First Leg Down... Resting Up for the week

Reflecting on the past two weeks of touring and the eight shows I’ve been fortunate enough to witness; mixed feelings of satisfaction and unease flood in. The satisfaction comes from the beautiful experiences I have witnessed and the great people I have encountered along the way. The unease comes from a life on hold, stuck between one world and another, knowing that I have to enter reality in a few short weeks. For now I try to enjoy each moment, knowing that someday soon I’ll be caught back up in the daily shite, and these few months of complete freedom will be a great memory that will refuel me for years to come.

Knoxville TN was just a relatively short two hour drive from beautiful Asheville through the Smokey Mountains. After a good lie in, some yummy goodness at the Wafflehouse; we were on our way. The Roadway Inn was the worst hotel to date, and the place was overrun with heads. Our neighbors had like eight people in their steamy room, one of them being pregnant, and all kinds of pholk were hanging about. Jay had enough strength to venture out for some supplies, but the heat and humidity of TN wore us both down quickly.

After a hilly walk through the University of TN campus, and looming thunderheads on the horizon, I made it to the venue. The scene was desolate compared to the previous nights and tickets to the sold out show were going for as little as $10 outside the doors. As luck would have it, I ran into Jack, Liz, and their crew.

The indoor venue was huge compared to the previous night at Asheville, but my seat was smack in the middle of the upper/middle section; another great night of the Kuroda light show was in store for me. The music was solid and the highlights for me were the songs they hadn’t played at the last 7 shows. Train Song is always a favorite, as I love Mike’s bluegrassy style and voice. I also had the pleasure of hearing Undermind done in the newer style, which I love! Waves was a wish list item, and it melded perfectly into A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing. This segued into a seriously intense David Bowie, and everyone rocked out to this one (some neighbors of mine were a little too into the song and brought new meaning to “getting down”).

Seeing eight Phish shows in two weeks is really intense, and I’m glad to have a week off from driving and life on the road. The next morning Jay and I rose at 6AM to make the 12 hour trip to the Poconos. Unfortunately when we arrived there, the key I had did not work. After a mini-breakdown the choice was to drive for another 1.5 to a hotel or keep rocking to Plattsburgh. Jay was a rockstar and all his stored up rest came in handy as he drove the 4 hours north in the rain. I played DJ and tried to keep us both awake with as much heavy sing along music as possible.

We landed safely in Plattsburgh at 3am, and now I’m back in Burlington until Wednesday when we hit the road again. It’s great to be home and I’m happy with our decision to come home and rest up for the last leg of the tour when we head to the Midwest. Stay tuned for more adventures from the road!