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January 30 / Santa Cruz
Visiting Apple Computers was a hoot. They didn't show me any special new
secret stuff, I'm afraid, but I met a lot of nice people there, saw some audio/video gear
in action, and even played a little show for whomever turned up at their inhouse store.
One thing I love about the California Guitar Trio - they're definitely what Robert Fripp
wanted Crimson to become in the '80's: a small intelligent mobile unit! Ironically, Crimson,
while remaining intelligent, of course, grew bigger and less mobile after Robert's advice,
but the trio is a good example of how useful it is to be flexible. At Apple, after a great lunch
(their cafeteria is excellent - what more could I say than that they have good expresso
being made there!) Anyway, after lunch they asked us if we might play a bit - Sure! Got
the acoustic guitars (and acoustic bass guitar) out of the truck, went into the room they
suggested, and started playing. No mikes, no p.a, no fuss... just music!
Ran into former Utopia keyboardist Roger Powell, who works at Apple now. Lucky them!
Soon enough, we headed on to Santa Cruz, for our soundcheck and gig at Palookaville -
a neat club where I'd played with my band last June.
The show in Santa Cruz went well - we're getting Heart of the Sunrise pretty together by now!
Some local friends presented me with a sushi lollypop - surely a first for this world traveller!
And after the show I got to chat with Julian Colbeck - a keyboard player with whom I toured in
the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe band (playing the same Heart of the Sunrise) back in 1990. No,
I didn't invite Julian to sit in on the piece - it would have taken an hour to setup keyboard
gear for it. (Hearing the song, though, did remind him of that tour.)
We have a couple of days off now - (one to spend driving back down to L.A.) I'll catch up on
my Stick practicing, enjoy some coffees, and tighten up these diary pages which I've been
hurrying through late at night. (I just found out I've been mis-spelling Hideyo's name for ...
well over a year, on web diaries. Thank goodness for the "find and replace" function!)
Feb 2 / San Diego
Back playing after our day off. There were p.a. problems in the San Diego club,
"Brick by Brick" but they were overcome. (At one point, having left the
stage until the p.a. got working, we considered going out in the audience and
continuing unplugged. Would have made for some good photos for me!)
My friends from the record label "Spotted Peccary" came by the show, and
I'd hoped to see a friend from way back, Don Singleton, who started a web service called
DialCom way way back in the early '80's. I remember being the 39th person
to join that service, and for a modem using cups that go over the phone speakers.
Seems like ancient history.
I'll spare you a description of the beach motel we're in tonight - suffice it to say it
took all my tools and tricks to overcome the phone and get online. (Say, maybe
those cups weren't such a bad idea after all!)
Feb 3 / Los Angeles
The Key Club is a place none of us had played before. On Sunset, near the famous Roxy,
it seems to be mainly a dance club. But the sound was great, the people at the club very
helpful and professional. It turned out to be one of the best shows - possibly the best.
oops - wrong drummer's name on the marquee!
Feb 4 / San Juan Capistrano
The Coach House has been around a long time - scene of many many shows (including one
I was in, just two weeks ago!)
It's the last day of our short tour, and we're all sad to see it ending. Some friends and
family had come in for last night and tonight's show, and we all felt the band was something
special. It's my hope that the trio will find a way to record this lineup (with Pat and me as
guests) so we can have some permanent record of the music.
Now, for all of us, it's back home and on to other projects. There's already talk of doing
a bit more touring in the late Spring.
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