nearnorth

now i know what you thinking:  “wait a minute near north, wasn’t your ‘stuff we see at venues’ series intended to highlight absurd and unusual observances from the seedy places you play?  this is just a picture of your name written on paper; i was expecting to see some underbelly damnit!”

and to you, devoted post-follwer, i say “hear me out.  though it seems ordinary, this picture suggests a highly unusual and quite absurd point in our evening.”

each summer, vermont’s premier rock concert venue hosts a semi-weekly showcase for local bands.  it gives up and coming local acts a chance to perform on a stage that might otherwise be out of reach, it’s fun, we did it last year too.  part of the appeal for the bands is getting a higher quality sound experience; they have bigger and badder equipment than most other venues and a dedicated sound guy.  it’s remarkably refreshing to not have to set up you own mics, be able to say things like “can i get a little less bass in my monitor” and most importantly, feel just a little bit like a rockstar while doing so all while knowing you are going to sounds great.  beyond that however, it’s much like any other gig we might have.  we don’t normally get actual rockstar privileges like an insane amount of whiskey in the rider or a boot filled with green m&m’s backstage, but its still cool.

i say “normally” because this time we got a tiny taste of that extra fun stuff when we were granted…green room access.  cue oos and ahhs.

we don’t know exactly how, but our buddy john from seamus the great (with whom we were sharing the stage that night) was granted the favor of green room access for his band and john was kind enough to share.  we were walking in the back door and john told us to follow him upstairs “just write your name on a piece of paper and stick it up on the door” he said.  i suspect this may be a secret to greater successes as well.

now, i will say it’s not like the green rooms were stocked with whiskey and girls or anything but it was still really nice (and certainly a great gesture on john’s part).  there’s something about knowing that you are getting something you wouldn’t normally get that makes even small conveniences really exciting.  we watched other bands from the aural comfort of our balcony, we nervously explored the walls and walls of photos of notable acts that adorned the hallways of the previously inaccessible upstairs, we delighted in the absurdity of finding a fan-made poster that had been left behind by the room’s previous occupants.  it was awesome.

in other news, mixing has commenced on our ep.  kyle from ktr recording is once again at the helm.  i just can’t say it enough times, i’m so excited for this record to come out, it’s gonna sound great.

we’ll be in albany at the end of the month and then back to burlington, vt for my (john) birthday show.

love n’ stuff

nn