Castle. (Western Massachusetts)
We’re cruising to Sudbury, MA today from western Massachusetts, where we stayed for the night. We’re seeing some gorgeous New England foliage here:
Last night at Beardslee Castle was incredible. Talk about the stars aligning and luck being on our side. Shortly after the road journal post below, we went into the castle and downstairs to “The Dungeon” bar, where we set up our equipment in a small area near one end of the room. The owner, Randy, came over and greeted us, and said that they’d have dinner down shortly for us. We had no idea what we were in for. Holy guacamole. In comes our waitress and new friend, Holly, with plates of the finest prime rib I’ve ever laid eyes on, a mashed potato and sweet potato concoction, fresh scallops over pasta, chicken picata, bread, and drinks. All on the house. Holy guacamole.
The Spread
Pinching ourselves
Beers eating fast before someone takes it away from him.
Jason fell out of his chair about 3 seconds after this photo was snapped.
Food knocked him for a loop. Can’t believe I turned the camera off and missed it.
Beardslee Castle has been tagged.
Jason in the dungeon.
We ate like kings in this castle, everyone encouraging us to relax and take our time, asking how our trip has been thus far, etc. We took the ‘stage’ around 10:30pm and rocked until 1am, with the room filling up as we went and a good time had by all. Randy had sent an email out to his friends when he booked us, so a bunch of them came down on the spot to check us out. The best part was that the entire staff (chefs, wait staff, etc.) all came down and partied with us, which gave us a chance to thank them for the incredible food and hospitality. Two friends from Syracuse drove 90 minutes to come see us – we had met them when we played at Bull & Bear Pub in April in Syracuse, and they came out again to listen to the tunes and visit (thanks, Mike and Jess!). There was a funny interlude between our two sets, when Holly and Stephanie (two of the castle staff) got up and sang a few children’s songs. They really got the room going, and then we got ’em dancing for the last set. All in all a fantastic time and a great last-minute gig that fell into place. They want to have us back in the spring, so we’ll be booking that soon for April. Good times.
Here’s the setlist:
Hazel
Story Of…
List
Heat
Park
IIOKYN
Don
View From Way Up Here
Turn My Egg
Blame
Obey –>
Life During Wartime
[interlude by castle staff]
D9
ZED
Marula Binge
Tonight we’re playing a private ‘showcase’ style gig in the big barn/event room at the horse farm where we’re staying for the week. Can’t wait to relax and stroll out from our bedrooms to the stage, quite literally. More later…