Day 29: Louisville, KY
Nau mai
Yesterday we played our final show with Spoon and Squirrelflower.
The mighty waterway that is the Ohio River defines Kentucky’s jagged northern border with Ohio and Indiana. It had been a short drive through the night and now we were about 100km further southwest in another city on the Ohio River, Kentucky’s largest city, Louisville. It was to be a hot day and the weather apps on our phones were exclaiming loudly, issuing extreme and severe heat warnings as temperatures began to climb into the high nineties.
For a change the morning view out the bus window was a pleasant one. The plush grass lawns and ancient stone pillars of the Iroquois Amphitheatre were a glad sight to those of us preparing our breakfasts in the bus lounge.
I composed a bowl of fruit and yoghurt, sticking to the tried and true technique of putting the yoghurt in a large blob in the middle and surrounding it with other more chunky textures like granola, sliced banana, chopped orange, and chopped kiwifruit.
The Amphitheatre is situated on the eastern edge of Iroquois Park and most of the rest of the park is covered by a thick forest. It was a lovely place to explore using the technique of jogging and my loss of fluids due to the heat was easily counteracted by the restoration of the spirit from being in such peaceful surroundings.
Part of my run captured using the tried and true ‘candid selfie’.
Another part of my run captured by the severe and experimental technique the ‘running tossie’.
Annie captured this embarrassing fashion coincidence.
This outdoor amphitheatre is fully seated and has an impressive wooden structure that shelters the main seating block.
It was a hot souncheck but much better than being inside a dark airconditioned room during the best hours of the afternoon.
Squirrelflower chose to play the final show seated. I guess when your audience is sitting down it feels nice to reciprocate.
After we finished playing we rushed to pack down the gear that was being picked up by the freight company. Here you see Liz on the tail lift of the truck wheeling my bass amp into the cargo hold. Everything will travel straight to Denver and wait for us to arrive at the end of the month.
This is called concertmaxxing.
We held a small afterparty in the catering room of the Iroquois Amphitheater. This room might have had the worst atmosphere of any space I have been lucky enough to celebrate inside of. We found all the lamps in the building and succeeded in creating what felt like a dimly lit office birthday party (with great DJing from DJ Lizard).
DJ Lizard and Britt from Spoon.
A brilliant reflection of the road is captured Snow White’s gleaming chrome bumper.