Back in NYC
I got about three hours of sleep last night. But oh, what a glorious three hours it was. I slept like a freakin' rock.
Last night we played at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. The school had hired sound and lighting guys to help with the show, and aside from the fact that they had no idea what they were doing, it was a good show. It was the last in a series of gigs that Griffin House (www.griffinhousemusic.com) opened. Griffin sounds a lot like Bono, and I liken his style to a cross between Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He also looks a bit like Bono.
After the show, I and the band packed up everything as fast as we could and set off for Chicago, where we would sleep at tour manager Adam Robinson's dad's house before flying to New York. We were all tired when we arrived after 4 a.m., especially bassist Rob Calder, who had driven the entire way. So we all crashed in Adam's dad's house for a few precious hours.
We left the house at around 8 a.m., bound for New York City by way of O'Hare. We touched down at LaGuardia airport sometime around noon and caught a cab to Ari's apartment.
I'm in love with New York City. The streets, the people, the restaurants, and street vendors, the culture. It's such a beautiful place. I would love to live in NYC for at least a year. Rob told me today it's a good thing I love New York, because we'll end up spending quite a bit of time here. In fact, we'll be back in early October for a performance on ESPN's "Cold Pizza." I hope I'm able to make that trip.
The band had to practice today for tomorrow's performance on "Last Call with Carson Daly." I went to hang out and listen. I think it went well, although they brought in a prospective replacement guitarist for Matt Beck, who will be leaving us after we finish in New York. The new guy, Joel, has a very different style from Matt which involves heavy use of his whammy bar. I think the band is unanimous that the whammy bar has to go.
After rehearsal, Ari had to run and get ready for a hot date. I met up with Rob (the bassist), Rob's wife Lisa, Scott (the drummer) and Adam (the tour manager) and we all went to a Japanese place called the Dojo, on St. Mark's Place. Some of you music gurus might know that St. Mark's Place is also the street where the original Sin-é was located. For those of you who don't know, Sin-é (pronounced shin-AY) was a little Irish café where Jeff Buckley used to play back in the day. I was hoping to spot it, but I couldn't remember the address and didn't know what it looked like.
From there I caught a cab with Scott and Adam to Ari's place, which is where I am as I type this. I've only been to New York a few times before, but it's always good to come back to the Big Apple. I'm very excited about tomorrow's show, although it will be a long one from what I hear (something like 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.). We don't have to fly back to Chicago until the 16th, which means we get one more night in the city. I'm hoping to find a place where I can get some cool t-shirts for cheap.
Last night we played at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. The school had hired sound and lighting guys to help with the show, and aside from the fact that they had no idea what they were doing, it was a good show. It was the last in a series of gigs that Griffin House (www.griffinhousemusic.com) opened. Griffin sounds a lot like Bono, and I liken his style to a cross between Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He also looks a bit like Bono.
After the show, I and the band packed up everything as fast as we could and set off for Chicago, where we would sleep at tour manager Adam Robinson's dad's house before flying to New York. We were all tired when we arrived after 4 a.m., especially bassist Rob Calder, who had driven the entire way. So we all crashed in Adam's dad's house for a few precious hours.
We left the house at around 8 a.m., bound for New York City by way of O'Hare. We touched down at LaGuardia airport sometime around noon and caught a cab to Ari's apartment.
I'm in love with New York City. The streets, the people, the restaurants, and street vendors, the culture. It's such a beautiful place. I would love to live in NYC for at least a year. Rob told me today it's a good thing I love New York, because we'll end up spending quite a bit of time here. In fact, we'll be back in early October for a performance on ESPN's "Cold Pizza." I hope I'm able to make that trip.
The band had to practice today for tomorrow's performance on "Last Call with Carson Daly." I went to hang out and listen. I think it went well, although they brought in a prospective replacement guitarist for Matt Beck, who will be leaving us after we finish in New York. The new guy, Joel, has a very different style from Matt which involves heavy use of his whammy bar. I think the band is unanimous that the whammy bar has to go.
After rehearsal, Ari had to run and get ready for a hot date. I met up with Rob (the bassist), Rob's wife Lisa, Scott (the drummer) and Adam (the tour manager) and we all went to a Japanese place called the Dojo, on St. Mark's Place. Some of you music gurus might know that St. Mark's Place is also the street where the original Sin-é was located. For those of you who don't know, Sin-é (pronounced shin-AY) was a little Irish café where Jeff Buckley used to play back in the day. I was hoping to spot it, but I couldn't remember the address and didn't know what it looked like.
From there I caught a cab with Scott and Adam to Ari's place, which is where I am as I type this. I've only been to New York a few times before, but it's always good to come back to the Big Apple. I'm very excited about tomorrow's show, although it will be a long one from what I hear (something like 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.). We don't have to fly back to Chicago until the 16th, which means we get one more night in the city. I'm hoping to find a place where I can get some cool t-shirts for cheap.
posted by James | 11:29 PM
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