Seattle, Washington 13-14 Oct 2012
Continental breakfast in the room and a good hard workout in the hotel gym that overlooks Puget Sound. Apart from that, in the words of our own John McCusker, I couldn't have done less. I spent the rest of the afternoon chipping away at the basket of muffins and fruit that had come with breakfast and playing guitar. It was breezy and grey with the occasional drizzle, much welcomed as the Pacific Northwest has been without rain for many weeks, unusual for this part of the country.
We arrived at the venue late in the afternoon and made a dash to catering to find lunch was still on, a Mexican fiesta. Albondigas soup, chicken enchiladas, tamale pie, beans, rice, flour tortillas, guacamole, salsa and salads. It's rare that anyone has more than a bowl of soup prior to sound check but most of us piled our plates high and made it an early dinner. Delicious. Another bonus to eating early was having a little more time after sound check to play our instruments and warm up a bit before the show. As with the last tour we did with Bob, we sound check late and go on early. When you squeeze dinner in between the two it leaves very little time for much more than changing clothes prior to hitting the boards.
Tonight's show, the first one in the States this tour, couldn't have been better. An incredible audience, with us at every turn, appreciative and not shy about showing it. We spun through our 70 minutes and had finished before we knew it and hung around long enough after our set to watch the first two or three tunes from Dylan and Co. before heading back to the hotel. It was a full band ensemble that made it's way to The Pike Pub & Brewery, a fabulous, funky brew pub. At least a half dozen pitchers of their superb amber ale was enjoyed by all.
Sunday the 14th is another day off and we'll stay in Seattle. I plan to get out early for breakfast, maybe go down to the farmers market and do some walking in this wonderful town, another of my favourite cities. Showers are forecast but the temps will be shirt sleeve mild and I'm really enjoying being on the west coast again. Tomorrow we'll decamp Seattle, fly to Portland for the show and fly afterward to San Francisco for yet another day off.
So long
Richard