April 15, 2013

Well, we’re in Burlington and the guys are all seated at a table here at a restaurant that looks and smells fantastic – Farmhouse. I’m catching up on a few things online before I join them, one of which is trying to figure out what happened at the Boston Marathon today. We had a gorgeous drive along Lake George in upstate New York today en route to Vermont… exceptionally beautiful scenery with deep pine forests, big rock outcroppings, and the massive lake… teeming with tourists during the summer, but wonderfully empty for us today. We stopped for gas at one point and I got a text from a friend during a few minutes of cell phone coverage, with the message, “two explosions at Boston Marathon finish line. Lots of casualties.” My heart jumped into my throat.

I (Russ) grew up in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, in a little house about an 8-minute walk from the Marathon starting line. “Marathon Monday” was the biggest day of the year for the town, as our 10,000 population grew to 100,000 with thousands of runners and tourists streaming in for pre-race celebrations and then the starting of the marathon itself. Back in 2007 when SoundRabbit first formed as a trio (before Anton joined), we played the pre-race events in Hopkinton. I also know a ton of friends and family who run the race and/or go down to the finish line in Boston to cheer other friends/family the last hundred yards to the finish. The Boston Marathon has a handful of elite runners, but it’s by and large a community event with moms, dads, cousins, friends running it. The timing of the explosions was particularly odd, as it appears it was like 4-5 hours after the starting gun, meaning that the elite (high profile) runners have been finished for a couple of hours and it’s now the common folks – you, me, our friends, our uncles and aunts – trying to finish personal best times in the 4-6 hour range. The finish line had to be full of little kids, families, and friends innocently scanning the crowd of runners for friends/family to cheer on. Some of the initial photos I’m seeing online are heart-wrenching. We’re supposed to play in New York City tomorrow night and in Boston on Friday, so at this point we have no idea if the cities will be on lockdown, etc.

I’m going to go join the guys for dinner and try to have a good show tonight, but my heart is incredibly heavy. More later from the hotel or maybe the road to NYC tomorrow… thanks as always for your time.

Hi, All. On our way to Burlington, Vermont from upstate New York. Had a fun night last night playing at Boulder Coffee Co. Tiny place, but we rocked it and got to hang with some fine folks after the show.

We got a bit of a late start from Ohio and cut it super close, loading in about 5 minutes before we were supposed to play, so it was a scramble, but with Fred’s help we got up and running by 8:15pm. Saw some familiar faces from the last time we played Rochester (5 years ago!), nice to see people singing along to our original songs – that’s the magic that makes the long drives worth it. After the gig we went with some friends from the area to a bar up the street (the Dragonfly – highly recommended if you’re visiting) and enjoyed some late night wings, nachos, etc. We stayed at a nice hotel in downtown Rochester and planned on finally catching up on our sleep by sleeping in until 9am or so. Instead, we were jarred out of bed (Fred levitated) by a blaring siren at 7am and an automated voice saying sternly, “There is an emergency. Proceed out of the building using the stairs. Do not use any elevators. There is an emergency. Proceed out…” over and over. We were on the 8th floor, so we scrambled to get dressed and shoes on… and were about to go out the door when the voice suddenly stopped and was replaced with, “Attention – the emergency is concluded. You may return to your rooms.” Great. Heads barely hit the pillow and it was time to get up and roll again.

Backing up to a highlight from yesterday afternoon… en route out of Ohio we stopped at one of our favorite regular tour eateries, Cafe Europa, in Willoughby (outside Cleveland). John, the owner, welcomed us as he always does, pulling up a chair at our table and sitting to visit for a while. He’s from Germany and has a thick accent, so we have to pay attention to keep up, and we never know where the conversation will go. Always entertaining. Now to the important stuff: the food. John makes everything from scratch, homemade, authentic German and Eastern European goodies. I (Russ) had the goulash with perfectly-cooked beef and homemade toasted bread with butter. Mario had wienerschnitzel, and Anton and Fred had German sausage with potatoes and greens. For dessert we had German chocolate cake, German black forrest cake, Apple strudel, and tiramisu. He also gave the guys “the best beer from Germany,” and an orange juice for me. It was a fantastic lunch, as always.

We play tonight at Club Metronome in Burlington. We’ll be getting to town in time to have a nice relaxing dinner and then load in with plenty of time before we play. Nice schedule and so far pretty nice driving weather. More from Burlington later…