Tuesday 12 June 2012

San Diego, Gramercy, Philadelphia and Silver Springs. All for now.

So! I'm sat in New York, relaxing on our last evening of the tour. It has flown by and I'm not sure if I'm ready to go home or could do with a couple more days surfing...
Since my last update we did a San Diego show at The House Of Blues, a New York Show at The Gramercy, a casino show at The Moheegan Sun, CT, a Philadelphia show at The World Cafe and our final show at The Fillmore, MD. These last gigs have, for the most part, been larger venues than we're used to which has allowed for a stretch of the legs shall we say. It's great because we are really together now as a band and the shows are a breeze and really fun!
We hit the ground running when we got back to New York with an appearance on Good Day New York as soon as we got there-back to work.  Although I have the blues about leaving the easy life of cruising the Pacific Coast Highway in a luxurious SUV, these feelings have been pacified by days and moments spent with official and may-as-well-be family members here on the East coast. I have been treated like royalty by various incredibly generous loved-ones; you know who you are and I look forward to getting out here and seeing you all again soon. My treat next time...

For now, that's all I can muster. I've probably missed out half of the stuff we've done but I hope it gives you an idea of what it's been like out here. It seems to have become harder and harder to find time in between sound-checks, TV shows, epic journeys and meal times to sit down and give you a detailed summary of my days here, so for now please allow me to excuse myself with a brief summary of my thoughts... P.S. Excuse my childish humour but somehow I don't think I'll be ordering number 11.

I think by now my brain is well and truly fried by consistent early mornings, late nights, loud noises, squeaky ACs and enthusiastic fans. I have for 5 weeks now been unable to recollect what day of the week it is or what I did more than 16 hours ago. I haven't made a bed, a meal or a drink since we got here and have indulged in new-age water alternatives, organic pulses, curly fries, mega-burgers and coffees ranging from the intolerable to the sublime. I have been berated, adored, told off and ignored. Most of the time I feel boundlessly energetic but have had several reminders that I am merely human. I have stared out of windows for thousands of miles, journeying across a vast collection of states, in my own varying states, assembling my thoughts for new ideals and philosophies. Was this the way to do it? Am I ready to return? Could I do this forever? I think right now it's a yes to all the above so give me some brief r+r but please, send me back into battle soon...

















Monday 4 June 2012

California and a 3 day holiday.

As you can see, my blogging has slowed somewhat on this trip. It has been difficult at times to keep it up due to long journeys in the van taking up lots of free time and creating a seriously weary drummer. I'm aware that this is a bit of a weak excuse though so here's a full update since last time.

It was a joyous moment when we crossed the California state line and knew that our journey down from Yakima was nearly done. I'm sure it was amusing for the staff at our hotel to see 9 jubilant travellers emerge from our van and practically kiss the ground under their feet. 
The travelling was far from over though and the next day we travelled down to Capistrano to perform at The Coach House to a large and enthusiastic crowd. The venue itself was as you'd imagine: fairly isolated from most things except the freeway; imagine Bob's Country Bunker from The Blues Brothers but with a good crowd. Immediately after the show we travelled 120 miles north to a hotel for a brief overnight rest stop and proceeded towards San Francisco the next morning. Our show that night was at Cafe Du Nord-a great underground venue in the Upper Market district. It was a great show again and same as the night before, we travelled about 120 miles (this time South) to a rest stop before returning to LA the next day for our show at the infamous Roxy Theatre, known for apparently being John Belushi's final hang out and slightly more positively, having been host to near enough any band you can think of. For example, Neil Young was the first artist to play there and was closely followed by the original Genesis line up. The show was great and I had a surprise meeting with a family friend (whom I had never met) who presented me with some photos of my Grandparents and my (very young) Dad-thankyou Robert Snively. 
The Roxy Theatre show marked the beginning of what I'm calling a 3 day holiday.  Me and the Tour Manager, Dan, had made all the necessary arrangements for a surf safari, spending as much time on the Pacific Coast Highway as possible. I'm told that as a first surf experience it was about the best anyone could hope for; riding at Manhattan beach in California, not too many surfers at our spot and to top it all off, a pod of wild dolphins playing within 30 feet of us. To top it all off, we met a group of friends out here to watch The LA Angels beat The Texas Rangers at the Friday night baseball and as if to top it all off, Friday nights are fireworks nights at Angels games and we were treated to a spectacular show; $9 well spent!
We surfed again the next day and were too worn out and sunburnt to do anything with the evening-despite it being a 'holiday' we forced ourselves to meet at 8am each day. On the final day (yesterday) we decided to give surfing a break and instead check out Huntingdon Beach where some of the best surfers in the area can be seen ruling the waves and jostling for the best positions on the pier break. Walking through Huntingdon we were treated the sights and sounds of surf paradise: live surf-rock, surfer girls, long boards and the searing California sun. We finished the day in style driving up to Paradise Beach, Malibu for dinner, feasting shamelessly on vast amounts of seafood. Please let me know, did we do California right?
That's it for now, San Diego tonight and then New York tomorrow. What a tour, what a life. New favourite film/artist Robert Smithson, check out the film Spiral Jetty-the perfect post-surf relaxation material. More soon...

















Saturday 26 May 2012

Chicago, Portland and Sasquatch


Although Chicago seemed ominous, it wasn't the NATO/G8 summit that would disrupt our journey but a group of fans waiting
at the airport for James' autograph. He of course obliged and we waited, getting ever more acquainted with the process of selecting the most comfortable piece of luggage to sit on. Later on that evening we went for pizza and I did my best at tackling a Chicago stuffed pizza-imagine the dough of a pizza with cheese (stuffed) in the middle of the dough and then two to three times as much tomato sauce as normal sitting above as a topping. It was fantastic, if a little filling!
After recovering from the cheese dreams and playing an acoustic show on Good Day Chicago I took a brief walk down to the edge of Lake Michigan to take in the city. 
I wish we could've spent more time in Chicago and I'll have to go back because it has a great feel about it; the 'L' train rumbling around the city like thunder, Lake Michigan masquerading as some 
calm blue ocean and the wind ripping through the streets willing you to duck into a local bar.  I resisted though and headed back to the hotel to catch a lift to the gig.
The show went well and again the crowds demanded time for autographs and photos which lasted a good hour after the show, allowing me to sample some local IPA's backstage; I think I've got the bug for them now, thanks Dad!
It was an early start the next day for our flight to yet another city that I must return to: Portland, Oregon. It is in the heart of the Pacific-Northwest, filled with trees and covered in low, cloudy skies. It has a very European feel, with trams trundling through the tree-lined avenues and fewer high-rises than I've seen in other US cities. 
Theuns and me wandered around taking in the sights and then met up with the gang for dinner at a 30th floor restaurant to get an aerial view of the city which turned into a night of pool games, laughs and more IPA's with group of fun locals.
With a slight headache and a bottle of water in hand, I sat through our next day eyes glued to the window as we travelled to Yakima for Sasquatch Festival.
We travelled through thick trees, waterfalls, mist, desert plains, grass plains and wide flat valleys to get to the festival site, perched on the edge of a canyon overlooking the Columbia River. You could see this view clearly from the stage and I have never played in a more beautiful setting. At times it was a real struggle to stay focussed on the task at hand!
At the festival we met a couple of artists who opened up our stage called Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss. They perform as a duo with Sean singing and Zander playing 12-string guitar.  We chatted a while with Sean and he kindly gave us their CD which is the perfect companion for this journey, be sure to check them out.
We're now on the 1st leg of 3 days on the road heading down to LA with 1040 miles to cover, bags of pretzels to eat and all sorts of fun to be had.
Much more to come so I'll keep you posted. Big up to everyone back home, I hear the sun has finally been shining.