Tour Diary – Newport, Rhode Island (August 4, 2012)

We played the Newport Yacht Club tonight…or something like that…..our show was part of a summer long music festival that takes place on or beside the yacht clubs grounds. In any case, there were a lot of boats around: lots of really big boats. If you’re looking for your disposable income….I think I found it floating in Newport Harbour. The money in this town is astounding. The downtown tourist section, set on the waterfront, and right where we sat all day, is in immaculate shape, it could be (and probably has been) a movie set for a late 18th century New England period-piece. It’s all just a tad overwhelming, too much Hollywood and not enough Rhode Island. But we had a blast hanging out in the middle of it and I’d love to visit when it isn’t high tourist season. It was a stupidly hot and humid day…I think the cooling sea breezes were blocked by the private navy towering dockside: white and shiny and on the ready. Bless the people and the organizations and the government funding that goes into putting on these festivals: they are great for us touring bands.

We had a tough time on stage tonight. The venue was one of those large, white, semi-permanent tents that get put up on waterfronts throughout the Western World during the summer months. The sound frequencies were being difficult on and offstage…..I struggled all night, but who-knows, sometimes those shows register on an unexpected level (and sometime they just suck)…..despite our problems, the audience was, once again, terrific. We may have lost some bodies by the end of the show, but that’s the nature of these types of gigs. Those that stuck around were vocal, excited and having fun. It takes all kinds of towns to make up a country. This just happens to be a very wealthy one.