Day : Northampton, Mass!
Look here! A rare in-the-studio view of Recess Monkey in the Round. That's right, it's:***PANORAMA-RAMA!***
We got to rock out with Bill, Ella and Liam from Northampton's "Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child!" I'm sorry to say that we only answered one out of three of Ella's questions correctly... and that one we only got right because Jack pulled out the Christopher Walken Cow Bell App on his iPhone. Still, a super-fun segment that we think, with skilled editing on Bill's part, will make for an enjoyable 18 minutes next week on the air. You can stream it online, next Saturday, here!
We played an outdoor square behind Thorne's indoor marketplace and they were good enough to sponsor radio ads on Bill's station, WRSI The River, and eve supplied enough kilowatt hours to power our gear.
So, yeah: this isn't Seattle heat.
It was so hot before we played that we turned the entire band ninety degrees right before the set to take advantage of a corner of the square with shade-- and the families that were waiting there until the last possible minute ended up with great, shady seats. Nice! We played for a little less than an hour and people were really energetic!
This town is a gem. We highly recommend you check out Northampton. Tons of music, cool people and this weekend only: A SIDEWALK SALE! The sidewalks were crammed with people and bargains. It felt a lot busier than Seattle on most days, and $6 shirts to boot.
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Herrell's, the world's greatest ice cream establishment, gave away two-for-one ice cream certificates to families who came to the show. Herrell's is an amazing place on its own, but it's got an army of devoted ice cream lovers behind it. While we were there we learned that a few years back, Coldstone Creamery (the national chain of mix-in ice cream shops) set the goal of taking over Northampton's ice cream market. They claimed that, though Herrell's was their initial inspiration for marble-top mix ins, they had improved the product. Corporate America taking over local flava!? It didn't take long for Northampton's ice cream fans to band together and demonstrate amazing loyalty: Coldstone did indeed arrive in Northampton, but nobody went!
This beautiful small town managed to preserve a little of its locality, something that we've had a hard time finding on this trip.
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Any Northamptonite will tell you that Herrell's is an institution, and Bill's suggestion to take a cup of Burnt Sugar and Butter with no mix ins was most definitely well-taken advice.
But in the end, it was the "Herrell's Hours" sign that left the biggest mark on us: we've appropriate their old-time day spellings and retroactively applied them to all of our blog entries. The ice cream went straight to the love handles, but the typeface went straight to our heads.
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Hanging out in Northampton after the radio show, Ella and Liam noticed a cool katydid (or maybe a grasshopper?) clinging onto the Element. "You better close the sunroof!" Ella suggested (suggestions are Ella's forte). "It might climb in."
Hours later, it appears that Ella was right: unbeknownst to us, this intrepid katydid climbed into the car while we played and camped out on the ceiling above Drew's seat. It's there right now- our fourth member on tour!
Mayor Monkey's first question was "DO WE HAVE TO PAY IT PER DIEMS!?"
We reassured MayMo that this katydid-that-could would have no financial impact on the band. We also agreed to put out some water for it tonight in Alexandria.
What do katydids like to eat? |
We're sleeping in Alexandria tonight, a hotel room that will be our home base for the next four days. This place is pretty unbelievable: we'll devote a future blog to this hotel for sure. It's like the Virginia version of Hotel California. Seriously.
Tomorrow we're playing a set at the epicenter of kids' music, Jammin' Java, in Vienna VA. Super cool place to play and we'll do anything to be in the same room as Rocknoceros!
Meanwhile, inspired by the Five-State Challenge set by "Long Haul" yesterday, Daron was determined to get us from Northampton to Alexandria, a feat that, if he were successful, would install him as the SEVEN STATE CHAMPION.
And...
HE DID IT! Feast your eyes on THIS, Daron! That's right, it's the Award of OUTSTANDING EXCELLENCE in Driving! Daron's new nickname is "The Statesman." Email him about it!
Drew and Daron, the twin titans of long-haulery... They make a band proud.PREVIOUS || NEXT |  |
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