Waking up really late around 1 p.m. I feel like I just slept off the entire weekend!
Breakfast Bar. Tea.
Back to the local grind. Catching up on business scheduling. Running errands.
Eggs. Spinach. English Muffin. Coffee.
Teaching lessons at Music Makers.
At the end of the shift catching up with Rebecca and Allyson on the day’s events.
Lentils with Vegan Sausage, and Salad.
Watching 1899.
Shopping for things online.
Doing chores.
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Easy drive this morning.
Egg and Cream Cheese Bagel from Dunkin.
State Theatre in Falls Church, VA.
It’s like a version of Elevation 27 – not exactly the upscale vibe we got the night before.
Having to reorganize the stage to fit our stage plot.
They serve hospitality at the bar – snacking on a Breakfast Bar and Coffee.
Figuring out merch stuff – running back and forth up and down the stairs from the stage to the front to the trailer to wherever. Show days are just a constant energy flow.
At some point the venue cooks some meals for us. I load up on a Chicken Sandwich with Fries and some Beignets.
When 8:00 hits we strap on our show faces and rock out on the stage. It’s not the biggest crowd we’ve had this weekend but there’s a dance floor here – and everyone takes advantage.
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Packing up and loading out. It’s always such a hail storm on tight stages – everyone’s running around doing a thousand different things.
Eventually, we all make it into our respective rides. Ron and I roll with Rebecca for the 3 hour drive back. We all chat and reflect about band drama and money troubles.
Finally, back home ready to fall asleep at 5 a.m.
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Waking up bright and early at 8 a.m.
In the big van I sit in the back row while Carlos drives us north. Working on computer things and whatever business that needs tending to. Eating some hard boiled eggs with a banana and tea.
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Napping at some point.
After some crazy traffic on 95 we eventually make it to downtown Wilmington, Delaware. At the Grand Opera House – this place is absolutely stunning with a very high ceiling painted with Renaissance style images, a much bigger stage than yesterday.
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Unfortunately, we discover the big merch rack never made it on the trailer from yesterday’s gig. How? We have no clue. Our whole disorganized system of load in and load out failed us. So we scramble to figure out a solution by recruiting someone from VB to haul all our back stock of t-shirts and cd’s. I spend all my spare time coming up with solutions to fix things at the merch, video, and whatever stage issues we have.
After all is said and done we do manage to get a nice sound check and have time to order dinner across the street from Chelsea Tavern.
Fish n Chips with Veggie tray for me.
John, the hospitality guy, is extremely nice and gifts me with a tiny jar of honey from the bees they keep on the roof of the building. Apparently, the bees stay busy cause of the all vibrations of the music performances that go on.
We do our two set show and all is well – lights are fantastic – the audience is full and receptive. Sometimes while I’m playing I’ll watch the crowd sing every single lyric.
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Packing it up and loading out. The hotel is literally a block down the street so we’re able to just roll our luggage rack over with ease.
Rebecca and I settle down and look through some footage. Libido kicks in...
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Waking up bright and early at 8:10 a.m.
Linking up at the warehouse for the ELO trip. I’m riding in the big van and trailer this time. Jimmy and Brittany in the back row and I in the row next. After some conversational investigations into why steering wheels aren’t in the center of a car I’m able to get some shut eye.
PB&J. Tea.
At The Beacon Theatre in Hopewell, Virginia. I remember this place from a few years back when we played here. Small theater room but a beautiful place with an upgraded light system. We brought Chris White with us so we can put an actual human behind the light board who knows the show/music.
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Setting up the stage and merch area – always takes so much time. The stage guys keep lowering the light truss; Nigel keeps banging his head on them – I swear he needs a helmet at gigs.
My dad and his wife Patty are here. They’re able to hang back stage and eat lunch/dinner. Chinese food on the menu tonight.
Right at 7:45 we go on and do our two sets of all the ELO hits. The energy feels great – lights look fabulous – no projection though for whatever reason.
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We manage to make it back to the hotel but not without turning back around for Nigel’s briefcase and iPad – and then later Brittany’s bag. It’s always something.
It feels great to be relaxing in this hotel bed
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Waking up at almost 1 p.m. Felt good to sleep in.
It’s Thanksgiving and I’m doing absolutely nothing, which is strange. Not going to see my dad down in NC cause it would only be for a day and I’ll see him tomorrow at the ELO show.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, Flax Seed, and Almond Milk. English Breakfast Tea.
Normally, I’d see Ana’s family around these holiday times but things are different now. I literally have nowhere to go. So I do what I like to call “Solosgiving”, a day to myself.
Catching up on business at the computer. Doing chores.
Cleaning the bathroom!
Eggs. Spinach. English Muffin. Coffee.
Running errands – fixing up these z racks at the storage unit.
While getting gas I witness a near domestic abuse scene in front of the 7-11. This lady is yelling for her keys back and arguing with a dude from outside the car about her baby. I can’t image the stress that’s going through those two people’s heads. The guy eventually leaves and walks off down the street. I almost wanna ask if the lady needs help but I guess it’s not my place to intervene.
Back home.
Dinner: Lentils with Brown Rice/Quinoa, Baby Broccoli, Carrots, and Naan Bread.
Watching 1899.
Doing dishes and general cleaning.
Packing and prepping for tomorrow’s trip.
Baking Cookies.
At the studio pulling out the Christmas decorations. I put on some Shins radio that eventually switches to other nostalgic emotional songs – it really tugs at my heart and I can’t help but feel loss, regret, and happiness all at the same time.
Waking up around noon.
Breakfast Bar. Tea.
Catching up on business. Running errands. Traffic is horrendous today, day before Thanksgiving and all.
Eggs. Spinach. Bagel. Coffee.
Teaching some lessons.
Then, I driver over to Back Bay for the show. Snake Mountain Revival and Gone are performing. It’s nice to just be attending a show as opposed to being on stage with responsibilities. I hang with Elliott, Allyson, and Rusty mostly enjoying the heavy fire that SMR brings. I notice Ana makes an appearance at some point right in the middle of a song. It’s funny how easy it is to act normal in public for me but on the inside I’m hit with the awareness of her to a big degree. I have a lot on my mind in regards to her lately.
Eating a Tuna Sandwich with Fries from nearby.
Back home. Doing chores and relaxing.
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Waking up around noon.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, Flax Seed, and Almond Milk. English Breakfast Tea.
Catching up on business.
Eggs. Spinach. English Muffin. Coffee.
Teaching lessons at Music Makers.
Lentils, Vegan Sausage, Brown Rice, and Salad.
I link up with Felix, Aaron, Josiah, and Ken at Taphouse. Felix is rarely in town so we have a little Tokyo reunion hang out – it’s good to spend time with these guys and reconnect. Back at Aaron and Ken’s apartment Felix hooks up this cool pocket sized synthesizer and we have fun with that. Sorting through our tour/band memories.
Popcorn.
Watching 1899.
Waking up around noon.
Cereal. Tea.
Organizing some things at the studio and catching up on business.
Eggs. Bagel. Spinach. Coffee.
Teaching lessons at Music Makers.
Protein Shake.
ELO band practice.
Dinner: Mackerel with Black Beans, Kale, Carrots, and Brown Rice.
Watching 1899.
Waking up as late as I want.
Breakfast Bar. Tea.
Catching up on things.
Over at Rebecca’s we chat about things as she’s cleaning and
packing for her trip to NC to see her mom.
On about my day enjoying the fact I have no urgent responsibilities. I run a thousand errands – returning a wallet that was left at Kroc yesterday – successfully returning something at Wal-Mart, which is a miracle – getting groceries.
Eggs. Chard. Salt n Vinegar Chips. English Muffin. Coffee.
Doing things around the house – shopping online.
Leftover Pizza with Salad.
At the studio cleaning and organizing all the mic packs and other Broadway related gear.
Today was the second show for Broadway. First show yesterday was amazing but this time it’s even more amazing.
Spending all afternoon making sure everything is in order – camera rolling – lights flashing in sync with the music. So many great numbers done by the cast members. Once again, I’m proud of the Dark One scenes. With Kevin and Reid syncing up the lights and sound effects it all came together in dramatic fashion.
Afterwards, I do my best to pack up everything in a hurried fashion – everyone else lends a hand – we manage to get out of there a half hour before our rental time is done.
Dropping off all the gear at the studio then heading to the cast party at Carol’s house – I’m able to throw tonight’s footage up on the screen while we all laugh and cheer.
It’s finally over – I’ve participated in some of the biggest things all at once in such a short amount of time.
Waking up some time around noon.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, Flax Seed, and Almond Milk. English Breakfast Tea.
Picking up some premium paper so we can print just a few more programs. There’s a few of the cast members here at the studio getting their mics taped.
I head to Kroc Center for the Music Makers LIVE Broadway production of The Dark Before Christmas. Today is the big day! First show. We do all the things to get the stage ready – sound checking with a few pivotal scenes.
Then, it’s show time! Very proud of everyone today – we all stepped it up and kept those segues and transitions smooth – all the numbers were very well performed. Me being the Dark One, evil villain for the show, was a fun role to play.
Afterwards, we pack things up and get outta there.
Reid, Rebecca, Jimmy, and I meet up at Cook Out for a quick dinner – recapping all the funny moments from the show.
Then, at the studio unpacking and cleaning all the mic packs and charging everything. Then, printing more programs.
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Waking up after noon.
Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, Flax Seed, and Almond Milk. English Breakfast Tea.
Packing up the car with stuff from Music Makers. Reid and I ride out to Kroc Center for the big Broadway dress rehearsal today. We push our luck trying to get in a little early with Jeremy and Kevin for sound/lights. Getting the sound station and other little things set up and ready to go. Eventually, the rest of the cast and crew show up. It obviously takes forever to get everything truly going.
But we do an entire run through of the show from start to finish and besides some long transitions/segues it’s looking really nice. We make it all the way to 8:20 and have to hightail it outta there.
Back at the studio Rebecca and I unwrap all the mic packs and charge the batteries and walkies. Then, we print as many programs as we can before we’re beat.
Back home. Catching up on chores and laundry.
