NYC - In retrospect

A week ago today we were driving into NYC, fighting the traffic and being told off by the ever-so-welcoming creatures that call themselves New Yorkers. I believe one of them referred to us as "fucking tourists." I humbly beg to differ as I was a New York resident for close to a collective 6 years before I ran screaming from that concrete jungle back in 2006. For a brief moment I toyed with the idea of moving back. Had I done so I would have resided in the heart of the Greek area of Astoria, Queens which, out of most places in Queens, I'd have to say is one of my favorites. The culture is rich and the cafe nightlife is phenomenal. Unfortunately the cost of that would have been too high, involving a loss of freedom that I had fought so hard to regain when I left the first time. I'm of the mindset that once a relationship has ended, it must remain ended. Going back is only an enactment of the cliched definition of insanity. My insanity takes on many forms on its own, I try to avoid the ones that I am able to... thank you very much.

I digress... A week ago we were arriving in NYC to perform for the Court of Lazarus. It was a nerve wracking sort of homecoming for me. Would I be received well? (Sort of.) Would people like us? (Seemed to). What sort of trouble would we run into? (A lot). Would we bomb? (Sort of.) Would we be whole enough in ourselves to walk away with our heads high and live to try another day? (You bet your fucking ass.) In truth we had a good time. It was wonderful to see Naamah and Nefarious again. It was amazing to meet Thomas and his girl and our other fan Tanya. It was even more amazing to see Chris, the former keyboardist from Uranium 235 who, essentially, got me started in all of this in the first place. Words can't really even describe the feeling of seeing him again and knowing that our roles were now reversed and knowing that it was he who felt proud of me this time around. It was like I had finally closed the chapter on a pain that had been devouring me for years. It's something I don't know that anyone would ever understand.

The show had a lot of glitches. I mean a LOT. There were more than I can begin to count. I couldn't hear myself or the backing tracks. The board wasn't working at first. Shaun's headphones weren't picking up the tracks which left him unable to find the "one" in the count. It was very frustrating for us both. Galen, who joined us for the weekend and to be on the stage for the night did very well for someone who had just picked up the bass a week prior. In all we maintained our composure, we played through and we made the best of it. We hoped that people appreciated the effort and looked upon us with kindness and understanding. What we do isn't easy and we knew this going in a year ago. Last week was the climax in a wave of issues that had been building for some time and I think now we can come back to the drawing board with the wisdom to correct the problem and move forward.

Two weeks from now we perform our final show of 2011, almost a year to the day from when we started working together as an actual band. Almost 4 years to the day that Shaun and I met to discuss working together at all. The importance of this isn't lost on me. I want to say thank you to Rebel Sound Records for inviting us to perform at Wasteland on the 9th of December. I can't think of a better venue to cap off what has been a tumultuous year both personally and professionally. I hope to see everyone there that can make it.
Until next time.