Thursday in Orlando

02010-01-07 | Uncategorized

When I rode the elevator down to the lobby on Wednesday Morning, to meet Jon for coffee, I heard a cool song – something that happens only a few times a year for me. It was a pop-song, but I didn’t recognize the voice or band. The bass line was cool and I enjoyed the string arrangement. I asked the person behind the counter during the checkout, but the music was apparently delivered by some service and they could not help me.

When I mentioned this during dinner in a small Italian restaurant near the gig, Ross (((FOH engineer))) pulled out his iPhone and started up an app called Shazam. All of the music in the restaurant was Italian and Jon and I recognized Jovanotti and then Pino Danielle, but there was also a CD by a female singer in rotation and the Shazam app correctly named that singer. We were mightily impressed by this. Using only the crappy built-in microphone, in a fairly noisy restaurant, the app was able to recognize an Italian pop song… I had to download the app immediately. Next time I hear something cool in an elevator I’ll pull out my phone and find the source!! The restaurant was right around the corner from the theater and was quite nice. I can’t remember the name.

We had some first show gremlins (((we were sent a different mixing console than we had requested, that mixing console didn’t come with two matching power supplies, at first our monitor system didn’t interface with the console and so on… typical first-day-problems!!))) last night in Miami, and it didn’t help that the theater was rather cold. Like many places in Florida the Gusman Theater has no heating system and backstage started out at 60ºF. I took a cough suppressant and was able to play the show without coughing once.

In the second half we played three new songs, which we played rather well. All together I have written five new pieces for the next album, which I hope to record in Jon’s studio this Spring. The reason I want to record in his place is that he has more separate rooms and I want to record the trio live in the studio. We’ll record with a resolution of 24 bits at 88.2kHz.

Last night’s audience in Miami was great. (((hello Kaz!))) We had some nice moments, but I wasn’t altogether happy with our performance. Like I said, first-show-gremlins…

Orlando is warmer than Miami was yesterday!! This Morning my day started with an hour-long phone interview with a local AM Christian radio station.

Wednesday in Miami

02010-01-06 | Photos

Long travel day. Left Santa Fe a little before 08:00 and arrived in Miami around 21:00.

Interesting stuff happened. After checking into our flight in Albuquerque I observed a woman talking on her mobile AND pulling two wheeled bags – one at a time. It was very entertaining to watch. She calmly continued her conversation while moving one of her bags about six feet ahead. Then she would go back to drag the other bag forward by those six feet plus another six feet. I kept looking for a hidden TV camera, as this seemed like a joke.

I would have told the person on the other end of the phone that I would call them back, or one could have used a headset, but no, this lady kept talking with the mobile in one hand and dragging her luggage slowly, but surely across the airport. And she seemed perfectly content.

The flight to Dallas was completely full. I had a window seat in the emergency exit isle – yeah for leg-room! The person sitting in the middle seat was one of those people that quickly takes control of both armrests. A little later, I looked over and noticed he was asleep. He was drooling and spit had reached all the way from his mouth to his lap. It was amazing – a perfect glittering band… As I contemplated sneaking a quick photo with my iPhone, he woke up and I quickly looked out of the window, pretending I hadn’t noticed anything.

Then the plane from Dallas to Miami developed mechanical problems while on the tarmac. The captain turned around and returned to the gate. He announced that some valve wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do, but a mechanic could just close it by hand… but then this turned into a 90 minute delay, with the full plane sitting at the gate.

We arrived in Miami at 21:00 and made it to the hotel by 22:30. At this point we were all starving. The hotel’s restaurant was due to close at 22:50, so we hustled and made it just in time for a fabulous meal.

Night view – handheld at 2500 ASA:

Morning view:

Well, we are happy we made it here and everyone is really looking forward to play. A TV station wanted to film our first concert tomorrow, in Miami, but I don’t want to deal with camera men running around the stage on the first night so we turned down the request.