|
|
I'm out for a run about 8 am even
though my back is still a little sore. Running feels good
and the back is not too uncomfortable and I think it might
be helping by strengthening the abs. Back at the hotel I
meet Laurie and Lisa having breakfast and we are joined
by Susan coming in from her walk. We all eat and agree to
meet about noon to run some errands. Susan and I go back
to the room and I get a good stretching in that helps my
back to rehab. I follow this with some practice until it
is time to run errands.
On our errand run, Susan gets her nails done, Laurie and
Lisa get some banking done, I pick up some Velcro for Tom,
we go to a post office to mail some orders, we go to a Borders
Book store to get some free "wi-fi", and then
we go to an Office Max where Laurie and Lisa get a portable
printer for the road. We then head back to the room for
some relaxation and naps before tonight's gig. A very respectable
outing.
We head out about 6:30 pm to the gig at Double D's
in Tonawanda. We think our start time is 9 pm but when we
get there we find out the owner has advertised the start
time as 8 pm. We hurry to get set up and get the music underway
about 8:15. It is also raining lightly which makes it a
challenge to get loaded into the club. We have to supply
our own p.a. set-up as there is not soundman for this one.
Lisa does a great job of getting that all hooked up.
Double D's is small and the crowd that is there when
we arrive are all eating dinner and seem like they have
not come there to hear any music. We are all worried about
being too loud but as we set up and warm up many of the
patrons come up to us and tell us that they are specifically
there to hear us. Many of them had heard us in Memphis three
years ago when we competed in the International Blues Competition
that is held there every year. Whew. This is a relief. The
night is fun and the crowd, though small, is very enthusiastic
and they hang with us through most of the night. These smaller
venues can be fun because they are so intimate. The audience
is right in the middle of the music, and you can see their
faces which helps to make it more personal.
We make lots of friends and fans throughout the night and,
by the time the night is over, everyone is satisfied. I
just wished that we had not played our encore, 'Before
You Accuse Me', as I made a horrendous cueing mistake
during Laurie's solo. Donto did his best to follow
me but what a disaster. Oh, well. We all had a good laugh
and moved on. Ugh.
At the end of the night the rain has stopped and we load
out and head back to the hotel. Tomorrow we are going to
London, Ontario to play for the Great Lakes Blues Society.
I'm excited about this as I've never been to
Canada and we are crossing over on the Rainbow Bridge which
passes right by Niagara Falls.
|
