Hey folks.

I know it's been a while since the New Year's show in Scranton. I got the damned flu again after getting back into town, and was also swamped with a lot of voiceover action. But now, for anyone interested, here's the lowdown:

The show goes down in my personal history as good for two reasons: it was our first New Year's Eve show, and it was the first show I played where I actually ended up taking home some money! That's right, for one brief shining moment, Chris Orbach was in the black playing his own tunes.

Swoon. THUD.

(Anyone got any smelling salts?)

It was also cool because we were playing alternating sets with my guitarist Stew Cutler's jazz group. I love his original tunes and it seemed like a good mix.

Anyway, the driving arrangements were different this time. Stew took his wife and his drummer in his car, John drove in his Rav with his darling wife Jill, and Graham and I crammed into my Volks. We got to the Scranton Hilton, where the city was kind enough to put us up. Nice rooms, big soft beds. I had enough time to have a snack, lay down, shower, vocalize, etc. We all met in the lobby at 5 and headed to the venue.

The venue, as it turned out, was an auditorium in a bulding of the University Of Scranton campus. It reminded me of a junior high school auditorium: shellacked floors, chairs at the sides, hard walls and ceilings. I half expected to be pre-empted by an 8th grade production of The Mouse That Roared, or something like that. Sonically, the room was, shall we say, "challenged". But at least the sound guy, Rob, was very nice, and seemed to sympathize. He brought a good P.A., but in that room I knew it would be murderous. It was, on stage anyway. Felt like singing into a wadded-up tube sock. What was also hilarious was the fact that the circuit box for the stage lights was LOCKED, so we basically had the house lights and two bare bulbs, and that nearly all of the a/c power outlets were painted over. We still managed to set everything up.

I don't know, maybe it was because our room was a little off the beaten path, but initially, very few people showed. Still, it's amazing how much less that seems to hurt when you're being paid, and not losing a grand or two! Same with the sound issues -- yeah, it was a pain, but I took it in stride, and I think we put on a good show anyway. It was the third gig that I played with my stripped-down acoustig rig, and I'm still really liking it.

The first sets for me and Stew's bands were pretty light attendance-wise, but things picked up nicely towards the end. I sold a few CD's and made a few new friends. Not bad.

Another issue was that there was nothing to eat! See, I always have a tendency to over-prepare. If you've ever seen my suitcase for a gig you'll know this. Inside I have a duplicate of every cable and connector I use -- plus an exra strap and even an extra wireless transmitter, so that if ANYTHING fails I have a backup. This adds 5 lbs to my rig, but the peace of mind is worth it. Well, in the same vein of this over-attention to detail, for long drives I tend to bring bottles of water and some snacks for myself and for whoever I'm riding with. These extras proved to be lifesavers as me, John, and Graham hung out backstage during Stew's first set. When I pulled out a tin of mixed nuts and a bag of Sun Chips, and my rhythm section's eyes widened with glee, I just thought, "Ah the GLAMOUR!" By the way, our "backstage" was essentially a mop room -- a small room with a sink, a washing machine, and a wooden frame with all these mops drying on them.

Again, glamour.

But sitting back there with Graham and John while waiting to go on, eating mixed nuts, and slices of apple that Graham cut with a pocketknife and handed to each of us, I realize how much I loved all of it.

The last set ended at 11, giving us just enough time to get back to the hotel. We rang in midnight of 2007 in the lobby bar of the Scranton Hilton, in which "Deuling Pianos" captured and held the distinction of making Billy Joel tunes sound even worse than the originals. And as for food, our only option was, god help us, Domino's pizza. But there we were, the band, plus Stew and John's wives, ringing in '07 with pizza, wings, champagne, and diet coke in the lobby of the Hilton, giggling like kids. It was pretty surreal and nice.

All in all, I liked playing in Scranton. The people who organized the event were very nice, the accomodations were comfy, the folks were enthusiastic, and it looks as though they want us back next year. I just wish to god I could play out of town more often. I'm trying to set that up. I mean, sometimes the voluminous bullshit around playing in NYC feels like bashing your own head against the wall just to hear the sound it makes. By comparison, playing out of town -- even in strange rooms -- feels like a pretty nice shot in the arm.

By the way, I actually did a production of The Mouse That Roared, in 8th grade. I played the President Of The United States. In the script, the President got one of the most succinct and clever character descriptions I ever saw: "He is an imposing man in a dark suit."

Brilliant.