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SAT
6.20.98 Coconut Grove - Santa Cruz
It's seemed as though we spent the entire day at Siegal's. A few days ago we discovered this store, and it's the first and best place so far that makes Zoot Suits at reasonable prices. These suits would go perfectly with our swing theme. As a band, we collectively all decided to buy suits for our show. Warren, our lead vocalist and front man, would have his own suit. The front line, or horn section, would have pinstriped Zoot Suits, and the rhythm section (guitar, bass and drums) would have these nice shark skin 40's style suits. I ended up buying this hat that Nate and Jamie said made me look like "The Prez", the great tenor saxophonist Lester Young. I've always had an aversion to hats, mainly because I couldn't find one that was right for my head, and also because it was a little sweaty for a drummer to be performing while wearing one. Well, I loved this hat so much and I got so many compliments that I just had to buy this hat. We had lunch today at this "hole in the wall" Thai Restaurant just a few blocks north of the Andorra Inn. We got a recommendation from one of the salesmen at Siegal's. When we got there we found a very small diner that could only hold about 8 people at a time along one long countertop with stools. There were 5 of us: Warren, Nate, Tom, Shannon and myself. We heard that these little hole-in-the-wall joints had the best food, and so we thought we'd give it a "shot"! I had a delicious Pad Thai Chicken meal with Thai Ice Tea for 6 dollars. The Thai couple prepared and cooked everything right in front of us; it was great! We retired to our rooms after lunch and rested and napped until it was time to get ready for our trip to Santa Cruz to perform at the Coconut Grove.
We left the Andorra Inn for Santa Cruz at about 4:30pm. We immediately hit traffic going south. According to the traffic reports on the radio, a pickup truck had hit a motorcyclist. When we finally passed the scene of the accident we saw a California Highway Patrol officer cover this dead body with a yellow plastic. The trip down south to Santa Cruz was a nice drive, and the terrain was mountainous to the west. Pine trees all around, and some low clouds nestled along parts of the mountainous west like a fog. We passed the San Fransisco International airport, then Stanford University before taking another highway going southwest to Santa Rosa. The area all around was lush and green, with a dense forest surrounding the winding highway. When we arrived at Santa Cruz (around 6:40pm) we went directly to the Coconut Grove, a huge upstairs ballroom in this large building. This was all part of a small amusement park with a roller coaster, which reminded me of Coney Island. Behind the building was the boardwalk and Pacific Ocean. I later found out that this whole area had been used in a few motion pictures, The Lost Boys for one, and I knew that I recognized this place before, from somewhere. I thought I was experiencing Deja Vu but it was just recognizing this place from The Lost Boys and maybe some other movie. The upstairs ballroom was a musician's nirvana! We had a huge stage with an excellent sound and lighting system, a raised area for the bass, guitar and drums, a sophisticated monitoring system, several dressing rooms backstage, plenty of food and drinks... what more could a musician ask for. And the people running the show were very friendly and hospitable. We were treated like royalty.
Well, in my humble opinion, this show turned out to be the best of all the shows we did in the San Fransisco Bay Area. The band performed at its best, I had a great night and surpisingly, my knee felt great! Having double bass drum pedals, I was able to play much of the gig with my left foot, taking the stress off of my right knee. The mostly young crowd of swing dancers were quite impressed with our performance, and they called us back for an encore. It was a great night for the band!
We arrived back at the Andorra Inn at about 3:30am. The streets of San Fransisco were eerily quiet. I was hungry again but I guess I'd have to wait until morning. We were all very tired and I myself crashed right away. At about 4:30am I was awakened by gunshots! Then, some one was banging on the door of the Andorra Inn. Apparently, a drive-by shooting had just occurred, and soon we heard the sirens of police cars and an ambulance as they headed toward the scene of the crime. I remembered the loud commotion of the crime scene... and then I drifted off to sleep. I was just too tired to get up and check things out, and I'm a very sound sleeper once I fall asleep. It had been a very long day.
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