Day 16: Santa Fe, NM
Nau mai
Yesterday we played at the Santa Fe Brewing Company.
I began my day by heading down to the bus in the hotel carpark to make breakfast. Liz and Jon had procured a big bag of bagels from the bakery and I sliced and toasted one in our purple bus toaster. On the top half I smeared a thick layer of cream cheese and scallion mix and then topped it with salted and peppered cucumber. On the bottom half I smeared half of an avocado, salted, and then some sliced cherry tomatoes, salted and peppered.
At 11am we headed to the venue. It was a fiery hot day and we were glad to be safe inside our gleaming fuchsia coach, a thoroughly air conditioned hotel on wheels painted in one of the most heat resistant colours on the visible spectrum. We drove southwest out of the city for a few miles before pulling up outside a nondescript fenced compound right next to the highway. The stage was at one end of this compound looking out across a large yard that was inhospitable in the heat but would do a perfect job of hosting our audience later on when the temperature cooled down.
For now we were on a maximum hydration protocol, said Annie. Everyone was to drink one large glass of water per hour or face the consequences.
I think this was why I had a headache for much of the day.
I spent a good part of the afternoon working on my new pedal board, playing around with the layout and trying to perfect the balance between fitting the most pedals on the board while having the lowest chance of accidentally discharging the wrong pedal. I also have graduated to deploying an auxiliary pedal board which is quite embarrassing as a bass player but is preferable to sitting my extra pedals on the ground.
Here is a little glimpse of the inside of our bus, something of a masterclass in interior design from the folks at Russel Coach.
The number one rule of interior bus trim is to use the theme colour wherever you can. If it’s not bright it’s boring. Light it or lose it. Strip lighting is never inappropriate and is very good for hiding your gaps.
Alligator skin is the perfect companion to any bright colour and will never be inappropriate. Use this timeless and classy material to draw attention to your theme colours. Also highly durable and tactile.
This is the passenger side couch. A subtle nod to the alligator skin ceiling trim. Durable and splash proof and nicely scratches the underside of your legs while you sit.
Paisley goes with anything and is a great way of using your theme colour to tie in secondary hues. Edges and facings, anywhere that you try alligator skin and it doesn’t work, this neat collection of colours and patterns is sure to be the answer.
he bus’s shower is another piece of timeless design work, perhaps referencing Tetris but in an organic setting upon a cliff of limestone or shale. Note the use of an alligator skin ceiling which you can rest assured is water resistant and easily cleanable.
The show was opened up nice and early by the band Wishy, a great five piece band from Indianapolis who are joining us for the rest of the run.
We were in the middle of the sandwich on this evening’s runsheet getting a tight hour on stage and then executing a fast packdown so Beach Bunny could close the show.
Here are the points that were won or lost today.
