10.16.07-10.19.07: Cleveland, Conan, NYC & Sonar

I'm long over due for a blog post, but things have been extremely busy. Where do I begin? So much has happened since Cleveland. First, C-town (as I've heard it referred to, however Ohio has three big C-towns; how do you distinguish Columbus from Cincinnati, from Cleveland, whenever someone says "c-town?") was good. We didn't have a sell out, but it was respectable. And, more importantly, the audience appeared to be having a nice time. If anything should be mentioned of this Mute Math experienced that differed from the rest of the tour, it obviously would be that Paul wiped out on his keytar part in "Plan B." Literally, the Rhodes gave out, and he fell feet over head. Fortunately, he was not hurt. I just kept thinking, please don't be hurt . . . we're have to play Conan tomorrow! I know; it's selfish of me, but hey it's Conan! It's good for all of us.

So, speaking of Conan, this was my favorite experience of all the late night t.v. shows. For one, I think Conan is genuinely funny, and moreover, he is off camera who you see on camera. That is, when he came over and talked to us, he was totally himself and just making normal conversation. We was very complimentary to us. He said, "We get a lot of heroin posers here, but it's great to see a band that not only plays their instruments but are true performers as well." Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera. I can't believe I forgot it. Anyway, I have a feeling we'll be back. We also got to hang out with the band, Mike (bass), La Bamba, Jimmy Vivino, etc. They were all really cool and chill. I didn't get to meet Anthony Hopkins; although I saw him in person down the hall, and he spoke to my wife. She said he was very handsome in person and very nice.

October 17 was a whirlwind of a day. Wendy and I got up & took the train down to Union Square in order to meet the guys to take a 75 mile trip to Neptune, NJ to do a radio interview/performance at G-Rock. It was way too far, but we had a great time at the station. Around 12, we headed back to the city to try to get to another acoustic performance for an ad company. Then, we rushed back to Irving Plaza to get a soundcheck in, and after checking, I was wiped out. By show time came around, I was wondering where we were going to muster up the energy to do a show. It became very apparent that when we walked out on stage. The energy of the crowd hyped me up so much. This was by far our best NYC show ever. The one image I will never forget was when I was sitting on the drums for "Break" and DK was in front of me standing on top of a bass drum being held by the crowd, and clapping his hands with everyone in the building. These New Yorkers were hype. Everyone was singing super loud and pumping me up all night. I loved this show. The icy on the cake was being able to hang out with one of my best friends from childhood, my first band mate, Raul Castillo. You probably don't know him now, but one day you will see him in a major movie or t.v. show. He's a talented actor with lots of heart and passion. He was stoked by the energy of the crowd, and said he's never seen a NYC crowd like ours.

Then, the motion and waves of NYC carried onto Baltimore last night as we took the stage. I can remember the first time we played here in the small room. Not much had changed concerning the excitement and movement of the audience. They were wonderful and fun to jam with. If anything should be mentioned of this show, I will have to say that I thought it was very funny that I unplugged myself right at the beginning of "Obsolete." I'm not sure if everyone saw, but I held up my cord to show what had just happened. I decided to wait a bit and come in with a lick instead of frantically trying to make up for lost notes. It all worked out and was a good thing.

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