It seems to be a a new tradition with us that, on a the way to our New Year's Eve concert, something breaks down. Last year, on the way to First Night Bingamton, my old '94 Buick LeSabre broke down outside Albany. I was forced to rent a vehicle and the only thing they had was some sort of Toyota tank (SUV of some sort), which was fun. (Even with that, Shari and I reached the venue before the rest of the band, which was a source of ribbing for a little while on that run.) Our New Year's adventure this time took place on the way to First Night Morris, in Morristown. We were traveling in our friend and soundman David's new conversion van, which was quite exciting. The thing has a flastscreen TV, DVD, sattelite radio, Nintendo 64, a queen size bed and bunk beds. With a trailer hitch for David's PA system (we were bringing all our own sound for this one - David has a great set-up that allows him to mix wirelessly. And now he can even mix on his iphone, which is kinda scary) we had loads of room to stretch out and we set out in fine style. I was sure we were moving up in the world. Even the blizzard that was quickly burying the roads couldn't get to us.

And this was absolutely true until the transmission blew somewhere around Stafford Springs, CT.

With David on the phone with a mechanic friend who had worked on the van (just the day before), it seemed clear that the new sound we were hearing, and the red liquid sprayed across the engine, didn't bode well. We managed to limp the van to the shop of the Furnace Brothers Inc, a truck repair station in Stafford. On the way there a car skidded off the road, going down hill, and hit a fence post, saving it from careening over the edge. That was the first of four cars we saw skid off the road right in front of us that trip.

Well, the Furnace Brothers were quite kind. They looked after the van immediately, and gave us the run of the shop while we were waiting on plan B and they were out plowing the backcountry roads. Apparently we weren't the only band they'd saved. In 73 there was a group of English kids that broke down, and they fixed them up. Later on they became quite famous. Never found out their names though. They also rescued the truck that was carrying a new hubble telescope mirror, which was a big deal, because it involved a helicopter landing on the truck as soon as the vehicle went off course.

We had fun drumming on different truck parts in their vast shop...Andy recorded a few of the sounds. Maybe he'll post em?
We were in that shop for several hours.

David's friend, Phil Antoniades, from NIMBIT, pulled a truly heroic move. Leaving his work, he drove to David's home, picked up a cargo van, drove it to Stafford, and drove the broke-down conversion van home, in the blizzard (on the way, his wipers went, but otherwise he made it back in one piece). This was an act of great generousity on his part that we all appreciate, and for which we are quite grateful.
With the trailer in tow, the new van headed out only to be greated by worsening blizzard and traffic conditions. It became painfully clear that we were not going to make the venue in time for our first set.

But dammit, we've never missed a show and we weren't about to start. Fortunately, Shannon and Rich were traveling independently, coming from Philly and NYC respectively. Shannon leads a celtic group called RUNA, which also features her partner, the wonderful guitarist Fionán De Barra. The three of them pulled together an emergency rehearsal and pulled of a terrific impromptu first set. After being in transit for nearly twelve hours (I left home at 7:45 that morning) we rolled in somewhere in the middle of the first set, pulled a lightning quick set-up and had a full concert PA, plus our gear, in place by the second set. I've never seen a sound tech work like David did that night - and I've already seen David himself pull some extraordinary manuvers.

And it went great. We played in the beautiful Morristown United Methodist Church, right on the Morristown Green, at the heart of First Night Morris. It was a full house, and the crowd received us quite enthusiastically, making us feel quite welcome. With so much adrenaline we were rearing to go, and the forty-five minute set flew. Towards the end, when I relayed to the audience the surprised question that Rich asked me onstage ("is it really time to end?"), several audience members shouted back No! It's not! We didn't want to go either. I can't speak for everone there, but we certainly had a good time. I think the audience did too...
But go we did. Another act was coming on shortly after us and we'd agreed to strike our set fast, so David continued to amaze us with the speed with which he worked. By the time the next act had so much as plugged in a microphone, his entire system (subs, monitors, house speakers, cables, etc) was struck and out of the venue. And we were back on the road, back to Boston.
After a twenty two hour tour we were back home.

Every musician who's been on the road has such days. It's as much a part of it as anything, and we all have to pay our dues. For me, somehow, knock on wood, these hellish gig have tended to wind up being great, in the end and despite all that happened this was a good New Year's eve. If I'm going to break down with any crew, I'd choose this one.

I hope it was a good night for you as well, and I wish us all an inspired, fulfilling new year. May it be a year of positive change and a few steps forward towards saner living.

Cheers
Guy