7.18 – New York, the universe and everything
Returning back from the big city is always like stepping back through one of those cartoony blurry portals that you have to shake off the liquid debris and cosmic colors while coming back to your wild senses. In other words, New York always shows me one hell of a great time and I love it. So much actually that when there, I am constantly on-the-go in it’s non-stop world where one is easily entertained by the most supreme street art, a cast casual characters, enriching conversational patterns from one subway trip to the next and random happenstances that intrigue me to the very core of my sensory receptors. Always a good time.
With an agenda to rendezvous with the east coast crew, lots of ground was covered, much music was seen and rooftops were pillaged. I Landed at 6am and headed straight into Brooklyn.
After a chill moment at a friends house and a couple hours of catching up over a few beers, I headed back on the subway towards Penn Station and weaved my way through the underground Atlantis then found the New Jersey transit train just in time to catch my ride into the Garden State for my first plan of action; TLG was playing in the ethereal town of Asbury Park, NJ. that night at famous club, The Stone Pony. Asbury Park was on my radar after I saw this Travel Channel special of No Reservations hosted by Anthony Bourdain, where he toured through some of his old haunts in a place that use to be as alive as Coney Island but is now reminiscent of a land mine of his yesteryears playground. Having a few landmarks remaining like the old fortune teller on the beach and the Wonderbar, the place just plucked a special string in my heart and I felt that I wanted to go there and being that I am naturally attracted to the allure of a run-down ghetto boardwalks on a stretch of beach that would normally be unsafe any time of the day, the intent of my visit felt romantically poetic. So when my friends announced that there were going to be playing a show there, a spark went off and I made it happen. Sometimes my callings are as random as that. Most times I have odd understandings for knowing why I am suppose to be somewhere that I need to be. Case and point, Asbury Park.
So I arrived to the pre-party at the Wonderbar and two of my New York friends were already there. As hours passed and the sun started to sink into the sea, our party was about 30 strong. I hadn’t really mentioned to many that I was going to be out there so it was an awesome re-kindling of excitement as we gathered before the show. As the hour struck, we made our way in a parade along the boardwalk wearing animal masks and danced in a procession to the doors of the venue. This venue was famous because it was the spot where Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen played their first concerts. The venue these days is a dump and the security was a joke of obnoxious jerks. But the band played a fantastic show and threw out a heavy-hitting double set that tossed impressed wide-eyed looks of awe throughout the audience the whole time. Notable mention was a sit in with The Breakfast guitarrist Tim Palmeri, who dueled with Josh Clark in an epic version of Ride Together. So after the show it’s the hotel lobby and after the lobby it’s the after party and after the party you run to the beach and get all retardy, and then after that, oh yeah, I must express great gratitude to the friends of mine whose room they offered to share with me that I brought the whole party too, sorry, but it was a rock’n time, and I hope you eventually got some sleep.
The next day was Friday and I knew I had to get back into NYC, but first I had to figure out how to get off this damn island! No, really, in an adventure turned action film, Jaymes, Chip and I were in fine form by morning and had lost track of time while playing in the tide pools and in the ocean and I for some reason had someone else’s shoes on. Yet eventually, with my partner in international crime of fun/safety consultant, we hopped on a bus and made our way back into New York to start preparations for the next party which was our good friends gig on a boat. This was my initial reason for collaborating the trip itself, the meeting of minds in the name of celebration and Turbine playing a boat cruise show on a small boat that toured around the bay and I was extremely pumped for this event.
So the time had arrived and we boarded the boat. There was an opening band that immediately started in the ceremony and we had dropped anchor and started moving. Given the night before, I was unbalanced and buzzed so I went to the bottom deck to see if I could get some food. The lovely Gretchen came with me and we sat at a table while I turned pale and blue and was swaying side to side. This was strange. The boat was moving and so was my equilibrium so I went to the window for air. What happened next was a moment that I will never forget and a moment that goes down as one of my favorite personal comedic altercations. Having not puked since I was about 15, I leaned out the window out of necessity. I was appalled at this, however, as I watched the waters passing below, taking with it the food that I had just tried to ingest, I put my napkin to my mouth and lifted my head to one of the most magnificent sights I could ever see; We were at that very moment sailing right next to one of, if not the single most greatest and grand of landmarks in all of our country’s history, The Statue of Liberty. And there she stood in all her glory about 10 feet from me and taller then I could even see the top of, and there I was… puking in front of her!
When I came to a slight bit of sense, I just paused in awe and admiration and just started to laugh hysterically while still in intervals of throwing up before her beauty. This lasted about 10 minutes and it all happened in almost slow motion. I took this as some sort of a metaphor of her silently saying “Go ahead, Liberate yourself!” And so I was just puking and laughing and starring up, it all was quite a spectacle to me. So then I turned back into the boat and said to Gretchen, “This is just absolutely incredible!”. And it was, because, I knew that Turbine was minutes away from going on stage and there was no way that I was going to feel anything but optimal from my highlight of my trip. And so it was done, and I sat up in my chair, a glass of water in one hand and a cocktail in the other and after a deep breathe and smile, I nodded in the direction of the upper deck to get the show on the road.
And what a show it was! Turbine rocked the boat more that a boat can even rock itself! Every time I see the band they exhibit stronger signs of the rising rockstars they are and they sounded so f’n good and played such an amazing set as we sailed and swayed on. From the first note, it was on, and they continued into a full on dance fest and we, the audience, were sent flying back and forth as the waves moved the vessel. There was no time to stop, there was no re-grouping, we danced like maniacs in an inflatable bouncing fun house and that was a great way to meet all the other fans as the boat tossed us from on side to the other and our smiles met while in mid groove. I remained right up front the entire set and exchanged several “this is so kick ass” looks with the band, meanwhile Jaymes and Gretchen interchanged cocktail runs every few songs so we were set. I met a lot of other die-hard Turbine fans throughout the night and made some new friends as well who all shared in the tacit knowing that we were in the most rockin’ place in all of the United States at this day and time. At one point mid-show, the band busts out a first time played cover of “Rock the Boat” and the place went ballistic as the boat swayed side to side and the energy in there heightened as hands flew in the air and everyone sang along and danced even harder in the correlation. Great show, fucking awesome band, and they also really know how to show their friends not only a radical nautical time but they had also planned to host the after party as well. So the party continued and as I was heading off the boat, I went to thank the Captain who I immediately noticed he was as ecstatic as we were! He said that he drives the ship for a lot of these boat shows and this was the best sounding band he’s gotten to enjoy in a while and he thanked us! So I gave him a CD of the bands album and he parted with our sincere appreciation and carried on.
I hopped in the van with crew and we headed straight toward our rooftop rendezvous at Ryan’s place with a quick stop at Mike’s Pizza to get some pies for my first taste of NY pizza of the trip and I don’t know weather it was my hunger fueled from the show or what but I can honestly say that it was the best pizza that I have ever had in my life. I’ve already looked to see if I can get some sent out here but I’ll have to wait until next time. Mike’s Pizza on 25th, make a note of it. 
The next day was a very special Saturday. The guys had known that I was coming out for the boat show and was staying for the weekend so it was very nice of them to set up a special surprise additional show the following day. Jeremy made a call to a really cool bar that he plays at sometimes and asked them if they could set up an impromptu gig for the occasion. The bar was a really cool place in the heart of an old neighborhood in Brooklyn and we had the whole place including the large outside backyard space where we planned bar-b-que festivities to start the evening. I was the first to arrive and so I got a glass of wine and sat out in the sun on the patio and chatted it up with the bartender who played guitar over our ramblings.
After an hour had passed, the band arrived with equipment in tow and many of the group from the day before. The crew began to assemble in the quaint setting that I considered my farewell show ambiance and it was a beautiful thing. The show was an acoustic set with several sit in’s and several set breaks so as just to at every moment enjoy the company and the music. It was what was dubbed a Turbine and Friends show and it was a special night indeed. And I must admit that the greatest musical highlight of the night was the debut of “Fla Naba”, a song we all wrote together on top of Justin’s rooptop last time I was in NYC the previous March. My smile was as uncontained as an avalanche and I felt flabbergasted and fulfilled.
So, in all, I had another awesome trip out east and after a month and a half of traveling consecutively and pretty much I’ve been traveling for work and play most of the year, every month for weeks at a time, well, recently it all made a great start to my summer, and I am alas, happy to be home. And unlike many of my adventures where I’m already planning my next trip, this time I returned home with with a feeling of a need to take it easy, take it slow for a bit. New leaves are blowing in the wind and I am catching dragonflies in my daydreams flying towards the direction of new excursions in future visions. You don’t walk away from great experiences without acknowledgments and giving thanks for great lessons and inspirations; And so I walk away with a lot of muses in my mind and beneficial motives in my prospects… and I am so excited.
So until the next show mi amigos,
Thank You all! ((VERY MUCH))
And Goodnight.
-B
Mgmt.
