Well we got back late Monday night and as tired as we are, as much as I damaged my pocketbook, I wish we were still out on the road. It was a blast despite all the bad luck we had. Baltimore never got booked, NYC got canceled, the Philly folks suggested we not come because they didn’t expect much turnout, and Boston got cancelled for a half hour until it was successfully moved to O’Brien’s. Here’s the wrap up.
We flew into the city and had a tourist day visiting the Aquarium (fantastic!), the Walters Museum (free!), and the American Visionary Art Museum (maybe it was just the bunk-ass new age exhibit but boy was that a waste of $12). At one point in a total bizarro change from our Santa Fe life, we got lunch in the Lexington market and were the only white people in sight. It was great. Overnight stayed in a great hotel room near the Inner Harbor and ate a delicious crab dinner over near Fell’s Point. And while it was a nice visit, while I’m sure we missed out on all sorts of virtues of living in Baltimore, I don’t think it’s someplace I’d want to live. It’s a pretty weird place.
The next day we took a bus to Philly, caught a showing of Iron Man to kill time before Big Digits got into town, and spent the night in Roxbury. I must say Philly is a pretty great town. Great food, great vibe, affordable living, plenty of interesting things happening, lots of cheap real estate. And the Philadelphia Art Museum is so far my favorite in the States…and we only got through the first floor. So I’d say Philly’s a front-runner for a future home at this point. While there was some confusion at the show, some tense moments with the organizers before the performances, it turned out to be a great time. The folks who set the show up, Plastic Little, were supposed to perform with us but were invited to open for Mark Ronson for his European tour. That’s a no-brainer. But of course, that was going to mean low turnout. So it goes, we were going to be there anyway. And as soon as we started playing, people lightened up and everybody there seemed to have a great time. There was some drama I had to be involved in as some drunk dudes destroyed some bathroom property, but the owner was grateful I alerted them to it and we had a really nice conversation through the close of the night. He even bought a t-shirt and wants to have us back soon.
We thought we’d have more time in Philly but Big Digits booked a spot on WFMU in Jersey City for 8AM Wednesday morning. So we got some Cheesesteaks from world-famous Tony Luke’s and headed to Bayonne for the night. Early the next morning we packed up, headed to the station, banged out some hits (they got me on for a song fortunately) and dipped into Manhattan. NYC was pretty much just hanging out at the MoMA and catching up with some friends in the area, which was really great. Since our show there was cancelled, we just stayed the day and drove through awful Mets traffic back to MA the next afternoon. Caroline’s folks were at the family place in Harvard, MA, so we stayed there and had some time to recuperate.
The Providence show the next night was a blast. It was a birthday party at a loft called Narwhal Arms. Both our sets went well and the space and company were very hospitable. Until someone tried to kill himself by jumping off a third-floor balcony (good luck, dude) it was a great time.
The next day we had a wedding to attend in Norwood and the whole affair was real stand-up. The service was short and classy. The minister took up a level from the normal banalities of wedding homilies. And there was shuttling for everyone everywhere so that all could partake of the open bar festivities at the incredibly picturesque lakeside hotel where the reception was held. I even met my future lawyer there. He’s gonna be great. But he told me I need to change my name already. I knew that would have to happen someday. Damn you, The Boo Radleys! Suggestions anyone?
Finally, we got to see some friends in Boston and the show at O’Brien’s went off very well. The ex-UV Protection project The Secret Sea sounded great. Good job. And some guy name Jamal who claims to drum for P. Diddy bought a CD without even hearing me rap. He was hilarious and fresh off his floor seats at the Celtics clincher. He even tried to get me to freestyle with him. I declined. I just can’t go there anymore. Maybe I should practice again. It’s not like those invitations are going to stop as long as I’m making rap music.
The Boo Radley Mini-Tour
Well we got back late Monday night and as tired as we are, as much as I damaged my pocketbook, I wish we were still out on the road. It was a blast despite all the bad luck we had. Baltimore never got booked, NYC got canceled, the Philly folks suggested we not come because they didn’t expect much turnout, and Boston got cancelled for a half hour until it was successfully moved to O’Brien’s. Here’s the wrap up.
We flew into the city and had a tourist day visiting the Aquarium (fantastic!), the Walters Museum (free!), and the American Visionary Art Museum (maybe it was just the bunk-ass new age exhibit but boy was that a waste of $12). At one point in a total bizarro change from our Santa Fe life, we got lunch in the Lexington market and were the only white people in sight. It was great. Overnight stayed in a great hotel room near the Inner Harbor and ate a delicious crab dinner over near Fell’s Point. And while it was a nice visit, while I’m sure we missed out on all sorts of virtues of living in Baltimore, I don’t think it’s someplace I’d want to live. It’s a pretty weird place.
The next day we took a bus to Philly, caught a showing of Iron Man to kill time before Big Digits got into town, and spent the night in Roxbury. I must say Philly is a pretty great town. Great food, great vibe, affordable living, plenty of interesting things happening, lots of cheap real estate. And the Philadelphia Art Museum is so far my favorite in the States…and we only got through the first floor. So I’d say Philly’s a front-runner for a future home at this point. While there was some confusion at the show, some tense moments with the organizers before the performances, it turned out to be a great time. The folks who set the show up, Plastic Little, were supposed to perform with us but were invited to open for Mark Ronson for his European tour. That’s a no-brainer. But of course, that was going to mean low turnout. So it goes, we were going to be there anyway. And as soon as we started playing, people lightened up and everybody there seemed to have a great time. There was some drama I had to be involved in as some drunk dudes destroyed some bathroom property, but the owner was grateful I alerted them to it and we had a really nice conversation through the close of the night. He even bought a t-shirt and wants to have us back soon.
We thought we’d have more time in Philly but Big Digits booked a spot on WFMU in Jersey City for 8AM Wednesday morning. So we got some Cheesesteaks from world-famous Tony Luke’s and headed to Bayonne for the night. Early the next morning we packed up, headed to the station, banged out some hits (they got me on for a song fortunately) and dipped into Manhattan. NYC was pretty much just hanging out at the MoMA and catching up with some friends in the area, which was really great. Since our show there was cancelled, we just stayed the day and drove through awful Mets traffic back to MA the next afternoon. Caroline’s folks were at the family place in Harvard, MA, so we stayed there and had some time to recuperate.
The Providence show the next night was a blast. It was a birthday party at a loft called Narwhal Arms. Both our sets went well and the space and company were very hospitable. Until someone tried to kill himself by jumping off a third-floor balcony (good luck, dude) it was a great time.
The next day we had a wedding to attend in Norwood and the whole affair was real stand-up. The service was short and classy. The minister took up a level from the normal banalities of wedding homilies. And there was shuttling for everyone everywhere so that all could partake of the open bar festivities at the incredibly picturesque lakeside hotel where the reception was held. I even met my future lawyer there. He’s gonna be great. But he told me I need to change my name already. I knew that would have to happen someday. Damn you, The Boo Radleys! Suggestions anyone?
Finally, we got to see some friends in Boston and the show at O’Brien’s went off very well. The ex-UV Protection project The Secret Sea sounded great. Good job. And some guy name Jamal who claims to drum for P. Diddy bought a CD without even hearing me rap. He was hilarious and fresh off his floor seats at the Celtics clincher. He even tried to get me to freestyle with him. I declined. I just can’t go there anymore. Maybe I should practice again. It’s not like those invitations are going to stop as long as I’m making rap music.