After our show in Butler, PA we drove through the night to NYC. We rolled in around 7 a.m. and drove down desolate streets over to Rockefeller Center and parked in their garage. Our reason for arriving so early was to get standby tickets for the Saturday Night Live season premiere. We managed to get tickets without any trouble due to the fact that we were the last in line - actually there wasn't really any line at all by the time we arrived. We heard people had been queuing since midnight or possibly even earlier so we knew our shot of getting into the show was definitely much longer than we had hoped.
When my brother and I went to get some things from our van, Azuree tried unsuccessfully to get filmed so her mother could see her on Good Morning America. After her disappointment we started our quest to find food but being that is was only 10:30 a.m. most of the shops were closed. After driving through the night I felt a bit like a zombie stumbling down the street. When we were driving in we noticed that the streets by the Waldorf Astoria were barricaded off by the police (apparently a dignitary from Cameroon (I believe) was staying there) and thought we should head over there to see what the fuss was about and if we could afford a bit of breakfast. After a stroll through the lobby and the feeling of being out of place we found our way in Times Square.
Walking through Times Square an up and coming rapper tried to give me a free CD, which he "signed" (the CD cover looked like he'd done this many times over). Once he handed me the CD he asked for a donation and when I told him I didn't have anything and almost instantly he grabbed the CD from my hands. I wonder if anyone's actually heard his record yet.
After Times Square we headed over to Brooklyn to our friends' 4th floor walk-up and moved our gear inside and took it easy before heading back to Rockefeller Center to stand in SNL lines for a few hours only to be turned away.
The next day we headed over to Union Square to meet up with friends and spent the afternoon looking at records, jackets and sweaters since the weather has managed to get much cooler than we expected. Our show at Pete's that night went really well and was attended by quite a few good friends. Pete's Candy Store is a small bar with an even smaller music room inside, but thankfully Trevor managed to pull back enough while playing to keep things under control.
After a late night with friends we headed back to our friends' place and got ready for the drive to Boston the next day.
At the show that night in Boston we were joined by a band from PA called The Shackletons. Thanks to an old friend's hospitality, we had the luxury of parking in a garage so we didn't have to worry about unloading our van.
The next day we tried to head to MOTU to get another power supply for our Traveler, but unfortunately they only ship their products from their warehouse. The show in Quincy that night was on a small college campus and the response from everyone there was definitely quite favorable.
After the show we drove through the night to Philadelphia and managed to get in early enough to see the friends we stayed with before they left for work. After hitting Lorenzo's we headed over to The M Room to get ready for the night. Our friends in Geology opened the show and definitely set the tone for a great night filled with many friends.
We left for New York this afternoon and on our way my brother pointed out that Kermit was on his way into the city as well. We managed to get to Arlene's Grocery with plenty of time to get things in order for our set. Things went quite smoothly from our end of the night and at this point in time it seems like working our way through our set is more natural than breathing if that makes any sense.
Tomorrow will hopefully conclude our jacket/sweater/coat shopping and perhaps a visit to Central Park and then it's off to Hamden, CT for an interview with the The Quinnipiac Chronicle.
Speaking of press and such, check out what the Illinois Entertainer has to say about our upcoming release show and be sure to call and request "Secrets In Your Heart" on 88.1 WSDP (Canton, MI) 734.416.7745, Monday-Thursday, 2:30 to 5:30 PM. [02:02]
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