Pictures from the Road: Philly to Omaha

A lot has happen since my last post: too much, actually. I feel overwhelmed by current events, from the bombing scares in Time Square and horrible oil spills in the Gulf to the ridiculous immigration laws in Arizona and devastating flooding of Nashville; also, I'm having to balance my family life while on the road. Welcome to my world.

After D.C., we found out that Charlotte was cancelled, which turned out to be a blessing for me because I got to go home early to Miami, spending one more day with my family, who I only see once on this tour of six weeks. By the way, the cancelled shows will be made up, and I'm sorry it had to happen.

We played Miami Beach, which was wonderful, and then went on to play memorable shows in Orlando, Atlanta, and Memphis (Limp Bizkit stole of the festival - yes, it's a guilty pleasure). Then, as soon as we got out of Memphis the rain started to come down hard, and as we made our way back to the east coast, the unbelievable news of Nashville (my home for three years) flooding took me by surprise. Many of our crew and other friends were affected adversely by this devastating event; not too mention, I think I've lost my 1950s upright Kay bass in the flood. Most likely, my blonde baby that was used to record "Obsolete" and other songs is in pieces now. I will soon be receiving pictures of the damage. Many of you have seen the picture of the MM van underwater. But all of this "gear and vehicle loss" seems trite in comparison with other stories I've heard. I'm confident that Nashville will recover speedily, and I will do all I can to help in the process. If you are able to help, donate to a reliable charity, such as nashvilleredcross.org.

In all this bombardment of news and trying to process it all in the meanwhile, we made our way to NJ to Bamboozle, then back to St. Louis and on to Omaha. All in between, things have been moving along well; plus, every now and then, I remember I have a camera on my phone, and I decide to take some mediocre pictures.

Chinatown: Philly

Time Square: April 21, 2010.

King Tut Exhibit in Time Square.

Hurry up and wait, and by the way, try to stay out of trouble, maybe by writing some music.

Boston, NYC, & D.C. 4.20-24.09

Boston: House of Blues:

Being that it was the night of a Red Sox game, there was a lot of people roaming around. I enjoyed the sounds of bats cracking and fans cheering as I walked around the Fenway to the venue. We changed it up again that night, set list-wise:

1. The Nerve
2. Backfire
3. Armistice
4. Control
5. The Fight
6. Spotlight
7. Typical
8. Break the Same

New York City: Roseland Ballroom:

I only think of Portishead's DVD Live at Roseland every time I go by this venue, and was really stoked to finally play there. In NYC, we've played Knitting Factory twice, Avalon (which used to be the Limelight), B.B. King's, Irving Plaza twice, Gramercy Theater, Madison Square Garden (opening for Matchbox 20), and Roseland Ballroom.

Back to the right set list for this tour:

1. The Nerve
2. Armistice
3. Chaos
4. The Fight
5. Spotlight
6. Reset
7. Typical
8. Break the Same

D.c.: Bender Arena:

Big open spaces. Beautiful day. Fun show. Neon Trees did a cool shout-out to Fugazi's "Waiting Room." Unfortunately, not too many people got it.

Chicago, IL: Aragon Ballroom

I love Chicago. Thanks Aragon.

Changing it up:

1. The Nerve
2. Armistice
3. Chaos
4. The Fight
5. Spotlight
6. Reset
7. Typical
8. Break the Same

Inspiration of the day:

The Red Rooster - Howlin' Wolf...

Milwaukee, WI: Eagles Ballroom

Awesome feeling tonight at the show for me, that is, something reminiscent of the old days.

Set list was as follows:
1. The Nerve
2. Backfire
3. Armistice
4. Chaos
5. The Fight
6. Spotlight
7. Collapse
8. Typical
9. Break the Same

Bass inspiration of the day came from one of my all time favorite groups; they were very influential on me development as a young musician, too.

Thank you Jerry Scheff for laying this down for The Doors. Jim Morrison: R.I.P.

BASSLINE OF THE DAY:

L.A. Woman - The Doors

Springfield, IL: Off day

Off day in the Midwest:
sun in my face
music (NATURAL MYSTIC) in my soul
book (I WAS A ROBOT) in my hand
trees in the wind
fútbol on my feet
football in my hand
food in the belly
tea in the gully

BASSLINE OF THE DAY:

Natural Mystic (Album Version)...

Tulsa, OK: Brady Theatre

Tulsa has always been good to us, and a great place to start off a tour. I think this was the first time not playing Cain's, but regardless, it was all good. The Rolling Stones got me going today. Thanks Bill Wyman. I hope the rest of the tour just gets better. Set list was:

1. Collapse
2. Typical
3. The Nerve
4. Chaos
5. Armistice
6. The Fight
7. Spotlight
8. Break the Same


BASSLINE OF THE DAY:

Sympathy For The Devil - The R...

2010 Spring Tour

"Tour season" is starting up again for Mute Math, and I welcome it, hoping for wonderful, memorable experiences for all peoples in attendance. Recently while in Los Angeles, I found myself walking over the this star:

In accordance with such unplanned occurrences, I'd like to dedicate these next six weeks of touring to one of my personal musical heroes and influences: Jimi Hendrix. May his music and spirit live on . . .

Also, be on the lookout at mutemath.com for tour blogs from everyone in the band. I will still be posting more personal things here regarding MM, life, and of course, bass. So, here we go: 

BASSLINE OF THE WEEK:

Third Stone From The Sun - Jim...