Review Albuquerque/Santa Fe Shows

Sleeping in your car is not as romantic as it sounds. In a sense, it is, but not as much as I thought it would be.

First of all, because of my gear in the backseat, I couldn't recline completely so all night I slept just almost at a point where I was flat but not exactly. This drove my insane. Otherwise, the night was pleasant. A desert thunderstorm was brewing and I fell asleep to the heat of the parched earth beneath my feet and the rumblings of the sky over my head. I even slept with the windows rolled down and with a foot sticking out. I could feel the desert breeze between my toes. Friends, that was freedom. Initially, I found a spot to park my car. It was on a construction-looking site and behind a trailer so I would clear from the road should any of Albuquerque's finest spot me whilst patrolling the premise. Eventually, I was able to curl up and get some uncomfortably positioned sleep.

The next morning the police came. I saw them before they saw me. They went inside and I totally booked it. There's something terribly funny about running from the police while in a blurry stupor after waking up. I was laughing for 20 minutes by myself.

The night before I actually googled "My parents don't know I'm homeless" and found a lot of tips on what to do when you're homeless. Spent a lot of time in the library and read some William Saroyan. I swear, that man inspires to be better. Then I decided to learn Portuguese. So I'm doing that.

I knew I couldn't take another night in a car so I wrote my hosts and they said I could come that night if I wanted. So I did. Ryan and Lindsey were so nice. We stayed up late talking about music and sharing it. The next day Ryan took me out for breakfast with some other friends and good times were had. That night we went to communion. I hadn't been to one in quite some time. We came home and everyone at and hung out and smoked hookah and laughed and talked. It was great. Unfortunately, the show was not. I hated the way I sounded and everything was just way too sloppy. I managed to make good gas money that night however. God bless their hearts, they bought CDs notwithstanding my horrible sound.

The next day I rested and took care of some things and then drove to Santa Fe. Apparently, my host invited a bunch of people and only about half came, which was still a lot of people for me. That's one thing about promotion: if you promote for 50 people expect 25 to show. I decided to stay another day and so tonight I'm going to see his band play at a bike bar outside of town called the Mineshaft. Anyway, I struck conversation with a certain Danielle who was really nice and turned out to be a musician. She mentioned that she hadn't toured the US very much but had gotten back from a European thing with some other bands. I go "Really, that's cool. Who are these bands?" She goes, "Oh it's this band called Grizzly Bear and another one called CoCoRosie."

My mouth literally dropped.

Those were the last two bands I was expecting. At the most, I thought she had toured with a bunch of friends but two established bands who I coincidentally really like. Apparently, she's signed to Gnomonsong--a San Fransisco label started by Devendra Banhart and who represent the Papercuts and Jana Hunter. Danielle is in a band called Rio En Medio. She's going to be playing the same show with my host. I've decided not to listen to anything on her MySpace in order to go in completely fresh for tonight's show. I'm excited because I saw her working with my host on some video art to be projected while she plays. It involves home video all shot on Super 8mm. This will be a good show.

As for my show, I was very satisfied. The acoustics were perfect and the energy from the people was spectacular. I've never had a rowdier crowd. It helped keep me on edge. Afterwards, I got a HUGE hug from one guy. Seriously, it was a squeeze and a half and I think I've needed a hug like that for some time now. As a matter of fact there was a lot of hugging going on that night. Everyone was friends and they just hugged each other and loved each other. Moments like these are the most beautiful of the tour: seeing people connect and seeing how different people love other people in different ways.

This morning we went out for breakfast with the other guys from D Numbers--my host's band. We laughed and talked about energies and influences at a cozy Southwestern cafe named Cafe Pascual. I leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. Someone suggested that I take the scenic route to Denver. So I plan to leave early in order to see the sights of the road and to have some time of hanging out in Denver. So far, I feel so satisfied with how everything is going. I really can't complain. I love my life.