This past weekend we played for the first time at The Farm up in Essex, MA on Friday 2.26.10. The staff at this bar/restaurant is super nice and very accommodating. The place is relatively new, and the dream of a few friends. The vibe at The Farm is great, and I felt like I really wanted to do my best so that I was contributing to making the place great on this particular night. We had a good crowd of friends and fans that made it out. It felt like a special sort of gig, and we got a chance to catch up with our buds Dan and Dan after the show, which was especially cool. I left feeling good and looking forward to shooting up to Burlington the next day.Mike and I carpooled up I-89 the next day to VT. I have come realize that I enjoy long car rides. Between waking up and commuting to work, being at work, and then tending to daily duties, it can get tough to make time for random thinking. I find the hours of a long car ride to be an oasis for my thoughts… especially when Mike is at the wheel. ;) All you have to worry about is keeping the playlist flowing nicely and providing sufficient conversation to the driver (Mike) so that he stays mentally limber. Other than that, the ride is “found time” in your life. You are forced to sit with your thoughts and can work them out to a finer level of detail from where they were when you started the ride.
After all that thinking, we eventually arrived up in Burlington for a Mardi Gras gig at Red Square. We were playing earlier set times than usual for Red Square. Usually, our first set in this room is a little on the tame side. Folks are still showing up, and getting loose. This was not the case for Mardi Gras. We showed up to a club that was absolutely off the wall raging. People were packed into every corner, and thumping house music was driving the party. It was a bit of an intimidating situation for the band to set up, and be expected to take the baton and keep this party going. It was the performance equivalent of jumping onto a bucking bronco, and staying entirely in control of that wild steed without skipping a beat. We scrapped our normal approach to playing this room, started right in with our heavy-hitting rockers, and kept it up for most of the set. The night turned out to be a total success. We had tons of great feedback from the kids that were out that night, and left feeling the gig like The Band after their final performance at Winterland in '76.
On the way home after a fun weekend, I had more time to drive and think. I watched the beautiful Vermont countryside passing by as we whipped down the highway. I pondered many a thought during that ride home. Some thoughts I didn’t even expect to think, but I did!
jim
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