i went to see david byrne for the 1st time on monday night. he's been keeping a tour journal & i checked to see if he had an entry after our show.
nothing like a little bit of the rock star life:
"We're back at the Navy Pier/Skyline Amphitheater. It's pouring down rain and I wonder will the attendance suffer...it doesn't, if anything the audience is more enthusiastic than when we were here 3 days ago. A couple of sustained standing ovations- one just as we entered the stage...and then a really long one at the end of the show- so long it made no sense to leave the stage for the encore...we just played more songs.
...
Sometimes I get a hotel suite, as we are buying chunks of rooms and the hotel throws one in at the price of a regular room for the "leader", which is sometimes me and sometimes is Daniel. Well, today I hit the jackpot- it's a huge 2 story suite with a conference table, stereo and most of all views of Grant Park and the entire waterfront.
So, I suggest as it's the last night of the leg we party in my room...we hoard the wine and beers from the bus and backstage and order some Chicago pizzas. Mauro brings a wallet of CDs and puts on Cartola, which sounds lovely.
Wish I took a picture of this room- this suite that was given to us at the price of a regular room. It's a rock and roll cliché- posters and gold records on the walls, here's Robbie Williams(!) and big red paintings of U2- there's even an autographed guitar hanging in the bedroom.
The party is winding down, the place is a mess, hardly anyone is left...by the stereo Mauro is trying to teach an Arabic Danish girl how to samba...
As I watch the party I feel like it must look like we're "living the life"...but a movie or TV mini series version of "the life". The rock dream. It's as if I've been plunked down in a movie version of what a tour is supposed to be like but never is...but it's really happening."
anyhow, now my life is moving in different directions - i have a great new place, lots of places to go visit, and a new promotion at work. i spent the weekend picking up such fun things as: blinds and a ceiling fan for the living room, curtains for my bedroom, and some other odds & ends to begin decorating. next up, getting some items framed so the place will have some vibrancy.
so, phish is ending, but other things are opening up for me & it'll all be ok. i'll just hope for a reunion tour down the line, so we can all come back & celebrate the music and the band, without so much of the scene getting in the way.
after all the endless drama over the last few months, things are finally getting straightened out in my life.
this weekend, i finally got comcast to come out & hook up the cable. it was almost another disaster, but thankfully, the guys came back at about 6 pm on saturday, brought a new box & finally we had cable. just in time for the new season of six feet under, too!
the other big news - after 5 long, hard years, i was promoted to a manager at my company yesterday! this is something i've been really working toward over the last few months. buying the house was a major stress, and now it's nice to see things settling into place.
cheers. hopefully i can start putting up some ireland pics - i have too many!
the days were spent looking at things as lovely as this, and now i'm back in the states wondering how we can make sure bush is gone in 4 months....
i took many pics which will take lots of time to organize & categorize; but, the trip was everything we hoped for & much more. it was hard travelling to so many cities -- galway, killarney, cork, waterford, kilkenny/carlow, dublin, and countless stops in between, but very worth it.
now, it's back to summertime in chicago - definitely not a bad thing!
June 25, 2004
