More about Seattle

So, on Saturday, I had a list of things to do.

1. Drop off rented speakers & stands at Apple Music.
2. Arrange to rent replacement headset mic for one more day.
3. Get caf and decaf beans from Stumptown.
4. Load self and compadres into van.
5. Go to Seattle.
6. Play gig.
7. Hang.

In addition to these things I did the driving from Portland to Seattle. It rained cats and dogs, but that didn't exactly come as a surprise to me. We listened to a number of Bill's CDs. We made really good time despite the rain, and there was no slow traffic at all.

The downside (there always is one) was that our show was in direct conflict with a much bigger show, happening on the same night, across town, and appealing to the same audience. But, there is something to be learned from every encounter. I learned several things:

1. Arriving in your destination town to find no flyer in the venue window and no promo done except for newspaper listings (and not very many of those) is every bit as depressing in 2007 as it was in 1993 when I first experienced it.
2. Pho is really good! (It was my first time. I was a pho virgin up until Saturday.)
3. It takes about 3 shows for everyone you're working with to learn all your lyrics and start making fun of them. :)
4. Tom Baker has a fretless Gibson guitar.
5. Raw coffee beans are really hard to find, even in Seattle!
6. The rain in the Northwest will stop on the day after your final gig there.

After our hang with the performers from the Much Bigger Show at Murphy's at 45th and Meridian, we drove back to Portland in advance of Jim's flight back to Kentucky the next morning. After dropping Jim off at the airport the rest of us made the drive back to the Bay Area, listening to Miles Davis, more Bollywood music, a mad Frenchman from the 70s whose name escapes me, and Glenn Gould.

I treated the lads to lunch at the Morning Glory Cafe, that magical place in downtown Eugene right by the Amtrak station. Amar and Bill took photos of Mount Shasta and Black Butte at sunset. The lads (especially Bill) bought many olives and olive-related things at the Olive Pit.

And now we are all safely home, and I'm looking forward to reviewing the recordings Clyde made of each and every show, to see if there is enough material there for a live CD release.