Tour Diary – Troy, NY (May 7, 2010)
(Jason Lent has forsaken the island paradise of Hawaii to follow us around for a few months. I have happily placed the tour diary in his capable hands. It should bring a new perspective to our ramblings.)
The tour resumed in Troy, NY, where I have encamped with family throughout the tour. So, it was on familiar ground that I loaded up another rental car and drove back into the adventure. The town of Troy, NY sits upriver from the capital Albany. Once a wealthy steel town, the city has suffered its hard times but efforts to preserve the architecture and history are visible. Sitting on the back patio of a pub overlooking the Hudson River drinking some handcrafted ale, it’s an easy city to pull for.
Tonight’s venue was a small concert room with a balcony of tables and an open floor. The first 100 or so people through the door made for the upstairs and the floor remained lightly populated until show time. Troy sits in the area of Upstate New York now dubbed the “Geese Belt” and the crowd did it’s best to match Buffalo and Syracuse’s chatter before, after, and during songs. It didn’t matter. The band came to play.
Margo attacked the set from the word go and the music followed boldly. Aaron switched between pedal steel and guitar adding new sounds to familiar tunes. On “Lay It Down,” the band explored the darkest corners of the song while “A Common Disaster” shook the floor with its powerful low end. If tonight is a harbinger of the next week in New England, it promises to be a special run of shows.
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