Here we go again… the band has been playing the states, off and on, for the better part of the year. They typically do 4-6 weeks on, then a month off, then back out again, give or take. They’ve finally gotten around to hitting the northeast, so I decided to do another little road trip. This time I usually returned home after each show, unlike two legs ago when I stayed out on the road the whole time. I took three days off from work, and I’m proud to say I didn’t look at any work-related correspondence during my time off. While I was gone, my cell died and several people I haven’t heard from in ages called said phone just to say “hi.” I’ll get back to them on the new phone. Let’s dive in.
Day 1 – Providence
The drive to Rhode Island normally takes three hours – I did it in just a hair under five. All that really needs to be said is: I95 northbound sucks. Once I got into town, it didn’t actually get much better. The directions to the club were a little convoluted. The place ended up being down what looked like two alleys. I parked a couple of blocks away on the street, and was convinced that my car wouldn’t be there when I got back (but it was).
The venue was fairly cool. There was a nice big bar that took up a giant triangle near the back of the bar. While I was sitting there enjoying my whiskey I noticed an odd couple talking next to me. The man looked like an older businessman, maybe not too successful, but doing okay – gray hair, fair suit. The “lady in red” with him looked like she had been drinking a long time, and I don’t just mean that day. She would be the stereotypical floozy in bad 80s sitcoms. They ended up walking out together, rather he was walking and she was kind of being drug along.
The opening act was this really nice guy on acoustic who kind of had a Hank Williams (Sr. not Jr.) thing going on part of the time, but on other sounds he was more folksy. He was great with audience and really seemed to enjoy himself. The next act up was the band’s roadie who was out on the last tour. He kind of does this raspy singer-songwriter thing with the acoustic, with an almost reggae vibe to it (might help that he has dreads). He’s the kind of guy that if you talk to him first, and then hear him sing, it just doesn’t make sense… the talking voice is nowhere near the sing voice. He’s really good.
Around the time of his set, I ran into an old friend who I saw at Killington & Boston on my last adventure. He brought along a couple of friends, and ended up introducing me to a couple of guys I had corresponded with a few times, but had never met. We had a really good time chatting and talking in between acts.
By the time the band went on, I was in a great mood, the horrors of the commute purged from my memory by cheap booze and brilliant conversation. They did a killer set, and the crowd really seemed to be into it. In fact there was a superfan there that none of us “regulars” recognized. He knew the words to every song and was dancing like a man possessed. At first I thought he was annoying, but then I got to really appreciate how much fun he was having. Plus there were these people doing some kind of interpretive dance next to him… no way to explain their gyrations with my words. And that wasn’t entertainment enough, the venue was kind of set into the ground, like a basement, so it had those windows at the top of the walls facing out at street level. You’d see people cruise by, and stop to listen. It was fun to watch. We even got a young “hip” kid smoking a corncob pipe and mooning us.
I hung out after the show to talk to the guys. I still get nervous the first time I see them again. The bassist invited me on the bus but I can’t remember the exact details. I do remember getting introduced to the drummer’s girlfriend, which was funny because during the show we had kind of spotted her alone there – she was a little too pretty to be at a concert by herself, so at the time I joked to the guys around me, “must be a guitar girl” — I was close. I also met the new merch guy, but I had yet to meet the new tour manager.
It was getting late, so I decided to hit the road. On the ride home, I started getting tired, so I pulled off at exit after exit trying to find a cheap motel to catch a good night’s sleep, but they were all booked with families headed for beaches near and far. In the end I drove straight home, this time in three hours. When I hit the Cross Bronx Expressway, I caught my second wind… which was a good thing because it was a pain in the ass to find parking.
Next – NYC…