Back in the Northeast

Wednesday: Brooklyn. This was our first time back at Brooklyn Bowl since the infamous gig a few years ago where we were asked to immediately pack up (in our stage clothes) after the show and load our gear off the front of the stage so that another band could set up.

I want to like this place--it's got a cool vibe, and it's outside of the bubble that is Manhattan. There's something missing, though--maybe it's the hipsters who occupy the neighborhood, maybe it's the tiny dressing room, maybe it's the ok stage sound, maybe it's the fact that the front edge of the stage isn't quite square with the room. I don't know.

Went for a short run before the gig, basically from Williamsburg to Bed-Stuy and back.

Anyway, this gig was a fine warmup for the week's activities. It was almost sold out, so we got off to a good start!

Thursday: We spent the night out on Long Island. After sleeping like a dead guy, I went for a run, and  then made my way to the nearest Indian restaurant. This particular lunch buffet didn't have a lot of vegetarian options, so I doubled up on something recognizable. This was a concoction of rice, corn, spinach, and some sort of sauce to hold it together.

"corn palak"

 Thursday's gig was at our one of our favorite rooms, The Paramount in Huntington, Long Island.

Elvis is in the building!

backstage

In contrast to the night before, this place has plenty of room backstage and a squared-up stage that sounds really good. Uncomfortably cold at soundcheck, though! (see? I found something to complain about).

I found a new note to play--a high G (concert F). For this gig, I used it towards the end of Step, and in the outro solo of Biggest Part of Me. We're definitely in Lenny Pickett territory with this one.

Good gig. It felt like we flew through the setlist.

The post gig hang in Greg and Bencuya's room was a lot of fun. Even though I was tired, it was worth staying up.

Friday: I dragged myself out for a run again, and swung by a Chipotle for lunch before lobby call. Check out my new reusable spork! I bought this to keep in my backpack--my goal is to use fewer plastic utensils when we're on the road. Go green!

Speaking of which, recycling was hard to come by on this trip. Brooklyn Bowl had a recycling bin across the room from the stage, behind the bar. The Paramount had NO recycling.

Today's show was at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey (via a very intimidating drive from Long Island, through midtown Manhattan-on a Friday afternoon!--and into New Jersey). Huge room!...and no recycling! They put out a cardboard box to collect stuff after I asked.

After the set up and the warm up and the soundcheck, I headed across the street for...Indian food! There are actually two Indian restaurants next door to each other, and they are both right in front of the theater. I prefer the place called Chatni. It's funny that I've eaten there three times, and always sit at the same table.

Alu Gobi (cauliflower and potatoes)

This gig was pretty good. I have a difficult time with the boominess, though--it sounds like we're in an underground cave. It looks cool, though. I wish they'd install carpet. I really think that would make a big difference in how huge the natural reverb sounds.

Following the show, we drove about an hour to White Plains, New York (north of the city) to spend the night, because Saturday had a very early load in.

Saturday felt like it was still Friday, and I'd just been woken from a nap. We had a 7 AM lobby call so that we could get to Webster, Massachusetts by 10 AM. Hello lobby coffee!

What a weird place! This small amphitheater thing was built into a campground next to a lake with an unpronounceable name (Lake Chaubunagungamaug).

Sing along!

GREEN BANANAS ARE NOT EDIBLE BANANAS GODDAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We kind of staggered through this one. It was early and we were all fried. At first, there weren't that many people in the audience (I'd heard something about "250 tickets sold," which sounded terrible), and Mark Cobb and I looked at each other and laughed--what the hell are we doing here? The crowd filled in as we went along, and by the end it was comfortably full for a weird gig in the middle of nowhere. As bizarre as it felt, we ended up having a good time.

I was physically and mentally tired when we started, and around forty-five minute in, I could feel my brain starting to brown out. I tried to remember two things--don't close your eyes, and don't try and think about what you're doing, or you'll get lost. So I went with the flow, and made it through without any big problems.

Somewhere around that time (when I couldn't see or think past the edges of my keyboards), I thought "It smells like rain," only to look up and see it pouring on the uncovered people. The shower continued for probably fifteen minutes. Almost everybody made it under the roof except for those who were particularly crazy or hardy.

photo by Tim O'Connor

And then it was over. We made it to the end! Yay!

A middle aged lady came running up to me as we crossed the alley between the back of the stage and the green room. She grabbed my arm, and in the most stereotypical Massachusetts accent you could conjure, said (yelled) "I PLAYED SAXOPHONE IN HIGH SCHOOL! WHAT BRAND DO YOU PLAY? I PLAYED A SELMAH!" and, in a half-dead, post-gig fog, said, "Uhh, Yamaha," took my arm back, and ran away. Not a gear guy, sorry.

Back in the van and back on the road, eventually stopping for the night in Hartford, Connecticut around 6 PM. Everybody fanned out to find dinner, and we were all back in our rooms and asleep by 10 PM.

In keeping with routine, I headed across the river to the nearest Indian restaurant, where I ordered vegetable biryani, medium spice level. It was so spicy, I thought I'd still be working on it when the place closed! Seriously--it took me forever to eat this. I didn't want to spend $3.50 to buy two more bottles of water, so I toughed it out.

Also, what a bummer to see so much plastic! I had a plastic water bottle, a plastic fork, and the food container was a plastic tub with a plastic lid. When I finally finished, I gave back the unused styrofoam plate and took everything else with me--I guess I was thinking that at the worst, I'd wash it out and bring it home to throw in our recycling bin. Instead, I quickly found a recycling dumpster behind an adjoining hotel. Problem solved!

Sunday: 7:10 AM flight back to Atlanta. Ugh. 5:30 AM lobby call. I was somehow rested enough that I never fell asleep on the plane. Wish I had.