USA Tour 09 Blog #1

NYC by Michael Fabulous

Arrived in Manhattan on a rainy afternoon on that infamous day, Sept 11.

The first thing that struck me was the umbrella’s everywhere. A Wellingtonian would never consider using an umbrella - the wind simply doesn’t tolerate them. (Wellington is the New Zealand capital where The Black Seeds are based, very windy).

We dumped the gear and had about 45 mins to get food before soundcheck. I set my personal music playing device to shuffle and had a very enjoyable walk, touching on Little Italy and China town…

List Of Top 5 Tunes From My Walk, in chronological order:

Three Minute Party – Disasteradio
Theme From Trouble Man – Marvin Gaye
Love And Happiness – Al Green
Du Ar For Fin For Mig – Dungen
Could We – Cat Power

The thing I’ve learnt about enjoying a city like NY is to not get sucked in by the crazy amount of attractive consumer options available. Even if you can’t afford anything, just looking at the shit is ultimately draining and soul destroying. You gotta not get sucked in and keep your eyes on the bigger picture to feel the city and preserve yourself.

That being said, food is a necessity as well as a consumer item, and as soon as I saw the welcoming neon green sign of the Excellent Noodle House, I knew that was me. I ordered Bok Choy with roasted garlic and dumplings (great) and Tiramisu (average).

Soundchecked, and did the gig not long after. It was fucking great to kill a show in NY at The Bowery Ballroom, great crowd. I really enjoyed myself and met lots of nice people. None of this would be possible with out JBB, who played a killer set to a packed house. Ups!

After, our friend Deva Mahal (great singer and songwriter – check her) took us to a great diner. I aced driving a 14-seater van in NYC on a Friday night! It seems like with NY in general, you just gotta jump in or you’re gonna get your ass whooped. Had an amazing waffle with rum butter, maple syrup and blueberrys. Thanks Deva!

Drove 40 mins to the accommodation, only to discover the Navman had reverted to LAST nights accommodation – another 50 min drive to the right place! Trying to get there before the hotel computers shut down at 5 am and we would be locked out till they reopened at 5:30. Made it, few hours sleep, back on the road.

I love you New York!

xx Fab

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