pittsburgh…..
yeah…i remember…uh…pittsburgh
i do my second yoga session in a corridor outside an office
its warm
the theatre is olde and funky
the vibe is cool n laidback n easy
i guess about 200 people
but guess what
they really like us
they are very appreciative
they really seem to love what we’re doing
but for fucks sake
we are one of the best bands in the world
we are underappreciated
and now 200 folks have just stumbled upon us
here in PA
down in a run down theatre in boho-ville
but when we start to play
all bets are off
the sheer inexorability of our sound
when unleashed full throttle….
i dance about but in truth weariness gnaws at my bones
i still try my hardest but occaisionally find myself drifting off
i think about some daydream
and when i come back ive missed chunks of the song
i strive to be in the here n now
but the combination of internal and external proclivities
always produces a mild confusion in me
everything thats happened to me lately bewilders me
coincidences sinkron-icities
nightmares and visions
i am now where no one else much has gone
my combo of attributes and failings
my triumphs n despairs
my big mouth and hard heart
yeah all of that n more
pittsburgh…yeah…i really enjoyed playing there
we jump offstage before encore
a door opens
ive gone from being onstage playing at a million decibels
to being out on a crowdy boho street smoking mother nature
people drift past like in a lucid dream
i puff n drift
my reality moorings are further loosened
back onstage for some more music
i pluck my bass
i sing my words
it seems i can do no wrong
it all just happens
like driving a car
the music embedded in me by now
it just rolls out like a tap turned on
plucking the bass so easy to do
yoga helps me
yoga got me loose limbed like a goose
yoga suggests things
yoga says jump around if yer happy
rock to the east
rock to the west
stay still
yeah suddenly people are interested in yoga
you can see the proof in me
not because i am extraordinary
but because i persevered and i got the results
and i can bend around like an 18 year old
and boy does it feel good
the yoga is getting me in tune with everything else
dont ask me how it works but it works
it may take years but it works
eventually
its hard work
and the more you need it the harder it is
if you wanna grow young again just do yoga every day
you cant learn yoga from a video
you need classes
and practice it day in day out
the more you do
the quicker you approach some lovely state of grace…
yeah
last nights hotel had a horrible smell
a strange antiseptic smell that had gone off somehow
oh my word it was verily a nasty pong
and could i get the internet to work
could i like hell….
red roof inn…you have been warned
young craigie is playing up a storm with both bands
and charming the locals with his aussie accent
and it will be hard to ever play without the keys again
hes a very amenable chap and always seems to be “up” to something
i feel sure sooner or later he will be snapped up
by a big band
or by a cougar
or by his own success
one can never tell
gary and kerry watching on from cambelltown
we salute you
young craigie is doing quite well
i’m sure goodness and mercy
will follow him all the days of his life
a valuable utility player….for the time being…
the adam franklin guys are great guys
and im loving listening to em more n more every night
we are quite complimentary to each other
theres some great guitar moments in adams set
its unique stuff
now ive driven 4 n half hours to get to falls creek virginia
which is a suburb of washington dc kinda
its close to a loada places
lovely venue
weve presold maybe 300 tickets
boy
signing stuff aftershow is doing my head in
whatever i do or say i feel stupid
its such an awkward situation
i never thought people would fucking venerate us
its a weird feeling to suddenly be me
some old underappreciated n venerated dude
like im confucious or something
the venerable bead
but fuck it all i’m nearly 55
i guess i am arrived at an age of veneration
but this is confusing too
i have not prepared for my role
i dont know how or who to be
sometimes i try to be real
but what is real to someone doing this
long long drives
everynight in a different bed
loud music
adoring crowds albeit smallish ones
people shaking your hand
people telling ya yer great
nice people too
educated people
cool people and uncool people
suave and naive
young n old
boy they like their church
i just gotta smile
and count my blessings
and dont worry I DO
i ring up nk at 2 in morning
she and girls in centennial park sydney
daddy …says scarlet
we’re feeding the ducks and the eels…
in my nasty smelling room alone in the night
i can imagine
how nice it would be…
gonna hit the mat for an hour
hang in there you would be yogis
persist like yer life depends on it
and
in some ways
it does