California Tour, Day 5: Pacific Beach
Last night's concert was one of the best musical/physical environments in which I've ever performed. Lovely outdoor courtyard, lit by candles and twinkle lights, with a fountain, the sun setting at the beach a few blocks away, ocean breezes blowing through the air, and an open door with random folks off the street hearing the music, walking in, and joining the audience.
Christ Lutheran in Pacific Beach (just North of San Diego) hosted the gig, and surrounded me with a whole gaggle of Midwesterners-in-exile. It was like a little Wisconsin/Minnesota reunion on the ocean shore. One of my Wisconsinite pals, Andrea Olson, lives in San Diego now, and she brought over her violin and joined me for a few songs. Andrea is an awesome musician, and we've played together quite a few times before, but it's been a few years. It was amazing to hear violin along with these songs...especially on "Gospel Verses," "Let Us Go Now to the Banquet," and of course "The Princess Wants to Spend Her Time With Me."
Before the gig I joined my friends Andrea, Erin, and Tim on a walk down to the beach where I got to touch the water! I'm not coming this far without making some physical contact with the ocean.
After the show and some good visiting, I loaded up my Ford Focus tourbus and jumped back on the 5 Northbound at 10PM. It nearly a 3 hour drive here to Thousand Oaks, but since I was traveling at night there was nobody on the freeways. I literally drove 75 miles per hour all the way, flying up and down mountain passes, zipping right past LAX, and across Sunset Blvd and Mulholland Drive. I had no idea driving through LA would be so effortless and thrilling.
Got 5 hours of sleep last night, and now I'm on campus at California Lutheran University where I'll play at morning chapel in 45 minutes. A group of students are my back-up band and they're doing a nice job on the tunes. Should be tons of fun. Then later today, I'm off to Hollywood for a few days. Today's gonna be a wild one....this evening I'll be at the ASCAP Pop Songwriting Awards!
More later!
Christ Lutheran in Pacific Beach (just North of San Diego) hosted the gig, and surrounded me with a whole gaggle of Midwesterners-in-exile. It was like a little Wisconsin/Minnesota reunion on the ocean shore. One of my Wisconsinite pals, Andrea Olson, lives in San Diego now, and she brought over her violin and joined me for a few songs. Andrea is an awesome musician, and we've played together quite a few times before, but it's been a few years. It was amazing to hear violin along with these songs...especially on "Gospel Verses," "Let Us Go Now to the Banquet," and of course "The Princess Wants to Spend Her Time With Me."
Before the gig I joined my friends Andrea, Erin, and Tim on a walk down to the beach where I got to touch the water! I'm not coming this far without making some physical contact with the ocean.
After the show and some good visiting, I loaded up my Ford Focus tourbus and jumped back on the 5 Northbound at 10PM. It nearly a 3 hour drive here to Thousand Oaks, but since I was traveling at night there was nobody on the freeways. I literally drove 75 miles per hour all the way, flying up and down mountain passes, zipping right past LAX, and across Sunset Blvd and Mulholland Drive. I had no idea driving through LA would be so effortless and thrilling.
Got 5 hours of sleep last night, and now I'm on campus at California Lutheran University where I'll play at morning chapel in 45 minutes. A group of students are my back-up band and they're doing a nice job on the tunes. Should be tons of fun. Then later today, I'm off to Hollywood for a few days. Today's gonna be a wild one....this evening I'll be at the ASCAP Pop Songwriting Awards!
More later!
Comments
Then, there's. . .oh, no, that's about a circus.
Or, it could be. . .no, that's not it, either. . .
I guess my three guesses are done. . .
Oh, wait, perhaps it's "Every Town's the Same" by this dude with the initials JR ;)
AAR is pretty cool music-wise. I do like the song "Dirty Little Secret." I don't care for the baggy pants style, though.
Stein Auf!
Bridget