We’re on day two of tour, and we are being well cared for… so far.
We begin our journey with a stop at Lucchesi’s Deli in Petaluma. The way/amount/degree to which/passion with which certain band members love the Turkey Bacon Avocado sandwich (on sour baguette) is rivaled only by Paseo in Seattle (we’ll get to this in a few weeks – be patient, dear reader.)
Thusly fueled, we drove our well-fed selves up to Arcata.
Once there, we met up with our tour buddies on this run – The Easy Leaves. These guys… can’t say enough good things about their music and their persons. Love them and their groovy, laid back cowboy jams.
The Arcata crowd was huge and rowdy and they sang along with everything and they danced their asses off, and it was glorious. The Humbrews show was the ideal way to start a tour. There was a crew of dudes there launching each other into the air using secret ninja/ballet techniques. Ryan crowd-surfed and got blood on his shirt. It was awesome.
That night we rallied to the Pumpkin house where we were met by Team Bond, warm home-cooked food, beds, and their sweet Bernie Sanders sign over the door.
The late night hospitality was matched only by the next morning’s hospitality. We feasted on eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, croissants, beets, coffee, OJ, good company, good people, and more good coffee.
Leaving the Pumpkin House is never a good idea, but it is necessary if a band is to tour their tour-y selves to their next tour date.
Leave we did (after a group photo – complete with all parties save Sage of the Easy Leaves. He was probably checking out the rad art studio in the back and soaking up the creative vibes to then transform into some tasty songs) and we hit the long windy (as in ‘lots of turns and curves’) road to Eugene.
(Thanks to Bob for the pit-stop along the way where we picked up some amazing smoked fish, which we just dipped into. Salmon jerky? Tuna jerky? Some tasty, delicious fish jerky. We have more bits and pieces in the van. Gotta eat them fassssssst though, right?)
We’re at Sam Bond’s in Eugene now getting ready for soundcheck. In fact, I should probably stop typing and go and play some bass.