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Oct. 3, Toronto
A bit of a breather, with the night free here, and show tomorrow.
Good chance to look back at the first travel of the tour (we're 1/3 through the tour now, but most of the mileage is still to come.)
I asked the guys if there was a 'hotel high point', but there were not special hotels that stood out.
'Hotel low points' though, we have had a few!
Outside Boston, arrving at 2am to a 2 star hotel, you don't expect much... but it was a first for me when I entered the small lobby and the guy there,
cell phone to his ear, handed me four plastic room keys without asking even who I was, let alone to see identification.
When I asked whether there was internet connection, he didn't seem to understand what I meant! Maybe nobody who stays there had ever asked him.
Or was it the night we found our booked hotel no longer had rooms for us... a different hotel, supposedly 3 star, was found, and again late at night, after we
trudged way down a noisy hallway, took elevator up a flight, then trudged all the way back, in the noisy upstairs hallway, to above the lobby, I thought I heard the words
spoken 'Three stars my ass, this is a f***ing refugee camp!'
Ah the joys of touring.
Oct 4, Toronto
Had a free day to make the 6 hour drive from Montreal to Toronto.
That means we can check out at a reasonable time...
Make some stops along the highway...
enjoy a free night for dinner (at our humble hotel near airport), and morning free for
amusements (in my case, catching up on some quilting!)
The Mod Club is a place I hadn't played before...
Backstage, Julie is again cooking for everybody. She's been shopping for ingredients, and this time making some lentil soup (which will be referred to,
I am sure, in the Stick Men introduction to Soup, where we're always looking for some new element about soup to mumble about, building up into the song.)
Onstage at soundcheck, a chance to get photos of everyone...
Tobias Ralph
Julie Slick
Adrian Belew
Pat Mastelotto
Where's Markus? Well, I got his photo outside the club.
Only a few folks at the pre-show gathering ... much easier to chat with them
And, since I see my pedals partly in that shot, here's one of pedals I'm using on the tour...
...including the foot that steps on the pedals, and a bit of the Vrooom Vrooom chart that I still need after all these years.
(well, only if I want to play the piece right!)
Here's Frazza doing biz backstage
Pat practicing in the dark hallway
the stage, ready for us to go on...
and, finally, the reason we're here... the show
During Adrian's segment, from the upstairs backstage...
And, as usual, shots from B'boom, where the drums play alone and I have a chance to take a picture!
the best part:
Tomorrow a short trip over the border to Buffalo and show at The Tralf.
Oct. 5, Buffalo
The Tralf - we've played here many times before. It's a good club, nice sounding, and a great bunch of people come to shows here.
Anyone who visits downtown Buffalo finds it quite deserted at any time of day ... this time our hotel is across from the hospital we once had to take
Jerry Marotta to. We'd waited so long in the emergency room, without anyone seeing him, that he started to feel better and we left for our gig in Albany!
A little different this time, but not completely different ... the hotel didn't have our rooms ready, and after an hour and a half wait, we went off to the
venue, only to come back and get our rooms after the show.
The Tralf has a sneaky curtain at back of stage, with dressing rooms right behind it -- great for pics of audience.
Another for my collection of shots of Pat warming up in dark hallways!
B'booming...
oops, I forgot to ask the lighting guy to turn the house lights on at the end for a photo...
Good time, good show.
Early next morning we're on the long-ish drive to Cincinnati - good weather this time, we must have tired that rain out!
I say Cincinnati, but we're playing across the river, at the Southgate House in Newport, KY.
Have been here before, and it's nice.
Well, not exactly a palatial backstage...
Long day, but well worth it with this nice show and audience.
Found our hotel in Cincinnati after the show, a bit of sleep and up to drive to Detroit and the next adventure.
Time for another page.
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