Latest tour catch-up (feat. Philly Cheesesteak)

Well, it's been a while since the last blog entry, but it's not really stopped for us.

After so many shows in a row without stopping and all the traveling that goes with it, we managed to have a few days off.  In the process we got a bit carried away in rest mode and forgot to write the blog.  Ooops!

We then got back on the road, performed at more cities and scribbling down our thoughts on the road and finally with a bit of time in the hotel, were able to finish it off today.  So, what have we been up to?

Urbana & St Louis both went really well.  It's quite rare for us to do a classic club show these days (we generally prefer the layout of theatre-style venues), but that's exactly what St Louis was.  Urbana was a true college town show, and we knew we'd feel at home when we saw this sign outside the venue!

Urbana welcomed us with this as we got out of the tour bus

And then this ensued later!

Minneapolis was also great - somewhere we've played before, but it had been a while since we've been there so we managed to dig out 1 or 2 older tracks to make up for that.

At the end of the shows we're started to try and do signings by our merchandise stand where possible, and here we were overwhelmed by the response - so thank you for bringing all your stuff to be signed.

Living up to the venue name - "Epic", Minneapolis

It's amazing how the human body works - I didn't realise quite how tired I was until we stopped doing the shows.  I've read you can't really properly catch up on sleep, but if that is the case then on the day of the Super Bowl I certainly broke that rule.

Late in the afternoon after sleeping for what seemed like half a day, after checking out the mall (and resisting buying another Tumi suitcase - trust me, it may sound boring but quality luggage somehow becomes exciting when you spend a lot of time on the road!), we headed out to watch the Super Bowl with half a crew.

The rest of our team were nursing their sore heads after a long night of post-show celebrations which ended at around 9am according to Paavo who joined them for the whole time without drinking a drop of alcohol!  Hats off there.

Sam our driver managed to book a table at a Sports Bar to do the proper American thing and watch the game…. I think I was the only one to actually drink a beer as everyone was understandably feeling a bit worse for wear.

I must confess I'm not too familiar with American football, so it was more the experience that I was interested in.  What shocked me was quite how many commercials you have during the televising of the game!  So, given that I can't really comment on the game, what did we all think of the performance from Madonna?  Well I was pretty impressed personally.  Still amazes me how she can jump around in the way that she does at her age.  Inspiring stuff that makes me want to be that fit my older years.

Paavo had been given a tip off by our LED screen tech, Carson, that Prince might make an appearance at a bar somewhere not far from our hotel, so after grabbing some steak & sushi (only in America do they have 2 restaurants in one!) we headed out to check out the band.

Unfortunately "the little man" didn't turn up, but the band were incredible, playing a lot of soul/disco/jazz hits.  We always love seeing live musicians.

Carson, our "pro" screen tech man hanging with some fans

The next day, around midday we set off in the direction of Bloomington, with the intention to stop over night somewhere fairly near Chicago for the night to break up the journey.  Along the way, our now filthy bus (from all the snow in the cold weather and associated dirt) was due a bit of a clean, so Sam pulled it into the truck wash where lots of helpful burly men with spray guns, brushes and other cleaning stuff (and an assortment of tattoos) proceeded to clean the bus and get it nice and shiny.  As we normally spend most of our time in the USA on the west coast, it's a country I associate with fairly warm weather so it's been interesting to fully experience a different climate in the states - next time I will be prepared and bring more winter wear!

Pride of Anjuna gleaming in full glory - probably the cleanest we will get to see the A&B logo, so time for a quick pic!

Sam, our brilliant "captain of the ship"

So, what were the memories from Bloomington?  Well, apart from eating this tasty bean burger....

Probably one of the healthier meals on the tour

....Bloomington was one of the hottest shows of the tour - a real "sweat box" as we rather affectionately call such a venue.  The crowd were very loud, chanting along - even to the instrumentals, let alone the songs.

Bluebird, Bloomington

Bloomington - the "sweat box"

The next day, over 2 travel days we began to head towards Norfolk, Virginia.  We were Virginia virgins, so it was nice to be made to feel so welcome here.  What a beautiful drive through the mountains to get there too - I wish I'd taken some pics to post here.  Paavo did take this nice shot in one of the tunnels, though:

A tunnel

Enjoying the comfort of the reclining "buddy seat" while chatting with Sam, soaking up the scenery

Outside the venue, Norva

Setting up

Norfolk crowd

Because of the time schedule, after the Norfolk show (well, after a post-show hang out on the bus with all the crew) we slept on the bus after the show and Sam drove us to Philadelphia.  I think it took about 6 or 7 hours.

The next day I woke up in the street where the venue was and immediately headed out to procure a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich - a true pilgrimage!  I had planned this!  I knew I had to try one, and what better time than for breakfast?

We found the place with the biggest queue called Jim's, and after a bit of abuse from the staff (as we didn't know quite which one to go for and they weren't used to indecisive customers) we ended up with this tasty little baby complete with peppers.  Well, actually that's a 3rd of a sandwich as knowing how big portions can be in the states I decided to share it up a bit:

Destiny - a Philly Cheese steak

Inside Jim's

Bloomington had set the standard for the hottest show of the tour.  It'd be easy to complain about the heat at these kinds of shows, but there's really nothing you can do when the A/C in a venue doesn't cut it, so you may as well just make it your mission to get as hot and sweaty as possible and go with it!

So then, Philly delivered us the hottest show of the tour:

A small piece of the great (and sweaty) Philly crowd - true Group Therapy

We've been fortunate that many of the shows have been sold out on the tour, even in some of the places we've never played before.  That's really exciting for us.  We find it really motivating and love to bring our music and show to as many places as possible, and in the US it's possible to get on a bus and drag a trailer with all the right kit to each venue and do it properly with our screen and crew.

When we look back at the tour it all becomes a bit of a blur and ask questions like "was it in Ottawa or Waterloo where we played Alone Tonight?".  Often fans ask us if we remember them from another show from a while back - we try our best, but when you're doing in excess of 150 shows a year, it really does meld into one big gig!

Doing these shows can also be very inspiring, and sometimes during the gigs ideas for tracks or other ideas spring to mind.  I've already come away with quite a few ideas for tracks/remixes/bootlegs that I'm personally looking forward to having a fiddle with in the studio….

Also, thanks for all the gifts you brought at the shows - here are a few:

These do seem popular....

Mmmmmm!  Let's hope it doesn't explode in our luggage....

Personalised!  Thanks Philly!

Some other bits and bobs on the tour....

Home-made Sun & Moon T-shirt

FRUIT, FRUIT, FRUIT, FRUIT, FRUIT, FRUIT.... ummmm....CARAMEL SAUCE!!!  Only in America :)

Paavo "Abwall-ing" with Carson, our amazing LED screen tech who has toured with Madonna, Bon Jovi etc 

London, ON, Canada

Neil "Lights" Marsh

School's out!

The sign of a good sound guy

Alex, our merch-man preparing his DJ set - he warmed up for us at many of the shows before selling merchandise

Backstage in Urbana

So hopefully this blog gives you a flavour of what it's like to be on tour.  We're in Baltimore now and are excited about tonight - another sold out show.  See some of you tonight, and the rest of you - well, we hope to see you at a venue soon.  Thanks for reading, and we'll leave you with sunset in Baltimore.

Jono & Paavo x

View from 25th floor of the hotel in Baltimore