Yeah, I knew better. It was my intention to leave around 3 in the afternoon on Friday to head east into Philly for my gig with
Carmen Magro because I didn't want to hit rush hour. But I didn't make it out until much later and, of course, traffic didn't cooperate.
So, instead of being at
the Legendary Dobbs on time for soundcheck, I got there five minutes before showtime. I didn't even say hi to the other guys in the band. No time. I just unloaded my gear and went back outside to move my car out of the bus zone. I grabbed one of the few remaining spots in the $25 garage across the street.
Emerging from the elevator and deposited onto an unfamiliar street in Center City Philadelphia, I had no idea which way to start walking and where to turn after that. I'm normally the worst in the world at directions, but my internal compass went into overdrive and I got there in no time.
A man on a mission, I barged into that joint and darted for the stage. They'd already set up my keyboard for me and even got the volume in place. All I heard were four clicks of the drumsticks, and we launched into our first song. I think we were starting on time!
Carmen's 40-minute set went very well. In fact, my stress level went down almost instantly because there's something in his music that is both relaxing and inspiring. It sure made me feel comfortable as I started testing out some other harmony lines vacated by Suzanne Moore, who was elsewhere.
Suzanne, that night, was fronting her own band with multi-instrumentalist Tom Najarian. Their band,
Work Release, had a gig in Bridgeport. So my plans were to get out of Philly and go see them. But my first priorities were
a Whiz Wit at Jim's Steaks on South Street, catch some of
the Dave Goddess Group's set at Dobbs, and retrieving my gear by driving up a not-so-spacious alley and back out in reverse.
From there, I headed to
the Bridgeport Ribhouse and took in Work Release's second set. Tom and Suzanne talked me into playing the third set with them. I'd never even tried to play the Allman Brothers Band's "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" in my life, and I was doing so in a live setting with
Get the Led Out singers
Paul Sinclair and
Diana DeSantis in the house! Somehow, I wasn't nervous. Diana joined in for one song, Melissa Etheridge's "Come to My Window."
After that, I met up with my college friend Jen for her boyfriend Tim's birthday party. It was great seeing Jen again. I knocked over a beer, drank some of Tim's Glenlivet, and lacked the focus needed to be anywhere near successful at "You Don't Know Jack" on the Xbox. Then, I crashed on an air mattress and we all slept in till about noon.
After breakfast with Tim and another buddy of his, I didn't know where to go. My next gig wasn't until nighttime, so I had a full Saturday afternoon to waste. I didn't know I'd be passing by
Valley Forge National Park, but when I saw all the people on the biking/running/walking path I became curious enough to pull over. Realizing where I was, I ended up taking about 100 photographs and moreover just enjoying my surroundings, the temperature, and a nice walk.
A short nap at my home away from home sustained me for a while before it was time to head to the hoppin', happenin'
Whitpain Tavern for my gig with
the Lords of Nothing. My friend James drove down from the New York area and documented the show in snapshots. He got a few representative photos of the quite attractive crowd we had singing and dancing.
My drive back home gave way to an even briefer nap, and I awoke to my alarm telling me to start getting ready for church. It was my third weekend as acting music director at St. Philip the Apostle, and I had three Masses to play. The first was with a cantor. The second was with the Adult Choir, and it was my world premiere as a choir director with
Alyssa Eichen pinch-hitting for me on piano. The third was adding piano to the guitars and voices in the Folk Group. Somewhere along the adventure, I got in some piano straight off of the Cat Stevens recording of "Morning Has Broken."
The Eagles game was probably pretty good. I wouldn't know. I started falling asleep from exhaustion during the second quarter and didn't even see a minute of the second half. But I was awake enough in the evening to head into downtown Lancaster for Alyssa's impressive clarinet recital at St. James Episcopal that combined Brahms, Paganini and Lady Gaga. She has an informal jam session regularly with some music majors, and I might like to be involved even though I'm not even close to a music major.
