Adventure #16: October 2010 Tour (Day 1)

Adventure #16: October 2010 Tour (Day 1)

The first show on my October 2010 solo tour was a DIY basement show in Willimantic, CT. I miss playing those sorts of shows so I was actually looking forward to it a lot. The show didn't start till 6, but I had a lot to do before I hit the road. Because I'm totally responsible, I put most of it off to the last possible minute. This is Pen Pen finishing printing up copies of my new EP.

I got in my car, fresh from a gratuitously expensive new tune-up, and started off towards the mythical land of Central Connecticut. Luckily about two minutes onto the BQE I hit some epic traffic. I spent the next hour and a half trying to navigate back roads and random “expressways” hoping to get out of New York. The only thing missing was Kurt Russell. I finally made it to the show just as the first band was finishing and found Roxanne, Ethan, Rich, Rose, Em, and JD hanging out in the kitchen around a bowl of quinoa. It was delicious. This is Pen Pen eating all the quinoa.

The other bands were awesome. Big Eyes especially. Apparently they're from around New York. So hopefully I'll catch them again. Nice people too. My set was sort of blah. I asked JD to sit in on drums for a bunch of songs he'd never heard before, and ditched the set that I had prepared in favor of trying to play my loudest / hardest / fastest songs. Some of which I haven't practiced in a year. I have a bad habit of trying to appease an audience that doesn't really seem to be in to my stuff by changing up my set. Sometimes it works, but usually I just end up playing poorly to people who probably wouldn't care if I played the best set of my life. This was that kind of set. Such is life. This is Pen Pen getting his penguin pimp on while Jesus chaperones.

After the show, we headed over to Willi Brew. I'm pretty sure that's an abbreviation, but I don't remember for what. We got food. Then karaoke started. Roxanne and Ethan sang “I Wanna Be Sedated.” I nearly sang Prince. We stuck around for a few hours before we all headed back to Rich and Rose's. I gave Em a ride back. Despite getting horribly lost on the back roads of Mansfield, we somehow ended up right behind Roxanne's car. Em suggested we found a shortcut. I'm pretty sure Roxanne just drives slowly. This is Pen Pen being molested by his original owner.

We hung out for a little while before Ethan, Roxanne, and Em headed out. Rich, Rose and I stayed up longer and watched Get Him To the Greek. I'm not sure why, but it put my lame set in perspective. I passed out on the couch, exhausted, but optimistic that tomorrow's show will go better. This is Pen Pen battling a giant cat.

This is a song I wrote this one time. You should download it and share it with your friends.

A Bloody Game by nathanleigh

Adventure #15: Sharon, CT (Days 3 and 4)

Adventure #15: Sharon, CT (Days 3 and 4)

I woke up early in my linen closet Thursday morning and decided to go hiking. We headed down to Lion's Head Peak which was just outside the center of town. The path took me through the a few people's farms which is always a little strange. “Hello, I'm just wandering through your back yard. Pay no attention to me!” On the way we passed by a big fence labeled “US Boundary.” My best theory is that there's a wormhole in northwestern Connecticut that leapfrogs Massachusetts and Vermont and lands you right at the Canadian border. Neat. This is Pen Pen clandestinely entering Canada.

The mountain was much more wooded than the paths around Papingo. Trees sprouted up through the rocks and roots grew over them. I can only assume Guilemo Del Toro uses it as his research material. I had to be back at the theatre in the afternoon, so after I reached the peak, We headed back down and got lunch. This is Pen Pen being attacked by the roots which guard the peak.

There's basically no food in Sharon. There are farms everywhere, but there are maybe 3 restaurants. All of them have only token vegetarian options. I've consumed enough eggplant parm in my life that I can probably die happy never having it again. As such I've been living on gas station egg salad sandwiches. As of yet, the microscopic worms have not made me able to play the holophonor, but I think it takes a few days for that to kick in. Only time will tell. This is Pen Pen feasting on the best the gas station has to offer.

We headed back out during dinner break, having seen a sign for the Mohawk Trail earlier. The trail went from the side of Route 4 up to a peak then back down to another highway. This is the shortcut the Mohawks used to ambush Connecticut settlers in their unnecessary SUVs. On the way, We passed over a babbling brook. My hopes were briefly up for an Indiana Jones bridge, but there was no bridge of any kind; Indiana Jones or otherwise. This is Pen Pen sad to realize he has no use for a fedora or whip on this adventure.

On the drive home that night, I noticed a sign advertising boat rentals on the lake. So the next morning I got up and decided to investigate. There were a few sail boats docked, but they had only motor boats for rent, so I declined. As an avid dinosaur aficionado, I try to avoid burning their bones when not necessary. Instead I had breakfast at the tiny restaurant near the boat house and read for a bit. This is Pen Pen contemplating just stealing a boat.

The show opened, and there was a late night of drinking and talking UConn with Ed. Saturday morning I said goodbye to my linen closet, and got on the road to head back to New York. On the way, I passed by a farm that had blueberry picking. Visions of blueberry pancakes danced in my head, so I pulled over. Sometimes I forget that I look kind of strange, and it took me a little while to put together why the older woman in the little trailer was so uneasy letting me loose in her fields. I guess she doesn't get many 6'1” punks with pink mohawks, orange nails, and stuffed penguins picking blueberries at 9 in the morning on a Saturday. Her loss. This is Pen Pen being a gathering type of hunter gatherer.

This is a song I wrote this one time. You should download it and share it with your friends.

Nathan Leigh - The Record Goes On by keroscenerecords

Adventure #14: Sharon, CT (Days 1 and 2)

Adventure #14: Sharon, CT (Days 1 and 2)

Duchess County in Connecticut is a really beautiful place. It's located in the Berkshire mountains, surrounded by forests, big open farmland, and rivers. The Appalachian Trail runs through it. There's lots of hiking, scenic vistas, antique shops, and general quaint New Englandisms everywhere. There's also basically nothing to do there when it's raining. Which it was. So as soon as I got in, checked in with everyone in with whom I needed to check, and got everything ready for tech, I hopped in the car and headed to New Haven to meet up with Rosy, Matt, and Ally. This is Pen Pen briefly contemplating hiking the Appalachian Trail before the rain hit.

We met up with Rosy, Matt and Ally, and headed to a tapas restaurant called “Push200.” This restaurant is significant because it's the first fine dining establishment to be named after a late 90's pop-punk band. And Sum41's B&B doesn't count. Their wine selection is a joke. This is Pen Pen being fed goat cheese by Ally, while Matt pretends not to be jealous.

Afterwards we headed over to Brown Bear, which I've been told is where drunk girls go to get in bar fights. There were no bar fights. We played trivia and lost horribly. Although we were all proud that our random guess that Tim Roth played Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs was right. Go us! After 2 humiliating rounds, we decided to go up to Sullivan's where Ethan's birthday was going on. Familiar faces abounded. It turns out I know pretty much the entire incoming class of grad students at Yale. So that's cool. This is Pen Pen wishing Ethan a very special Birthday.

Rosy and I drove back up to Sharon, and barely got lost at all. The next morning I had to take Rosy to the train station so she could go back to New York City. We drove past a few dilapidated buildings and abandoned farms. We found one that had once been a rather prosperous farm, but had caught fire and been abandoned at some point. Or the other way around. The family that owned the land had built a small ranch house on the property and put one of those inflatable blue plastic WalMart pools out back while the ruins of the large farm sat boarded up and overgrown mere feet away. Trees grew out of the front door. It was pretty awesome. This is Pen Pen pretty sure no-one's home.

After a breakfast at a quintissentially small town American diner, I dropped Rosy off and headed back to the theatre for a long day of rehearsal. I headed back to the lake house where I'm staying, hoping the weather would improve in the morning so I could explore some of the mountain trails I've been seeing signs for. This is Pen Pen trying to decide if our room was originally the Servant's Quarters or a linen closet.

This is a song I wrote this one time. You should download it and share it with your friends.

Esquivalience by nathanleigh