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February 4, 2008 - Columbia, MO Hi everyone. Well I had prior commitments and could not join Natalie's tour until now so I apologize for the lack of road stories. Everyone assured me that the previous shows were excellent even if the weather wasn't in some parts! In fact in one city it was so cold the bus heater stopped working! Glad I was away for that one. Well today we're in Columbia, MO at the Jesse Auditorium on the grounds of the incredible University of Missouri-Columbia. What a beautiful campus that just oozes history. The theater itself is pretty impressive with around 1700 seats and a great staff as well. Since I've been away there have been a few changes with the show. Of course there are always new songs being added and old ones being updated but the biggest change is the new lighting tech Tony Clarke. He brings a whole new dimension to the show and is a great guy to boot. Well as always Natalie had them dancing in the aisles tonight and they were primed for a great show. I don't know if it was because it was my first show back or the lighting or what but it was a great show. The audience were right there for every note and made us feel right at home. A huge thanks to all that came out. We'll we're off in the rain to head to St. Louis tonight where they are calling for sever thunder showers all night. Should be fun! See you there. ............................................................................................................................... February 5, 2008 - St. Louis, MO Okay everyone, all together now..... |
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Happy
Birthday to you Yup it's Nathaniel's 14th birthday today! We're here at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, MO. This is a lovely little hall that only seats around 500 people but I tell you we could have swore there were 5000 out there tonight. Very rarely do we get an audience so enthusiastic right off the top. Natalie went out to do her first piece and she got a standing ovation! To be honest we really didn't have to do anything work up there tonight at all. The energy from this small crowd kept us charged all night. If there was ever a audience that I wish we could pack up and take on the road with us this would be it. Thanks to everyone who came out and made this a memorable evening for all of us. A huge thanks to the crew and volunteers here at the Sheldon too. I hope we're back real soon. ............................................................................................................................... February 6, 2008 - Rolla, MO Whew it's winter again! Well it's not exactly cold but with the wind it's pretty cool out there! Okay, enough complaining! We're in Rolla, MO at the wonderful Leach Theatre on the grounds of the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Very nice theater with an incredible staff. They were so helpful that our road manager and sound tech, Trevor Nash had some time to finally talk on his iphone! Great audience again tonight. We've been so lucky to have supportive crowds at each show and these folks were no exception. They were definitely hanging on every note coming from Natalie's fiddle. A huge thanks to the catering and backstage staff tonight. Our green room was transformed into a fine dining room and the food was some of the best on the tour. Always helps us provide a great show when we're running on premium fuel! We're now off on a night drive to Springfield, MO. See you there. ............................................................................................................................... February 7, 2008 - Springfield, MO Hey folks! Well another day, another show, another university! We're here at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for Performing Arts on the grounds of the Missouri State University. This place is massive with seating for over 2200 people! In fact even from the first level box seats the stage looks tiny! Well tonights crowd was fairly small but they were very supportive. For some reason we're more relaxed at shows like this and tend to do stuff that's off the cuff. I think it makes for a more interesting show and hopefully the people do too. At least they get some extra "stuff" to check out. Actually tonight out of the blue Natalie asked the crowd to pick a key and a musical style and we just went into something following those suggestions! Unfortunately it turned out to be jazz and there are only a couple "jazz cats" in our crew so the rest of us had to fake it! It was loads of fun though and the crowd got a kick out of it. So what looked like was going to be a slow night turned out to be an extra fun show for all of us. A huge thanks to everyone who turned out for the show and also thanks to the staff and volunteers at the venue. Now we are off on a night drive to Kearney, NE for one last show before a break in the tour. See you there. ............................................................................................................................... February 9, 2008 - Kearney, NE Well here we are at the last show of this leg of the tour. We're in Kearney, NE at the Robert M. Merryman Performing Arts Center. The first thing that I noticed when we drove up were the phrases "Knowledge Is Light," "Wisdom Is Power," and "Art Is Affirmation" chiseled on the top of the building. Very cool! The theater itself is a wonderful facility (pic2.jpg) with great seating ensuring everyone a great view. We had an enthusiastic crowd tonight. In fact they were so good Natalie decided to give them a song that nobody outside of the band has heard before. In fact it's still a bit of a work in progress but it was a special night and Natalie thought why not! And judging by the reaction of the crowd it could be a big hit for Natalie. Now she just has to come up with a name! We would like to send out a huge thanks to all the staff and volunteers at this theater. These people work so hard and don't get the recognition they deserve. We would be lost without them. And also a big thank you to the staff and management of the Country Inn in Kearney. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome and even gave us all goodie bags full of all sorts of tasty treats. We always love that! Well Natalie has a few Symphony dates in Winnipeg, MB but the rest of us have some time off. We'll be well rested when we hit the road again starting on February 26th in Randolph, VT. See you then. ............................................................................................................................... February 26-27, 2008 - Randolph, VT Hey folks! Well we're back from our break all fresh and ready to go and there's no better place to start a tour than Vermont. We're in Randolph at the Chandler theater. You know I'm not a big fan of winter but somehow winter in Vermont seems ... well... right! It's absolutely beautiful here. And hey what a theater. It's a great intimate venue and the crowds on both nights were outstanding. What great energy we were getting from the audience. Also you'd be hard to find a better bunch of staff and volunteers anywhere else. We definitely got the royal treatment and we'll be counting the days until we're back. Speaking of winter, we have a little bit to deal with before we head out. It's lovely though. Our trusty driver John will get us through it with no worries. We're now off to Bangor, Maine for a show tomorrow night. We'll see you there. ............................................................................................................................... February 28, 2008 - Bangor, ME Hi everyone. We just finished our show here at the Bangor Auditorium and let me tell you, this place is huge! I believe this is a basketball arena most of the time but they also use it for live shows. It took us a while to get used to the change from our intimate theater experience in Vermont to the large hall here but once we got a feel for the place we were right at home! Of course in a place this big the energy level is through the roof and tonight Natalie was at her best. Her audience was with her from the first note until the last encore. As well everyone was in a crazy mood tonight and there was quite a bit of ad-libbing going on up there. The crowd tonight got to see things we've never done or played on stage before. I guess that goes pretty much for any night with Natalie. As she says, "you never know what's going to happen up here!" A huge thanks to Mellisa and everyone backstage and also to the local crew. Big halls like this take a lot of hard working people and the audience never gets to see them. Bangor you have an excellent bunch of people putting on these shows and they deserve honorable mention here. With that we are driving overnight to Keene, NH. We'll see you there. ............................................................................................................................... February 29, 2008 - Keene, NH Hey all! We are in the lovely town of Keene, NH today. Absolutely beautiful here. We're at the Colonial theater in downtown Keene. Now the first thing you realize is that this town is buzzing! It's a very active healthy downtown area. Lot's of small unique shops to help pass the time until soundcheck (hard on the wallet though!). The theater itself is a great venue and we were warned that it was going to be stuffed to the rafters tonight. Natalie has played here several times and each time its been a great experience. Tony was working hard getting the lighting just right and Trevor was as always perfecting the sound. We could feel that it was going to be a good night. Now most people who have seen Natalie's show know that anything goes and tonight was no exception. We always have the same set list that we play but it seems that every night there is something new or different thrown into the show. Tonight it was a whole new instrumental piece tagged onto the beginning of the encore. That is one of the things I love the most about this band is that everyone has great ideas and also great "ears" so the rest of the band can get into whatever ideas are coming out on the spot. JD has really opened up a whole new world for us with his different drum ideas and has inspired all of us to write new and exciting things. But back to the show, like I said it was stuffed to the rafters and the crowd was over the top with energy. Natalie came out and gave it all and the crowd loved every minute of it. Incredible warm bunch and they seem to hang on every note that Natalie played. It was a great feeling being out there tonight. As well, as always, the staff and local crew were top notch and the coffee shop next door had the best java that we could have asked for (very important!). Now we're off for a snowy drive to New Bedford, MA for a show tomorrow night. Once again our trusty driver John will get us through safely. See you there! ...............................................................................................................................
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