12th
tour times
DAY ONE
BUFFALO, NY
i love kicking off tour with a visit to my dear friend naomi, drummer girl supreme. she is right across the border in buffalo and she always makes us feel right at home. homemade salads and a selection of wine awaited us. a jaunt down to a local roadhouse for celebratory tour kick off drinks and some great live music from naomi’s friend corey coleman was on order that first evening. then back to naomi’s to jam then crash.
DAY TWO
JERSEY SHORE
day two was awesome. after a long drive to NJ, where my lovely cousins live, we were taken on a whirlwind tour of the jersey shore that involved some historic rock n roll stops like the stone pony in asbury park and swinging by bon jovi’s and springsteen’s homes. lovely!!! i will not make mention of a certain mtv program (that i have never seen), oops i just did about said area. food in NJ is great. we had surf taco (vegan options a plenty) and the next day we found a local veggie place called jessie’s cafe where richard had the most amazing “meat”ball hoagie. i had serious food envy as i chomped on my wholesome salad plate.
DAY THREE and FOUR
MANHATTAN & BROOKLYN
what is going on with NYC? perhaps it is because i spent most of my time there in the mid to late 90s or perhaps it is because williamsburg is supposed to be the new lower east side or SOMETHING, but things are not quite the same here. i got confronted by a man while ordering a vegan slice on bedford ave., cbgb’s is gone (although there is a tuuli sticker still preserved behind glass which brought a tear to my eye), the continental is gone, coney island high is gone, people wear ugly shoes and american apparel, i just don’t get it. i also sat on a carton of soy milk that i had left on the car seat earlier and completely soaked myself just before we were going to head out for drinks after our gig. disgusting!!! that did not put me in a good mood. the thing i was most excited about was TOPSHOP. wow, i did not have to cross the ocean to go to my favourite store. i was richard’s personal shopper and found him pants that FIT! thank you TOPSHOP for making xs and xxs for men. other than that NYC did not have the same charm as it used to.
maybe it’s me that has changed.
DAY FOUR AND FIVE
ARLINGTON, VA
we drove away from our second brooklyn show (really NY? you all stayed home and watched the oscars!????) and into the night to get to richard’s grandma’s house. a little slice of home out here on the road. like a time capsule from the 1950s, her house was preserved in that decade with built in shelves, kitschy wallpaper, sliding doors and antique plates. so far, we’ve had amazing good fortune staying at friend’s and families. my favourite thing to do on the road is get to a grocery store and make something REAL to eat. subway, taco bell and gas station food do not make for healthy little road warriors. Alana made a killer salad with tons of veggies. i kicked back on a chaise lounge in the sun room and had a glass of wine. the house was empty so it had a cool wispy (ghostly) vibe and we all shared a room with twin beds even though there were several bedrooms to choose from!
our show at the galaxy hut was amazing. this place has vegan friendly food, galaga, pac man and pin ball. libby and julie were great hosts. countless beers on tap and bands drink free. such a cute little piece of sanity.
there are so many lovely people.
at a guitar shop that shall remain nameless we were GIVEN a plug for my bass amp (as i left mine somewhere out there). how nice!!!
at a rest stop on the way out to the DC area a guy behind us gave us a few extra cents to make it exact change for our bill (thanks nice guy!). by this point i had almost started to forget about the jerk who felt it necessary to accost me just before dinner.
