We are in now in the south. The DEEEP south. The foliage, the landscape, the accent, the heat, it's all different around here. Henceforth, I feel a bit out of sorts with things. It is now April 5, and we are heading to Orlando from Knoxville to enjoy 3 full days off. Shara left this morning for Cincinnati to play at the Music Now Festival, and we boys will be heading down to Florida alone. I kind of wish I were going up there as well, because the MBD performance at the festival will be in the string quartet formation. I LOVE to watch the Diamond in string formation. It gives a better picture of the arrangements and the classical leanings, and somehow it has the effect of transporting the listener to another time either future or past. Shara will also be performing with Sufjian Stevens, and the band Clogs. Last time I saw the string formation of MBD was at Tonic on the lower east side, a club which was a dream venue of mine when I first arrived in NY. I've played there on two different occassions since then, once with my band Tutti Quanti, and once with Inlets, but Tonic will now be shutting its doors on April 13th as a result of inflated rent and the gradual but overwhelming gentrification going on in the area. If you get a chance to see a show there before it closes, take it. You won't regret it. Since my last post, we've travelled quite a ways. We've travelled over 3,000 miles, played 14 shows in about as many days, and have been having a great time chatting it up and jamming to the ol' i-pod in our mighty van. Having pushed hard during this first leg of the tour, 3 days off in Orlando looks like an extremely appealing concept. James has been a proponent of finding some motorized recreation during our time there, and when James gets his eyes set on fun, there is no stopping him. Our snowmobiling mission in the French Alps was a product of James' mind, and that was certainly a highlight of our time across the pond, so I'm expecting good things out of this next three days.
As for our last three shows, we've continued our diet of steady rock and all white clothing. We've been getting a lot of love from the audiences, though not as much at the merch tables. For April fool's day, we played the Norva in Norfolk Virginia, and ended up doing a SWEET techno-ified version of "tainted love," complete with glowsticks, a rave-type lighting look, and some sweet dances. Shara even rocked some dope raver shades. It seems that after almost every show there appears some youtube clip from our set, and there were three from the norfolk set.
That's two of them. Kinda cool.
After Norfolk, we got to spend a day off at James' brother's place in Richmond. When we arrived, we breathed a collective sigh of relief upon seeing the beautiful house, complete with yard, play room, pets, and home-cooked food. The house also came with 4 extremely cute, extremely rowdy children; I think our presence there may have brought out the maniac in each of them. My favorite was the youngest, Lydia, a 4 year-old with golden curly hair and blue eyes. Since the others had school to attend during the days, we got to hang with Lydia for most of our day off. We vegged out for most of the day, tossing the frisbee around, watching television, and munching on snacks. After dinner and after the kids' bedtime, Brian and I took a trip to the local movie theatre to see "Blades of Glory." I highly recommend this movie if you're a fan of retarded, stinky, homocentric hilarity (who isn't?). The funny thing about our trip to the movies is that Brian and I were LITERALLY the only two people in the theatre. We saw the 9:45 show on a Monday night, so that's not altogether unbelievable, but we must have seemed pretty gay ourselves. After all, the movie is about to male figure skaters pairing up to make history as the first male on male figure skating duo. We had a good time in spite of the campy undercurrent of our evening.
I can't remember anything memorable from Raleigh, except that I drank a little too much and the night ended with me on the floor of our hotel bathroom swearing off scotch forever. We'll see how long that lasts. On the subject of the Decemberists, they've been growing a lot friendlier as time wears on. At first, some of the band seemed a little guarded, a little terse, but since the first shows they've begun to open up quite a bit. In Norfolk, we got to hang a little bit with them in their huge dressing room, complete with hot tub, sauna, and big-screen TV, but I missed the moment when Chris, the lead guitar whiz, tossed organ/keyboard master Jenny into the hot tub fully clothed. Those are the kind of antics I like to pass on; the kind of things that just sound like fun. We've also made a tentative plan to have lunch at "hooters" in Orlando. Good times, good times.
Last night was Knoxville, and the venue was the historic "Tennesse Theatre". This was by far the most beautiful venue we've played thus far, with beautiful ornate ceilings, and a lobby fit for kings. Apparently the city dropped about 24 million bills on refurbishing, and every dollar certainly showed up on the walls and in the seats. As we drive on through Georgia and on to Florida, I'm dreading the humidity which will accompany in Orlando. If you know me, you'lll know that I cannot stand heat. It makes me crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to survive and not sunburn myself into oblvion before our show at the Hard Rock on Sunday.
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