Back to the Big Apple. No matter how many times one plays this city (or visits it), it always takes you by surprise. Its size and energy are beyond compare. Love it or hate it, you’ve got to respect it. I love it.

It was a spectacularly beautiful day today. We spent the day on the upper west side as, it seems, did most of the city. I went for a long walk in Central Park and had to jostle for room on the walkways. I finally found a small patch of grass and, with my hand firmly curled around my camera, fell asleep to the sounds of the city. A perfect New York experience.

The show tonight was at the Ethical Culture Center: a beautiful venue which we had never before played or even heard of. The venue is inside of a massive granite building located on the corner of 64th and Central Park West and is owned and operated by the New York Society for Ethical Culture. This group was founded in the 1870s as a humanist religious movement to further the principals of ethics in adults and children through education. It has a long history of working for social justice causes. Its core beliefs are as follows (taken from its website):

What We Believe
Ethical Culture is a Humanist and Ethical movement inspired by the ideal that the supreme aim of our lives is to create a more humane society. We stand for separation of church and state. We believe acting morally does not require belief in a god. We place our faith in the demonstrated capacity of people to do wonderful things. We believe in the worth and dignity of all living beings.

We believe that all individuals have:
· Inherent worth and dignity
· The potential to grow and change
· A responsibility to strive for ethical growth
· A responsibility to treat others so as to help them realize their fullest potential
· A responsibility to create a better world
· A responsibility to help build an Ethical Culture community that welcomes and involves others

As an Ethical Culture community we believe that:
· We are all part of something that transcends the individual experience
· We have responsibilities to each other, to the Society, and to the community at large
· We are enriched through our interconnectedness with others
· We find confirmation and validation of our own selves and beliefs through our interactions with others
· We derive strength through our relationships with others

Not a bad set of principals. I think the world could use a bit of Ethical Culture right about now.

The gig itself was a very good one. It was an excellent audience that we were able to connect with right from the start. All in all, a very good day.