Maryland, My Maryland (CTP tour, Stop Three: Avalon Theatre, Easton, MD)

Do we really have to go anywhere else after this show? Can't we please, please just stay here in this great hotel and keep playing across the street at the Avalon Theatre? Puhleeeeeeeeze????!?!??!?

*sigh*

*big, heavy sigh*

OK ... we'll continue on.

I guess.

A small (though not as small as we had last heard for advance tickets) but very enthusiastic and appreciative crowd greeted us at the Avalon Theatre in Easton, MD tonight. To be honest, they probably weren't all that appreciative at first, but they warmed up to us very, very quickly. And the band tonight was really firing on all cylinders, if I do say so myself.

First - the venue - the Avalon Theatre is an old vaudeville and silent movie house. It dates back to 1922 (there's some of the original foundation still visible as you go down to the basement - very cool). The first floor/main seating is open, so they can do standard concert seating or, as they did tonight, tables with chairs. There's a balcony as well - all told, the max seems to be about 400. They've done a fantastic job with restorations, too.

We had a green room down in the basement - they fed us pizzas, and there were plenty of beers, soda, and water in the fridge. Hell, we even had a shower down there - now that's the way to treat the talent! Thanks guys!

The general consensus is that a theater is really our best venue - especially with a dance floor to the sides of the stage, as this one had. People can dance if they want to, and they can sit and listen during the quieter numbers.

Chandler was initally planning one set, but combined his two set lists into one, along with a few audibles. We playend the instrumental "Ronald" for the first time in ages - and actually did a pretty damn good job on it, too! It's a favorite of the guy who booked us into the club, so we really tried to make it happen - thanks, Tim! His SO requested "Vasco da Gama", too - we did that for the first song of our encore - first time on this tour. Trumpeter Grayson Farmer did a fantastic job tonight on "Ball the Wall" ... the fade out was absolutely transcendent! By the end of the night, I was exhausted, but very, very happy. I think I might've twisted my ankle slightly - it started hurting only after the show, while I was selling CDs, and I have no idea when it might've happened - I guess that's the mark of a pretty freakin' fun show! All told, the set was probably pushing 2 hours.

A special shout out to our opening act, a really nice guy named Kentavious Jones - he's a really good singer and guitar player - a friend of his was playing a hand-drum along with him on most of his songs. I really, really liked his last song, which was a solo guitar and vocal love song which he told me later he wrote for a friend's wedding - sweet, without being too sappy, I thought.

After the shoe, we walked across the street kitty-corner to our hotel and checked in - once we all settled into our rooms, we all met up at the lobby bar, where we hung out and drank until they kicked us out around 2. Brunch tomorrow looks great, too - really, can we please just stay here?



Oh yeah ... I loaned my camera to some stranger in the theater tonight, and he got this great pic of trombonist Bob Pilkington. A bit dark, but I'm sure any of you who have been there when we played "That's What She Said" when Bob was there will almost certainly recognize the look.

I only wish we had shown up *before* the Mental Health fair!

post-tour update, here's the setlist:

• Kramat
• Must Be Love
• We're From Fruitarama
• That's What She Said
• Don't Blame Me
• Yo Tomo Mi Mano
• Honeydripper
• Anne
• Ball the Wall
• Hello Mrs Nussbaum
• Softly in the Night
• Not Unhappy
• Sha La La (Lover's Heart)
• Where's My Glasses?
• Ronald
• Thank the Lord
• This is Home
• Other Thing
• Mid-Morning in Moscow
• Crab Napkin
• When the Roses Shine in Picardy
• Did You Ever Know?
• I'm Chandler's Butterfly
• Eje Ka Jo
• Bob What's-Is-Name

encore:

• Vasco da Gama
• Nature Boy