The acoustic gig in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon went surprisingly well, and the guys from Roots Cafe generously provided us with some fantastic java for cheap. We never thought we would enjoy acoustic performances so much nor realize that our original songs could be performed at a quieter, stripped down level. Five people in a shop the size of a hallway can be intimidating when you are sitting with nothing but a guitar and your voice, but the kind folks of Brooklyn snapped their fingers and welcomed our sound.
About an hour later we headed down the street to Hank's Saloon. I wasn't sure how to even describe this experience. I asked Ryan what he thought, and he replied, "Hank's Saloon....was a show....?" The place was dark and ominous, filled with some sketchy characters and a glowing red stage. Despite singing through the world's worst PA system, we played our hearts out. We finished the show and decided to get out of the city that never sleeps because...well...we couldn't stay awake much longer.
We made it down to Bruce Springsteen's favorite city: Asbury Park, New Jersey. Around 3:00am, Ryan walked into the Berkeley Hotel to check in. The man behind the front desk looked confused when Ryan stated we had a reservation. To make a long story short, Hotels.com never sent our information to the Berkeley, so we had to wait an hour for them to figure out how to fix the situation. Meanwhile, we inhaled our pancakes and eggs like hungry dogs at the local iHop. Finally, we dragged ourselves back to the Berkely Hotel just in time for our wonderful 20% discount courtesy of Hotels.com. Next time we may give Bill Shatner a try and book trough Priceline.
Our shock came when we found out the venue we would play the next night was right across the street from the Berkeley Hotel! This allowed some time to give Asbury Park a thorough tour. This beautiful/slightly creepy Jersey town looks like an early 20th century resort that has since been abandoned. Tilly, a 1930's clown, is now the town mascot and painted on the local buildings and Asbury Park merchandise. To make matters even creepier, there was a lovely Santa statue that, when given a closer look, turned out to be a clown. The clowns and multiple paranormal shops were enough to make my childhood fears come back to life for a brief moment. But that's not all folks! Upon arriving at the convention hall that we would play later in the evening, a worker mentioned that the spirits inside the hall were not going to be happy that night. Some tourists left some toys and objects in one of the rooms to taunt the spirits. We had no clue what the man was talking about, but Ryan and I later on read a plaque outside the hall explaining that in 1934, 137 people were killed mysteriously from a ship that was caught on fire. This all happened where we were going to play! Holler!! Although no ghosts were found, we had a fun time at the show and definitely want to come back again soon. It was time to drive another 4 hours in order to cut the drive to Charlotte in half. What. A. Night.
Now we are roughly two hours away from the show tonight. And yes, we threw off the winter coats! It feels amazing down here and will cause extreme difficulty in our desire to come back home. Looking forward to being back in Sequoyah's territory and seeing some of our friends down south. Until next time y'all.
Nick and the boys
No comments:
Post a Comment