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August 1, 2006 - Lorient, Brittany, France It seemed like the traveling would never end getting here over the last 24 hours. But, despite the mounds of gear, dashing for trains with babies in arms, loaded carts and battling for luggage space on the train, we eventually made it to the hotel in Lorient. I myself went right to bed, and slept pretty much through until the next morning. Others went out to explore, since for some it was their first time in France, or Europe for that matter. Now, Shane's travel adventures worked out, but with a few snags. I'll let him tell his tale on his own site. The only guy left to arrive was Mac. He made it, but it wasn't a smooth trip for him either, he hadn't slept at all in 36 hours and was in fairly rugged shape when I saw him. Anyway, all that aside, here we were in France doing a show as part of the Inter-Celtic Festival, which was a pretty large and well organized event, it seems. The whole city was geared up for it, with loads of music at a wide variety of venues sprinkled about the area. Our venue was a large sort of hangar type building in an industrial area on the outskirts. But it was set up very well, with nice dressing rooms, complete facility in every way. At 11 pm, we hit the stage to about a half house of Celtic music fans, who were very appreciative, and since we'd come all this way, we figured we'd better let them have the full deal. It was a good show, the notable thing for me was the quality of the local crew, and the sounds they were getting in our monitors. Certainly the best I have ever heard a Yamaha drumset sound. Yamaha's are nice drums, just not my sound. Seemed like in a flash our 75 minute set was done. We hung around a bit, had a couple of drinks and some (more) of the ubiquitous bread and cheese, and went back to the hotel to sleep. Tomorrow we head back to the Paris area, and await our flights home. But, Nat, Mac and Brad et al head straight out to L.A. to play 2 nights with the LA Symphony at the Hollywood bowl. Shane and I go home for 2 days, then head back |
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down to Boston to begin the Bela Fleck tour. What a life. ................................................................................................................................ July 29, 2006 - Lebanon, NH Another long drive today in the vans. Natalie, her mom Minnie, and Mac are in a car, there's Brad, Shane and I in one van, and Chris is with Matty in the equipment van. That's how we're rolling on this one. The Lebanon Opera House is another place we love to play. The crowd is awesome, the staff are cool, and the food...the food is always top notch. And, as we'd hoped, having three shows in a row really has helped gel the new band, onstage and off. The show tonight was a blast, with not a dull moment from note one. The crowd...they are just so supportive here, and we just feed on that like mad. Tomorrow is insanity; We are going to France for ONE show. Here's how the travel plans shook out; Shane has to fly early out of Boston, to Montreal, where he will wait 12 hours to take a flight to Paris, then board a train for the 3 hour ride to Nantes, where someone will pick him up and drive 2 hours to Lorient. Mac is going back to Cape Breton. He will go straight from the airport to a show, then another show, then straight back to the airport for a flight to Paris, with a similar itinerary to Shane one in France. The rest of us are meeting Donnell and the nanny of the day at Boston airport to fly to Paris, then we have the same train/car combo to Lorient. Should be interesting to see if this all works out and everyone makes it for the show... ................................................................................................................................ July 21, 2006 - Lakeside, OH
Seems like
almost everyone in the band had a transportation tale to tell on this
one; I was driving the equipment truck down from Toronto for this show,
since our pal Doug Brad and Matt had adventures of their own; between airplanes not working, schedules messed up, and drivers licenses not being renewed, those boys missed the first half of the show. And, Shane had his own adventures, best for him to tell his own story.
Back to the
venue in Lakeside; once we got to Lakeside, we got the gear in, and got
things set up. Shane, Nat and Mac showed up, and we did a soundcheck.
Then, at 5 pm I finally got to go to the hotel across the street to
sleep a couple of hours. At 8:05, my phone rang. It was Doug..."are you
coming to the show?" Show time was 8:15! I slept through my alarm...I
grabbed my clothes, suited up and ran over to the venue. we got out
there, and began our set. It all felt pretty good, the audience was
wonderful. So,
................................................................................................................................ July 15, 2006 - Niagara On The Lake, ON Well, what a dandy we had tonight; A show outdoors in the heart of Ontario fruit and wine country. It was a very hot, still July roaster of a day down at the Jackson-Triggs Winery. The venue was built into a hillside with our backs to the woods facing into gorgeous production vinyards.
I found it
such a collision of worlds, to have this stately beautiful growth
They laid on
a pretty fabulous meal for us up at the main building.
How's this for openers?
They held nothing back for us, including endless delicious wines of all
After the
show, we were each presented with a special bottle of JT wine by It was a terrific evening and it was a real treat to be there for sure. I hope we can all go back again soon...
................................................................................................................................ July 9, 2006 - Orillia, ON
Gorgeous
location for tonight's show, outdoors by Lake Simcoe, in the heart of
Ontario cottage country. Lots of our
old and new friends were
around, playing with other bands and such. The weather threatened rain,
but never happened. Perfect day. The new guys are fitting right in,
although it would be nice if we could do more than one show in a row.
Shane seems especially
excited... and we wouldn't have it any other way. Brad was
particularly good tonight I thought; he is doing very well with his new
picking style. He can't do some of the old stuff he used to do yet, but
he has new and different things he We had a nice sized crowd tonight, gentle folky types, but once again, Natalie got them pretty stirred up. She'll do that...if you've seen the show, you know what I mean. So, next Friday we're in Ohio, see you then. ................................................................................................................................ June 23, 2006 - Brooklyn, NY This seemed to be one of those "seat of the pants" days at first glance. I didn't have much detailed information, except that we had to be in Brooklyn for a show, there were two new people in the band and 4 guests in as well for this show, and we didn't have a lot of time to rehearse. But, as usual, we find a way to make it work. So, lets go. First; we have a new bass player in the band. His name is Shane Hendrickson. Welcome to Shane from all of us. We also have a new, but old keyboard player; Mac Morin who has returned to the band. Welcome back, Mac. Today's special musical guests were Natalie Haas, who seems to be playing quite a few shows with us lately, and Natalie's husband, Donnell Leahy, seen HERE with sister Erin, and a few of the Nat-Band dudes hanging out in the sweltering heat of NYC. Also along to sing a few songs were Catherine Russell, and Susan McKeown. Wonderful ladies, fantastic singers too. More on that later. There was plenty of action on-stage all day long, with everyone busy getting seats placed, hanging lights, and rehearsing tunes. Busy, busy place all day long. Susan and Catherine each sang two songs, and there were just fantastic. At one point, Susan was singing a song about all the rivers in Ireland, and the heavens opened up and just poured down on everyone in the audience. But, no one left, they just cheered all the more. it was pretty cool. And Cath brought the house down with a wicked blues tune. Everyone loves the blues. I would also like to mention that we have beloved guitarist Brad back with us full-time now, after his hand accident. He's doing great, and everything seems to be fine with him. he's quite a guy for dealing with all that. He sang the Canadian National Anthem before the show tonight, it was cool, and a different way to start our show. Catherine Russell sand the Star Spangled Banner as well. So, it was quite a show, with all the talent going on and off stage, I don't think anyone left disappointed with all the different styles of music that happened tonight. It sure was fun from where I sat. Next show is from the Mariposa Folk Fest, in Ontario July 9th. See you then.
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