Boston, Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts
I did little with my day off yesterday, a measure of humiliation in the gym and a spectacular dinner at the Atlantic Fish Company on Boylston Street...fresh shellfish on ice, broiled sea bass, lobster raviolli and sauteed spinach washed down with a delicious Savingnon Blanc.
We played tonight at the old Orpheum Theatre in Boston. I'm not sure when it was built but my guess would be the early 1900's. Unlike many of the theatres we've performed in for the last month, the Orpheum is tired, faded and in bad need of a "friends of" campaign. The paint is coming off the ceiling and the electrical wiring is archaic and a nightmare of noise when it comes to electric guitars. Mark used different instruments on few songs due to the obnoxious buzz on stage. I made certain my electric guitars were shut off or down during quiet passages. There's no air conditioning or ventilation, in bad need of repair and should be restored to it's former glory. As for the audience, that's another story all together...thunderous and enthusiastic, couldn't have asked for a better crowd. The show was a steamer, figuratively and literally, great playing...hot and humid conditions.
Before the show tonight, Glenn Worf and I met up with our old pals from Boothbay, Maine..Mark and Bonnie Stover, Steve Malcolm, Bob and their friend Harvey. We all became friendly when we played the Boothbay Opera House as a fund raiser to save the place. We were there for three days in September 2006 and made life long friends...they adopted us and we adopted them. The Orpheum backstage was so cramped that we all went to a bar 'round the corner for a visit there. They brought several pounds of Maine lobster salad and hotdog rolls, they call 'em lobster rolls up there and every morsel of it absolutely devoured on the plane to N.Y. after tonight's show. To top it off, Mark Stover gave me an incredibly kind gift of a 1920's Hawaiian ukulele that he's had for many years. I'd admired it back 2006 and he so graciously presented me with it tonight. Thanks to Mark and all the Mainers, it's always great being with them.
Fianlly, special hugs and kisses to my wife and son who for days now have been dealing with our flooded basement in Nashville, moving the entire contents of my music room up to higher ground, mopping up and drying thing out. Like thousands of others in Nashville this past weekend, our basement took on a great deal of water with what is now being called a 1000 year flood, but we are far better off than so many. My family is the real heros of this story and I love them. Thanks to those who have sent notes of concern, they're much appreciated.
So long,
Richard