Forest Ray West Coast Tour Day 4 7/1/2023

All of a sudden it's July. We left Kyle's place in the AM and went into the town of Albany. Pretty hip little downtown, walkable, with lots of cool shops. We got out of the van and my hat promptly fell into a puddle in the gutter. Fished it out and let it dry on the roof while Simon and I got coffee at a place on the corner.

After a quick stop at Gregorio's to pick up a pillow, we headed into the Mission District of San Francisco. We found parking close to that night's venue, the Make Out Room, and started exploring as we had about 5 hours to kill until doors opened for us to get inside.

Van started on this side and eventually made it to right in front of the venue.

We got onto Mission Street and it was full of street vendors. I'm assuming they were not legal, but permitted to be there. Things being sold ranged from fruit cups to jeans to jewelry to hats to cans of Spam, bottles of Tide detergent, bars of soap. It was madness. The carts and tables were on the sidewalks just outside of store fronts. People walked between both, or sat against the buildings. People of all sorts: families, friends, druggies, homeless, people just going about their business.

Street vendor was selling a flute so Peter checked it out.

I saw a woman approach a parked cop car and simply try to open the driver's side door. Then she looked on the windshield and kept going. I think the car may have simply been there as a deterrent, as there were no cops in the area.

Eventually we got back to the van and moved it a spot or two closer to the venue. Peter and I decided to explore a little more. We headed to a library nearby, but it was more a branch than anything else, with books being held for patrons. It was pretty hot outside, after the coolness of the day before, so we tried to stay to the shaded side of the sidewalks.

I had my phone out, taking lots of pictures for the blog and so I could remember (memory is not great these days). Lots of cool stuff to see in the Mission District. What was not cool to see were the two piles of poop I saw, not a fan.

We stopped for lunch at the cleverly named John Kitchen #2. It was across the street from the venue, so we could still have the van in sight while we ate. The food was inexpensive for SF prices, and the taste was passable. A young Chinese family ran it and I chatted with the waitress in Mandarin for a minute. The pho was ok, but it was mainly to get something in the tummy vs going for great tastes.

It was OK.

We walked around some more and later stopped at a coffee shop. We sat outside like the band members we are, simply waiting and hanging out, killing time before the show. It's been cool traveling with these guys. Peter is Croatian, but US born. He does visit Croatia regularly and has a really unique perspective on his surroundings and the culture we are in. Simon comes across as a mountain man at first: long red hair, bushy mustache, cowboy boots. But getting to know him has been great. He is really intelligent and has a lot of life experiences to draw from despite being the baby in the group at 28 (nearly 29). Miles is the grizzled musical vet in the group. He's 34 today and has been a touring drummer since his early teens. He's played all over the world, in small DIY tours and groups. He has great stories to tell and is a really gifted drummer. It's been a joy playing with him.

Peter at a coffee shop.

From the coffee shop, we hoofed back to the club and finally got inside. It's setup was very similar to the Milk Bar from the night before. Enter in the front, bar on the left, stage at the end of the room. Bad part was there was no AC so it was stuffy and warm the whole night. We got the gear on the stage and waited some more for our headlining slot.

Inside the Make Out Room.

First up was a band called the Helltones. They were a 6 piece: singer/guitar, female backing vox, female backing vox 2/keyboard, lead guitar, bass and drums. They did something that Darwin, the band leader, called #surfsoulrockandroll, and they were great. 60's influenced rock music that sounded so true to its roots that I thought they were covers. But they were all originals. Great stuff.

The Helltones.

Next up was Sarah Bethe Nelson, a woman on guitar, and a guy named Rusty playing lead Tele and bass drum/high hat rhythms. Really pretty singer/songwriter stuff and a nice smoky voice by Sarah. They were great together.

We jumped up there and did our thing. Amps were on the upper part of the stage with Miles and his drums. Me, Peter and Simon were across the front on the lower level. I couldn't hear Simon at all, so it was like the training wheels were off. I still had some errors here and there. It's hard when the only time I'm listening to the songs is while we're playing them. Or when I'm learning them simply by watching the shapes on Peter's or Simon's hands. Luckily the covers we're doing are pretty basic (Neil Young, Rolling Stones), but they're not necessarily songs I even know.

There actually was a crowd tonight, but it was only in the 15-20 range. Better than 2 people, however.

After the show, we got packed up and headed across the street for a slice of NY style pizza (it was ok, but delicious at 11pm), and then over to Oakland, where Darwin put us up for the night in his cool little duplex. Another night on the floor for me.

Quick notes:

• I have only driven the van once, which is fine with me. Simon drives it well. Miles drives it pretty well. Let's just say Peter has gotten us to where we need to go. How he gets us there has been exciting at times. Pair that with other California drivers and it has been good times.
• Seems like the Mission District area could use an infusion of tech cash. There were at least 3-4 theaters in the area that looked to once be cool places, but now, sadly neglected.

One of the old theaters.

• The people watching in the area was astounding. So many different types of people and really wild to think that this is a way of life for a lot of them. Culture shock, I suppose.
• The HOG is performing admirably on the tour. I'm getting used to the Bassman amp, but I think the tone overall is simply too vintage for me. I am missing my TE and Orange.
• Though I know the songs we're playing and I want to do them well, I do have a hard time playing the really quiet and slow songs. I'm used to diming my volume and hitting my strings hard, but on some of our songs, I have to pluck so lightly. Playing with dynamics is really cool but can also be really boring. It is good to learn/refine these techniques though.
• Some of the cover songs we do are super boring. Part of it is not knowing the parts as the original bassist played them. But then when I hear it and realize how basic it is, it really makes me wonder how dudes who do covers of these songs on the regular do it. Or maybe that's how a bassist keeps a gig. I'd be so bored.
• For 4 gigs, I've been paid $240 so far. And I'm staying within my "per diem" so that's good.
• Food intake was light yesterday: coffee/scone, beef pho, protein bar, pizza slice.

Next up: Apple Jack's in LaHonda.