It was full circle. Jeff Goldblum was on the TV above us as we played our set in Rhode Island on Saturday night, heavy metal soundtrack to Jurassic Park it seemed. If Velociraptors went to space, maybe. We woke up friday and met at Wawa, rt 309 8 a.m. and gassed up. 6 hours Northeast to Revere - Massachusetts was waiting for us to stop by. A weekend of subtle New England debauchery awaits us. Onward North, Dillon, Ryan and I in the van. Drew decided to take his car through the mid-atlantic to the New England cold, and he took Josh with him. We passed the iron curtain into New Jersey, then to the Tappan Zee into NY thru-way. 287 to I95 to CT15 brought us hotshot into and unto the Masspike. Odysseus the van had all cylinders combusting in their cyclical roar, the temp gauge swaying back and forth; warm to hot- but not too hot. We sped the tunnels of center Boston, right in the heart, passed Fenway, I thought I heard Tessie playing. Go Bosox. Sammy's patio was situated perfectly on the beach front of Revere, where clockwork precision had low flying planes disappearing into the mist of the city nearby. As soon as one was out of sight, another commercial flight burst through the ocean clouds to follow its predecessor into the historic city. I'm glad to be somewhere else than Philadelphia- though I love that place too. Kill time, visit the beach, eat pizza, I desperately search for coffee... 7/11 will have to do. Drew and Dillon went to buy a laptop. Dillon enjoys taking videos of us playing, he was going to edit and review while in transit. He practically funded the weekend tour, along for the ride, best roadie anyone didn't necessarily ask for but do we ever love him so, he does a grand job. Josh sits in the corner, charging his phone just out of sight from where Ryan and I lounge on couches near the bathroom. The stench wafts into our noses, spins a jig, offends us so. We stay seated. Event Manager Dante greets us, buys us a pitcher of beer, what a guy, he has a nice beard. He's maybe 5"6' with a black skull cap, deep voice with a touch of New England punk wisdom in it, he couldn't be older than 35 betting safely. Fasting forward the first band comes on. God help my I can remember their name, but they had a stout bass player named Jaime with heart shaped sun glasses. They played breakdowns and other hardcore fashion style things. A++ stuff it was. We're next. Goes as follows; 1. Beginning of Growth bridge(EoD) 2. Scarlet (SiS) 3. Lavender ( SiS) 4. Jade (SiS) After the set we are greeted with praise and acclaim. Boston is very accommodating and kind. We sit and watch the other bands. 2 a.m rolls around and Dillon and Drew are sleeping seated on the couches. The low hum of bar conversation is the only noise now besides the symphony of tinnitus we now have if we already didn't. Josh, Ryan and I continue networking. Josh found his Boston twin, while I chat with everyone because I am so wired on coffee from an entire day of it. We eventual pack up the 600 pounds of gear at least and try to find a motel. Rhodeside Inn has no parking. We don't want to park the van blocks away with our equipment in it. Comfort in has no vacancy. We drive an hour south to Attenborough and stay at a Knights Inn. We fall asleep around 5 a.m saturday. 8 a.m. arrived happily with Ryan chanting " free breakfast! free breakfast!" I slept with my contacts in. I rub muck from them and strap shoes to my feet and head to the office with everyone save for Josh, he stayed in bed. Coffee and muffins. We smoked around the van, we are probably a pack in each person at this point. Check out by 11, we head to town to find some real food. A diner, Dans Diner it were, incorporated. 1 p.m. Josh drops his phone and ruins it, whole trip is shot. Dillon has to poo. We head to a WWII park where they have a zoo and an amazing view. Spent an hour or so there. We head for Pawtucket in Rhode Island. The Sun was napping behind the clouds when we got there. The trees were bare and the venue was terribly dark and filled with problematic drinkers but maybe it's cultural. I wasn't prepared to stand around for 2 hours until load in, lets go see something I say. We went to the visitor center and had a long conversation with an old gentleman in a suit named Silvio. He ran the gift shop and he was spectacular. Probably in his late 80's, Silvio wore a black( or maybe tannish- gray) suit with a plaid like tie. His head was bald but his eyebrows were white and bushy and his voice quaky, but he spoke elegantly. He kept saying " Cheese and crackers!" The sun was shining proudly when we left the visitor center. We checked out the old Slater Mill, with its river and its various levels running beneath bridges spanning the small city. The site of the Industrial revolution they say. We were first that night. That was fine. Ryan needed to bail early, he's leaving the country for a week tomorrow morning. We load in and had an our to kill until we go on. Set up and ready to roll. Dillon locked the keys in the van. We spent that time breaking into our own vehicle. The set; 1. Beginning of Growth bridge 2. Azul (SiS) 3. lavender 4. Jade We finished and hauled all the equipment back in. Drew and Ryan left 20 minutes later at their leisure. Dillon, Josh and I debated to stick around the entire show, mostly because Josh had a broken phone now and it bothered him and I totally identified with that. We left prematurely with 2 more bands left. Not before making friends that is. Anna, Joe, and some handsome black guy with nice hair, cannot remember his name. 5 hours south it were. 5 hours homeward. And so it went. Our next show is in Scranton with our charismatic host Peter Kelly at the Irish Wolf Pub 12/16 and 12\17 in Warminster at the Red Stallion.
