DC… I think?

As we rolled into Washington DC yesterday I caught a glimpse of the Washington Monument as we were headed down the famous ‘K street…. (Good news is, we got some extra funding for the band..ha ha) that was about all the sightseeing for these gypsies. We arrived at the John F Kennedy Memorial Performing Arts Center feeling a bit out of place but just as happy to play for a more hoity toity crowd. The place was so elegant with its marble pillars and deep red carpet, a doorman at every door and we knew Billy Crystal and Robin Williams to be in the building. There was some sort of celebrity thing going on, a few people including Scarlett got to catch glimpse of Billy. The stage was beautiful and perfect for the band; we all fit on it including the dancers. It was well lit and the sound was great, the walls in the hall were made of marble and glass so we only really needed ambient mics. It is so great when there is room for the dancers on stage, because when we have to do it on the floor then we have to push the crowd back so we end up doing all of our dance numbers at the very beginning of the show. When we have ample stage space we can evenly spread out the pieces and the show looks better as well as giving us a chance to catch our breaths between numbers. The hall was just that, a hall. It was narrow and long, when I was on stage I looked to the back of the crowd and I couldn’t really see them at all because they were so far away. There were huge crystal chandeliers evenly spaced down the hall. It was beautiful! Our show was fantastic, we busted out all the G rated songs… I hula hooped to Space Hole… damn that’s a long song! I always think it’s sweet to hoop to Space Hole cause my sweetie wrote it… realistically though it’s too long for me. I was schvitzing like crazy when I got off stage, to add to it the professional lighting is HOT!
The crowd was unusually sedate, but that was to be expected from a seated high class audience. We knew they loved it when as soon as the last note was played people were out of their seats standing and clapping. Our stage manager Mike told us that there is a show on that stage 365 days of the year, he has worked there 6 days a week for 4 years, and we were one of the most enjoyable shows he has seen there. I am going to try to see if Vagabond Opera can play there when we go to the East Coast, I think it is a perfect venue for them as well. After our show Kevin (our driver) told me that if you’re not from the East Coast you might not realize that playing there is a golden opportunity and it’s a bigger deal than I might think. He also speculated that I’m probably the first person to hula hoop on the Kennedy Center stage! Anyone else know any different? I’ll take it!
After the show Mike led us down into the depths of the building, where the employees eat their lunch. We all got a good taste of DC cafeteria food. We were so hungry that we ate it despite our picky appetites… we have vegans, organic only’s, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, you name it. Then there’s plenty of corndog eaters too. I had a salad and a superfood so I was quite happy. The main thing that disappointed me was all the styrofoam there. Even the trays were styrofoam. So we ate and packed up and a boom and a bing and we were back on the road. We traveled last night to North Carolina, to the welcoming home of Barbara, Ethan’s mom. The trip was long and a bit grueling after expending so much energy at the Kennedy Center. A bunch of us watched movies and then when I started to feel a little seasick I sat up front and played guessing games with Nathan to keep him awake and alert for driving. One of the things I really love about March Fourth is that we are a giant mobile party ALL THE TIME. Even when we are low energy at 1:00 in the morning and we stop at a gas station, and everyone shuffles in to go to the bathroom and peruse the aisles for anything eatable (not much to be found) even then, we take over the entire mini mart with our crazy freakiness and the workers and other customers have no idea what to do with their reaction. This normal looking bus pulls up and out file 30+ bizarre people who’s oddity seems completely normal to them. One thing I have noticed about traveling in the bus as opposed to a car is that I don’t notice the landscape as much. For one I am not involved in the driving or direction process, and also there is so much else to do (laptops, sleeping, movies, etc..) that looking out the window actually takes intention. Most of the time when I look out the window all I see is Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or Home Depot so I’m quickly uninterested anyway.
So back to North Carolina. We made it to the Eathanol homestead, and filled up every inch of carpeted floor space. Barbara made us breakfast this morning of French toast and turkey bacon. I am finding breakfast to be the hardest meal for me on this tour, as I am allergic to oats and eggs, and we usually have some sort of egg thing and then the alternate for the vegetarians is granola or something of the sort. Luckily I had some yogurt and cereal. Bellies AGAIN full of carefully prepared by a gracious host food, we embarked once again on a day’s journey, this time to the Echo Project Music Festival in Atlanta, GA. It looks like we are up for an 8+ hour drive today. Right now we are heading down towards Charlotte. Once again I am looking forward to seeing a friend in the next town, my friend Judd is the stage manager for our stage there! So not only do I know we are safe in his hands, I get to see a great friend who I hardly ever get to see because he lives in Colorado.
I am definitely looking forward to seeing Robin; he doesn’t arrive until New Orleans on the 17th. Last time I saw him was just for a couple of days in Santa Cruz, the last weekend in September. I need some snuggles!