It's been difficult to find a place to get free wifi connectivity- so it's not completely intentional that my entry on the first tour date comes so late.
The drive out of Louisville to Detroit went fine. We had a lot of fun with the usual nerdy music shit- listening to lots of great music and participating in the customary goofing around. I am very lucky to be able to play in this band with these people.
We arrived at the venue, The Magic Stick, a little late. We loaded in which involved the climbing/carrying the entire operation up two flights of stars. Needless to say, we were able to work off Thankgiving dinner(s) right away...
Dom had said that this was location of Houdini's final performance. I knew that it was in Detroit but I wasn't convinced that The Magic Stick was the place. I did a little research and learned that it was a theater that had moved around a few times and there seemed to be some debate about where it was when Houdini passed. Oh well. I decided to operate under that assumption and see what that sorta' twisted mojo might do for us. Heh.
We attempted to befriend the soundman right away but he wasn't the friendliest creature. Nor was he very interested/involved in anything, really. He seemed genrally annoyed by the live music experience which leaves one to question his choice of vocation. (This, of course, is not uncommon when it comes to soundmen.) We checked, tuning out the semi-regular/passive-aggressive shitty comment and enjoying the outwardly stupid ones like "Y'all's set-up is weeeird."
(Man, I am so sorry that you can't mix the Sublime Tribute band tonight- but can you at least do your job to SOMEBODY'S satisfaction?")
Young Widows arrived. It's always good to see those folks though I've only known Evan, really. They're all great and it's a pleasure and an honor to share the stage with them. We also met Russian Circles and they proved to be equally great folks. Looks like we have great company for the next two weeks.
The young lady working the door, Ramona, was a real sweetheart. She orientated us on how the night would proceed and gave us meal tickets.
It was a fascinating place: a bowling alley and two restaurants downstairs and the venue upstairs. There were a lot of really young people present.
So, set time came and we asked lil' buddy to start our video/visuals...and nothing. We wait and it never comes. We waited, bathing in some bright-ass purple light but our DVD never started. So we had to get going.
The mix was odd and difficult but that coulda' been more of a product of my still learning how I fit into the Phantom Family Halo mix. Neal said it sounded entirely different for him than it did at soundcheck. Oh well.
The kids huddled the front of the stage and seemed to enjoy it though I know we were an odd experience for them. I had prepared myself for silence after songs but we got a decent response but they seemed confused, mostly.
What do you do? Kids might just not get it.
Young Widows and Russian Circles both put on powerful sets. It made me feel a little better as both bands also had very "subdued" audiences. Towards the end of the show there was some activity up front for Russian Circles as one redneck-ish character was pushing people and another spirited lad did some crowd-surfing. It was quite silly.
We ate and loaded out. Of course, the trip down those stars was much easier. We are kinda' old.
We looked for a motel for a bit before deciding on a Knight's Inn outside of town. We got into the placed and it was FRIGID. When we turned on the heater it seemed to give a slightly warm "breath" that went about 6 inches above the unit. You could see your breath in the place.
Neal wanted to wash his hands in some hot water and didn't have any luck acquiring any. Damn.
We were all mummified in our sleeping bags and watched a very odd, old Mexican movie. This has provided us all with comic material ever since. Sleep eventually came...
We all woke up to find that the room had warmed A LOT. It was hotter than hell. We were all sweat-soaked. What the hell???
It was a beautiful morning and I found my way to the Denny's next door for breakfast and the hopes of getting online. I asked about wifi connectivity and the girl said "We don't have that any more."
Really? Had they moved beyond the internet?
Weather was great today for the drive. We had to follow the bottom of the great lake to get to Buffalo. Canada would provide a shorter route but it would also involve a thorough search of the vehicle and probably would keep us too long.
Dom and I stopped at a Starbucks where I got online long enough to get precise directions to the Soundlab. We had been lucky to exit where we did as we were able to get to the venue in about 15 minutes.
The Soundlab is a neat place and has some nice folks running it. Very artist friendly. It's an old building, mostly underground. We loaded down and Corey is currently working on his bass cabinet as the jack is...well...jacked. Someone has lent him a soldering iron.
Russian Circles are checking now. Dom's shoes got wet so he is wearing a pair of mine. There is talk of Mexican food which pleases me immensely.
They have a projector mounted here so no issue with us mounting ours.
News keeps getting better...................
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