Day 65 - May 15th 2009
The big day
Today I would be reuniting with Bang Camaro for the first time since they took me on a whirlwind tour across the country. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first, I had been home living a more “normal life” for a few weeks now. Most people in my circles were done asking me how the tour was, and I had officially acclimated myself to being home. I wondered if I’d forgotten what it was like to be out there with them, we would soon find out.
I packed a bag (Roxanne would not be needed for this excursion) and headed out around 11:30 I met up with Sean at the Bolt Bus Stop. I figured going with him would be to my best advantage since he lived there for like seven years and I’d have an easier time getting to the venue. I hadn’t seen him since the tour ended and it was the first of many warm reunions. As we got to the bus to get on the clerk told Sean his ticket was for tomorrow...oh no. The prospect of wandering around Manhattan by myself was a pretty daunting one. They let him on though.
I spoke with Sadler (Leslie Guitarist/Vocalist) on Facebook on the way up (the buses have Wi-Fi) I thought it was fitting that we had a convo seeing as though most of my memories from tour involve those boys. He had written a new song based on our shared experience. I listened to it 3 or 4 times, I really dug it. I thought about the song I’d written and how two people can have the same experience and write a completely different song.
The power on the bus went dead for some reason so I unplugged my comp and tried to get some sleep before we pulled up. I open my eyes and bam New York City.
If I’m being completely honest, I’ve never been a fan of the Big Apple. Sure it has it’s merits but for me it all comes down to the fact that there are too many people there and not enough space. Not liking people all that much is a family trait. They’re all on top of each other and everyone is always pushing and shoving. The New Yorker’s were in full effect on this day as I try to keep up with Sean so I don’t get lost. We stopped for Pizza and headed towards the venue. The guys weren’t here yet so we headed over to Madison Square Park and di some people watching, We spotted Sherwoond Small, the bald black comic form best week ever, he was walking a tiny dog.
We got a call saying that the guys were nearby so we went over to help with load in. The Venue was open so we waited inside. After a while the guys finally arrived. I was so happy to see everyone a lot happier than I originally thought I would be, as much as I try to brush it off as no big deal I have a bond with these guys that’s pretty deep. I’ve never hugged so many dudes in a five minute period.
Once the gear was in we all fanned out to find food, I went to grab some Chinese with Rod (Camaro Vocalist) we caught up a bit then headed to the venue and found the Green Room where Alex and Bryn were being interviewed for a magazine/website. The journalist, who was nice enough, was asking them some strange questions, that’s NYC for ya.
A couple of hours passed and it was Showtime. This was the part I was most worried about. I had gotten pretty good about 3 weeks into the tour. I wonder if I would hit the stage and start filling the room with suck. The stage was huge and lights were hot. I had one thing working in my favor I had about tow weeks of rest. Which meant my body and my voice were 100% I was ready to go.
As soon as I heard the cowbell for Out On The Streets it all came back to me I snapped right back into Camaro mode and I just cut loose and started havin fun. Shakin my ass again like there’s no tomorrow. We played a 30 minute set the shortest we’ve done since I’ve been with them. We in fact packed a lot of face rockin into a short amount of time.
Bryn and I went to a raw bar for a few drinks which led to me making what I would like to call Dumbass decision Number 1. Bryn mentioned off-hand that some folks from Kittens Ablaze wanted to hang out so he and I took a cab to Brooklyn to a place called Union Pool.
The place was filled with hipsters a sub sect of society that’s truly hard to like. The DJ was lame and the dancing was worse. Brooklyn, supposedly the hippest place on earth isn’t showing me much in terms of fun so far. I like the people that we were hanging out with but that’s about it. With so many people in this small stage combined with being boozed up I’m already on edge and then this hipster (who was trying to get by) shoved me out of the way. Without thinking I grabbed him by his shirt, pulled him to my face and very…gently reminded him that it’s better to be polite in situations like this. He got the message and I was ready to go.
We go to the liquor store and then head to the house of a friend of the kids in Kittens Ablaze. Bryn immediately plugs in his Ipod to get the party started. We got our groove on til the sun came up. Michelle was kind enough to giver us a place to crash so we took a cab back to Manhattan and crashed at her apartment.
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