, where Sam was playing an early show with the Birdland Big Band.
Sam Dillon soloing with the Birdland Big Band
That gig finished around 7 PM. I tried to find some other places to go and hear some music, but most things were sold out of tickets. I ended up catching this sextet playing at Cellar Dog.
When they went on break, I headed out to grab some food and the last ferry back to New Jersey.
Got a shower in the hotel room we were all sharing for the day, and got back on the bus to go to sleep.
August 3, 2024: Hartford, CT.
I found a good VIP tent where I could practice without bothering anyone.
not one of my best meals
James, trying to look busy at load out while not doing much
August 4, 2024: Mansfield, MA.
This is another one of those places that didn't have enough parking behind the stage, so the busses were outside the security fence. It was probably .2 miles away, and there were three security stops between the bus and the green room...it was annoying.
We got a ton of rain in a short period of time.
I ran laps in the parking lot on this night.
August 5, 2024: Gainesville, VA. Day off/travel day. All the usual stuff (practiced, ran, laundry, food).
the food of India, in Virginia
August 6, 2024: Bristow, VA.
Not much to report about this one. Another parking lot run. I remember this run more than I remember anything about the gig.
August 7, 2024: Virginia Beach, VA.
Lots of deafening jets overhead during practice time.
August 8, 2024: Raleigh, NC. Day off. It rained off an on all day. Things started off with a zoom call about our health insurance.
We later moved to a different hotel with more food options. I went for a run, but kept having to change direction because the sidewalks would end. I got rained on. I ate a crappy pizza and salad. Not a great day.
August 9, 2024: Raleigh, NC. Back to the gig!
the orange juice machine was entertaining
the hanging of the lights and video wall
you could borrow a fishing pole and go fishing here
August 10, 2024: Charlotte, NC.
the parking lot hockey went unused
this morning's practice space was above average
things that you will smell later
August 11, 2024: Wilmington, NC.
This venue was small, so I did some practicing on the bus.
In the early afternoon, the weather deteriorated. Here's a picture of my saxophone case sitting out in the rain.
We eventually set up our gear, maybe even sound checked. Everything got wrapped in tarps, though, as the storm closed in on Wilmington. Everybody waited to see if we would get to play...
...but in the end, the whole gig was cancelled due to lightning. That was a bummer, but it also meant that we got to leave for Atlanta a few hours earlier.
August 12, 2024: Atlanta, GA. Tour break!
August 15, 2024: Atlanta, GA. Got back on the bus around midnight. The drivers came back around 6 AM to drive the bus to Alabama. Everybody else opted to ride in the van later in the morning.
August 16, 2024: Pelham, AL. South of Birmingham. It was hot.
a plate full of toots
Our dressing room had a shower, so we did not have to use this.
I think the batteries in my sax mic died at this gig. Nothing else to report.
August 17, 2024: Alpharetta, GA. Hometown show!
It was hot during the morning, and a blistering thunderstorm moved in right after the gates opened. It felt like our part of the night was going to get cancelled, but we waited and finally got the go ahead. It was great!
vodka consolidation and management was a big part of my summer
August 18, 2024: Franklin, TN.
We've played here (the quarry) before with Kenny Loggins.
There is a building down the hill from the loading dock that functions as a wedding chapel, and I was able to practice there without bothering anybody. It was a really nice spot.
this was excellent
Butch Walker sat in on the Train set. Greg and Monkeyboy used to be in Butch's band, and more recently he produced a Train album, so there was a big hang after the show.
this dressing room was weird, but at least it had plenty of space
rotating clothes
hello fren!
August 19, 2024: Atlanta, GA. Day off/travel day. We all got to go home for a few hours.
August 20, 2024: Tampa, FL.
10:55 AM
11:18 AM
11:57 AM flute jams
12:10 PM also, "Best hazmat containers in the industry" is an odd ad for the side of a music venue
green room
the weather was pretty at 7 PM
I went for a run after this one. I did a couple of laps around the fairgrounds before a security golf cart tracked me down. "Too fast?" I asked. He didn't think that was funny.
So anyway, I had to finish up my run somewhere else.
August 21, 2024: West Palm Beach, FL.
drying/airing out some sweaty running clothes
my lame lunch
This venue had a pool (and a pretty bartender), so all the YRR people went swimming.
At the end of the night, I realized that I'd lost my tour ID/laminate somewhere. I checked the green room, went around the pool, went through my backpack and my duffel bag, and could not find it. Just as I was falling asleep, I remembered that I'd stuck it in my running shoes just before getting in the pool. Voila!
August 22, 2024: Jacksonville, FL.
we spent the morning at a children's hospital telethon
this place looks cool, but doesn't sound good
I sat in with Train again. This was one of the better ones.
After the show, the Train guys invited us to play frisbee in the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice field.
Jerry from Train kicking it. He did not make it.
Pete and I were barefoot, and the black rubber that is used in the turf turned our feet black, so we had to race back to the dressing room right before the bus pulled away and wash up.
August 23, 2024: Orange Beach, AL.
more drying of the running clothes
This stupid shower! The clamp on the wall that was supposed to hold the shower head in place was broken, so the venue just left it like this. This is actually nicer than when I found it with the shower head on the floor of the shower. They might as well have run a hose through the window for us.
fiber!
the big balloons for the Train show
at least the crew showers didn't require a third hand
Once again, I tried to lose my laptop. After this show, I put it down in catering when I stopped to get something to eat after our show, and then left it there for the rest of the night. When I was putting my clothes away at the end of the night and couldn't find it, I had to retrace my steps from the hours before, and there it was, on the table next to my hat, which I'd also tried to leave behind.
In other news, Pat lost his voice in the middle of the Train set, and Nick, Pete, and Greg had to ten minutes to get dressed and go help out with vocals.
August 24, 2024: Houston, TX. A day off in Houston, in August. Party time. We went to a laundromat instead.
band dinner
It turned out that Pat's voice was having serious problems, and so Train cancelled the Houston show and the Dallas show. The entire circus began the journey west. It was a bummer to miss a couple of shows, but we were all kind of thankful to be escaping the heat.
A few of the guys (Nick, Pete, Greg, Zach) booked flights home for a couple of days.
hotel hallway practice
practicing in the back of the bus as we rolled down the interstate
August 26, 2024: Amarillo, TX. Travel day.
Pictures from my run:
It's BREATHE, Stacy!
August 27: Denver, CO. Day off.
The usual. I practiced on the bus all day, and I thought it wouldn't be too bad even if the power was turned off, but it got a little warm by the end of the day.
The food of India was available just across the street
August 28, 2024: Denver, CO.
After the coffee and restroom parts of the day were over, I went searching for a place to do my flute practice, and lucked into a spot on top of the office in the corner of Marjorie Park. What a spot!
better than it looks
backstage
this place is great
August 29, 2024: Salt Lake City, UT
It was pretty warm here.
there was a rumble in my tummy
sweet bomb dogs
Ahh, direct sunlight. Not so great for a gig.
I'm pretty sure this is the place where we had to give up our bathroom to the REO Speedwagon guys from something like 1 PM to 7 PM, like we were kind of sharing it, but it was theirs for the hours that they were actually at the venue (they came later in the day, ate, played their show, and then left early to spend the night in a hotel). Anyway, it was something weird like that where we pretty much had to abandon the whole room because they would be in and out of the bathroom and it was awkward.
I remember this run was a bad idea because the venue was on a hill, but I did it anyway.
Here's the elevation profile. Yuck!
August 30, 2024: Boise, ID. Travel day.
This was my first time in Idaho. There were wildfires in the area, so it was smoky and we mostly stayed indoors.
We did go out for a band dinner in downtown Boise. The Lyft driver had a very detailed spreadsheet going with information about all of his trips.
We ate in a private dining room that was decorated with pictures of rabbits.
Zatch
I guess they ate the rabbits
our man Peter Searcy
August 31, 2024: Auburn, WA.
practice spot #1
backstage
practice spot #2
balloons
Here's another story: I opted to try and do laundry here at the venue after we played, so asked someone from the local production office it that would be ok ('cause I'm still trying my best not to get yelled at). We went to the laundry room, where there were a pair of washers and a pair of dryers. She explained that one pair was for the venue and one pair was for the bands, but that they were using all four machines. I could do my load of clothes once the band washer finished.
I waited around, and it finished, so I took their wet towels out, put them on top of the band dryer, and washed my clothes. The local production person never came back to empty the band dryer, so I folded their towels and stacked them, put my clothes in the dryer, and put their wet towels on top of the washer.
When my clothes were dry, I took them out and folded them, and then put the production's wet towels in the dryer and got it started. Never saw the local person again.
September 1, 2024: Bend, OR.
our dressing room
the backstage village
at least the salad tasted like something
Post gig run shots.
After that, it got too dark and the trail turned back towards the venue, so I ended up on a sidewalk in the other direction.
September 2, 2024: Portland, OR. Day off. The busses we parked at a hotel with more parking, but the band stayed in the Duniway, our chosen hotel downtown.
the usual running spots
this trail is great for running along the river
we had lobby drinks after dinner
September 3, 2024: Portland, OR. Another day off.
supreme lobby coffee
lunch!
dinner!
cacio e pepe ancora!
September 4, 2024: Ridgefield, WA. We got back on the busses this morning and rode for about an hour to the gig.
lunch--a salad on top of a bed of rice
dinner--more or less the same thing
dessert!
The sidewalk situation was not good, so the ol' post-gig run was sort of around the parking lots.
September 5, 2024: Redding, CA. Day off. It was reeeeeeeeaaallly hot. Did laundry, practiced, ran on the treadmill.
fortunately, the food of India wasn't too far away
an army of Tesla chargers
a little silent hotel room practice before we got back on the bus
September 6, 2024: Wheatland, CA. Another very hot one.
the plastic deer was just realistic enough to scare all of us
dinner
I can run this off
parking lot laps in the middle of nowhere
September 7, 2024: San Jose, CA.
Good thing the weather was so nice--the busses didn't fit inside security, and the hike back and forth included a big hill.
much better!
breakfast!
green room
We shot footage in here for a cool video Nick made for one of our originals. Check it out!
the Grateful Dead played here a lot
practice in the parking lot
the final frontier
lunch (tofu, rice, broccoli)
soundcheck
Steve Wozniak (of Apple Computers fame) was here, but I never got to meet him (or show him my prehistoric laptop).
a sculpture outside of one of the Google offices
one of the Google offices
September 8, 2024: Los Angeles, CA. The Forum!!!!!
I was able to procure an empty room for practicing
Oh oh oh, it's Magic!
lunch
special guest Elliot Lurie! He sang Brandy, of course, and our song Tropical Illusion (which he co wrote)
Speaking of which, have you heard Tropical Illusion yet?
dinner
I went out for a run after our part, and I asked the security guard at the top of the ramp if it would be safe for me to run in this neighborhood. "You should run in the parking lot. We have security guards." Got it! Laps around The Forum.
This was an epic day.
September 9, 2024: San Diego, CA. Day off. The band landed at our preferred hotel near Little Italy, so after getting our rooms, it was time to eat!
I've ordered this exact pizza more than once, and always regret this combination. It's vegetarian, but it's just so blah. So why do I keep doing it?
And run!
And eat again!
gnocchi
Bad luck for me--the hotel backed up to the train tracks, and my room was right here on the end, so I caught all the action and all the noise all night.
September 10, 2024: Chula Vista, CA. The bus picked us up in the morning and delivered us to Chula Vista for our penultimate show.
The big news of the day was that REO Speedwagon would be missing the final couple of gigs due to lead singer Kevin Cronin's illness.
one of my saddest lunches
REO Speedwagon's bassist, Matt Bissonette, has a side project where he (with the help of his brother Gregg and a producer friend Paul) write and record a song in one day, and so in between set ups and soundchecks, the Train guys added guitar, organ, percussion, and vocals, and I contributed a sax solo.
Here's my part.
We had puppies for petting at this gig, so I once again took full advantage.
I had a pretty crappy show, including a botched attempt at the Africa solo. Crashed and burned...it wasn't pretty. Hopefully I redeemed myself when I sat in with Train on Mississippi a little later on.
September 11, 2024: Phoenix, AZ. Last one!
It was extremely hot. Over a 100 degrees all day.
rehearsal for us all to play/sing on Hotel California
lookin' pretty tired
five minutes before sound check
We played Roll with the Changes in tribute to REO to finish out our set, and the Train guys joined us on stage. It was a cool moment.
As a prank, we all dressed in costumes (things that came out of the giant suitcase props that Train had onstage) and went out on stage during Train's performance. I was a toothbrush.
I got one final shot at soloing on Train's Mississippi.
We all got to jump in on Hotel California at the end of the show.
There was a bit of a post gig/post tour hang for a second where everybody got to say goodbye, and a small donkey with a drink carrier on his back. He was ready to go home, and so were we.
When it was over, the bus ferried us a hotel. It took much longer than we thought it would, and I immediately regretted my choice to take an early flight home on three hours of sleep.
