Last night we rocked BB King’s club in New York City. It was a nearly full house (it holds 500+ people) and considering this was a Tuesday night that was a great turnout. The sound system was great, the staff was really helpful and it’s located a few blocks from Times Square. I got up “early” (10am haha) and hit the pavement, walking from 33rd and 8th ave up to broadway and 60th – then cruised over to Central Park South. The weather by this point was simply perfect – 70 something degrees, sunny and with fall just starting to kick in it was a perfect end of summer experience for me. I walked back to the venue (which is on 42nd) via 5th ave – WOW saw some amazingly beautifully bequilingly foxy mama mamas on that street. Way out of my league. I managed to somehow only spend $60 with all that time to kill, I don’t know how I did it!

The show itself was full of energy from the audience, even though it was a completely sit down venue, the crowd was responsive and reacted with good vibes during songs to solos, melodies and all sorts of little “Dolby-isms”. The set is getting really tight now and musically was probably the best last night in NYC. I have to say that I really do prefer having at least a small dance section in the front area of the stage for people to groove if they want but it’s cool either way. Some venues just aren’t set up for that type of rambunctiousness. One of the highlights for me was that we finally nailed Thomas’ hit song “Hyperactive”. For some reason that song, which we only play a few notes plus some solos, has been the hardest one to play right! It all came together last night, Thomas and Rich were singing together and Rich was wailing! Nice.

We had one of our craziest backstage afterparties yet, complete with broken bottles and beer spills, a giant bottle of Jameson and plenty of meeting and greeting. I was excited to get to hang out with TED director Chris Anderson.

After the show we met up with friends and family from NYC and went to a nearby bar which if I could remember I would say the name was Ruby’s on 44th and something. The place smelled terrible and the booths were completely covered in duct tape to hold them together; add to that $2.50 PBRs and free hot dogs and you’ve got our kinda place! Special shout out to Joe’s college buddy Matt Henkle we got to catch up with – Matt is a great drummer who plays with Blue Man Group here in NYC. We’re hoping to get to check out the Blue Man show when we are back in NYC this Sunday, Sept 23rd.

We somehow made it back to the bus, all at least an hour late but since we were ALL late, including Jeff, our tour manager, nobody got left behind. I guess we are all on the same page!

Today we have the day off in Annopolis, Maryland. I’ve never been here before. Rich said they have incredible yummy blue crab here for cheap, so being the seafood freaks he and I are, we will embark on a mission for that scumptious fare momentarily. maybe we can find a bar or something later. Actually, no drinking tonight sounds better, maybe a movie instead.