Saturday, May 12, 2007
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Bay area reviewed, finally
Unfortunately, our schedule required taking I-5 through central California instead of the Pacific Coast Highway. We would have enjoyed the scenery, but the relative speed and security of the interstate won out. The valley south of the bay area sure reminded us of Lubbock: hot, windy, and full of stinky cows. Ugh. No burgers for me for a while. The outside of the van smelled worse than the inside of the van.
We anticipated this portion of our trip for all the friends we have in the area and the potential for open minded face melting. An undeniable sense of openness and free thinking attracts many to the area. I can't believe Nuje didn't move here long ago.
Despite holding a coveted driving badge earned during the Korean War, Nuje gave up the wheel to Ian when entering the morass of San Francisco driving. Not only did Ian get us straight to the club, but he found some rock star parking across the street.
Our transplanted friend from Houston, Ryan Dylla, played some funky crazy music with his duo drums and keys project, Duck Duck Moose. Ryan's been a big Drop Trio supporter and we're happy to see him making some fine noise in San Francisco.
Grant & Green (at the corner of Grant and Green, oddly enough) had a tiny little stage - perfect for our compact set up. We had a few old friends in attendance, but several folks came in from our advertisements on JamBase and word of mouth. After some fine tuning on the bass heavy cube shaped stage we totally won them over.
Eric and Beth, great pals of mine from back in the day, took us in during our stay in the Bay. Nary a cantankerous walrus to be found. Wednesday we took some time to tool around Berkeley. We caught up on our fiber consumption and I gave some Spanish lessons.
We had been warned. Though the quirky decor suggested we might have a good show, I don't think we can recommend the Stork Club. We had lots of people show up to see us, but the sound guy invited some lady to open up the show that he found playing at a coffee shop down the street. Consequently, our set got bumped to nearly 12:45, well after most folks who turned out to see us left. However, we really dug Ben Adams and Joe Lewis.
Could someone suddenly become allergic to gravity?
If you're one of the folks that made it out, but couldn't suffer the poor scheduling, PLEASE drop us a line. We'd like to make it up to you.
Ian and Nuje took the BART into San Francisco and spent the day shopping for wigs - or something. I stayed back and took a nap and went for another walk through Berkeley. Berkeley boasts some nice record shops. For some reason I caught a Beach Boys earworm that I passed along to Ian and Nuje.
If any Republicans live in San Francisco they probably hang out in Cow Hollow. Kelley's tavern differed greatly from the majority of the rooms we've played so far. The bathrooms sparkled, large leather chairs lined the walls, and the ladies sported some expensive looking silicone (and I'm not talking about their hot glue guns). Kelley's rocked: everything started on time; the friendly bar staff treated us well; and we didn't have to hassle anyone to get paid.
KT's also served as a reunion for lots of old friends. Old college friends and Ian's friends from the dotcom heyday shared some drinks and music with us. Eric earned his spaceship jazz badge by turning up for all three shows in the bay area.
We anticipated this portion of our trip for all the friends we have in the area and the potential for open minded face melting. An undeniable sense of openness and free thinking attracts many to the area. I can't believe Nuje didn't move here long ago.
Three Days of Music
Tuesday - Grant & Green
Despite holding a coveted driving badge earned during the Korean War, Nuje gave up the wheel to Ian when entering the morass of San Francisco driving. Not only did Ian get us straight to the club, but he found some rock star parking across the street.
Our transplanted friend from Houston, Ryan Dylla, played some funky crazy music with his duo drums and keys project, Duck Duck Moose. Ryan's been a big Drop Trio supporter and we're happy to see him making some fine noise in San Francisco.
Grant & Green (at the corner of Grant and Green, oddly enough) had a tiny little stage - perfect for our compact set up. We had a few old friends in attendance, but several folks came in from our advertisements on JamBase and word of mouth. After some fine tuning on the bass heavy cube shaped stage we totally won them over.
Eric and Beth, great pals of mine from back in the day, took us in during our stay in the Bay. Nary a cantankerous walrus to be found. Wednesday we took some time to tool around Berkeley. We caught up on our fiber consumption and I gave some Spanish lessons.
Wednesday - Stork Club
We had been warned. Though the quirky decor suggested we might have a good show, I don't think we can recommend the Stork Club. We had lots of people show up to see us, but the sound guy invited some lady to open up the show that he found playing at a coffee shop down the street. Consequently, our set got bumped to nearly 12:45, well after most folks who turned out to see us left. However, we really dug Ben Adams and Joe Lewis.
Could someone suddenly become allergic to gravity?
If you're one of the folks that made it out, but couldn't suffer the poor scheduling, PLEASE drop us a line. We'd like to make it up to you.
Thursday - KT's
Ian and Nuje took the BART into San Francisco and spent the day shopping for wigs - or something. I stayed back and took a nap and went for another walk through Berkeley. Berkeley boasts some nice record shops. For some reason I caught a Beach Boys earworm that I passed along to Ian and Nuje.
If any Republicans live in San Francisco they probably hang out in Cow Hollow. Kelley's tavern differed greatly from the majority of the rooms we've played so far. The bathrooms sparkled, large leather chairs lined the walls, and the ladies sported some expensive looking silicone (and I'm not talking about their hot glue guns). Kelley's rocked: everything started on time; the friendly bar staff treated us well; and we didn't have to hassle anyone to get paid.
KT's also served as a reunion for lots of old friends. Old college friends and Ian's friends from the dotcom heyday shared some drinks and music with us. Eric earned his spaceship jazz badge by turning up for all three shows in the bay area.
