First Night of the Tour

So the question is, does this bode well or… ? for the rest of the tour? I’m thinking bodes well, but that remains to be seen! We started the New York piece of the tour out on Shelter Island for their yearly famous Beach Blast last night- only it started to drizzle then dump rain rain rain and eventually the festival coordinators pulled the plug, sending everyone over to the Island’s Dory Bar for shelter and more great music for the remainder of the night.

So we set up our gear and invited the other rained out bands to step on up and play, and they did. The Lone Sharks- great Austin-sounding band from somewhere around these here parts, and the bass player’s son’s band- all these sweet teenage boys surprised us with seriously rousing renditions of the Ramones, Violent Femmes, and other sweet sweet punk rock tunes from waaaay before they were born! Then we played all night long. Really, all night long. Until nearly 3am.

Oh, and Kevin’s bass broke. Somewhere between the drenched beach show and the Dory, something shifted in the back of the van and the neck of his poor doghouse was cracked off the body. We’ll be performing road repairs back on Long Island where there’s furniture clamps awaiting the doctor there… Kevin thinks he can fix it, so here’s to hoping he’s successful! I say, time for a new bass…

Limped back to the great big Victorian house they’d rented for the band, stuffed our faces with party tray and cold cuts, then passed out. The boys are still asleep, and the sun has made an appearance.

We’re off to play Brooklyn tonight with Lil’ Mo and the Dixons at Union Pool. If you’re in the area, stop by!

Otherwise, see ya down the road, and until then, keep on rockin’, Ruby Dee