![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
just_cydI feel like i need a hashtag - "doing it for Darren" or "Darren made me do it"! No, Darren hasn't actually made me DO anything, but when he schedules a bunch of shows, and you see one that's only 700 miles away, you jump on it.
then, once you've booked the vacation time, the airbnb, etc, you see he's got another, just a few days later, just a few miles from that first one, on a better night for concerts, check your budget, and curse. It's not HIS fault I have no chill.
Believe it or not, I found out about the show at The Avalon Lounge in Catskill, NY, via Spotify rather than his own social media*. Spotify has lyrics to some songs, and in checking for them, instead i found tour dates (same way I learned about Natalie Merchant)! the planning was furious: could I make the drive - 700 miles one way! where would I stay? Could i manage to connect with Dan and Kathy on their ride along the Erie Canal that began the weekend before and would be ending the weekend I came in (short answer: no). I talked briefly to Dan about it, joking that I'd drag him along if he wasn't already on his own adventure. he suggested I check in with/visit/stay with his parents in Amherst. by this point, my incoming hotel was booked (sketchy AF), airbnb was booked, and I was contemplating my return trip. He ran it by them, they were delighted by the idea, so I called them the week before and firmed up plans to stay with them on my way home. Had my hotel going out been refundable, I would've stayed there then, too.
As it was, Sunday the 16th I got to see Joe & Marlies, Doug, and Judy & Len. brought in a growler of Hairless Hare's OH Scarlet ale, and a 6pk of Warped Wing's Ermal's IPA, plus chocolate chip cookies that Judy calls "evil." Also brought Joe the extra Darren Jessee albums I had, hoping he'd like them (and guessing he'd have a turntable - he's the musician). we went to dinner at Charlie the Butcher (they didn't even ask - it was (correctly) assumed I'd want to go), and hurried home so Len could go pick up Dan and Kathy from the shuttle bringing them in from Albany. Except he didn't hear/understand them right, and I didn't see the message from Kathy on messenger, so as I'm texting her to find out where they are, they are walking in the back door while Len circles an empty (wrong) parking lot while talking to Doug on the phone. hilarious and frustrating (mostly for Dan - he sees these changes in his dad more acutely than his siblings), but worked out in the end. Kathy's boyfriend was there, too, and we ate cookies and killed the growler and had a fantastic time piled around the too-small-for-nine-people-and-a-big-dog kitchen table. Stayed a bit longer to chat with Dan, then hit the road for Syracuse, about 2 hours east.
NYS thruway is a fairly pleasant drive. I was warned the Angola travel center was closed for rebuilding, and was further informed they ALL would be closed. instead, it was every other one, and they pop up about every 30-40 miles. Gas was still available at the closed ones, just no food/beverage/restrooms/other services. there's also texting pull-offs (parking lots, essentially, in between the travel centers. and the road itself was fairly recently repaved, so it was smooth sailing all the way. I forgot how much I dislike night-driving-in-unfamiliar-territory, but I did ok. My hotel appeared to be right off the highway, but google maps had me take a side street to a residential street to a dead end street to eventually get to the hotel. it was on the edge of an industrial area (lots of warehouses/semis) and at 11pm, i thought I'd made a mistake. I could have been worse. first floor room, but no elevator to that floor from the lobby up 2 flights of stairs (the outside door to the first floor was locked for the night). unimpressive room, but I was only there for 8 hours to sleep. found out the next morning about the $100 hold for "incidentals" that put my account negative, so things got really scary for a minute.
I DID NOT PANIC. it was monday; i get paid on Wednesday. i had a nearly-full tank of gas, and $40+ in cash on me. I had some food and drinks on me. Monday night's lodging and concert ticket were paid for. i could do this. I'd placed a Dunkin Donuts mobile order and grabbed that (which is how I found out about the money mess), and then hit the road. First stop: Cooperstown, the home of the baseball hall of fame.
back on the NYS thruway to the tiny town of Mohawk, NY, and then BAM! three-dimensional terrain! On State Highways now, and everything is lush and green and beautiful and clearly in the mountains. gas mileage took a nosedive pretty quickly. Flew through Mohawk before I had a chance to stop and gawk. lots of little crossroads, a handful of Speedways for potty stops (a concern I had with off-roading like i had planned). Somewhere before Richfield Springs I was directed to turn right onto a smaller county/country road. gulp. rural. homes. small farms, pasture and crops and trees and just beautiful. also a bit twisty and narrow and some steep drops and lack of shoulder. I panicked a bit, but slowed down and enjoyed the drive. No one behind me, so I'm good.
also in this section, I encountered a construction detour - Richfield Springs, I believe. Also in here, at some point, I came to a T intersection where I needed to turn left, and just enough before the stop that I missed it, was an old, maybe revolutionary war-era cemetery. I had a car behind me, or I would have backed up/pulled over. searching the map for this. I'll find it. a short ways on, a right turn onto a state highway, and i'm parallel to Otsego Lake. I follow this pretty much to the bottom of the lake, where Cooperstown is. getting into the resort-y stuff now, plus the deep-history, too. The Farmers' Museum looked cool. might be worth researching further?
Cooperstown is cute, what I could see of it. it was CROWDED with cars and people, and I only was able to park thanks to my crip card. didn't even get out of the car! I'd ordered goodies for the boys before I left, assuming I'd encounter Mass People, so I reset the GPS and started out again.
Next destination: Central Bridge. more state and county roads winding me downhill-ish, until Google tells me to either turn right or keep straight for about the same travel time. I turn right, onto a rough gravel road in the flattest part of this part of the state. a valley, or floodplain, between mountains. I had to cross this little creek to continue my journey. the state of the road was bad, so I slowed down to not blow a tire, and just then, Darren's song Will That Be Enough came up, and i had to stop the car and ride out the waves of emotions. "Will that be enough, when you get what you want?" parked the car and took photos of the area, collected myself, and navigated the pock-marked road on to my destination.
on the way I went through Cobleskill, which I recall being adorable. stone wall along the main road with a river just beyond? the park dedicated in 1703? at least one of the three single gravestones on the side of the road, shored up with bricks to look like a tiny house? things were hilly and twisty and turny again, with tons of farmers markets and farms and just all that adorable shit that makes the grass greener there.
I came into Central Bridge from a completely different direction than I had thought I would, so I was turned around. ended up back on a state highway and had to circle back into town (such as it is - 3 roads?). Found the post office and the gravel lot across the road. Parked my car and hurriedly scribbled out some post cards. gathered my wits, put on my best Midwest Friendly, and walked in as a resident was leaving. Kindly asked the postal employee if she would mind hand-canceling the postcards (six in total, i think?). Explained that a musician named Darren Jessee had a new album out called Central Bridge, and he was playing that night in Catskill. I was on my way there from out of state. she played along better than expected, hadn't heard of Darren or known about the album, but thought it was cool. I looked around desperately for something with the town name on it, and could only find the stenciled window. asked if I could take a photo of it, and she readily agreed as long as SHE wasn't in the photo. so she stood in the doorway to the lobby while I tried to take a photo of a windowpane in bright sunlight and not be in the photo as well. it was all very anti-climatic. back in the car, a/c cranking, about an hour outside of Catskill and my check-in time. get a move on.
even more two-lane roads, and more and more of these little motels and collections of cottages and signs that maybe I'm out of Rural Central New York and into The Catskills (tm). kinda kicked myself for not thinking to look a little farther afield for accommodations for that one night, but who knows if they'd have done one night, or if any of them had vacancies. Pull into Catskill and it reminds me of Yellow Springs, but ON a river, with steep sides. went looking for the venue and promptly went the wrong way up a one-way street, in front of a cop (he ignored me) and a car with two city workers. they waved me down and alerted me, and then pointed out the street to turn up to prevent the downhill right-of-way cars from plowing me. half a mile later, I found my airbnb. didn't cry!
The house was just at pictured - three story victorian with little done to the outside. gravel drive and parking in the rear, and just beyond that, over the hedge and fence, was the Catskill city cemetery. i possibly have ancestors in there! records destroyed in a fire in 1935, so, research will be rough.
there must be more than three units in the building - it's three floors, plus a basement i'm sure. my unit was around the side, which took me a minute to figure out. the two rentals each had a small table & chairs - one yellow, one blue. i had actual physical keys to the place, which I had to not lose. yikes! it was adorable. front part of the house on the ground floor. 14 foot ceilings, wood floors, sparsely furnished in Ikea, but not completely gutted. 1 bedroom apartment with full kitchen, tons of natural light and a decent sized living room. pity i was only there for 18 hours total. the two main rooms had those freestanding LG air conditioners which did a fairly good job of cooling the place. I pulled the blinds to help, as the sun was cooking up the side of the house with all the windows. hauled my crap in, laid down on the couch for a bit (set my alarm!), then showered and changed and headed to the show.
the website and ticket info said the show was at 8pm. I think I left at 7:30 to get there. it was less than a mile, but i didn't want to deal with being the last in the doors of a crowded venue, and i didn't know about parking (the big lot across the street turned out to be city employee parking only) so I had to circle the block (the one i couldn't figure out earlier), and found a crip card spot on Main at the top of Church street. short walk down the hill for me and my cane. The Avalon Lounge has food, and that night they were also having karaoke upstairs. I thought we'd be in a basement or something, but fortunately we weren't. a bunch of the patrons at the bar, and the bartender himself, were pierced and tattooed, but were cordial enough. I must've been a sight to them in my girly "I'm with the banned" tee and mom shorts and ballet flats. Asked the bartender about the show, and ordered a club soda. friendly guy, chatted a bit, and then pointed me to the bouncer at the door to the venue (three steps away). Bouncer Guy was heavily tattooed and pierced but smiled and was nice. i fumbled to get my phone out to show my ticket and he waved it away. "am I the only one who pre-bought a ticket online?" I asked him. He held up an order slip like restaurants use with my name printed on it. "yeah, that's me" i said and he confirmed I was the only one to buy a ticket. fuck. he said I could go on in, and the first band would go on about 8:15.
walked into a room with maybe 40 folding chairs set up, a small stage, a big sound/light rig in the back, chandelier and disco ball, and some stuff piled on the far wall. multi-purpose room, i'm sure. i sit for a bit, then get antsy and hurty, so I get up and slowly walk/pace. I see two doors in an alcove just inside the door to the room. turns out they're restrooms. I see a guy come in and pay him no mind. it's darkish, he's in dark clothes and wearing a ballcap; unless he approaches me i don't care. well, he DID approach me, because it was Darren Fucking Jessee. "hey, you made it, how've you been since I last saw you?" we chat for a minute, and he tells me they're just finishing dinner, and then they'll get things going. a bit later Zach Hegg, Darren's keyboardist/singer came in and said hi, then Darren was back and the three of us got to talking. Darren couldn't believe i was ok being in there by myself, the only one at the show. I let him know that being adequately medicated is the reason I was fine with it. shared a bit too much about the last few years, re-iterated that i'm finally living my life, and so on. he commented that I shouldn't drive so far to see him - implying that it was too much, I think? I said I want to see him perform, but the road trips are for me. I need them. we talked about only having one paying audience member. "it's monday" he said. "Expectations are low." the last couple shows had been good. I asked him how we, his fans, could support him, "real talk" i said. I've bought all the music, which is his only merch. i'm coming to shows. but not enough other people are. he said he's starting over, and it's going to take time. no management. doing everything himself. can only afford to have Zach on the road with him, and they're tooling around in his Subaru. I complemented him on the harmonies with Zach - they two of them mesh well, and sound amazing together. Zach doesn't overpower Darren's soft voice. he seemed a bit surprised by that, and told me it was very kind of me to say. (so this is how we sound when we can't take a compliment?) mentioned that I'd stopped in Central Bridge on the way in, an he did not seem to be all that impressed. i think it's just a name he picked at random, and the fact it's an actual place is of no importance to him and might be a hinderance? IDK
The other band, Yours Are the Only Ears, came in and finished setting up, including video to record it. they were made up of the lead singer on electric guitar (bright blue fender), another lady on viola, and the singer's boyfriend (?) on banjo. such an interesting combination, but it worked. Highly recommend.
there was some talking between songs, and Darren told them that i'd driven 700 miles just to see them "So no pressure!" -- the exact same thing i'd said to him three months prior. Zach and Darren stayed to watch their set, which was nice - i felt less awkward, and I am sure the band felt less awkward, too.
Darren and Zach did their set, and unlike last time, I did take photos and video. I got three songs - Everything Hurts you now, Small Town Shit, and Mirage. The lighting was horrible - red and blue, so everything is purple. Darren kept his ballcap on, so you can't see his face for the most part, either. Other than Small Town Shit, the set was nearly identical to April's. He said they were going to practice some things, so I guess the tiny audience worked in their favor. and I got a private (ish) performance. once they were done, it was straight into breakdown. they were laser-focused. I stopped by the stage, asked if they had a long drive, and wished them well. again, very anti-climatic. stopped at the bar to return my glass and apologize for not paying for my drink. bartender waved me off, and I began the waddle up to my car. just out the door, I realized the (blue?) subaru parked right out front with NC plates was no doubt Darren's. too many people around (including the other band) to stop and gawk or take a photo. back to the airbnb and attempted to sleep.
slept poorly, nearly got up early, then fell back asleep and rolled out the door at 10am. checkout was 11. didn't do any of the things in town I considered doing, and I also ditched the plan to try to drive up through MA/CT/VT as well as Woodstock and Rhinebeck. those back roads were doing a number on me, and taking too much time. I just wanted to get to Buffalo. in the car, I headed to Hudson for gas and to cross the Hudson river for real, then onto US Route 9 - the same one i lived right off of in NJ - up to the NYS Thruway. wildfire smoke was heavy around Albany and probably another hour west. mostly uneventful driving once I got out away from the Albany metro area. skies got cloudy, or was it smoky, and at one point we did have a torrential downpour. fortunately it was just after i'd stopped for a break, and NYS law states you must use your flashers if you're going under 45 MPH. so everyone obeyed and made it easier until we were through the worst.
back in Buffalo, I really didn't need the GPS to get me back "home" - i know my way now! I got in about 4, and Len and Judy were happy to see me. I'll pick this up later, because reasons.
*more on this another time
then, once you've booked the vacation time, the airbnb, etc, you see he's got another, just a few days later, just a few miles from that first one, on a better night for concerts, check your budget, and curse. It's not HIS fault I have no chill.
Believe it or not, I found out about the show at The Avalon Lounge in Catskill, NY, via Spotify rather than his own social media*. Spotify has lyrics to some songs, and in checking for them, instead i found tour dates (same way I learned about Natalie Merchant)! the planning was furious: could I make the drive - 700 miles one way! where would I stay? Could i manage to connect with Dan and Kathy on their ride along the Erie Canal that began the weekend before and would be ending the weekend I came in (short answer: no). I talked briefly to Dan about it, joking that I'd drag him along if he wasn't already on his own adventure. he suggested I check in with/visit/stay with his parents in Amherst. by this point, my incoming hotel was booked (sketchy AF), airbnb was booked, and I was contemplating my return trip. He ran it by them, they were delighted by the idea, so I called them the week before and firmed up plans to stay with them on my way home. Had my hotel going out been refundable, I would've stayed there then, too.
As it was, Sunday the 16th I got to see Joe & Marlies, Doug, and Judy & Len. brought in a growler of Hairless Hare's OH Scarlet ale, and a 6pk of Warped Wing's Ermal's IPA, plus chocolate chip cookies that Judy calls "evil." Also brought Joe the extra Darren Jessee albums I had, hoping he'd like them (and guessing he'd have a turntable - he's the musician). we went to dinner at Charlie the Butcher (they didn't even ask - it was (correctly) assumed I'd want to go), and hurried home so Len could go pick up Dan and Kathy from the shuttle bringing them in from Albany. Except he didn't hear/understand them right, and I didn't see the message from Kathy on messenger, so as I'm texting her to find out where they are, they are walking in the back door while Len circles an empty (wrong) parking lot while talking to Doug on the phone. hilarious and frustrating (mostly for Dan - he sees these changes in his dad more acutely than his siblings), but worked out in the end. Kathy's boyfriend was there, too, and we ate cookies and killed the growler and had a fantastic time piled around the too-small-for-nine-people-and-a-big-dog kitchen table. Stayed a bit longer to chat with Dan, then hit the road for Syracuse, about 2 hours east.
NYS thruway is a fairly pleasant drive. I was warned the Angola travel center was closed for rebuilding, and was further informed they ALL would be closed. instead, it was every other one, and they pop up about every 30-40 miles. Gas was still available at the closed ones, just no food/beverage/restrooms/other services. there's also texting pull-offs (parking lots, essentially, in between the travel centers. and the road itself was fairly recently repaved, so it was smooth sailing all the way. I forgot how much I dislike night-driving-in-unfamiliar-territory, but I did ok. My hotel appeared to be right off the highway, but google maps had me take a side street to a residential street to a dead end street to eventually get to the hotel. it was on the edge of an industrial area (lots of warehouses/semis) and at 11pm, i thought I'd made a mistake. I could have been worse. first floor room, but no elevator to that floor from the lobby up 2 flights of stairs (the outside door to the first floor was locked for the night). unimpressive room, but I was only there for 8 hours to sleep. found out the next morning about the $100 hold for "incidentals" that put my account negative, so things got really scary for a minute.
I DID NOT PANIC. it was monday; i get paid on Wednesday. i had a nearly-full tank of gas, and $40+ in cash on me. I had some food and drinks on me. Monday night's lodging and concert ticket were paid for. i could do this. I'd placed a Dunkin Donuts mobile order and grabbed that (which is how I found out about the money mess), and then hit the road. First stop: Cooperstown, the home of the baseball hall of fame.
back on the NYS thruway to the tiny town of Mohawk, NY, and then BAM! three-dimensional terrain! On State Highways now, and everything is lush and green and beautiful and clearly in the mountains. gas mileage took a nosedive pretty quickly. Flew through Mohawk before I had a chance to stop and gawk. lots of little crossroads, a handful of Speedways for potty stops (a concern I had with off-roading like i had planned). Somewhere before Richfield Springs I was directed to turn right onto a smaller county/country road. gulp. rural. homes. small farms, pasture and crops and trees and just beautiful. also a bit twisty and narrow and some steep drops and lack of shoulder. I panicked a bit, but slowed down and enjoyed the drive. No one behind me, so I'm good.
also in this section, I encountered a construction detour - Richfield Springs, I believe. Also in here, at some point, I came to a T intersection where I needed to turn left, and just enough before the stop that I missed it, was an old, maybe revolutionary war-era cemetery. I had a car behind me, or I would have backed up/pulled over. searching the map for this. I'll find it. a short ways on, a right turn onto a state highway, and i'm parallel to Otsego Lake. I follow this pretty much to the bottom of the lake, where Cooperstown is. getting into the resort-y stuff now, plus the deep-history, too. The Farmers' Museum looked cool. might be worth researching further?
Cooperstown is cute, what I could see of it. it was CROWDED with cars and people, and I only was able to park thanks to my crip card. didn't even get out of the car! I'd ordered goodies for the boys before I left, assuming I'd encounter Mass People, so I reset the GPS and started out again.
Next destination: Central Bridge. more state and county roads winding me downhill-ish, until Google tells me to either turn right or keep straight for about the same travel time. I turn right, onto a rough gravel road in the flattest part of this part of the state. a valley, or floodplain, between mountains. I had to cross this little creek to continue my journey. the state of the road was bad, so I slowed down to not blow a tire, and just then, Darren's song Will That Be Enough came up, and i had to stop the car and ride out the waves of emotions. "Will that be enough, when you get what you want?" parked the car and took photos of the area, collected myself, and navigated the pock-marked road on to my destination.
on the way I went through Cobleskill, which I recall being adorable. stone wall along the main road with a river just beyond? the park dedicated in 1703? at least one of the three single gravestones on the side of the road, shored up with bricks to look like a tiny house? things were hilly and twisty and turny again, with tons of farmers markets and farms and just all that adorable shit that makes the grass greener there.
I came into Central Bridge from a completely different direction than I had thought I would, so I was turned around. ended up back on a state highway and had to circle back into town (such as it is - 3 roads?). Found the post office and the gravel lot across the road. Parked my car and hurriedly scribbled out some post cards. gathered my wits, put on my best Midwest Friendly, and walked in as a resident was leaving. Kindly asked the postal employee if she would mind hand-canceling the postcards (six in total, i think?). Explained that a musician named Darren Jessee had a new album out called Central Bridge, and he was playing that night in Catskill. I was on my way there from out of state. she played along better than expected, hadn't heard of Darren or known about the album, but thought it was cool. I looked around desperately for something with the town name on it, and could only find the stenciled window. asked if I could take a photo of it, and she readily agreed as long as SHE wasn't in the photo. so she stood in the doorway to the lobby while I tried to take a photo of a windowpane in bright sunlight and not be in the photo as well. it was all very anti-climatic. back in the car, a/c cranking, about an hour outside of Catskill and my check-in time. get a move on.
even more two-lane roads, and more and more of these little motels and collections of cottages and signs that maybe I'm out of Rural Central New York and into The Catskills (tm). kinda kicked myself for not thinking to look a little farther afield for accommodations for that one night, but who knows if they'd have done one night, or if any of them had vacancies. Pull into Catskill and it reminds me of Yellow Springs, but ON a river, with steep sides. went looking for the venue and promptly went the wrong way up a one-way street, in front of a cop (he ignored me) and a car with two city workers. they waved me down and alerted me, and then pointed out the street to turn up to prevent the downhill right-of-way cars from plowing me. half a mile later, I found my airbnb. didn't cry!
The house was just at pictured - three story victorian with little done to the outside. gravel drive and parking in the rear, and just beyond that, over the hedge and fence, was the Catskill city cemetery. i possibly have ancestors in there! records destroyed in a fire in 1935, so, research will be rough.
there must be more than three units in the building - it's three floors, plus a basement i'm sure. my unit was around the side, which took me a minute to figure out. the two rentals each had a small table & chairs - one yellow, one blue. i had actual physical keys to the place, which I had to not lose. yikes! it was adorable. front part of the house on the ground floor. 14 foot ceilings, wood floors, sparsely furnished in Ikea, but not completely gutted. 1 bedroom apartment with full kitchen, tons of natural light and a decent sized living room. pity i was only there for 18 hours total. the two main rooms had those freestanding LG air conditioners which did a fairly good job of cooling the place. I pulled the blinds to help, as the sun was cooking up the side of the house with all the windows. hauled my crap in, laid down on the couch for a bit (set my alarm!), then showered and changed and headed to the show.
the website and ticket info said the show was at 8pm. I think I left at 7:30 to get there. it was less than a mile, but i didn't want to deal with being the last in the doors of a crowded venue, and i didn't know about parking (the big lot across the street turned out to be city employee parking only) so I had to circle the block (the one i couldn't figure out earlier), and found a crip card spot on Main at the top of Church street. short walk down the hill for me and my cane. The Avalon Lounge has food, and that night they were also having karaoke upstairs. I thought we'd be in a basement or something, but fortunately we weren't. a bunch of the patrons at the bar, and the bartender himself, were pierced and tattooed, but were cordial enough. I must've been a sight to them in my girly "I'm with the banned" tee and mom shorts and ballet flats. Asked the bartender about the show, and ordered a club soda. friendly guy, chatted a bit, and then pointed me to the bouncer at the door to the venue (three steps away). Bouncer Guy was heavily tattooed and pierced but smiled and was nice. i fumbled to get my phone out to show my ticket and he waved it away. "am I the only one who pre-bought a ticket online?" I asked him. He held up an order slip like restaurants use with my name printed on it. "yeah, that's me" i said and he confirmed I was the only one to buy a ticket. fuck. he said I could go on in, and the first band would go on about 8:15.
walked into a room with maybe 40 folding chairs set up, a small stage, a big sound/light rig in the back, chandelier and disco ball, and some stuff piled on the far wall. multi-purpose room, i'm sure. i sit for a bit, then get antsy and hurty, so I get up and slowly walk/pace. I see two doors in an alcove just inside the door to the room. turns out they're restrooms. I see a guy come in and pay him no mind. it's darkish, he's in dark clothes and wearing a ballcap; unless he approaches me i don't care. well, he DID approach me, because it was Darren Fucking Jessee. "hey, you made it, how've you been since I last saw you?" we chat for a minute, and he tells me they're just finishing dinner, and then they'll get things going. a bit later Zach Hegg, Darren's keyboardist/singer came in and said hi, then Darren was back and the three of us got to talking. Darren couldn't believe i was ok being in there by myself, the only one at the show. I let him know that being adequately medicated is the reason I was fine with it. shared a bit too much about the last few years, re-iterated that i'm finally living my life, and so on. he commented that I shouldn't drive so far to see him - implying that it was too much, I think? I said I want to see him perform, but the road trips are for me. I need them. we talked about only having one paying audience member. "it's monday" he said. "Expectations are low." the last couple shows had been good. I asked him how we, his fans, could support him, "real talk" i said. I've bought all the music, which is his only merch. i'm coming to shows. but not enough other people are. he said he's starting over, and it's going to take time. no management. doing everything himself. can only afford to have Zach on the road with him, and they're tooling around in his Subaru. I complemented him on the harmonies with Zach - they two of them mesh well, and sound amazing together. Zach doesn't overpower Darren's soft voice. he seemed a bit surprised by that, and told me it was very kind of me to say. (so this is how we sound when we can't take a compliment?) mentioned that I'd stopped in Central Bridge on the way in, an he did not seem to be all that impressed. i think it's just a name he picked at random, and the fact it's an actual place is of no importance to him and might be a hinderance? IDK
The other band, Yours Are the Only Ears, came in and finished setting up, including video to record it. they were made up of the lead singer on electric guitar (bright blue fender), another lady on viola, and the singer's boyfriend (?) on banjo. such an interesting combination, but it worked. Highly recommend.
there was some talking between songs, and Darren told them that i'd driven 700 miles just to see them "So no pressure!" -- the exact same thing i'd said to him three months prior. Zach and Darren stayed to watch their set, which was nice - i felt less awkward, and I am sure the band felt less awkward, too.
Darren and Zach did their set, and unlike last time, I did take photos and video. I got three songs - Everything Hurts you now, Small Town Shit, and Mirage. The lighting was horrible - red and blue, so everything is purple. Darren kept his ballcap on, so you can't see his face for the most part, either. Other than Small Town Shit, the set was nearly identical to April's. He said they were going to practice some things, so I guess the tiny audience worked in their favor. and I got a private (ish) performance. once they were done, it was straight into breakdown. they were laser-focused. I stopped by the stage, asked if they had a long drive, and wished them well. again, very anti-climatic. stopped at the bar to return my glass and apologize for not paying for my drink. bartender waved me off, and I began the waddle up to my car. just out the door, I realized the (blue?) subaru parked right out front with NC plates was no doubt Darren's. too many people around (including the other band) to stop and gawk or take a photo. back to the airbnb and attempted to sleep.
slept poorly, nearly got up early, then fell back asleep and rolled out the door at 10am. checkout was 11. didn't do any of the things in town I considered doing, and I also ditched the plan to try to drive up through MA/CT/VT as well as Woodstock and Rhinebeck. those back roads were doing a number on me, and taking too much time. I just wanted to get to Buffalo. in the car, I headed to Hudson for gas and to cross the Hudson river for real, then onto US Route 9 - the same one i lived right off of in NJ - up to the NYS Thruway. wildfire smoke was heavy around Albany and probably another hour west. mostly uneventful driving once I got out away from the Albany metro area. skies got cloudy, or was it smoky, and at one point we did have a torrential downpour. fortunately it was just after i'd stopped for a break, and NYS law states you must use your flashers if you're going under 45 MPH. so everyone obeyed and made it easier until we were through the worst.
back in Buffalo, I really didn't need the GPS to get me back "home" - i know my way now! I got in about 4, and Len and Judy were happy to see me. I'll pick this up later, because reasons.
*more on this another time
