Feast and Famine -- a universal pattern that seems even more apparent while traveling on the road.

The rest of our stay in New York was enjoyable and educational, if not a raging success in terms of packed shows.  Here's how it all went down:

Tuesday evening we went to the Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan to scope out the local spoken word scene and see if we could sign up for their Poetry SLAM.  Turns out the fellow running the door wasn't a very flexible individual, and wasn't willing to compromise on the $7 entry fee, not even for 'international touring artists'.  Ha!  I suppose that's New York for ya.  We figured our money would be better spent on food, or some other necessity, and went in search of another opportunity to perform.  Earlier that afternoon we'd picked up a flyer for Penny's Open Mic, so we made our way to the venue, Under St. Mark's, a cute little black-walled theatre space on St. Mark's Place.   After a short chat with Penny, we were admitted sans-cover and signed up on the list.  The evening was a mixture of stand-up comedy, spoken word monologue, drunken rambling, & your standard singer-songwriter fare.  And, of course, the a'capella stylings of OW & Testament.  We had a blast testing the limits of their little house PA system, and managed to stir some excitement from the mostly-drunken crowd.  We also met Tina & Rachel (mother and daughter, respectively) of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, a 3-piece family ensemble who play charming folk songs set to a projected slide-show of old found-object family photos.  Tina & Rachel shared a cab ride home with us, as they reside in Bushwick near the Surreal Estates, and invited us over for a vegan lunch.  We took them up on their offer the next day, and met Jason, wife to Tina and father to Rachel (15).  They welcomed us into their humble & charmingly-decorated abode and we shared travel tales & discussed politics with them over a delicious bean soup with salad & dumpstered cookies.  They are genuinely wonderful people and we are certainly looking forward to crossing paths with them again in the future.

When we checked our E-mail the next day we were very honoured to find an invitation to a private gathering in Manhattan, hosted by well-renowned radical artist/activist Fly. (Find her work online at http://flyspage.com/)  Fly's apartment, situated in Manhattan's East Village, had once been a squat, and now, after years of determination, resistance and renovations, is now a legitimate housing cooperative.  We arrived a bit early, and decided to check out nearby Thompkins Square Park, a disgusting excuse for a public green space, consisting of paved walking paths lined by black wrought-iron fencing that segregated all the grass & trees from human contact.  Ick!!  It was like a tree zoo; a parody of a real park.  We immediately felt like barfing, and found ourselves needing to exit the "park" immediately.  Thankfully, we soon found ourselves in front of Fly's place, and buzzed ourselves up with the 'secret password' we had been provided with.  Once inside we got to meet Fly and a few of her friends, some of whom we recognized from the Book Fair a few days earlier.  She showed us some of the multitude of photos she has collected documenting the history of her building as it progressed from a ramshackle squat to a livable building, surviving a fire & many other obstacles in the process.  We also got to meet her friend and fellow radical writer/visual artist Seth Tobacman, an outspoken housing advocate and co-founder of World War III Illustrated and many other incredible creative projects.  We were honored to have the opportunity to give an impromptu a'capella kitchen performance for Fly, Seth, Ramsey (from AK press) and the rest of the folks in attendance.  They responded positively to our material and gave us a huge boost of encouragement -- it felt amazing to be well-received by long-time activists who have been instrumental in creating change in their community for decades.

We had an evening performance set up for Wednesday at Vox Pop, a radical cafe/bookstore/community space in south Brooklyn.  We showed up with a crew from Surreal Estates and arrived in the middle of a film-screening, which was to be followed by a European jazz trio, then ourselves and Testament.  By the time the films (one a documentary about a Televangalist, the other a black & white Werner Herzog film about an ascetic holy man who exiled himself to the top of a stone column alongside a desert road) wrapped up and the jazz ensemble finished their set it was getting late into the evening, and most of the already-sparse crowd had thinned out.  Still, we soldiered on and played for the handful of remaining folk, who provided encouragement and eager ears, then made our way home on the subway in the wee hours of the morning.  The best part of the evening was when part of our crew splintered off from our homeward posse to explore the Bolthouse Farms juice dumpster, bringing home a taxi-load of pomegranate juice & assorted fruit smoothies worth upwards of $500.  Can you say "juice-feast"?

We also set up an afternoon performance for the following day (Thurs) at the Yippie Cafe in Manhattan, home of Abbie Hoffman & co. back in the day.  We didn't have great expectations for the event, as it was set up with very little notice, and there was virtually no promotion.  Our hope was to catch the attention of some of the patrons as they came through the space.  Well, it turns out that there weren't very many patrons on a Thursday mid-afternoon.  Still, we made the best of a questionable situation; strong.cottonwoods put on an impromptu improv performance with the nine-year-old daughter of one of the regulars, and we got to have a bit of an on-mic rehearsal & do some much-needed E-mailing.

Thurs evening we returned to the Surreal Estates for the Open Ring Open Mic, a community event run by one our hosts,Telly, a lasso-twirling Cowboy Comedian.  The evening began with a few local comedians doing stand-up routines -- some topics included mocking Canadians (whoo-hoo!), and a bevy of other cynical, nerdy, and self-loathing memes. Next, a barista from local coffee shop Cafe Orwell came by and wowed us all with her stellar cello skills.  Of course, The Outspoken Wordsmiths & Testament stepped up to the stage to spit some of our mojo, and impressed those gathered with our ability to rock it hard without the assistance of mics or sound system.  The evening ended with a cypher session that devolved into a battle of sorts, as us Canucks ended up taking issue with some of the sexist content coming from a few of the local MCs.  Thankfully, everything ended up peacefully, as a crate of  pre-packaged dumpstered vegan meals was produced and we all stuffed our faces with delicious eats.

The next day was Friday, and we said a reluctant good-bye to our gracious hosts at the Surreal Estates and hopped on the L train to head to our next destination, the John Bosch house -- another community living space, this one in the Bedsty neighbourhood of Brooklyn.  We arrived at John Bosch in the mid-afternoon, hot and sweaty after slogging our gear between a series of brownstone government housing projects in the sticky mid-day sun.  When we arrived, we found our new home nestled safely behind a tall, barbed-wire-topped iron fence, preventing us from knocking on the front door.  Luckily, the tried-and-true technique of hollering at an open window proved effective, and we were allowed entry by one of the residents. After storing our baggage we ventured out into the neighbourhood to check out the 123 Community Space, a multi-use space frequented by many of our Surreal Estate friends, which hosts zine & lending-libraries, a community kitchen, bike workshop, art exhibits, a silk-screening setup & more.

Our plan for that evening was to perform at a show in the John Bosch garage, with Mutiny Amongst Friends, Highway Gimps, and Laura Stevenson & the Cans.  As it turned out, the fellow who was organizing the show had just fathered a child, and priorities ended up shifting. We found ourselves on the night of the show in the garage with a couple of the other bands, wondering where to find the PA, audience, and Mutiny Amongst Friends.  Once again, we made the best of a questionable situation, taking advantage of the local bodega's $1 tall-boy beers, and putting on another impromptu a'capella performance for the few people who had shown up for the show and the members of the other bands present.  They dug our message & sound, and we traded a few CDs with them before they took off for another party.  We chilled with our beverages for an hour or two until some friends of ours from Surreal Estates came by, all excited for the 'show' they were expecting to find. Not wanting to leave them disappointed, we put on another mini-performance for our friends before laying our heads to rest.

On Saturday we emerged from the John Bosch garage into the bright sunlight to find our way to the China Town bus that would transport us to Philadelphia.  A hot & sweaty 2 hours later we found ourselves in downtown Philly & braced ourselves for a heavily-laden cross-town slog to the Wooden Shoe infoshop, where we were slated for an evening performance.  We introduced ourselves to the volunteers on shift, dropped our bags in the back room, and went around the corner in search of Gianna's Grille and their legendary vegan Philly Cheesesteak.  Twenty minutes later we were stuffed and satisfied, and ready to return to the Wooden Shoe to get the space prepared for our performance.  Once again, we found ourselves learning to make lemonade from the lemons provided -- there was virtually no turn-out for the show, but we were able to sell some of our wares to the infoshop, and managed to find/create a couple of mini-audiences to perform for.  One crew of youth had assembled in front of the store-space in hopes of rendezvousing with some of their friends, so we seized this as an opportunity for yet another impromptu performance.  In the midst of this exhibition we attracted the attention of a couple of local hiphoppers, who took the opportunity to jump in the circle and start freestyling.  A short cypher ensued, and we found ourselves amused by their combination of clever rhymes and unfortunately misogynistic content.  A while later we kidnapped the attention of another group of people who entered the store looking for a specific book. They ended up leaving with some of our CDs instead.

Our billet situation for Philadelphia was tenuous, and we found ourselves needing a safe place to sleep.  Luckily for us, James, the volunteer who was running the bookstore during our show, proved to be a jovial and generous fellow.  He led us on the subway to his abode in north Philly, where we spent the night on the living room couches with his cats.  In the morning we met James' cheerful wife Michelle, and the five of us enjoyed a delicious late-morning Sunday brunch on their backyard patio.

We hopped back on the subway to downtown Philly to retrieve our baggage from the Wooden Shoe in preparation for our gig that evening at the A Space, another radical community space across town.  But first, we had to revisit Gianna's Grille for some more deliciously greasy vegan vittles.  Well, lo and behold, who should we bump into at GG's but the members of Mutiny Amongst Friends, the AWOL folk-punks from the would-be John Bosch show.  Turns out they had gotten lost on their way to the show, or some such business, but it all worked out in the end, as they were traveling to Baltimore the next day (just as we were) & had room for us in their van.  We marveled at our brightening luck, thanked them for their generosity, & wrote down their phone #, then made our way across town towards our A Space gig.

Our A Space event was slated to take place after a film-screening, which we understood would be a documentary about well-known Black Panther Party-member & death-row resident Mumia Abu-Jamal.  This wasn't exactly the case; the film shown was "Black & Blue", a documentary focused on police repression of Black Liberation struggles in Philadelphia during the 1970s, particularly the MOVE organization.  The evening was organized & attended by members of Mumia's family (his daughters and their children) and surviving/continuing members of MOVE.  We were awash with emotion as we watched the film, which included a great deal of footage depicting racist police brutality, including the FBI's cowardly used of a helicopter-delivered incendiary bomb used to torch MOVE's headquarters.  (Water cannons were used to contain, not fight the ensuing flames, and five children died in the inferno.)  The film was followed by a lengthy conversation, then it was our turn to do our thing.

We were more than a little bit nervous to step up and kick our set for an inter-generational group of died-in-the-wool social justice activists.  (To make matters more complicated, we found ourselves again with no mics or sound system, and all three of us were feeling worse for wear, as Blank Space had a beat-box-impeding swollen lip due to a mysterious food allergy, and Testament & strong.cottonwoods were sporting sore throats.)  Well, it turns out that all the people present were on the same page as us, so to speak, and they loved what we were doing.  After our first piece, Testament's "Police State", we were met with a round of thunderous applause that set our fears and anxieties to rest.  We performed the rest of our set to a room of smiling faces & bobbing heads, and by the time we finished we were covered with sweat and awash with endorphines.  Pam Africa, long-time MOVE member and one of the key organizers of the event, and many of the other people in attendance, expressed so much enthusiasm & excitement for us & our cross-continent journey that it felt almost as if we were dreaming.  Once again, we found ourselves overwhelmed with encouragement and acceptance from people we deeply respect and look up to.  Those present were excited for the opportunity to help support us by buying some of our CDs, and we hooked them up with a bunch of our zines & radical literature.

After the evening wrapped up we were still riding high from the whole experience when we got the folks from Mutiny Amongst Friends on the phone -- their house-show gig for the evening hadn't begun yet, so Emily swung by to pick us up in their van and bring us to their show.  We arrived at a smoky punk-house & introduced ourselves to those present, then sat down to enjoy performances by MAF and their touring-mate Tom of Play It Faster.  Both Tom & MAF come from Naugatuck, Connecticut; Tom played acoustic guitar & sung a set of enjoyable scratch-throated folk-punk numbers with scream-along choruses.  MAF combined acoustic guitar, electric bass, drum kit & keys, and sang songs about their town's chemical factory shutting down, and a sing-along/make-up-your-own-verse song about addiction, among others.  Julian, followed up Tom & MAF with an extended set of folk/punk cover tunes, which the crowd enjoyed singing along with (although we'd never heard most of them).  Once Julian was finished his set we made our way to the center of the living room & grabbed everyone's attention with "You Just Can't Ignore It", then launched into an unmic'd set with Testament.  The assembled anarcho-punx dug our overt lyrical content & the fact that we were putting a new-yet-familiar spin on hiphop.

We all hit the sack soon afterwards, and awoke to a delicious breakfast of pesto tofu scramble, home-fries & dahl, lovingly prepared by Blank Space.  Impressed by BS's culinary talents, the MAF crew decided that we'd all earned passage to Balitmore.  We piled into their trusty white Econoline van & drove thru a torrential downpour to the Frisby House, a punk house situated in a lush, tree-laden neighbourhood in north Baltimore.  MAF was slated to perform there that evening along with Trunks & Tales, and Lucas.  We felt very honoured when Mutiny Amongst Friends asked us to come forth and perform during the middle of their set, and we found ourselves again kicking it off-mic in the middle of a living room full of crusty folk-punks.  We started with "Chocolate Dumpster", and were thrilled when the assembled crowd began singing along to the chorus.  Trunks & Tails followed, a folk/punk duo from Annville, Pennsylvania, who charmed the audience with their soulful crooning & slide guitar action.  The next act was two mysterious fellows (really, we just didn't catch their names), who helped mellow out the evening with a serving of ambient soundscapes.  They sat cross-legged on the floor in the midst of a networked web of electrical devices, and churned out delightful gentle distorted/reverby guitar riffs.  Lucas was the final performer of the evening; he sang some gentle songs on acoustic guitar, lulling your faithful blogger to sleep as he lay stretched out on the front porch's couch.

So, that takes us from New York to Baltimore.  We've got another gig here in Baltimore tonight, and then we catch a 2:30am bus to Boston, MA.  We'll fill you in on all the juicy details as they develop.

Remember, we love to hear from all y'all back home & along the road.  You can contact us at theoutspokenwordsmiths_AT_gmail.com

Best wishes!! & MAD LOVE!!
  -The Outspoken Wordsmiths