We were joined on our flight from Denver to San Diego by about thirty young boys, who all must have been eighteen but sure looked a lot younger than that. Most of them were from small town and big city Minnesota. They all had the posture of young males caught in an unfamiliar situation; cocky, lots of bravado, absolutely no confidence in who they are, emotionally volatile, lost. They herded together in the departure lounge like sheep, kind of milling about amongst themselves, a tight bundle of maleness. They wore no team colours or snappy uniforms: jeans and t-shirts, jeans and t-shirts….a uniform of sorts, but certainly not snappy. They all had short hair, they were all heading to San Diego, to Marine boot camp.
This is always a pleasant city to visit for a day or two. The weather is always perfect, the winds off the bay and the salt in the air is refreshing. Another return to Humphreys-By-The-Bay, this time as a co-headline with Joan Osborne. We agreed to play first, it’s simpler that way, but we heard more than one complaint about people missing the beginning of our set. We started very early (7pm) because of the strict 10:30pm curfew and the need to fit in two acts. We played well, but it was a very unsatisfying show: not enough time to truly unwind and get things rolling.