![OCTOBER 22 – DAY OFF, NEW YORK, NY
Day 135. [DF] There are days off, and then there are days off! (Provide the appropriate accent to that sentence as you see fit.) We rolled into Manhattan at about 6pm and immediately darted to the makeshift CMJ headquarters to pick up our badges which would allow us access to CMJ shows for free. At the time, this seemed a great way to spend our day off – prancing from show to show across the Manhattan or wherever our guidebooks of show listings took us. We arrived to the ‘headquarters’ ten minutes after they closed, but thanks to Patrick’s hilarious “No, no, no, no, no!” to the guy locking up the door as we raced to it, we were able to pick up our badges. Shortly thereafter, we met up with our good friend Alli, the Queen of NYC herself, and our usual hostess, and skimmed through the guidebook for shows that looked interesting. Dave and I ate an offensively large amount of garlic, and we decided to head down to Piano’s to see the Forcefield PR showcase.
After a good ten minutes of watching Lord Huron, the first band playing, I questioned what the hell we were doing watching a show on our day off after playing 110 shows in the past four months. The guitars were piercing, and the band was playing that sort of post-Vampire Weekend style du jour that I can’t get into, so we got the hell out of there, opting instead to have Alli take us on the A.A.E.V.B.C. (the Alli Arnold East Village Bar Crawl, to those not in the know) for the evening. And so the night began.
Stop 1: The Library – a loud, dark, dirty dive bar on Ave. A projecting Fright Night on its back wall. Alli ordered up a round of “Pubes” for everyone (something of a Library specialty, I’m assuming – a shot of whisky and a can of Busch). Caught up for a while, downed the beers, and moved on.
Stop 2: Ella’s. We were walking down Ave. A with some vague destination in mind when a guy standing outside of Ella’s advertised the live doo-wop going on inside. We had to check it out and it only took a second before we were hooked on this band. Doo-wop classics sung by dudes in the snazziest suits with suave moves, a killer tenor sax player, jivin’ upbright bass, piano, and snare drum. We watched for a while, feeling too cheap to buy the expensive drinks, but after a few songs we couldn’t resist getting a round and enjoying the tunes a while longer. Alli tells us that no business in that location ever survives and that legend has it that it is cursed since the space used to be used as an abortion clinic. Here’s to hoping our patronage helps this place survive. Oh, and Patrick stole several scoops of watermelon from the bar.
Stop 3: The No Malice Palace. What a name for a bar! Not the greatest bar in the world, but we did get to watch the last 3 innings of the Yankees/Rangers game. We savored the experience of getting to be in NYC while Alex Rodriguez ended the Yankees season, and so their World Series hopes, while watching strike 3.
Stop 4: The Horseshoe Tavern. Alli tells us that a scene from The Godfather was filmed here, and I think something with Paul Newman as well (we sat at a booth next to a picture of him in there, anyway). A great place on 7th and B, decked out with cobwebs and other Halloween decorations. Midnight rolled around and I celebrated my 27th birthday with Patrick and Joe accidentally showing up to the table at the same time each with the next round of drinks in their hands. A good way to begin what I have dubbed the twilight of my twenties.
Stop 5: The Fat Cat. We’ve seen so many rock and roll shows in the past four months, but I never get to see live jazz. I figured my best bet for seeing some would be in New York, so upon my request we went to the Fat Cat for some late-night jazz. It must have been close to 2am at this point. The Fat Cat is a pool and ping-pong hall that happens to have great jazz most nights, followed by a late-night open jam session. We took a cab there and played pool until closing time, rounding out an epic first night in New York, and one that would leave our wallets sore for the rest of the week that we ended up in town.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbbf5fvSXr1qahyhxo1_500.jpg)
OCTOBER 22 – DAY OFF, NEW YORK, NY
Day 135. [DF] There are days off, and then there are days off! (Provide the appropriate accent to that sentence as you see fit.) We rolled into Manhattan at about 6pm and immediately darted to the makeshift CMJ headquarters to pick up our badges which would allow us access to CMJ shows for free. At the time, this seemed a great way to spend our day off – prancing from show to show across the Manhattan or wherever our guidebooks of show listings took us. We arrived to the ‘headquarters’ ten minutes after they closed, but thanks to Patrick’s hilarious “No, no, no, no, no!” to the guy locking up the door as we raced to it, we were able to pick up our badges. Shortly thereafter, we met up with our good friend Alli, the Queen of NYC herself, and our usual hostess, and skimmed through the guidebook for shows that looked interesting. Dave and I ate an offensively large amount of garlic, and we decided to head down to Piano’s to see the Forcefield PR showcase.
After a good ten minutes of watching Lord Huron, the first band playing, I questioned what the hell we were doing watching a show on our day off after playing 110 shows in the past four months. The guitars were piercing, and the band was playing that sort of post-Vampire Weekend style du jour that I can’t get into, so we got the hell out of there, opting instead to have Alli take us on the A.A.E.V.B.C. (the Alli Arnold East Village Bar Crawl, to those not in the know) for the evening. And so the night began.
Stop 1: The Library – a loud, dark, dirty dive bar on Ave. A projecting Fright Night on its back wall. Alli ordered up a round of “Pubes” for everyone (something of a Library specialty, I’m assuming – a shot of whisky and a can of Busch). Caught up for a while, downed the beers, and moved on.
Stop 2: Ella’s. We were walking down Ave. A with some vague destination in mind when a guy standing outside of Ella’s advertised the live doo-wop going on inside. We had to check it out and it only took a second before we were hooked on this band. Doo-wop classics sung by dudes in the snazziest suits with suave moves, a killer tenor sax player, jivin’ upbright bass, piano, and snare drum. We watched for a while, feeling too cheap to buy the expensive drinks, but after a few songs we couldn’t resist getting a round and enjoying the tunes a while longer. Alli tells us that no business in that location ever survives and that legend has it that it is cursed since the space used to be used as an abortion clinic. Here’s to hoping our patronage helps this place survive. Oh, and Patrick stole several scoops of watermelon from the bar.
Stop 3: The No Malice Palace. What a name for a bar! Not the greatest bar in the world, but we did get to watch the last 3 innings of the Yankees/Rangers game. We savored the experience of getting to be in NYC while Alex Rodriguez ended the Yankees season, and so their World Series hopes, while watching strike 3.
Stop 4: The Horseshoe Tavern. Alli tells us that a scene from The Godfather was filmed here, and I think something with Paul Newman as well (we sat at a booth next to a picture of him in there, anyway). A great place on 7th and B, decked out with cobwebs and other Halloween decorations. Midnight rolled around and I celebrated my 27th birthday with Patrick and Joe accidentally showing up to the table at the same time each with the next round of drinks in their hands. A good way to begin what I have dubbed the twilight of my twenties.
Stop 5: The Fat Cat. We’ve seen so many rock and roll shows in the past four months, but I never get to see live jazz. I figured my best bet for seeing some would be in New York, so upon my request we went to the Fat Cat for some late-night jazz. It must have been close to 2am at this point. The Fat Cat is a pool and ping-pong hall that happens to have great jazz most nights, followed by a late-night open jam session. We took a cab there and played pool until closing time, rounding out an epic first night in New York, and one that would leave our wallets sore for the rest of the week that we ended up in town.