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chicago

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:13:27 -0400

the chicago theatre is one of the most beautiful venues I’ve ever seen, much less played. it feels like a real honor to be there. I wandered around inspecting frescos and chandeliers and private balcony boxes while neko soundchecked. I adore chicago, and wistfully walked around downtown, snacking on a polish sausage and wishing I could figure out how to live there half the year. the union guys working at the venue make everything a little more complex than it needs to be (I mean, seriously. I am capable of lifting a guitar and moving a monitor, but I’m not allowed because they have seven dudes onstage who need to do something to justify their $40/hr wages), but the shows runs smoothly and sounds great. we got tim up to play piano on ‘this tornado loves you’, so we finally have the whole band for the song (plus a special appearance by the lovely and talented nora o’connor). I went for a nightcap at the hideout with some old friends and tried not to wake the rest of the band when I snuck back into the hotel at 3 am.

columbus

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:12:12 -0400

despite the fact that smoking is not allowed in the venue, it apparently still reeks so bad of something that there is incense burning when we get there. the couch in our green room looks like it might make me preganant if I sit on it, and nothing from our rider is there (neko’s room is fully stocked, so I know it’s not that they haven’t gotten to it yet). just the same, it is good to be back in a rock club. theatres are beautiful and comfortable, but it’s hard to feed off the energy of a room where everyone is seated with their hands folded in their lap. the crowd was really kickass, with some very sweet but already annihiliated girls right up front, being kinda loud and wanting to shake our hands after the set. we had a long-ish drive to chicago, and since we had to be there early the next day, we decided to skip out on neko’s set and get ourselves to indianapolis.

charleston

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:53:04 -0400

the mountain stage people are beyond nice. I thought it was just a radio show for npr, but it turns out that they’ve begun filming it as well, and will be pitching the show to hbo or bravo or something. I think we’re the first ones to be filmed. also invited to the taping are a young acappella group from l.a. called sonos and the incomparable vic chesnutt. I foolishly didn’t set any parameters with the make-up lady, and spent the fifteen minutes before we went onstage trying to reverse some of the cosmetic damage she had inflicted upon me. neko, eric, tim, kelly and I got take out steaks with sweet potato risotto and haricots verts and ate them with plastic forks and knives on the floor of neko’s hotel room. everyone from the taping had gone to a mexican restaurant for the host larry groce’s birthday, so we met up with them for the worst margaritas I’ve ever had in my life. larry gave me a sip of moonshine from a mason jar. it was surprisingly smooth.

west virginia moonshine.

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:50:41 -0400

west virginia moonshine.

ithaca

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:48:53 -0400

some friends and family of the band flew out to ithaca from denver to visit, and we all had dinner at the famed moosewood restaurant the night before the show. duh-licious. (forgot to take pictures of my sicilian stew, sorry.) the day of the show was cold and rainy, so I went to a korean restaurant for lunch and lounged around the hotel room all day, watching stupid lawyer shows. it’s too bad the weather wasn’t cooperative, because it seems like a beautiful city to walk around. the theatre, as most of them have been, is beautiful and opulent.

toronto day 2

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:15:17 -0400

jon, tom, kelley a. and I went to the blue jays-a’s game during the day. it’s an indoor park, and it’s much like going to a game in a mall. a very canadian mall. as a red sox fan used to the drunken, foul-mouthed heckling at fenway, I’ve never experienced such a quiet, polite crowd. I felt like I had to keep my voice down. I didn’t have much invested in either team, but since toronto was killing the red sox in the al east and orlando cabrera, a favorite player of mine from the 2004 world champion red sox, was playing shortshop for the a’s, I quietly cheered against the hometown team and sipped a $10 budweiser. after a 12-inning two-run walk-off homer by lyle overbay, we returned to the church just in time for jon to soundcheck with garth hudson, who would be joining neko’s band on accordian for a couple of songs that night. a true living legend, I couldn’t help but dumbly stare at him anytime he was around. after a sublime set, I worked up the nerve to get my picture taken with him. I felt like a nerd, but screw it. he’s awesome.

eric heard the ocean in his beer.

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:11:37 -0400

eric heard the ocean in his beer.

toronto day 1

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:57:29 -0400

I was shocked by how small the trinity church is, although I guess I shouldn’t have been. I mean, it is a church. not being a cowboy junkies fan, I was also unaware of it’s history as a music venue. but it is a fantastic-sounding space, as a lot of churches tend to be, with the acoustics creating warm natural reverb. I finally get it together to soundcheck ‘this tornado loves you’ with neko and her band, and will now be singing back-up with kelly on this song. we were warned that consuming any alcohol in the church will ruin all music there forever and ever amen, so I bide my time soberly stuffing my face full of hummus and ginger ale.

rad chalk drawing some guy did out in front of the church.

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:56:31 -0400

rad chalk drawing some guy did out in front of the church.

montréal

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:53:58 -0400

a relatively painless border-crossing, and into canada. le national is beautiful (as is the front of house guy, sigh), and located in a fun part of montreal, lots of restaurants and shops nearby. we had an hour or so after soundcheck to kill, so we all scattered and wandered around by ourselves. I got some vietnamese food and stretched my legs on st. catherine st. after our set I mostly skulked around the merch booth, chatting with kelley and audrey until they got busy and then watched the rest of neko’s set sidestage.

audrey napping on a lawn. I thought she was a homeless lady at...

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:52:10 -0400

audrey napping on a lawn. I thought she was a homeless lady at first.

new york day 3

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:58:24 -0400

while eric spends his day with the neko camp at letterman, I did laundry and filed for an extension on my taxes and lounged around my friend’s apartment and watched ghostbusters. thrilling stuff. we finally got out of the city around 8 and headed north for burlington and beyond.

new york day 2

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:45:03 -0400

I’m staying at a friend’s apartment in brooklyn while the rest of the band is staying with a different friend in brooklyn. I nurse a hangover all afternoon, then meet up with everyone at the bell house for load-in (neko is doing two nights at the nokia theatre, but we again opted to have own show the second night). a new-ish venue in brooklyn, it’s quickly become one of my favorite places in new york. opening for us is wye oak, a great two-piece from baltimore, and former crooked finger lara meyerratken, aka el may. I was a little worried about playing on a rainy tuesday, but we had a great, enthusiastic crowd, and everyone sounded awesome. pretty much an all-around kick-ass night.

new york day 1

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:38:47 -0400

eric and I will both be on letterman this week, although not with crooked fingers. I’m performing monday with ac newman, neko’s new pornographer bandmate with whom I just got off tour right before this tour started. eric will be on it on wednesday, playing guitar for neko. I spend the day freezing half to death in the ed sullivan theatre and getting tarted up by stylists and make-up artists, and the rest of the band enjoys an afternoon off in new york. letterman was a blast (special guest: zac efron!), and I meet up with everyone at the nokia theatre around 6:30, missing soundcheck but having enough time to line check before doors. playing in times square is a strange but not unpleasant experience for people used to playing in bars. it’s just so… times square-ish. after the show, the ac newman folks and I went to hifi to watch the letterman broadcast and drink more than we ought to.

the keyboard player’s mic stand at letterman. yes.

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:34:42 -0400

the keyboard player’s mic stand at letterman. yes.

boston

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:49:45 -0400

one pay lane open on a saturday night going into boston from the mass pike? bullcrap. after spending an hour waiting to get through the toll booth, we got to berklee college of music with just barely enough time to set up and run through a quick soundcheck. the acoustics of the hall were amazing, as you would expect them to be at a music school. we stayed at a ridiculously nice hotel on the boston harbor where you can take a water taxi to logan airport and watched bob ross paint a lovely river scene while we finished one of the nice bottles of wine we got in philly.

boston hahbah

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:48:33 -0400

boston hahbah

philadelphia

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:47:07 -0400

well, glenside, to be exact. a little town ten miles outside philly, it’s the definition of quaint. the keswick theatre was the first venue to buy us not just decent, but actuallly good wine, which I enjoyed while catching up on ‘lost’ and eric soundchecked with neko (he’s begun sitting in with the band during ‘this tornado loves you’). after the show, I retreated to the van to listen to the red sox lose to the angels while the rest of the band went across the street for somebody’s birthday cocktails. despite their best efforts, tim and audrey did not steal a painting.

Photo

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:44:34 -0400

arlington

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:48:25 -0400

day two in the dc area. it was a beautiful day outside, so audrey and kelley went to the washington monument, tim walked around and took pictures, eric made phone calls and napped, and I completely ignored our nation’s capitol by sewing up frayed seams on the handful of vintage dresses I brought on tour while watching ‘flight of the conchords’ on my computer (my plans to catch up on a month’s worth of ‘lost’ were foiled by a crappy internet connection). we went to a kitschy faux-60s diner after the show and tim and I split a surprisingly good chicken pot pie.