On the road again, Folks
I’m punchy.
Lost the hour on Sunday (the day I’m writing this) and only got 5 hours sleep. Drove down to Tarrytown jammed on DD coffee and Zyns. Feels like the old days. Beat. The world in active waking consciousness. Altered perception. I don’t mind it.
Since my morning radio days I don’t really judge sleep the way most people do. I just need enough combined over time. Even if I feel whacked I know there is something interesting in moving through that perceived reality. Okay, okay. It’s kind of like being high and I just don’t get that opportunity anymore. I take it when it comes. Even though some people would just call it exhaustion.
For all the anxiety I put myself through before I do these runs, I like being out here. Untethered from my day to day. Flying and driving and talking and walking in another city in a car. Out of the patterns. Once I get to a hotel I seem to relax in a way I can't at home. Focus. Organize the thoughts, slow them down. Do the work.
After all the development of new bits in the smaller rooms and theaters it’s hard to know what I actually have until I do a few in a row and see how it all fits together in front of hundreds of people. Finding the spaces to riff in between, follow through ideas. Talk about the town I’m in or the audience I’m with or new thoughts being delivered from the great joke churn in space. This is the work but I guess this is also the joy of what I do.
The shows have been truly great. Portland, Maine was crisp and smelled like the ocean. The State Theatre is a solid venue. The people seemed ready. Boston was awesome. I played a venue I hadn’t played before in Medford. Sold out 1600 seats. The room was warm and the laughs rolled in from the back. Providence was gritty. The venue was an old theater gutted of any soul and turned into a rock club. The audience felt like people huddled together in a large space taking shelter from a storm. Well, they actually were doing that. It was raining, but isn’t that how we all feel when we are in a group of like minded people craving relief from the chaos and gathering clouds of the great breaking apart that is upon us? That's my people.
So, good shows.
I lucked out with my opener Clare O’Kane. I didn’t know her but she’s smart and dirty funny and a good traveling companion. There was a lot of talking about all the stuff: music, movies, relationships, food, mental illness. We covered most of it. The shit.
There were a few revelations out there this trip. I’ll let you know what they were when I’ve implemented them into my wiring.
I’ve been out of the boot since Monday and I’m nervous to walk on my own foot which the doctor told me I should do. I guess being aware is fine. I just don’t hope I’m not going to be afraid to exercise for the rest of my life. Maybe it’s okay to slow down.
Today I talk to Thurston Moore about NYC in the seventies and the rock and roll he kind of invented. On Thursday, Todd Glass is back and he’s excited.
Enjoy!
Boomer, Monkey and LaFonda live!
Love,
Maron
