Sick on tour but in a haunted posh hotel and it's over!

Well, that's it for Winter Tour 2009! We fly back into San Jose tomorrow, via 3 flights. Long day but at least not too-early of a first flight.

We ended the tour tonight with a fun performance at the new D. Douglas Barnard Jr. amphitheater in Augusta, GA. 900 seats and half were pre-sold before we got there! We had some heat issues to deal with, plus the fact that half our group is sick, but we've played in hotter places and the venue was nice enough to get some big fans upstage for us during the show. Good crowd as well - we could see them since it was outdoors and they were appreciative!

This tour was heavy on meat dishes; we ate very well - even though one venue was a vegetarian campus, they had good food (ok, yes, I smuggled in ribs). I think if we weren't all fighting or avoiding illness, it would have been a great tour, but cest la vie.

There's a small-to-moderate hubbub about a supposed ghost here at the hotel; it's freaking out a couple of members. I'm not going to go into a diatribe about my take on all that stuff, but I will say "pfffffffbbbptttffttt". :P

I'll be updating my blog again soon, no worries. I want to talk about pre-show rituals, what I do and asking readers what they do. Maybe some people will actually comment? ;)

Sick on tour but in a posh hotel

No progress on the cold - throat is wonky, cough is more irritating, but no significant change. Still can't kiai...

Not a lot of taiko tales in this update, but I have to put in a PJ quote as we returned from an excellent meat-heavy dinner place:

PJ: "I'm going to stop thinking out loud."
(10 minutes later, ZZ Top plays on the radio.)
PJ: "They don't sound like they have beards."
Me: "Well, that lasted ten minutes."

Sick on tour

Well, it hit me - sore throat which turned into a sore throat with a lower register. I sound like Wolfman Jack now. Yay. Feel ok but get tired easy; food and rest help. It's a day off tomorrow and I'm gonna be lazy about it.

Had a good breakfast with the family; I don't think I've seen them since I was...12? I got to know them better this time being an adult than I was as a kid. It was also really the first time aside from a couple of waitresses that I've heard a southern drawl in anyone's voice. I don't hear it hardly ever on the West Coast.

We have some sweet digs this last stop in Augusta, GA. It's where the Masters are held, and we're each getting our own posh room. Not a bad way to spend 3 days! It would be better if they were healthy, non-sick days, though...

Yay, family!

Today was a long, but good day.

We played a shorter, one-hour set on the campus of Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN. It was in a gymnasium with about 1000 seats and a raised stage, and we had to make a lot of adjustments with lighting and staging, but it came together pretty well. The real treat for me was that I had three family members come out to see me play! Two uncles and an aunt, all from TN - driving from 2.5 to 4 hours to see us. It was awesome to see them in the audience, front-row, talk to them afterward, and I'll get to have breakfast with them tomorrow morning before they head out.

The campus is a vegetarian one, and even the local deli in the nearby grocery store has no meat. I snuck in my leftover ribs from last night's dinner, however...I know, I'm horrible, but they were gooood.

We've still got two sick members, and I'm fighting something myself. Good thing it's mild, but we have two days before the next show and only a five-hour drive in that time, so lotsa rest coming up.

Driving day

Not too much to report on this update - a long eight-hour drive (more like nine) from NC to TN, but an easy one. I took the first half driving the Budget truck, which is daunting until you're used to it but sort of fun after that.

We found a good cafe on the way here and were introduced to downtown Chattanooga by one of the people working at the college we're at tomorrow and his wife. There's a lot to see and enjoy; too bad we're leaving Wednesday morning! We may try and linger a bit that morning, though.

We found out tonight that our normal two-hour show tomorrow night will be shortened to about an hour, because it's finals and the presenter is worried that if we do the normal show with intermission, many of the students will leave during that intermission. :( That's a yay-boo situation for me, because I have three relatives in TN driving four hours (one way) to come down and see us play. On the downside, they won't get to see our full show with all the bells and whistles. On the plus side, I may have more time to spend with them before or after the show, depending. Since they're coming such a long way, it would be nice to give them some attention as well as a great show!

Sick people are still sick - it's hard to get better during tour unless there's at least a day off, and we don't get one of those until Wednesday. Here's hoping no one else gets sick and those who are get better soon!

Troopers

I swear, our members will play unless they're delirious and/or on fire.

Two of our members have colds that caused serious coughing in one and a loss of voice in the other + coughing (and then a fever!) It made playing hard for them both, but it would have taken a viking assault to get them not to play.

The member who lost their voice realized how much they took kiai-ing for granted when they couldn't do it! And it probably makes us horrible people, but we're enjoying that their voice is all squeaky and changing octaves at random...it's how we show we care. :)

It was a good show despite the rebelling lungs - about 600-700 in the audience and an after-show reception by members of Triangle Taiko! I didn't get as much of a chance to "pump myself up" due to a really tight schedule, but I was still able to push myself again. Didn't feel the same crash as last time, but we'll see what happens. The walls inside are covered in signatures and hand-drawn signs from previous acts, and we got a column near the Green Room all to ourselves!

Tomorrow, an 8-hour drive to Collegedale, TN. Long drives leave us a bit punchy, but with two members sick, I'm just hoping no one else picks up a bug. Normally I like bugs...

This better not be a sign of things to come...

So the day started off pretty normal - 9am call in the theater, load-in, tech on stage, meals...

The theater is right next to a buffalo wing place/bar. So for lunch I bypassed the rather nice deli spread in the green room and got 20 wings, 4 different sauces. I was stoked at some of the flavors..."spicy honey mustard garlic"? *drool*

I know, you're all looking for taiko stuff, but it all adds up, trust me.

They apparently think that *grease* is a SAUCE. All four to-go containers were sloshing with "flavor". It spilled out of the bag on the floor and made for a nasty lunch (could only eat half of it). I had to eat stuff off the veggie tray to try and absorb some of it (I know, that's not really how it works...)

Just before the show, one of our members realized they had brought two left tabi - the white shoes we wear onstage - and we had about 30 minutes to show! No problem - we're less than 10 minutes from the hotel; another member would drive them there to pick up a matching pair.

A few minutes later, the volunteer driver comes in and tells us the rental car they were going to use has a flat tire. Precious minutes lost, they grabbed the keys to the other car, but this meant having to get that tire dealt with after the show! They made it back with about 10 minutes to go, which brought everyone a little shot (or not-so-little) of adrenalin before the show!

Franco was quite the initiative-taker and fixed the flat after the show by himself; extra cheetos for him!

The show went well overall - a few hiccups here and there but really good energy on stage and no "train wrecks". Personally, I pumped myself way up before the show to see where it would take me. I had a great set overall; really felt like I could push other members as well as draw a lot more out of myself. I refused to get tired, refused to worry about messing up, refused to just coast through my solos. It's a different experience and I don't know if I can do that for every show, but it's a great experiment to try!

Some members of Nen Daiko came to see us - they didn't want to hang around and eat with us at 11:00pm, awww. Some people can be so rude! Kidding, I kid! It was great to have them come and support us.

Off to Durham, NC tomorrow - short four-hour drive, but we have to switch out the car with the spare tire first. Should be a short day of travel and then rest...and hopefully uneventful!